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.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Blog 5: Standard English
Reading, Writing, and Rising Up Ch. 4, 7
Christensen discusses the same concepts regarding proper use of English grammar that Christenbury did in the last posting. Christensen writes, "It wasn't until a few years ago that I realized grammar was an indication of class and cultural background in the United States and that there is a bias against people who do not use language 'correctly'" (100). Because of this, schools that have a high population of ethnic students often struggle with teaching the "basic skills" needed for students to perform well on standardized tests. What educators don't often realize, though, is that students from a variety of cultures feel ashamed of their own voices. "Students must be taught to hold their own voices sacred, to ignore the teachers who have made them feel that what they've said is wrong or bad or stupid" (Christensen 101). Teachers have the unique job of not only teaching skills and writing strategies, but also making students realize the importance of their "inner voice" and how it can affect who they become as writers. Asking students to recount experiences and write about them in the voice they are familiar with is one way to encourage a sense of self with students, but another is to teach beyond the standardized test. Much of the time, administrators, and thus, teachers, are too focused on high-stakes testing. Christensen cautions, "Teaching the rules without reflection also underscores that it's OK for others - "authorities" - to dictate something as fundamental and as personal as the way they speak. Further, the study of Standard English without critique encourages students to believe that if they fail, it is because they are not smart enough or didn't work hard enough. They learn to blame themselves" (103). This puts many teachers in a tough position: teach for the test, or teach for the student. I think educators often find a common ground between the two.
Christensen advises that students should be given ample opportunity to write what they know, and that often involves their culture. "As we discuss language and culture, students write pieces about themselves, their homes, thir family saying, their language" (Christensen 106). This type of writing is important for personal growth and a sense of self through the writing that students complete. Christensen points out that she could ask students to write critical essays about novels, but offering opportunnity for students to write about social injustices they experience offers a more meaningful writing experience (112). It is with this writing that students may begin to understand themselves and turn their anger to action.
Image Grammar Ch. 1-4
This was my first introduction to Harry Noden and his grammatical strategies. I'm not sure how to summarize or reflect on his text since it's more of a users guide to grammar, but I'll try to highlight some points I enjoyed reading about. First, the basic brush strokes that Noden describes are really interesting concepts. The way he describes the various brush strokes make a lot of sense when it comes to adding details and "color" to a sentence.
Many of his teaching strategies are sound as well, which I'm sure comes from his experience in the classroom. The question that comes to mind for me is, how are these strategies best utilized within a given curriculum? I could spend an entire year working on details in writing, but I wouldn't accomplish much else. Noden gave numerous examples of literature that he uses as a jumping off point when his students are writing creatively, but I'd like to see how to best incorporate these strategies into what I teach.
Christensen discusses the same concepts regarding proper use of English grammar that Christenbury did in the last posting. Christensen writes, "It wasn't until a few years ago that I realized grammar was an indication of class and cultural background in the United States and that there is a bias against people who do not use language 'correctly'" (100). Because of this, schools that have a high population of ethnic students often struggle with teaching the "basic skills" needed for students to perform well on standardized tests. What educators don't often realize, though, is that students from a variety of cultures feel ashamed of their own voices. "Students must be taught to hold their own voices sacred, to ignore the teachers who have made them feel that what they've said is wrong or bad or stupid" (Christensen 101). Teachers have the unique job of not only teaching skills and writing strategies, but also making students realize the importance of their "inner voice" and how it can affect who they become as writers. Asking students to recount experiences and write about them in the voice they are familiar with is one way to encourage a sense of self with students, but another is to teach beyond the standardized test. Much of the time, administrators, and thus, teachers, are too focused on high-stakes testing. Christensen cautions, "Teaching the rules without reflection also underscores that it's OK for others - "authorities" - to dictate something as fundamental and as personal as the way they speak. Further, the study of Standard English without critique encourages students to believe that if they fail, it is because they are not smart enough or didn't work hard enough. They learn to blame themselves" (103). This puts many teachers in a tough position: teach for the test, or teach for the student. I think educators often find a common ground between the two.
