Learning Letter

Learning Letter

            Throughout this course I feel like I have come to a deeper understanding of what it means to be an Educator. There is so much more that goes into being an effective teacher that I have failed to think about prior to this course.

            I feel very satisfied with the work I’ve produced throughout this course. The book talk was my favorite assignment overall. I liked being able to provide my peers with a text that they could use in their classroom or that they could just read in general for enjoyment. I don’t think I would do anything different in regards to that concept except maybe change how I presented the text. I could have probably used a PowerPoint or some type of visual aid, but I do not think not having visual aid hurt me. I enjoyed listening to my peers as they presented their books to the class. I even bought some of the books that were presented. It was a fun assignment that I may try to adopt in some way for my classroom.

            The mini lesson went over well even though we did only earn a 90%. Ryan and I worked well together and we developed a lesson that was fun. We also created a lesson that was designed for a twenty minute time slot which is something that other groups struggled with. I am proud of the work we accomplished although I would like to change the things that caused us to get a 90%. I enjoyed teaching with someone else in a cooperative manner. It was a fun assignment and I am proud of the work that we produced. It definitely was one of the highlights of the quarter.

            Overall, the number one hardest thing that I had to do for this course was designing my three week unit plan. It was an assignment that was much larger than I thought originally. Creating a whole unit takes a lot more work than I could have ever imagined. I do wish I used my time more wisely throughout the quarter to turn my drafts on time. I also wish that I could have finished my unit before the last day of instruction but life got in my way. One of the things I learned doing this lesson is how hard it is to find and develop activities that build on top of each other for my unit. I am glad I decided to switch from The Bell Jar to Romeo and Juliet because it made research and other aspects of the project a little easier. I also learned to save everything from all my education classes because the materials I did have from my previous courses did help me come up with some ideas for lessons, and the material provided some of the theory I used to support the activities that I used within my unit. This project was difficult but it was a needed difficulty because it showed me how much work it is to develop units and it basically previewed what I can look forward to when I become an educator.

            The unit was also very useful in helping me become comfortable with the lesson plan template. I finally feel like I have a grasp on the different aspects that go into the lesson plan. For example I am much more comfortable with the parent and community portion of the lesson plan. Before I was always unsure how to connect my lessons to parents and the community but it was simpler than I expected it to be. Doing 15 lesson plans that built upon each other was helpful and it was a nice change for only developing lesson plans for lessons that are independent of each other.

            The readings throughout this course were inspiring and useful as I developed my unit plan and I began to think about how I want to shape my future classroom. Although I enjoyed all of the texts, I am only going to talk about the texts that made the biggest impact on me. The readings I enjoyed the most were, “The Pedagogy of the Oppressed” and the team teaching text.  

One of my favorite readings that we explored was the “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”. The introduction to the idea of the banking model of education is something that opened my eyes. I know in my personal education there have times where I have felt like a bank in terms of what I was learning. I absolutely agree that the banking system of learning leads students to be passive not only in terms of their education, but also in their life. I do not want my students to be passive. Instead I want to create an environment that supports active learning and thinking. This text was probably one of my favorites from the course.

            Another text I found helpful was the documents on team teaching. I am not sure if I will ever be put into a team teaching situation but if I am the text will prove effective in helping my partner and I develop our teaching style. It was useful when developing my mini-lesson and is definitely something I will hang onto.

            Overall, I think I have come a long way from the start of the quarter. Everyone has always told me that being a teacher is a lot of hard work and I finally see why. Although it has been a challenging quarter I am happy with what I have learned and I am happy the growth I have seen within myself. Although I do wish I could go back and make my unit plan better, this quarter has been amazing and I will truly miss this course. 

In the Name of God

                In the Name of God was an intense book but was also very inspiring. I think using it in the classroom would provide students an alternate perspective on the world that they may have not been previously introduced too. We live in such an overt Christian nation, I believe that this text could be used to give insight into other religious views that people may have. But, I do see how this book can be deemed problematic as Nadia joins an anti-American terrorist organization. This story shows how a person can become blinded by their beliefs but it also can be read as standing up for what you believe in. Although, you would probably have to clarify that you do not condone terrorism.  This also could be a good text to portray religious fanaticism and explore how religion can be manipulated to justify acts of terrorism and cruelty.

                This book does a great job of showing both sides of the fence on the idea of religious fanaticism. It would be a cool idea to hold a mock debate debating both idealisms. This book can also be used to teach social justice. Because it gives such good insight on a perspective that most students will have never experienced before. I fear that this book could be used as anti-Islam sentiment but, I am hoping the best from the educators across America. Overall, this was a very thrilling read. I do not know if I will ever have the opportunity to teach this novel within my classroom but if I did I think it would be fantastic for my students. The ending was very good. I was literally reading as fast as I can to see what was going to happen. I think this text would engage students and was overall a really great text. 

