Yet another side note: I think my eye balls may have suffered irreversible damage due to the extreme cold this mourning. I might have the onset of cataracts, or worse, might start seeing dead people like the kid from the "6th Sense." If the following writing is nonsensical and full of paradox, you'll know why. (Because I am going blind from exposure.)
Chapter 4 is a very special chapter to me. For those of you who have Dr. Beare's 3010 class with me, you will understand 4's relevancy.I am not sure if anyone else has been wondering this, but I have been extremely confused about how it works when English teachers set up their units. As far as I knew with No Child Left Behind, we are essentially teaching to a testing standard. When looking at the Michigan Merit Curriculum, (which I assume is designed to incorporate ideas that will improve grades on the the Merit tests) its like a 40 page booklet that has topics like questions students should explore by certain grade levels. This only served to confuse me more. Luckily, I asked Alison Beare- my 3010 teacher, and she helped to clarify standards to me; one issue in particular that I was really confused about-that districts usually provide you with a list of books to teach.
Anyway, why this is important to me, and how it pertains to chapter 4, is that I really didn't understand why I was reading all these chapters on Praise Poems for example, if I was never really going to be able to freely teach what I wanted to. Noooow I understand that the merit curriculum is designed as a guideline, and how I meet those guidelines, like the question Who am I? could be obtained by creating a praise poem in class.
Strangely, Chapter 4 is all about writing standards for merit assessments. Particularly, I really enjoyed the section about using a quotation from the text to critically examine the work. For practice, I applied this method and picked a quote from one of my favorite books to use for critical application. Delightfully, it works. :)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Jago Chapter 3
Side note: Okay this is kinda funny-who writes a story about suicide with a surprise twist at the end? The story is very serious, you are feeling so bad for Sara, then WHAM! ooooh! The person you thought was going to kill themselves shows up at the end! Move over Stephan King, "Claire" may be the next up and coming!
This chapter is really interesting because it is essentially a fiction writing workshop, my personal favorite: imagine being the geriatric lover who has just received a wink from the grandpa of her dreams! All of the ideas in this chapter; the art response, the smell test ect. are all great. I am still wondering though, can I just teach my students a creative writing section?I do agree with Jago's inclusion of Michele Payne's excerpt about "students not always wanting a response" when they write emotional stories.
I also really like Jago's tips on autobiographical essays. My favorite: not focusing too much on the person that inspired you so that it over-takes the personal biography. I never realized until Jago spelled it out that biography's should be a blend of student voice and narrative style. So maybe I just answered my own question about how creative writing would be relevant for teaching to test requirements?
This chapter is really interesting because it is essentially a fiction writing workshop, my personal favorite: imagine being the geriatric lover who has just received a wink from the grandpa of her dreams! All of the ideas in this chapter; the art response, the smell test ect. are all great. I am still wondering though, can I just teach my students a creative writing section?I do agree with Jago's inclusion of Michele Payne's excerpt about "students not always wanting a response" when they write emotional stories.
I also really like Jago's tips on autobiographical essays. My favorite: not focusing too much on the person that inspired you so that it over-takes the personal biography. I never realized until Jago spelled it out that biography's should be a blend of student voice and narrative style. So maybe I just answered my own question about how creative writing would be relevant for teaching to test requirements?
Christensen Chapter 3
Does anybody else wonder how Christensen worked all of social awareness plans into her curriculum when we as teachers have to teach mostly to standardized testing? I actually know precious little about curriculum planning for teachers. How does it work? When you get hired as a new teacher do they just give you the state guidelines and say "Here ya go! Learn those kids good now!"(Because clearly everyone who works for the school system has appalling grammar...haha) Or is the curriculum pretty much established and you just have to think of a creative way to teach it?
Regardless, I am starting to see that a good teacher is an extraordinarily creative problem solver. Seriously, this new way of thinking is starting to re-shape my brain. I studied literature for the past four years and I used to have to think critically about everything. I used the information that I had absorbed concerning whatever novel I was analyzing and then after weeks of hard deliberating it was my job to come up with an interpretation based on the story's implications that no one else has thought of.
