Final: Learning Letter

Hey Sean,

I positively loved this course! Because of this course, I have an entirely new outlook on the role literature plays in a secondary classroom. This course has helped me get excited about teaching literature to my students.

First, I really enjoyed the classroom set up we had. I appreciated that it was entirely student run and focused on us as future teachers of English. I valued the regular discussion we participated in because all of us are not strictly English majors, so there was a variety of thoughts and opinions because of everyone's endorsement backgrounds and different teaching experiences. Through the discussions and assigned readings, I learned to appreciate the idea of democratic discussion and the role it can play in a secondary classroom. Democratic discussions allow students to experience human growth and appreciate for the variety of opinions their classmates have to offer. I also have a new outlook on the empowerment literacy can offer a person. Through education and literacy, students have an outlet to better themselves and the society they live in. I cannot convince all of my students to become English teachers, but I can teach them the power literacy can offer. Since reading Cris Tovani's book, I feel that I have added many tools to my teacher toolkit. I have always been a lover of reading, but I cannot convince all of my students to love and appreciate literature like I do. Therefore, through the information, insight, and resources Tovani has in her book, I think that I will be able to help all of my students when they are assigned to read, regardless of whether or not they enjoy reading. I will not be able to foster a love of reading in all of my students, but through her tools I will be able to make reading easier to the resistant reader. If I can teach my students the tools and strategies to comprehend and get through a text, then I will be very satisfied.

My favorite portion of the class was the book talks. My reading wish list has expanded like crazy since the short presentations! My peers have offered many different book choices that I think can be introduced to a variety of students and give them something they may find interesting. In my future classroom, I plan on having a small library, and I want to fill it with a variety of books so that hopefully there will be something interesting for all of my students. Thanks to my peers, I now have a different view of adolescent literature than I did before. I now know that graphic novels and nonfiction texts can have a powerful impact on students, instead of just fiction. They have also provided me with new lessons and activities that I had never thought of before. It was great to hear the types of literature my peers were interested in and the different ways they want to impact their students with the literature.

Finally, because of the mini lessons, I was able to reflect on myself as a teacher and how I see teaching literature to be the most beneficial. My peers have demonstrated some great lessons with ideas that I think will translate very well into any English class. Thanks to the variety of lessons, I now have more tools to add to my tool kit so that I can always try something new with my students. I think that especially with literature, it is important to incorporate a variety of activities and projects so that students can get into the text and hopefully enjoy the experience of reading it. Also, from the perspective of being a student during the mini lessons, I was able to experience what teaching styles worked for me and which ones really engaged me and made me want to participate. I think that it is invaluable to reflect on myself as a student and how I learn with literature, so that I can understand my students better. I cannot assume that all students learn the way that I do, but through my experiences with the lessons and the feedback my peers gave, I can better understand how to make literature approachable and fun to a variety of students.

Overall, this course has been priceless to me! I cannot thank you or my peers enough for the abundance of information and new outlooks on literature I have acquired throughout these ten weeks. It is my hope that when I have my own classroom, I will be able to implement some of the things I have learned, as well as make literature not so terrifying to my students.

Thank you once again for this great experience, and I will see you Winter quarter!
Have a great break and holiday season.

Response to American Born Chinese

This book was definitely different from any other book I've read. I had never thought of reading graphic novels before, and I didn't really know what they were until I got to college. Even now, I feel a little bit of resistance towards graphic novels because they are not your traditional book. I think I am resistant to the graphic novel because I am very comfortable reading a traditional novel with no pictures. I find comfort in creating images in my head based on what the words are saying, so having pictures in front of me is something that will take some getting used to. I noticed that I didn't give as much attention to the pictures as I should have. I was really focused on the words, and not so much the nonlinguistic representation that was happening with the pictures.

Even though I had trouble feeling comfortable reading this book, I think it is a great text for any classroom because it gives students a different way of reading. Instead of so much pressure being put on students comprehending what a text is saying through words, the students can give more attention to the skill of nonlinguistic representation. Students will be able to work on constructing meaning through the pictures instead of through words and paragraphs. The limited amount of text can also make this book more appealing to the resistant reader because there will not be a lot to read. Also, for students who worry about how long it will take to finish a novel, they will feel comfortable knowing that this book will not take them a lot of time to read because there is a focus on pictures instead of words. I think that introducing students to multiple kinds of literature will help foster a desire to read more because once you introduce the students to literature that interests them, they will hopefully go out and discover other books that they find interesting. A graphic novel could be the key to getting resistant readers comfortable with reading.

Response to Night

WOW! What an emotionally difficult book to read! I had never read a piece of literature such as Night before, and let me tell you that I loved it was nonfiction. Reading nonfiction had never crossed my mind before, and especially when it comes to Holocaust literature, I only think of The Diary of Anne Frank. However, I am now immensely interested in reading my nonfiction pieces of literature because those are real world stories by real world people. I think when any student reads this book, they will be emotionally affected and floured at the notion that the details actually happened about 60 years ago. The details in the story are gruesome and very descriptive, but they are the true events that the author witnessed and was a part of. I think that students today can greatly benefit from this novel because it is nonfiction, and it will remind students of the horrors hatred can inflict upon the world. If anything, this novel is a great reminder to appreciate humanity and fight for social justice. If I was going to teach this novel, I would print off a map and highlight the journey the author took and the different places him and his father were taken after they were ripped away from their homes. I think that the visual journey of the author will make the details more concrete to the students and allow them to see how many different regions the war affected. Overall, I think this book is a great piece of nonfiction that should continue to be taught in the classroom in order to ensure that students are aware of the devastation mankind can inflict on one another when prejudice and hatred consume people.

