Response to "Readicide"

          We don’t want sustained silent reading to give way to test preparation.  SSR seems to be the sacrificial lamb in school districts throughout America and, by and large, teachers are going with the flow.  The burden of all the standards for children to pass school, and the temptation to “teach to the test” has the minds of teachers weighed down, forgetting their responsibility as teachers.  Kelly Gallagher reminds us of why we chose this profession and encourages us to be the voice in our schools to keep reading from dying.  In his book Readicide, Gallagher give us suggestions on how to keep SSR and a good stock of books in our schools, up to going to the local media.  At that point, you as a caring teacher may have to be ready to take a job elsewhere.  In this, I admire the author’s passion and concern for the youth.  Short of having to make some noise within the school district and beyond, I found Gallagher’s ideas of keep reading alive to be quite fun and interesting. 

            Another acronym I learned is FVR, free voluntary reading (pg 42).  That would be a terrific supplement to SSR, if the students and teachers had that option.  The focus here is to let the kids read, read, read.  Whether it’s a classic, or for recreational purposes where they choose their book, the good news is that they look down between pages.  What I am very mindful off, as I begin to plan for and put together my 3-week unit plan, it not to chop up the book and weigh down the curriculum with CCSS standards, like the 122 page monstrosity for To Kill a Mockingbird.  That kind of micromanaging would get any child to hate reading. 

            Some of Gallagher’s ideas I would like to apply, beyond Atwell’s approach of letting kids read large chunks at a time, is “framing” the text.  The baseball analogy on page 95 was brilliant.  We must know when students need guidance and when they are to be turned loose.  I really like the exercise for Hamlet that Gallagher had the seniors do, translating the advice from Laertes’ father to modern English.  That could be a useful exercise for much of Shakespeare.  Bottom line, try to get the kids engaged in lots of reading, so much so they must “come up for air.”

            After reading Tovani’s book on how to get kids to read, followed by Readicide, how to keep them reading, I feel I am very well equipped to interest students in this lifelong activity

A Response to the TPA Lesson Plan Format

           My initial response to this TPA format is that it could easily turn into four or five pages, considering all the material and info it is asking.  There are very many blanks to fill in, so many that the time to complete this could take longer than the class to teach the intended lesson.  I understand that teaching is all about preparation and reflection, and this form covers a good amount of the former, but this just seems to be overkill.   

            All aspiring teachers are well aware of needing to write lesson plans.  This format gives a satisfactory visual of that task.  What I found valuable and worthwhile with this is it does answer the lingering question on lesson plans, for all teachers.  Each lesson should have some “academic language,” or vocabulary.  That is an expectation for most students, let alone teachers, to come away with new, or learned language.  Of course, for teaching purposes we do need the “Learning Objective.” The only other part of the TPA that I found useful is the “Parent and Community Connections.” We as educators need to be proactive in reaching out to our communities and should always make it clear to the parents our availability to answer questions or concerns. 

            The only real question or concern I have about this is about how much info we need to answer each question.  The question: “What examples of personal cultural or community assets are you building your lesson on?” Is this our opportunity to begin a lesson with a piece of popular culture, or a topic that is of interest to our students?   

            All overwhelming aside, I can see some real benefits for beginning teachers to complete these daily.  This forces the teacher to step outside of the class and the confines of the lesson and see the whole picture.  This provides a roadmap, albeit a complicated one, to the beginning of class to the end, what the teacher intends for her students to get out of the class that day.  It keeps teachers on track and focused on a state-minded requirement.  This can only lead to efficiency in the classroom. 

            What is problematic, I see, with this format is the repetition.  In the part that covers “Lesson Connections,” the questions in that section, if not repeated, are bureaucratic and could be streamlined.  For example, prior knowledge and previous lessons and previous learning, I feel, could all be funneled into one question.   

Thoughts on Cris Tovani's I Read it but Don't Get it

           As I began my practicum, I noticed that a substantial amount of my class does not seem to take reading very seriously.  It could be that they don’t feel like reading, are being lazy, or they could just be having trouble understanding the material.  In reviewing my students’ notebooks I do notice a few that, I can tell, have read the assignment, but most either didn’t do the work or they have duplicated someone else’s material.  Cris Tovani’s I Read it but Don’t Get it is a very timely read as we begin our work with adolescents. 