Christensen advises that students should be given ample opportunity to write what they know, and that often involves their culture. "As we discuss language and culture, students write pieces about themselves, their homes, thir family saying, their language" (Christensen 106). This type of writing is important for personal growth and a sense of self through the writing that students complete. Christensen points out that she could ask students to write critical essays about novels, but offering opportunnity for students to write about social injustices they experience offers a more meaningful writing experience (112). It is with this writing that students may begin to understand themselves and turn their anger to action.
Image Grammar Ch. 1-4
This was my first introduction to Harry Noden and his grammatical strategies. I'm not sure how to summarize or reflect on his text since it's more of a users guide to grammar, but I'll try to highlight some points I enjoyed reading about. First, the basic brush strokes that Noden describes are really interesting concepts. The way he describes the various brush strokes make a lot of sense when it comes to adding details and "color" to a sentence.
Many of his teaching strategies are sound as well, which I'm sure comes from his experience in the classroom. The question that comes to mind for me is, how are these strategies best utilized within a given curriculum? I could spend an entire year working on details in writing, but I wouldn't accomplish much else. Noden gave numerous examples of literature that he uses as a jumping off point when his students are writing creatively, but I'd like to see how to best incorporate these strategies into what I teach.
Blog 4: Word Play
Making the Journey Ch. 6, 7
It's kind of ironic that Christenbury devotes an entire chapter to making English teachers feel okay about the fact that we can't be experts at absolutely everything. It does take practice and patience to decipher lines of poetry or prose, and linguistics is a whole different ballgame. I once made a bet with my husband about the words "ain't" and I lost miserably. I couldn't imagine that a slang term such as this one would exist in any respectable language book, such as the dictionary. Oops. Just because "ain't" is a word that I obstain from using doesn't mean it isn't a word. I'm still living that one down. The point that Christenbury makes is that language is ever-evolving. She makes two points: first, that language never stays the same and second, that variations in language do not make language wrong or bad (180). That's where I got myself into trouble with "ain't". According to Christenbury, "ain't" was standard usage in Dickens' time in England, though I can't imagine my grandma, who was an English teacher in her own right AND descent of pilgrams from England, ever using the term.
There is a lot to be learned from how teachers correct students when it comes to spelling, grammar, and pronunciation. Christenbury states, "I know of no study that shows a correlation between intelligence and correct spelling. And yet many people equate misspelled words with stupidity and certain ignorance" (183). I find this to be very accurate and find that most people make judgments based on how another person speaks, spells, or writes. The most important part of this section, however, dealt with isolated vocabulary and spelling lists. Christenbury is not a proponent of them, and neither am I. "Letting students participate in their own spelling/vocabulary lists and encouraging them to expand those lists can not only give students more control over this aspect of English language arts but also show them that they, too, live in a world of language" (Christenbury 185). If I allow my students to find meaningful vocabulary terms for them, they are certain to gain much more from the reading than if I had assigned 20 "good to know" terms.
There are good and bad ways to incorporate grammar into a curriculum as well. Christenbury follows four guidelines for teaching grammar: connected to units of study, small doses, relation to student writing, and when needed (187). This is another thing I'm working on - and it's a true work in progress. Numerous studies show that teaching grammar out of context is useless. I agree, for the most part. I do find that many of my students are unfamiliar with parts of speech other than having heard the terms in the past. I do use some worksheet pages to introduce parts of speech, but then I connect that knowledge with student writing. I guess I'm following the rules for the most part. I'm working on shortening the worksheet pages though and increasing the written work to have a better balance. I just can't give up a few worksheets, however, because I find that my students are at such different points in their understanding of grammar and usage. My goal for this school year is to give them all a "pre-test" so I can better focus the learning; perhaps that will help me cater the information a bit better than in the past. This past year, I started using grammar books, such as Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, and several other parts of speech books by Brian P. Cleary, to introduce various items to my students. They seemed to enjoy the short clips of rhyming words, and even asked to borrow them to read during study hall if their homework was done. As with anything else, 7th grade is all about keeping it fresh and interesting.