Now I spend my time thinking of creative ways of teaching someone what I know- not the interpretation. I also have to think about how I can teach someone to be able to think critically so that they may one day be able to draw their own applications.
There is something else I have to get down with...and its sort of like a homecoming. I have find the balance of guiding someone ethically. (careful! Before you all jump down my throats! I am not talking about gabbin about God) but that all people are worth self respect, dignity, equality. Its not that I don't believe in these things, I guess that its the idealism that I don't trust. I am a disciple of deconstruction! I automatically mistrust anyone that thinks there one way of living is the right way-even if its my own! For the past four years I have strayed away from believing in feelings, the area was too gray, too self involved. Yet, this was not how I was raised! As I mentioned in my 'about me' section, my primary interests include "recovering my optimism."
Regardless, I am starting to see that a good teacher is an extraordinarily creative problem solver. Seriously, this new way of thinking is starting to re-shape my brain. I studied literature for the past four years and I used to have to think critically about everything. I used the information that I had absorbed concerning whatever novel I was analyzing and then after weeks of hard deliberating it was my job to come up with an interpretation based on the story's implications that no one else has thought of.
Now I spend my time thinking of creative ways of teaching someone what I know- not the interpretation. I also have to think about how I can teach someone to be able to think critically so that they may one day be able to draw their own applications.
There is something else I have to get down with...and its sort of like a homecoming. I have find the balance of guiding someone ethically. (careful! Before you all jump down my throats! I am not talking about gabbin about God) but that all people are worth self respect, dignity, equality. Its not that I don't believe in these things, I guess that its the idealism that I don't trust. I am a disciple of deconstruction! I automatically mistrust anyone that thinks there one way of living is the right way-even if its my own! For the past four years I have strayed away from believing in feelings, the area was too gray, too self involved. Yet, this was not how I was raised! As I mentioned in my 'about me' section, my primary interests include "recovering my optimism."
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Christensen Chapter 2
I think that Chapter 2's social commentary and exercises are very sophisticated for high schoolers. There is nothing wrong with that, however I did not learn to blast apart negative stereo types until I was in college. And it is heart breaking, isn't it? Having to break apart your comfort shows, books, cartoons, and expose them for the negative messages that they implicitly portray. I myself was raised off of fairy tales. My favorite story growing up was Princess Fur ball, a tale about a Queen in waiting who runs off from her arranged marriage to an ogre, and captures the heart of a prince in a far away land with her carefully planned outfits. Siiiigh, who knows what weird correlation that may have havocked into my subconscious? I do own over twenty dresses....
I like the idea of the praise poem as a follow-up exercise to the cultural expose'. I coached little girls for an after-school program (called Girls on the Run) that infused messages of positive self-image with physical activity. We made something called a "monster box" where the girls would trash all the negative things other people had said about them by putting them into the "monster's mouth"after every lap. The idea was that once those bad things were eaten, then they could focus on what was good. I don't remember why, but this exercise did not work. I don't think the little girls believed in the monster box, they mostly just wanted the Popsicles at the end of the day. Anyway, sometimes I think people are afraid to break apart stereo-types because they can't see the good that comes after the demolition. In chapter 3 Christensen mentions that while it was very beneficial to help students de-bunk stereo types, she realized in retrospect that she should have provided some examples "of people who haven't lost hope, who fight the brawl, and who plan to win," to help ease her students into their now altered worlds.
I like the idea of the praise poem as a follow-up exercise to the cultural expose'. I coached little girls for an after-school program (called Girls on the Run) that infused messages of positive self-image with physical activity. We made something called a "monster box" where the girls would trash all the negative things other people had said about them by putting them into the "monster's mouth"after every lap. The idea was that once those bad things were eaten, then they could focus on what was good. I don't remember why, but this exercise did not work. I don't think the little girls believed in the monster box, they mostly just wanted the Popsicles at the end of the day. Anyway, sometimes I think people are afraid to break apart stereo-types because they can't see the good that comes after the demolition. In chapter 3 Christensen mentions that while it was very beneficial to help students de-bunk stereo types, she realized in retrospect that she should have provided some examples "of people who haven't lost hope, who fight the brawl, and who plan to win," to help ease her students into their now altered worlds.