            Tovani has provided a very valuable guide for secondary school teachers, in spite of getting resistance from colleagues who don’t feel they should have to teach their students good reading techniques.  She explains that we are all “readers,” but the key to success is to be a “good” reader.  Not only do we want to encourage all of our students to be readers, but many need to be taught better reading techniques and, to be “lifelong” readers.  Admittedly, it has been a few years since I was a secondary student.  I don’t recall ever “decoding” but I do recall reciting, reciting the words out loud or in my head.  A majority of the time I would just stare at the pages, being mindful to turn them every couple of minutes just to make it look like I was reading.  I really struggled as an adolescent with reading. 

            Tovani has some very valuable and proven techniques in her pages to suggest to struggling readers.  I really like the logic behind “modeling” for our students, including reading out loud.  That we listen to the voices in our heads to tell if we are maintaining focus.  I think the “Comprehension Constructor” puts the skimming for details and thinking out loud, prior to the reading, on paper and will be very useful.  The exercise for just looking for certain details in a reading, like the house example, sure helps take away from the daunting nature of a reading assignment.  I told myself throughout this book too, “check the students’ for background knowledge.”

            My cooperating teacher and another staff member at my high school have arranged for me to teach reading to struggling 9^th graders, beginning next semester. This will be in addition to my content area classes.  I can’t express how thrilled I am to be given this opportunity.  This book will be my guide for each lesson I plan.  I feel very prepared now. 

What is Social Justice? Why is it Important in our Classrooms

         The most accurate definition of “Social Justice” I found this week, that I like is “a system that promotes equity.” The term Social Justice can have highly charged political connotations.  In one article I found it referred to the “leftist tenets of ‘social justice’ founded on the notion that capitalism and economic inequality are evils that must be replaced by a socialist system. . .” The article is Teaching Social Justice, Anti-Americanism, and Leftism in the K-12 Classroom. While looking on JSTOR I found an article on Teacher Education that attempted to separate the heavy politics from the concept.  I feel very fortunate to have found Merging Social Justice and Accountability: Educating Qualified and Effective Teachers, by Mary Poplin and John Rivera.  This program instructs teacher candidates to focus on equity, excellence, and integrity.”

            The primary focus of Poplin and Rivera was the achievement gap between students by race, ethnicity, and class beginning in 1970.  They implemented this program in the mid-1990s and, after a few years saw that the achievement gap persisted in spite of their efforts.  The two educators sought to bring some balance to the teacher candidate learning so they could share it with their students.  A major flaw in the program was that university educators were favoring critical multiculturalism over the accountability movement.  Critical multiculturalism had entered into the political realm, deferring to leftists ideologies of Marxism, postmodernism, critical feminist theory, ideologies that the poor and even immigrant communities were rejecting. This was being taught without any time spent on competing ideologies or accountability in achievement.  Teacher candidates were encouraged to teach all types of pedagogies, as well as being skillful in English language instruction and strongly urged to work with families and communities. 

            With emphasis on testing, teachers here are required to maintain a balance between being accountable and using their own individual gifts as teachers.  The program also sought to address many paradoxes, including freedom and responsibility, diversity and unity, rigor and joy.  The program sought to place teacher candidates in high achieving, poor, minority communities even though the trend has been to test the failure rate of such communities. 

Links to articles:

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=715

http://www.jstor.org/stable/view/10.2307/3496988?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=merging&searchText=social&searchText=justice&searchText=and&searchText=accountability&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dmerging%2Bsocial%2Bjustice%2Band%2Baccountability%26amp%3Bacc%3Don%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff

Critical Pedagogy and Popular Culture in an Urban Secondary English Classroom

            First of all, I am very impressed with this group of educators.  They put together a SEVEN-week unit plan.  So, a three-week unit plan should be nothing!?!  I am even more impressed with how they got their groups of seniors to participate, to make the effort to learn about canonical literature and the other classics so as to pass the Advanced Placement exam.  Being the disadvantage school of the area, North High School took full advantage of what was available to engage the students in critical pedagogy.  Disengaging from the traditional application of “multiculturalism,” Morrell, et al, sought for their students to share common conclusions and understandings of a piece of literature, music, or film, drawing from the everyday experiences of each other. 