Another idea that Christenbury mentions is a need for more word play. I couldn't agree more. She cited several examples, some of which I was familiar with and others I had never heard of, but all that my students would find fun and entertaining. I agree with Christenbury that there should be more fun with words and that it can't be all about writing essays and perfecting poems. There are so many ways to draw students into a particular piece of writing, like the "Scars" personal narrative. My students write personal memoirs, but many of them really struggle to come up with a specific event that changed their young lives. If I allow them to focus their work into a personal narrative, I think they'd really come up with a quality product. Christenbury also had some thoughts about revision, editing, and proofreading, all of which my students are still novices at. I use a particular method called "CRAM" for editing and revising, but I think it does exactly what Christenbury talks about - it focuses each activity into a separate part to get the best written product.
It's kind of ironic that Christenbury devotes an entire chapter to making English teachers feel okay about the fact that we can't be experts at absolutely everything. It does take practice and patience to decipher lines of poetry or prose, and linguistics is a whole different ballgame. I once made a bet with my husband about the words "ain't" and I lost miserably. I couldn't imagine that a slang term such as this one would exist in any respectable language book, such as the dictionary. Oops. Just because "ain't" is a word that I obstain from using doesn't mean it isn't a word. I'm still living that one down. The point that Christenbury makes is that language is ever-evolving. She makes two points: first, that language never stays the same and second, that variations in language do not make language wrong or bad (180). That's where I got myself into trouble with "ain't". According to Christenbury, "ain't" was standard usage in Dickens' time in England, though I can't imagine my grandma, who was an English teacher in her own right AND descent of pilgrams from England, ever using the term.
There is a lot to be learned from how teachers correct students when it comes to spelling, grammar, and pronunciation. Christenbury states, "I know of no study that shows a correlation between intelligence and correct spelling. And yet many people equate misspelled words with stupidity and certain ignorance" (183). I find this to be very accurate and find that most people make judgments based on how another person speaks, spells, or writes. The most important part of this section, however, dealt with isolated vocabulary and spelling lists. Christenbury is not a proponent of them, and neither am I. "Letting students participate in their own spelling/vocabulary lists and encouraging them to expand those lists can not only give students more control over this aspect of English language arts but also show them that they, too, live in a world of language" (Christenbury 185). If I allow my students to find meaningful vocabulary terms for them, they are certain to gain much more from the reading than if I had assigned 20 "good to know" terms.
There are good and bad ways to incorporate grammar into a curriculum as well. Christenbury follows four guidelines for teaching grammar: connected to units of study, small doses, relation to student writing, and when needed (187). This is another thing I'm working on - and it's a true work in progress. Numerous studies show that teaching grammar out of context is useless. I agree, for the most part. I do find that many of my students are unfamiliar with parts of speech other than having heard the terms in the past. I do use some worksheet pages to introduce parts of speech, but then I connect that knowledge with student writing. I guess I'm following the rules for the most part. I'm working on shortening the worksheet pages though and increasing the written work to have a better balance. I just can't give up a few worksheets, however, because I find that my students are at such different points in their understanding of grammar and usage. My goal for this school year is to give them all a "pre-test" so I can better focus the learning; perhaps that will help me cater the information a bit better than in the past. This past year, I started using grammar books, such as Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, and several other parts of speech books by Brian P. Cleary, to introduce various items to my students. They seemed to enjoy the short clips of rhyming words, and even asked to borrow them to read during study hall if their homework was done. As with anything else, 7th grade is all about keeping it fresh and interesting.
Another idea that Christenbury mentions is a need for more word play. I couldn't agree more. She cited several examples, some of which I was familiar with and others I had never heard of, but all that my students would find fun and entertaining. I agree with Christenbury that there should be more fun with words and that it can't be all about writing essays and perfecting poems. There are so many ways to draw students into a particular piece of writing, like the "Scars" personal narrative. My students write personal memoirs, but many of them really struggle to come up with a specific event that changed their young lives. If I allow them to focus their work into a personal narrative, I think they'd really come up with a quality product. Christenbury also had some thoughts about revision, editing, and proofreading, all of which my students are still novices at. I use a particular method called "CRAM" for editing and revising, but I think it does exactly what Christenbury talks about - it focuses each activity into a separate part to get the best written product.