Romeo & Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is one of the first plays that I have ever been introduced to. It’s a classic tale of star-crossed lovers (not Starbucks lovers as Taylor Swift might have you think) who both die at the end because of their families’ feud. Although, it’s not my favorite play it does have a lot of great uses in the classroom. Dramatic structure is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about lesson plans for the play. Teaching students about rising action, falling action, climax, resolution and the other terms for dramatic structure would be something easy to do.

                When I was in high school my favorite activity that we did when we were learning about Romeo and Juliet was recreating a scene in my class. We were each assigned groups and we reenacted a scene of the play. It was quite fun and it helped my comprehension of the play.  I also think it would be fun to do a critical analysis about how the characters are portrayed across different versions of the film. It would be fun to compare and contrast the difference between Leo’s Romeo and the Romeo of the 2013 version of the movie.

                Shakespeare has such a huge impact on literature. It would be fun to do a unit on Romeo and Juliet but also just Shakespeare in general to help students understand the cultural impact that this one man made. Romeo and Juliet also makes use of different literary techniques like Irony and Puns making it easy to teach students about these as they go through the play.  Overall, I think this play should be taught and I hope to one day teach it in my classroom. 

Maus

Holocaust literature is something that everyone experiences when being educated in the American school system. Most frequently, book that students are assigned are classics like Night and The Diary of a Young Girl. Prior to this course I had never been introduced to a graphic novel encompassing the history of the Holocaust. Maus by Art Spiegelman is definitely a text I would use in the classroom. This graphic novel was very interesting to read and because of the medium very easy to read. The visuals provided in the books were amazing and it really helped to create a experience in my mind.

These books would be great for differentiated instruction. The text was not hard to read and the visuals made it even easier to understand. Struggling readers should be given this text because it is engaging and the medium makes it easier to read. I don't think that we should stop teaching the classics surrounding the Holocaust but I think this text would be great for supplementary instruction. Obviously, book one would be the book that would have the most focus. These books could also be used to teach social justice and inequality. The text can be violent and it can be hard to process so it will be important to create an environment in the classroom where students feel safe. The Holocaust can be hard to learn about but books like this make it engaging and really highlights the atrocities that people experienced during this time in history.

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allen Poe’s work can be used in various ways throughout the classroom. I always have loved Poe’s work. It is weird, creepy, and iconic making it perfect for the classroom. Mainly, I have worked with his short stories but there is value within his poetry. Out of the four texts that we are working with today in class “The Tell Tale Heart” is by far my favorite. It is a text I would like to work with in my classroom as an educator. Poe is a master of imagery, and symbolism. There are also great themes in his works. I would love to spend time analyzing the imagery throughout his body of work and see how it compares and contrasts. I think “The Tell Tale Heart” would be good to use when introducing the idea of reliable and unreliable narration. The narrator in this text is unhinged and it shows in the text.

I also think that Poe is highly accessible. His writing is not hard to process. It generally is an easy read and because it is creepy it is engaging. I know that I am always intrigued by Poe’s horror/supernatural elements found within a lot of his work. A good project that could come from Poe is analyzing how Poe interprets death. Death is a common element explored in his work and it would be easy to compare how death is viewed throughout a variety of his work. I also think that Poe would be easy when having to incorporate pop culture elements into lessons. A lot of his work has been parodied by The Simpsons so it could be a fun lesson to teach parody using Poe. The "Tree-House of Horror" episodes of The Simpsons could be a good way to engage students because everyone has seen at least one episode! 

Book Talk: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
By: Steven Chbosky

Description:

            This book follows Charlie, a fifteen year old boy, as he progresses through his freshman year of high school. This book is written as a series of letters that Charlie writes to an anonymous recipient who he chose randomly making it feel as if you are reading Charlie’s personal diary. Exploring intense social issues such as suicide, mental health, sexual violence, domestic violence, drugs, homosexuality, sex, bullying, and abortion through Charlie’s perspective creates a sense of empathy between the reader and characters within the text. Although this text covers sensitive topics, it does it in a way that creates a platform to talk about the various social issues that students may be dealing with as they enter high school and throughout their life. This text can be a difficult read because of the scenes of rape, acts of homophobia, and mentions of child molestation. It is important to know that at the end of the novel Charlie comes to the realization that he was molested by his aunt throughout his childhood and that there is a scene depicting rape between two high school students during a party. Although these scenes are difficult to read, this text can be used to show students the importance of talking about social issues rather than keeping them hidden.

