Reflection

Although this semester was quite a change from the fall, I have to say I feel like I learned more about theory and how to teach the students this semester. First of all, our class was awesome!!! I feel like we approached some very controversial topics and we all were able to listen to each other's opinions and differences and still have our own opinions respectfully. Although I really wasn't a fan of Jago, I did appreciate a few of her lesson ideas. (Which is what the class was about!) Plus the book was actually enjoyable to read, and I would love to talk and have conversations with her about teaching, rather than just disagree and stop reading entirely. Also I really liked making these lesson plans and seeing them presented. Not only could we look at them from a student's point of view and why they would or would not like something, but we could sit and think about all the many ways we could make a lesson either more or less creative based on structure. The readings for the language theories were a bit dry, I really enjoyed that class discussion and was able to incorperate that into a lot of the class this semester (Firestone blog for Foot, and chapter blogs for you!) To be honest, I still haven't really thought about the pairing project yet, but I am enjoying the young adult book. (Since I am finally reading the right Percy Jackson...) I think that I learned a great deal from this class, and are going to really miss our discussions and rants!

Chapter 7

I've come to the conclusion that I simply cannot decide if I like this text or not. Jago is constantly going back and forth on topics that I think are really good and bad ideas.
"To the extent that these tests help ensure that every student has had access to a rigorous curriculum, I applaud them." pg 148. Although I am not sure if she has taught in a state that does this, but from a student perspective learning about teaching in those states, they do not deserve applause. As a student the OGT was a joke that the teachers were freaking out about. Now, on my way to becoming a teacher, I fully understand why. But being an honors student in high school, these tests were just a waste of a week. And also, I've heard many teachers complain that since because they are teaching toward a test and a state score they cannot teach in ways that are enjoyable.

But as the chapter continued I really enjoy her teaching activities. In class, we were discussing ways to make lessons more open ended and creative. The Shakespeare Election was a great idea. It was a very neat way to have to students "Close read of the text, Character analysis, Drawing inferences, Application and Evaluation." pg 156. This reminded me of during our mini assessments of our lesson plans on Tuesday we were thinking about how to think about the characters of The Great Gatsby in a different lens, whether it is through the eyes of another narrator, setting or storyline all together.

Chapter 6

I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS CHAPTER. As most know it is my teaching dream to teach a Shakespeare course, so reading about teaching the Oddessy had me thinking back and forth the entire time. I felt like a lot of this chapter was straight forward but there was a lot of great ideas on how to keep students thinking about character development, thinking about the story piece by piece then later seeing the whole picture, how students can utilize their pasts in order to show their understanding. When thinking about incorperating technology in the classroom, and after seeing the teacher of the year's presentation earlier this semester I began thinking about how I would want my students to show their understand of how to create a summary and still show their comprehesion of a passage of a piece of writing from Shakespeare or Homer. Using the texing website that allows students to show their answers, it would be a neat concept for them to think about trying to summarize writing in 165 characters and still showing that they read the text and understand it. This chapter reminded me of this idea when reading about the studen'ts assignements to compare heroes and use one word answers to describe characters.

Chapter 4

This chapter is a great way to show how all four learning theories can be put into actions at the same time. At the elements of literature, story structure and literary devices can all but used and taught in different manners, but there are a few theories that shout out to me more than others. For example: elements of literature can be taught with the Langeuage as Artifact where are teacher spits out definations, but it could also be taught with Langauge as Expression. I really enjoyed the example of mixing the elements with futher knowledges yet still giving the student but use their creativey and knowlegde from another resource. I really like that idea of story structures being taught as Language as Development. A teacher can use the Freytag's Pyramid and monitor the student's learning as they read the book. Not only can language theories be put to use here, but also the student's can think further into how the author intended on the book being read. For example: they can create the pyramid in the views of gender issues, or social class. The students can begin to ask questions and try to answer them on their own. Ending with literary devices... leading into poetry :) .... I really like the idea of using graphic organizers and being able to watch the students travel through the text, and prepare them for a stronger more complicated text.

Chapter 2

As I'm reading through this chapter I am slowly starting to connect the dots. "Every time I ask a group of teachers to examine the first pages of a classic and then ask them to describe the challenges this text poses for student, the first response is invariably 'vocabulary'." (pg 21) This is a major problem is high school classrooms today... and part of it can be contributed to teachers opting to erase canonical text and replacing them with young adult literature. Another part can be contributed to home life, where students do not read at home, therefore their vocabulary level is lower than those who do. I really liked the author's lesson of using the book mark as a tool for students to mark down words they do not know then going over them in class and in groups. This leads to multiple ideas and theories being completed at the same time. When students work individually they can begin building their own vocabulary with their struggles in finding the meaning of the mystery word. But then when going over the words in class, using methods of prefixes, suffixes, and roots and context clues they are beginning to break into the zone of proximal development by using things they have already learned to order to build their vocabulary. When it comes to "knowing" a word, I feel that a student does not need to be able to write out a dictionary definition, but be able to use the word in a sentence using context clues as a means of showing their knowledge of the word. Even when mother, father, and elementary teachers read to their young children, the child understands what is happening in the story and maybe without even getting a clear and concise meaning of the word.

Chapter 5

I really liked this chapter, simply because poetry is one of my favorite things in an English education. It is the perfect time to blend academics of literary terms with student's own knowledge in a creative fashion. I liked the idea of thinking out loud, and secretly that how a lot of songwriters write their music. They simple ad-lib out loud until something sounds good. In a educational standpoint, thinking out loud forces students to think about how they feel/think about the poem. They can gain a greater understanding by thinking critically and interpreting with their past experiences in mind.

Chapter 3

It is quite clear from this chapter that the author expects a lot from her students. As they read an average of 20 books a year, that is a lot of reading for one student. Personally I would be quite irritated as a student, with the feeling "Does she not understand we have other classes?" I feel that assigning twice as many books for the year leaves no time for critical thought development. Students who are plowing through books seem like they are only learning plot and themes. It would be quite impressive that they could understand the in depth analysis that the classic books call for. I do like the fact that she has the students perform literature circles. Those are great times for students to talk about the books. "California's standardized testing program significantly cuts into instructional time" (pg 45). This seems the be the theme all throughout the country. The government is forcing education to become standardized leaving less time to teach critical thought.