Blog 3: Literature Selection and Crafty Questions
Making the Journey Ch. 5, 8
My favorite text thus far is this one, by Leila Christenbury because it reminds me how far I've come in the six years I've been teaching. Although her text is written to help and encourage the new teacher, it holds many good reminders to me as an experienced teacher as well. For example, Christenbury says, "All of us are haunted by the worry that we are ill prepared, underread, insufficiently educated, ignorant about a number of crucial areas. And the fact is, we probably are" (122). Even though I've been around the educational block a few times, these are worries that I still feel at the start of each new school year. I'm able to supress them most of the time by reminding myself that I'm teaching 7th grade and not senior English, but there are always a few students each year that really challenge my knowledge, and those are the ones that cause that stint of anxiety.
Luckily, Christenbury continues with, "You will also have the pleasure of watching your own tastes change and expand as you add to your storehouse of learning authors and ideas and techniques...you will, as the years go on, become far more accomplished - and education - than you can really imagine right now" (123). My thoughts? Bingo, Ms. Christenbury. As I sit here today, working on my LAST Masters class, I've overcome with a sense of accomplishment and...knowledge. I've spent countless hours expanding my mind as an educator as well as studying various ways to help my students succeed. I've changed lesson plans, unit plans, introductory activities, culminating projects, and what I deem "necessary" vocabulary on an almmost yearly basis, but it's all for the good of the system. I look a summer's worth of work three years ago and think, "This job will never be done." I think THAT is the basis of a good teacher: one who rolls with the punches, complies with the latest district initiatives, all the while working to help each student learn to the best of his or her ability level. For this year, I'm working on my reader response approach to the literature I teach.
Christenbury describes the reader response approach as one where the emphasis is on what the reader brings to the piece. I'm not going to lie - I've spent many a lesson introducing a text with historical background, life of the author, etc. just to see my students lose interest. I've played around with reader response and I think I'm getting better at it the more time I devote to it. For example, I still move my students through a bit of history about a piece to help set the stage, but then as we're reading, I may ask them to write three to five questions they have about the piece, as broad or narrow as they desire. As we read, we stop to discuss some of their questions or I may point out important points that I feel they need to understand. At the end, if they have questions remaining, they pair up and share and discuss briefly before we talk about their questions and answers as a whole class. It's not a perfect model of reader response, but I'm trying. My concern is that 7th graders are a bit too young yet to bring everything they need to a piece of literature without some guidance from me, but I'm working to foster that type of discussion in the reading we do in class. Christenbury warns against this when she says, "Pay attention to the literature you choose and try to resist trotting your students through every literary element" (140). Well, that's all fine and well, but if we don't hammer home literary elements in middle school, we'll never hear the end of it from the high school teachers. It's an interesting balance - something that I play around with and change a bit every year to see what works best. That, too, is still a work in progress.
Reader response opens the door to the craft of questioning and how to best use discussion in an English class. "In its proper context, the craft of asking and answering questions can be the heart of a lively and learning class" (Christenburg 239). I found it fantastic that although Christenbury discusses the various sequential questioning schematas, she enforces that rigidly organized questioning is not always the best plan of attack. I agree, wholeheartedly! I may start with a list of questions that I deem important, but as the class discussion continues, we may move in a different direction completely (there's that reader response stuff). I've found that I'm okay with that, as long as I can bring the class back to a focal point before the class period ends.
Two of the questioning behaviors that I found especially useful to remind myself of were wait time and student repetition. Wait time is my nemisis...well, maybe a thorn in my side. My classes are often very fast-paced, which suits me, the material and age level of students who I teach, but wait time is still something I have to actively remind myself of each year. It's my tendency to want to "bail the student out" if he or she is stuck on a question, but really, I need to just stay quiet and give wait time. I'm much better now than I used to be, but I think I'll still need to remind myself of that even after I've been teaching 20 years. The second behavior that I want to include more of is allowing students to repeat their answers instead of me repeating them. Oh, how I tire of hearing my voice repeat answers after five classes a day. It only makes sense that students become attuned to listening to their peers, and I like that Christenbury says allowing students to repeat their own answers keeps possession of them. It just makes sense to me and I'm definitely going to try it more this coming year.