I really liked that the unit plan infused hip hop music as a way of bringing kids into the lessons of poetry.  Teaching such applications as meter, rhythm, and cadence can be dry if only a classic poem is given as an example.  The class was given the opportunity to present, perhaps, their favorite piece of music to the class and how it relates to classic poetry, something they are likely to take with them beyond school.  And who could possibly dispute the “public” viewing of popular movies, such as A Time to Kill, and giving the class a chance to agree on the outrage of the unspeakable violation of the daughter.  

The overall critique of this application of critical pedagogy has to be satisfactory.  It moved the seniors to action while they still had time to make a difference.  What made this possible was a civically minded girl in the class who, no doubt, had been given a voice during that semester and the courage to ask her classmates, “What are you going to do about (the injustice)?”

Each one of these activities I would try in my classroom, regardless of where it is taught.  To get students engaged in critical pedagogy, any students, may need to start with an outside interest, such as music, or sports, or drama. 

Critical Pedagogy: A Look at the Major Concepts

            What I found interesting about The Critical Pedagogy Reader is the number of possible cultures and subcultures that are prevalent in our schools.  I believe we want all of our students to think critically about what they see and read in the “dominant” culture.  At the same time, we want to equip them to be productive, law abiding citizens in our (dare I say it) capitalist society.  It appears that, depending on what curriculum is taught and in what part of town, the dominant culture will benefit, will get and maintain the higher paying jobs, and the subordinate culture will remain at a level lower, based on race, gender, and class.  I am having trouble accepting that this is the result of “hegemony” by the dominant culture. 

McLaren does touch on “Social Reproduction” but does acknowledge that is possible f or a student to move out of one class and into another, either up or down.  I agree that we want students to learn about themselves and the world they live in and give them the power to change, or transform, if called to do so. Apparently, the bare bones “knowledge” a student brings with him that first day of school is their struggle in life based on race, class, or gender.  The idea is to take that knowledge, share it with the educator and the other students to bring about collective action, to transform the world they live in.  I believe students are more than free to assemble and make a difference but I don’t think it is the “dominant” culture, or anyone that is holding them back.  The article even took the leap to convince the reader that The Cosby Show is just part of the hegemony of the dominant culture to “effectively secure” their power.  That the portrayal is inaccurate because most blacks are not living like that.  I’m not sure, either, that “punk” groups as a subculture were rebelling against the dominant culture.  That phase was likely a rebellion against parents.   

I will certainly be mindful of how I react when I call on boys in my classroom compared to how I do when I call on girls.  Perhaps I am instinctively perpetuating a hidden agenda by treating each sex differently, I’ll wait and see.  I believe that boys and girls are different, for better or for worse, and I hope to provide a nurturing environment as an educator for all my students to grow. 

Chapter 2 of Pedegogy of the Oppressed

             Based on our class discussions so far, primarily of giving our students a voice and the teacher learning right along with the students, this is a very appropriate reading.  Chapter 2 of the Pedagogy of the Oppressed gives a highly contrarian view of our first reading, Discussion in a Democratic society.  Freire’s reading is a direct contradiction to discussion in a classroom, where full participation by each student is strongly encouraged.  I don’t believe that any teacher in America will seek to “dehumanize” their students this way, nor see them as depositories of information given by the “authority,” the teacher.  Freire’s reading, however, does highlight the need for us as teachers to allow our students to think critically, and to be cognizant learners and not “passive” entities.

                Being apparently from an oppressive society, Freire uncovers the dark world where young minds are not nurtured, but instead “adapted.” Where reality is a given, and not explored.  Fortunately, the United States is too advanced and liberalized to devolve in to this kind of oppression.  He gives us concepts that we here in the US take for granted, such as “teacher-student with students-teachers” through dialogue.  He calls the opposite of this the teacher-student contradiction to where “the teacher knows everything and the student knows nothing,” and how that must be reconciled.  He gives a pretty chilling example of what an oppressed person would say on page 7, where the peasant replies, “There would be no one to say: ‘This is a world.’”