Rationale:

This text is appropriate for the ninth grade student. This text explores Charlie’s life during his first year of high school and may mirror some of the topics or experiences that students may have to begin to face and deal with as they change during adolescence. Erik Erikson in his research outlined different stages of life as various situations of conflict. For adolescence the conflict that is experienced is identity verses role confusion. During this stage individuals discover their sense of self and who they are in comparison to the world around them. The key to being successful in this stage of development is finding and establishing one’s personal identity. This novel can be used to help students understand what they value as Charlie figures out what he values throughout the novel. Charlie is a resource that students can use to help them as they discover what they value and how their values shape their identity.

            Another important factor of this novel is the conversation the novel creates about the many social issues that people may experience in their lifetime. This novel explores issues like suicide, mental health, sexual violence, domestic violence, drugs, homosexuality, sex, bullying, and abortion. Although talking about social issues may be uncomfortable, keeping these issues a secret perpetuates a culture of silence that is oppressive to the individuals that may have experienced one or multiple of the social issues explored in the text. Allowing open dialogue about these issues will educate teenagers who may be struggling with them and provide a support system through the classroom setting. Starting the conversation about these social issues will show students that it is necessary to talk about these social issues in order to promote change and for society to move forward in a positive way.  

Obstacles:

            This book contains many social issues that parents may feel like their child may not be old enough to handle. This book explores sensitive topics that can evoke emotions and memories that may be hard for students to process as they read this book. In order to help combat this it is important for the teacher to be a source of information and resources when using this text in the classroom. Helping the parents understand the importance of teaching this text is crucial. Parents should also be notified about the social issues the text encompasses. It will be important for them to understand what their student is reading about in this unit to promote a safe environment in the home. I expect that in every classroom there could be potential resistance from parents. I think that it is the educator’s duty to advocate for this text and help parents see how this text could be important for their student.

According to the ala.org The Perks of Being a Wallflower was the eight most challenged book of 2014. This could be a hard text to advocate for using in the classroom. I think that school districts will allow this book to be taught but there must be a plan. If one was to do a unit on this book I would expect them to have resources to help students who may struggle with these social issues. I would also expect teachers to have resources available for parents and students who may need extra help to comprehend or cope with what they are reading.          

Students may not feel comfortable reading this text. There are moments in the text that can be uncomfortable or awkward to read so it will be important to process these scenes together as a class. This text may evoke memories of social issues students may have already faced in their life. This book also may mirror social issues that students currently are facing as they read the text. Although most students will enjoy the text after they have finished reading it, it is important to understand how serious the social issues are that are discussed in the book. It will be important to create a safe and open environment where students will be able to process their emotions and reactions when reading the portions of the text that are uncomfortable to read.

Ideas:

1.      (W.9-10.3) Students write a personal narrative using the letter format that Charlie uses throughout the novel. Students should write a narrative reflecting on a time in their life where they went through some sort of personal change that helped define who they are as a person. The teacher should also create a narrative that can be used as an example and to describe the assignment.

2.      (W.9-10.6) Charlie loves creating mixtapes throughout the novel.  Students can create their own mixtape that uses music that tell the story of their life. Using YouTube students can find 5 – 10 songs that are meaningful to them and then create a playlist (aka a modern day mixtape) that can be shared on a classroom blog. Students should be asked to explain how the each song relates to a specific moment in their life as they embed the songs they use in their post. This will allow students to get to know each other in a unique way and will take advantage of technology.

3.      (RL.9-10.3) Students can choose a character of their choice and explore how that character develops throughout the text to advance the plot of the text or one of the themes. This assignment may be less fun but will help students understand the importance of character development within a text. Most of the characters in this text have multiple conflicting motivations making this assignment easy to do in the classroom.

Final Thoughts: Stay away from the movie! It is not worth the class time to show. If students are interested in watching the movie encourage them to do so outside of class and after the unit is completed. 

Readicide

                Honestly, because I have never had a bad reading experience I find it hard to believing that so many kids can get around reading for class. Looking back I can remember the few kids who would explain how sparknotes was their life and they hated reading but I never thought it was as bad to the point that a book was written about how schools contribute to the death of reading. One of the things I enjoyed learning about was that students who have fun reading had better standardized testing scores. I fully believe that reading should be fun and that educators need to make reading fun again. Every child begins with a love of reading. But throughout the education system that passion gets foggy and ultimately is gone by the time high school graduation comes around.

                I also like that Gallagher suggested the idea presented that schools are setting up students to fail. One of the things that come to mind as I reflect on this book is the idea of a dearth of books in schools. It was interesting for me to think about how schools have to be committed to helping students become better readers. Having a variety of interesting texts for students to interact with is necessary for students to become actually interested in reading. If I did not have the opportunity to explore the variety of books in elementary school I am sure I would not be as enthused about reading as I am as an adult. As a future educator I want to fight back against readicide. I want to take a stand and help students love reading. It’s a shame that we live in a society where hating to read is celebrated. I liked this text and I and excited to have it in my library as I pursue my educational goals.