My favorite text thus far is this one, by Leila Christenbury because it reminds me how far I've come in the six years I've been teaching. Although her text is written to help and encourage the new teacher, it holds many good reminders to me as an experienced teacher as well. For example, Christenbury says, "All of us are haunted by the worry that we are ill prepared, underread, insufficiently educated, ignorant about a number of crucial areas. And the fact is, we probably are" (122). Even though I've been around the educational block a few times, these are worries that I still feel at the start of each new school year. I'm able to supress them most of the time by reminding myself that I'm teaching 7th grade and not senior English, but there are always a few students each year that really challenge my knowledge, and those are the ones that cause that stint of anxiety.
Luckily, Christenbury continues with, "You will also have the pleasure of watching your own tastes change and expand as you add to your storehouse of learning authors and ideas and techniques...you will, as the years go on, become far more accomplished - and education - than you can really imagine right now" (123). My thoughts? Bingo, Ms. Christenbury. As I sit here today, working on my LAST Masters class, I've overcome with a sense of accomplishment and...knowledge. I've spent countless hours expanding my mind as an educator as well as studying various ways to help my students succeed. I've changed lesson plans, unit plans, introductory activities, culminating projects, and what I deem "necessary" vocabulary on an almmost yearly basis, but it's all for the good of the system. I look a summer's worth of work three years ago and think, "This job will never be done." I think THAT is the basis of a good teacher: one who rolls with the punches, complies with the latest district initiatives, all the while working to help each student learn to the best of his or her ability level. For this year, I'm working on my reader response approach to the literature I teach.
Christenbury describes the reader response approach as one where the emphasis is on what the reader brings to the piece. I'm not going to lie - I've spent many a lesson introducing a text with historical background, life of the author, etc. just to see my students lose interest. I've played around with reader response and I think I'm getting better at it the more time I devote to it. For example, I still move my students through a bit of history about a piece to help set the stage, but then as we're reading, I may ask them to write three to five questions they have about the piece, as broad or narrow as they desire. As we read, we stop to discuss some of their questions or I may point out important points that I feel they need to understand. At the end, if they have questions remaining, they pair up and share and discuss briefly before we talk about their questions and answers as a whole class. It's not a perfect model of reader response, but I'm trying. My concern is that 7th graders are a bit too young yet to bring everything they need to a piece of literature without some guidance from me, but I'm working to foster that type of discussion in the reading we do in class. Christenbury warns against this when she says, "Pay attention to the literature you choose and try to resist trotting your students through every literary element" (140). Well, that's all fine and well, but if we don't hammer home literary elements in middle school, we'll never hear the end of it from the high school teachers. It's an interesting balance - something that I play around with and change a bit every year to see what works best. That, too, is still a work in progress.
Reader response opens the door to the craft of questioning and how to best use discussion in an English class. "In its proper context, the craft of asking and answering questions can be the heart of a lively and learning class" (Christenburg 239). I found it fantastic that although Christenbury discusses the various sequential questioning schematas, she enforces that rigidly organized questioning is not always the best plan of attack. I agree, wholeheartedly! I may start with a list of questions that I deem important, but as the class discussion continues, we may move in a different direction completely (there's that reader response stuff). I've found that I'm okay with that, as long as I can bring the class back to a focal point before the class period ends.
Two of the questioning behaviors that I found especially useful to remind myself of were wait time and student repetition. Wait time is my nemisis...well, maybe a thorn in my side. My classes are often very fast-paced, which suits me, the material and age level of students who I teach, but wait time is still something I have to actively remind myself of each year. It's my tendency to want to "bail the student out" if he or she is stuck on a question, but really, I need to just stay quiet and give wait time. I'm much better now than I used to be, but I think I'll still need to remind myself of that even after I've been teaching 20 years. The second behavior that I want to include more of is allowing students to repeat their answers instead of me repeating them. Oh, how I tire of hearing my voice repeat answers after five classes a day. It only makes sense that students become attuned to listening to their peers, and I like that Christenbury says allowing students to repeat their own answers keeps possession of them. It just makes sense to me and I'm definitely going to try it more this coming year.