Jago- Chapter 2
Just a thought...sometimes I think Jago's chapters are a little more applicable than Christensen's.
Continuing, here is what I think is not explained very well in Chapter 2: Chapter 2 is about how to help a student with writing a persuasive essay. Jago talks about identifying a thesis, arguments, and evidence within other critical essays as examples for her students to help in writing their own papers. Jago makes a good point by telling the reader that a student must be invested or interested in a topic before they can start writing. However, she seems to think that the great problems for the student when composing persuasive essays is the choice of the topic. Jago says on page 30 "... the problem is that adolescents are afraid of any subject that might seem 'uncool." -Whenever I read "uncool" in reference to how a teenager feels, it makes my eye twitch a little. "Uncool" is such a stupid over-generalization for the major insecurities a teenage kid feels when committing to anything academic. My greatest problems with writing were not necessarily coming up with something creative to say, it was all the stuff that was in between. It wasn't until I got to college someone even showed me how to write a good paragraph. Essays, no matter how organic, must follow a sort of formulaic pattern. Usually the best way to do that is to write what you are want to prove at the beginning of the paragraph and use examples through out to back it up. Maybe paragraph writing was supposed to have been drilled into me through out my school education but it wasn't. I am aware that this little pattern might be common sense, however I am going to spell it out for my students to help take some of the pressure off when writing essays. Personally, I never had a problem coming up with what to say, I just never knew how to say it.
Continuing, here is what I think is not explained very well in Chapter 2: Chapter 2 is about how to help a student with writing a persuasive essay. Jago talks about identifying a thesis, arguments, and evidence within other critical essays as examples for her students to help in writing their own papers. Jago makes a good point by telling the reader that a student must be invested or interested in a topic before they can start writing. However, she seems to think that the great problems for the student when composing persuasive essays is the choice of the topic. Jago says on page 30 "... the problem is that adolescents are afraid of any subject that might seem 'uncool." -Whenever I read "uncool" in reference to how a teenager feels, it makes my eye twitch a little. "Uncool" is such a stupid over-generalization for the major insecurities a teenage kid feels when committing to anything academic. My greatest problems with writing were not necessarily coming up with something creative to say, it was all the stuff that was in between. It wasn't until I got to college someone even showed me how to write a good paragraph. Essays, no matter how organic, must follow a sort of formulaic pattern. Usually the best way to do that is to write what you are want to prove at the beginning of the paragraph and use examples through out to back it up. Maybe paragraph writing was supposed to have been drilled into me through out my school education but it wasn't. I am aware that this little pattern might be common sense, however I am going to spell it out for my students to help take some of the pressure off when writing essays. Personally, I never had a problem coming up with what to say, I just never knew how to say it.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Where I am from poem
I am From Where I am From
I am from where I am from
I have been thinking about
Where I am from
Since I could understand
The word ancestor.
I have no made up lineage
Of Kings and Queens
Or hard dirt granddaddy’s
Of self-made quality.
No I am from the South.
I am from a family
Of archaic ancestry
I was born to know it.
Robert E Lee, George Washington:
I am the greatttttt grand daughter of John Rutledge.
I am from where I am from
But the hard dirt of reality
Makes me care more about
Who you are
And whom I will end up being.
I am from where I am from
I have been thinking about
Where I am from
Since I could understand
The word ancestor.
I have no made up lineage
Of Kings and Queens
Or hard dirt granddaddy’s
Of self-made quality.
No I am from the South.
I am from a family
Of archaic ancestry
I was born to know it.
Robert E Lee, George Washington:
I am the greatttttt grand daughter of John Rutledge.
I am from where I am from
But the hard dirt of reality
Makes me care more about
Who you are
And whom I will end up being.
Praise Poem
I Talk Too Much
I talk too much,
For I have too much to say,
And haven’t learned any tact.
How could I shut up?
There are paintings out there,
With unbelievable philosophies,
In line and brush stroke,
There are figures that dedicated
Their whole lives to the pursuit
Of civil service
There are humans who struggled
Grasped, gasped to live,
Their stories scratched into pages,
And I just can’t seem to shut up.