                Paulo Freire validates this “problem-posing” education that we seem to already do in abundance in America, to aspiring teachers.  Problem-posing education, as opposed to the banking system of educating that he criticizes, develops in the students their power to perceive critically, to stimulate their critical faculties.  He vividly illustrates that the banking method “directly or indirectly reinforces men’s fatalistic perception of their situation.”  A very dark and frightening world of no hope if allowed to persist.  The much more enlightened and liberating problem-posing method, on the other hand, presents the fatalistic perception as a problem, an object of the learner’s cognition, and how to move against it.

 

A Response-Based Approach to Reading Literature

            There seems to be a need for a balanced approach in reading in high schools.  Weather the students read for discursive purposes or literary, it appears they can get both because the two methods are said to work in tandem.  In classes like History and Science, the discursive approach, mainly one point of reference, would be the primary.  In English Language Arts, the literary approach, more than one point of reference, is primary.  What I like about Judith Langer’s A Response-Based Approach to Reading Literature, is the need for ELA to fulfill the goal of the literary approach, to make reading deeper and more interesting.  Instead of preparing the class to answer multiple choice questions, this approach invites students to broaden their “horizons.” 

My background in history has made a majority of my college reading for discursive reasons.  In history, a class can discuss what happened, can engage in a lot of speculation, and will be equipped with the correct answers come test time.  In ELA, if a quality piece of literature is placed before students, and they each have time to read, they can acquire so much more. A teacher that has internalized this literary process gives students “possibilities to ponder and interpretations to develop and question and defend.” This is what English Language Arts teachers want for all their students, a student based approach, as opposed to getting stuck in the structure of lesson plans. 

The focus of the instruction the article provided is quite a step from the day-to-day lesson plan and appears to give students plenty of voice.  I can see all kinds of rationale for my future lesson plans, mainly to “begin the literary experience.” Much is required to build around the students’ understanding of what they are reading.  This should go way beyond vocabulary review and plot summary.  I really like the time given for overall discussion, including encouraging the students’ “wonderings and hunches even more so than absolutes.” I would really learn a lot from my ELA students if I am able to make the time for good quality reading, followed by thorough discussions.

The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts Instruction in Grades 6-12

           I do appreciate that the CCSS requires, even 9^th graders, to “analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone” in informational texts, as well as in reading literature.  By the 11^th and 12^th grade, they are required to look for “inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.” This is quite a chore for a majority of high school students and may require deviating from a “standard” curriculum to accomplish this.  I am heartened that the handout acknowledges that the standards to not specify what or how to teach. These standards provide for the teacher a “what is possible” for our kids to acquire in ELA. 

            For adolescents to learn these requirements, a good place to start in reading is for each student to have a book or a novel that narrates a topic of interest to that individual student.  If the school is going to adopt a curriculum written by the state or entity that is far removed from the school district, this may be difficult.  A student, or student(s), may not grasp the story line in an English classic, right away.  The state, or entity, may be comprised of the “dominant” culture and for a child in a “non-dominant” culture to be able to demonstrate the required standard, may have to happen in increments.  It will be up to the creativity of the teacher and the depth of collaboration with the English department to establish a curriculum that is not “fragmented,” and to see that the students understand and can demonstrate the knowledge.  This is not to say that all dominant culture students will succeed at CCSS and that all non-dominant students will not.  I believe it will be up to the individual teachers, as the handout states, “perceive the Common Core State Standards as a road map for developing your own curriculum that is relevant to your unique students.”

            When I read that the CCSS will be connected to the assessments the states adopt to measure the students’ learning, I would hope the teachers would be allowed plenty of input.  It is obvious that the standards and the assessment be linked and make sense.  I believe, also, that teachers be permitted to avoid multiple choice tests, depending on the student, to test for understanding.  I would let the students demonstrate to me, orally, the above requirements in a book as simple as The Hardy Boys before moving them on to Great Expectations.