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.
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.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Blog 1: The Makings of a Teacher
Because I'm a chronological type of girl, I wrote about the first week's assignments in the order they were assigned. Here are some thoughts on Making the Journey...
Chapter 3: Planning for your Teaching
I enjoyed this chapter because planning = order and I love order. I love organization and pattern and reason and this chapter allowed me to reflect on my own planning styles as a tenured teacher. I was able to recall back to my first year of teaching, when I struggled to write good lesson plans, all the while knowing that I would be breaking up fights more than educating students. If I could get them interested in ANYTHING, the battle for that day would be won, but I was certain I would lose the war. Christenbury discusses the importance of reflection on the lesson, and that's something I find myself doing more and more of now that I have several years of successful teaching under my belt. I almost never lecture, and rarely speak more than my students do in any given class period. Although I keep my seventh graders on a short leash, I do foster a discussion-based classroom. Pairs and small groups are often utilized after brief written work is completed so everyone has an opportunity to decipher his or her own thoughts independently. Christenbury says on page 68, "it is time for students to take the information and use it, question it, incorporate it, illustrate it, something it so that the knowledge does not become someone else's point but their own." I couldn't agree more, and that's why my focus for this year is to offer more culminating activity options to my students.
Chapter 4: Those Whom We Teach
This chapter discussed the importance of building a relationship with students in order to better serve them. Christenbury said on page 95, "getting into an instructional rhythm with these students, trying to take their perspective about assignments and grades, understanding their motivations to work - or not to work - were crucial to my teaching success." I've known many students who fall into categories based on the grading scale. The A students always do their work, try their best, and often stress about maintaining the A. They drive me a bit nuts, but are genuine in their pursuits. The B students are the salt of the earth; they either are capable of A work and don't reach to obtain it, or are truly adequate B learners. I try to light a fire under some of them who I know can do better; sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The C students are truly average and again, some come by it honestly, and others are not working up to potential. The D and F students struggle for many reasons, but even if I can't convince them to try harder, I make it my job to make sure they aren't doing poorly because they don't understand. This is where the relationship comes in. If my students don't feel they can trust me and open up about their academic journey, then we've all failed. Christenbury talks about several types of students: the apathetic student, the violent student, the alienated student and the best way to get in touch with these students in by building a relationship with them. If they know that I care as their teacher, they may start to care also.
Chapter 10: A Question of Ethics
Although I know of cases where student/teacher relationships were questioned (such as one young man in my pre-service teaching placement), I've never been involved in such situations and honestly don't spend much time worrying about "crossing a line" because the thought of an innapropriate relationship has NEVER crossed my mind (yuck). Christenbury makes a good point though when she says, "One of the hardest things for beginning teachers to do is to draw a line between their roles as professionals, teachers, and their understandable desire to be friendly, even friends, to students" (278). I think this falls under acceptable classroom management strategies. It's effective and appropritate to learn about your students, be kind to them and understanding of their place in life when they enter your classroom, but there is always a line. Every new, young teacher wants to be liked by his or her students. I've found the best way to be liked is to be a role model more than a friend. My students talk to me about things going on in their lives because they trust me and they appreciate an adult's perspective. If ever something they told me seemed a bit outside of the normal zone for interaction, I'd certainly take it to a higher authority to deal with, such as a counselor or administrator.
And now, some thoughts on Cultural Reflections...