Response to Romeo and Juliet

I think it is safe to say that Romeo and Juliet is the most well known Shakespeare play. I say it is the most well known play because of the many remakes that have been made about the play, the quoted lines of "Romeo Romeo, where for art though Romeo" and "Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet," and the constant references that are made about two families who hate each other and forbid their children to be together. I think that one of the reasons all high school freshman read this story, is because of the familiarity and connections students can make to the characters, and the struggles they face. I think the play represents a great opportunity for students to connect with the characters and strife's they face as young teenagers. Some students might currently be in a situation where they parents forbid them to date someone.

If I was to teach this play, or any play by Shakespeare, I would introduce my students to Sparknotes No Fear. This sight is found on Sparknotes.com, and it is dedicated to Shakespeare and putting his plays into modern English that students can better understand. One problem I face when I read Shakespeare is his use of old English. Even though that was the standard English at the time, people today do not speak or write like that, so it can be very challenging to comprehend what is being said. Therefore, I think that No Fear Sparknotes is great for any student because it has the original Shakespeare text right next to the modern English version. This is great because students can read the play in modern English while still being able to see the same passage in old English. If I was the teacher have a hard time comprehending old English, I cannot expect my students to be able to. Thus, a modern English version can break down barriers and resistance to Shakespeare because it will be comprehendible to the students, and they will be able to get involved with the story better.

Response to Alexie

This was the first time I had read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Indian, and I loved it! It was such a great story about pursuing dreams and not settling. I also really liked that it was based in Spokane, so I instantly felt a connection to the story because it was set in an area I am familiar with. I think that if I ever got a teaching job in the Spokane area, student would feel an instant connection to the story just like I did. When a story feels familiar to you, it is easier to get into the story and feel a connection to it. I also think this story would be good for any 9-12 grade English class because it deals with issues the students are facing. Issues such as discrimination, masturbation, first love, and trying to become successful. The book is written from the adolescent perspective, so I think that will easily resonate with students and allow them to start personally connecting to the story. Another interesting part of the book is that Alexie includes a lot of drawings to enhance what he has just written about. The pictures will be a great way to break up reading and simplify the text for students who are resistant to reading. It would be a good idea to design a lesson around some of the drawings in order for students to understand the impact they have being combined with text. Another important aspect of the story, is that it is nonfiction. By reading a nonfiction story, students can feel inspired by Alexie's determination to become successful and not another alcoholic reservation Indian like so many people in his community have become. Overall, I think this book is very beneficial for students and is a great reading! I hope at some point in my career, I have the opportunity to teach this novel.

Response to TPA

I like the TPA we got in this class versus the box one I have to complete for the education program. I like this lesson outline a lot better because there is not so much information that I have to include. I find the simplicity of this outline is more compatible for how I think and organize my thoughts. I like the simplicity of it because since I am writing these lesson plans mainly for myself, I do not find it necessary include every single detail of the lesson. I am more of a bullet person because I can visually see what is first, next, and then last in my lesson. That is  why I really like this outline because it is broken down into the main chunks of a lesson and all I need to do is bullet my information for each outline. I believe that for my learning style, I would for the most part be a visual learner, so when I see a bulleted outline, my mind is better able to comprehend the information and apply it, instead of it being in paragraph box form. I think the point of a lesson plan is for the teacher to have a workable outline that is compatible with the way they think. If I cannot process a lesson plan that is written in paragraph form, then it is not a useful tool for me to use. Therefore, I really like the TPA we have to do for our mini lessons because I will be able to work thought it better than the original TPA. Even though the information required is almost the same, the simple difference of changing it's visual appearance makes all the difference to me.

Response to Differentiated Instruction

When I think of differentiated instruction, I think of the section on the TPA lesson plan that asks what I will do for my students when it comes to differentiated instruction. I usually will make comments such as I will do different activities that touch on the different learning sensory, and if I have a special needs student, I will state what accommodations I will make for them. However, after reading my article on differentiated instruction, I now realize it is a deeper process than I initially thought. The article I found stresses the importance of the whole school and staff being involved with differentiated instruction. The principle or vice principle should be readily available with information and support when it comes to teachers implementing differentiation. But once the whole staff is on the same page, changes in the way teachers see their students learning start to happen. First, teachers will establish learning goals for their students and invite them to participate in shaping the classroom procedures, making choices that are the best for them, and thinking of ways to make the classroom more effective. It is important that each student works toward essential understandings and skills. I also like that my article gave examples of what differentiated instruction looks like, so that when it comes to my TPAs, I will know how to better answer that portion. The instruction could look like many things: establishing clear goals, but leaving the way of achieving them open, being reflective and responsive to the needs of the school, students, and teachers, providing support to teachers based on their needs, and having the staff create a range of levels of support for the teachers comfort. The article did mention though that in order for differentiated instruction to take place in the school and be successful, the administration needs to have a course-length development for the teachers, so that they can be aware of what differentiated instruction is and the steps they need to make in their classrooms to make this happen.

I think that this type of instruction applies to ELA because it would require the teacher to constantly make changes and do a variety of activities in order to touch on most students learning styles, and to make the text comprehensible in more ways than just reading and doing questions. ELA teachers are given a great opportunity to implement differentiated instruction because of the variety of texts they are required to teach. In order to make literature fun and meaningful to their students, the teachers need to make activities that are different and always changing, so that the students do not get board.