The varying conditions of existence
Leaves me stark raving babbling,
Just at the chance to be part of this world.
I talk too much,
For I have too much to say,
And haven’t learned any tact.
How could I shut up?
There are paintings out there,
With unbelievable philosophies,
In line and brush stroke,
There are figures that dedicated
Their whole lives to the pursuit
Of civil service
There are humans who struggled
Grasped, gasped to live,
Their stories scratched into pages,
And I just can’t seem to shut up.
The varying conditions of existence
Leaves me stark raving babbling,
Just at the chance to be part of this world.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Jago Chapter1
I don't know about everybody else, but I really benefited from Jago's references to "Problematic essay prompts" at the end of the chapter. As I embark on learning to become a teacher, I have often wondered how in the heck I will even begin writing stimulating prompts for my students to engage them in essay writing. Jago's bit about cohesion and its relevance to bad essay prompting is something I am going to try to remember forever. It really makes sense that a student's essay would have lack of coherence if the prompt to write the essay had eight other questions within itself. I am also taking ED 301 this semester, and last week we had to read an article about how the American Educational System is going to hell in a hand basket. One of the faults that the author pointed out (which I agree with) is that students are not learning to think for themselves. The point of a good essay prompt is to stimulate the writer into be able to conjure up an insightful reflection with the help of a question that gets them critically thinking about the subject matter. With a good, laconic prompt students have direction to be able to think for themselves.
The only problem I had with Jago for chapter one was when she mentioned she would often craft her prompts to reach certain students. While I agree that students would certainly benefit from have a catered to prompt, how in the heck do you individually write separate prompts for all over your students? Eventually your kids are going to have to adhere to one prompt to write a paper about when they go to other classrooms or move on to college. Shouldn't we just give them one topic to write about and then help them individually with their own private critical analysis?
The only problem I had with Jago for chapter one was when she mentioned she would often craft her prompts to reach certain students. While I agree that students would certainly benefit from have a catered to prompt, how in the heck do you individually write separate prompts for all over your students? Eventually your kids are going to have to adhere to one prompt to write a paper about when they go to other classrooms or move on to college. Shouldn't we just give them one topic to write about and then help them individually with their own private critical analysis?
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Christensen Chapter 1
I spent hours last night talking to my boyfriend about Christensen's introductory chapter Building a Community Out of Chaos- 15 minutes of which I am sure he appreciated. How could I help it? Christensen seems to encapsulate all the ideals of why I want to be a teacher with her insight into the importance of establishing a community in the classroom. The chapter is so eloquently written, so promisingly hopeful. Her summary's seems to say that even "troubled students" can connect with each other through understanding and empathy. Christensen even promises us that if an educator can just put herself out there enough she will be able to enable her pupils to understand that "solidarity and courage are the values to be prized in daily life."
Believe me, I want to believe. After reading the chapter and taking notes (yes, I teared up at the Fredrick Douglas quote "Power concedes nothing without demand"-Come on! How moving is that??) I felt so purposeful! I had to talk! Blab I did, just ask my man, two and half hours of talking about connecting classic literature to themes still applicable to teens today, and choosing stories that would encourage the development of empathy with other students, cultures, the world! Curiously, as I spoke, his eyes became more and more glazed over, at one point I think he even fell asleep. My boyfriend's ambivalence at the subject matter flabbergasted me! How could anyone not be riveted at the thought of positively changing a students mind through connection and empathy? Slowly, I became less sure of myself. As I was speaking, I kept thinking of that episode of The Simpsons that tracks the life of Reverend Lovejoy. At first Reverend Lovejoy is very excited about becoming a preacher, he has long hair and a guitar and wants to share with everyone the knowledge that he loves. Then over the years, he becomes hardened to his task as life and Ned Flanders wear him down and he loses his good nature.
Does anyone else worry about this? My boyfriend's disinterest makes me wonder how teachers keep focusing on the positive? I don't think Linda Christensen would have made it through all those years of teaching without an altruistic outlook on the future. I hope that she addresses in the coming chapters how she has managed to keep her chin up through turmoil.
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