Chapter 1: Constructing a Teaching Life
On the same note as building relationships with students, Gaughan mentions how our professional lives are shaped into categories of teachers, scholars, or mentors. In order to achieve these goals, there must be a strong relationship between teachers and students. Gaughan calls it harmony. He describes his first year of teaching and his ninth-period group of boys that were his largest struggle. "I didn't know how to teach them. I didn't know how to control them. How would we ever achieve harmony?" (Gaughan 10). I was again reminded of my own first year of teaching in the inner city and day after day how I was perplexed by the same exact question. What happened was Gaughan kept trying and eventually made it through the first year. He took the lessons he learned from that toughest group and made himself a better teacher. My mom's favorite saying is, "the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time." Although the first year of teaching is a huge elephant, it's worth getting through each bite of it to gain the wisdom one does after completing a year in the trenches.
Chapter 2: Teaching Thematically: The American Dream
Gaughan says that teachers must learn what will work with their own students. I find this to be especially true with middle schoolers. For example, I have a fantastic literature circle unit that culminates the year and gives my students the freedom to work in small groups to analyze and discuss novels. The problem with this unit is that someone long before me decided that the novels should be medieval historical fiction to coordinate with history content. That's all well and good, but my students complete four projects that are built in a cross-curricula fashion with history and by the end of the year, they are not only tired of history and English, but to add insult to injury, the novel choices we offer are pretty terrible. What is a teacher to do when the district has invested a lot of money in novels that are no longer interesting to students? Develop a new unit. In the near future, it is my hope that we can use novels that are higher-interest and multicultural in nature. It's something I'm working on, but I think we're still stuck for a few more years with the old novels until our budget can allow more choices. Just as Gaughan developed his American Dream projects, I hope to expand literature circles to better suit the needs of a diverse population of learners.
Chapter 10: Constructing a Curriculum
Speaking of a new curriculum (see last entry), I agree with Gaughen about using teacher portfolios as an evaluative tool. Lucky for him that all PA certified teachers must complete an in-depth portfolio to receive their permanant certification. When I completed my own portfolio a few years ago, I was able to review what I had done, how I had taught various lessons, what student results occurred, and how I could improve as a teacher. Gaughen states, "We may never compose a product we can't revise, but that's what makes our chosen profession so dynamic" (212). I agree wholeheartedly with him - the ability to constantly change is what makes teaching so great. I still look back on my lessons at the end of each year and search for ways to improve them. My unit binders are covered in multi-colored post-its based on what color was available when a brain surge occurred. If I didn't seek to improve myself, my art would be dead. It's my only hope that after 20 years of teaching, I'll stilll be looking for ways to improve myself and the way I reach my students.
Chapter 3: Planning for your Teaching
I enjoyed this chapter because planning = order and I love order. I love organization and pattern and reason and this chapter allowed me to reflect on my own planning styles as a tenured teacher. I was able to recall back to my first year of teaching, when I struggled to write good lesson plans, all the while knowing that I would be breaking up fights more than educating students. If I could get them interested in ANYTHING, the battle for that day would be won, but I was certain I would lose the war. Christenbury discusses the importance of reflection on the lesson, and that's something I find myself doing more and more of now that I have several years of successful teaching under my belt. I almost never lecture, and rarely speak more than my students do in any given class period. Although I keep my seventh graders on a short leash, I do foster a discussion-based classroom. Pairs and small groups are often utilized after brief written work is completed so everyone has an opportunity to decipher his or her own thoughts independently. Christenbury says on page 68, "it is time for students to take the information and use it, question it, incorporate it, illustrate it, something it so that the knowledge does not become someone else's point but their own." I couldn't agree more, and that's why my focus for this year is to offer more culminating activity options to my students.
Chapter 4: Those Whom We Teach
This chapter discussed the importance of building a relationship with students in order to better serve them. Christenbury said on page 95, "getting into an instructional rhythm with these students, trying to take their perspective about assignments and grades, understanding their motivations to work - or not to work - were crucial to my teaching success." I've known many students who fall into categories based on the grading scale. The A students always do their work, try their best, and often stress about maintaining the A. They drive me a bit nuts, but are genuine in their pursuits. The B students are the salt of the earth; they either are capable of A work and don't reach to obtain it, or are truly adequate B learners. I try to light a fire under some of them who I know can do better; sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The C students are truly average and again, some come by it honestly, and others are not working up to potential. The D and F students struggle for many reasons, but even if I can't convince them to try harder, I make it my job to make sure they aren't doing poorly because they don't understand. This is where the relationship comes in. If my students don't feel they can trust me and open up about their academic journey, then we've all failed. Christenbury talks about several types of students: the apathetic student, the violent student, the alienated student and the best way to get in touch with these students in by building a relationship with them. If they know that I care as their teacher, they may start to care also.
Chapter 10: A Question of Ethics
Although I know of cases where student/teacher relationships were questioned (such as one young man in my pre-service teaching placement), I've never been involved in such situations and honestly don't spend much time worrying about "crossing a line" because the thought of an innapropriate relationship has NEVER crossed my mind (yuck). Christenbury makes a good point though when she says, "One of the hardest things for beginning teachers to do is to draw a line between their roles as professionals, teachers, and their understandable desire to be friendly, even friends, to students" (278). I think this falls under acceptable classroom management strategies. It's effective and appropritate to learn about your students, be kind to them and understanding of their place in life when they enter your classroom, but there is always a line. Every new, young teacher wants to be liked by his or her students. I've found the best way to be liked is to be a role model more than a friend. My students talk to me about things going on in their lives because they trust me and they appreciate an adult's perspective. If ever something they told me seemed a bit outside of the normal zone for interaction, I'd certainly take it to a higher authority to deal with, such as a counselor or administrator.
And now, some thoughts on Cultural Reflections...
Chapter 1: Constructing a Teaching Life
On the same note as building relationships with students, Gaughan mentions how our professional lives are shaped into categories of teachers, scholars, or mentors. In order to achieve these goals, there must be a strong relationship between teachers and students. Gaughan calls it harmony. He describes his first year of teaching and his ninth-period group of boys that were his largest struggle. "I didn't know how to teach them. I didn't know how to control them. How would we ever achieve harmony?" (Gaughan 10). I was again reminded of my own first year of teaching in the inner city and day after day how I was perplexed by the same exact question. What happened was Gaughan kept trying and eventually made it through the first year. He took the lessons he learned from that toughest group and made himself a better teacher. My mom's favorite saying is, "the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time." Although the first year of teaching is a huge elephant, it's worth getting through each bite of it to gain the wisdom one does after completing a year in the trenches.
Chapter 2: Teaching Thematically: The American Dream
Gaughan says that teachers must learn what will work with their own students. I find this to be especially true with middle schoolers. For example, I have a fantastic literature circle unit that culminates the year and gives my students the freedom to work in small groups to analyze and discuss novels. The problem with this unit is that someone long before me decided that the novels should be medieval historical fiction to coordinate with history content. That's all well and good, but my students complete four projects that are built in a cross-curricula fashion with history and by the end of the year, they are not only tired of history and English, but to add insult to injury, the novel choices we offer are pretty terrible. What is a teacher to do when the district has invested a lot of money in novels that are no longer interesting to students? Develop a new unit. In the near future, it is my hope that we can use novels that are higher-interest and multicultural in nature. It's something I'm working on, but I think we're still stuck for a few more years with the old novels until our budget can allow more choices. Just as Gaughan developed his American Dream projects, I hope to expand literature circles to better suit the needs of a diverse population of learners.
Chapter 10: Constructing a Curriculum
Speaking of a new curriculum (see last entry), I agree with Gaughen about using teacher portfolios as an evaluative tool. Lucky for him that all PA certified teachers must complete an in-depth portfolio to receive their permanant certification. When I completed my own portfolio a few years ago, I was able to review what I had done, how I had taught various lessons, what student results occurred, and how I could improve as a teacher. Gaughen states, "We may never compose a product we can't revise, but that's what makes our chosen profession so dynamic" (212). I agree wholeheartedly with him - the ability to constantly change is what makes teaching so great. I still look back on my lessons at the end of each year and search for ways to improve them. My unit binders are covered in multi-colored post-its based on what color was available when a brain surge occurred. If I didn't seek to improve myself, my art would be dead. It's my only hope that after 20 years of teaching, I'll stilll be looking for ways to improve myself and the way I reach my students.
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