Genre Reflection 2

Official Response # 3

My Experience Overall
          The semester is coming to an end.  GOODNESS, GRACIOUS...Where did the time go? Well I can certainly tell you that most of my time this semester has been devoted to my experience as a pre-service teacher.  This semester has definitely been rewarding in terms of experiences, in and out of the classroom.  It's been especially refreshing to engage with assignments that I can actually apply within my subject matter.  Another refreshing element that I have encountered is the planning of conceptual units.  I had the opportunity to plan and teach a conceptual unit in my placement school (my experience is outlined in my genre reflection post) which has facilitated my understanding of the importance of continuity and meaningful teaching moments.
          I've also particularly enjoyed engaging in our semester planning activity.  Future pre-service teachers...This is a project that you won't want to put off to the last minute.  It cannot be done the night before it is due.  It is helpful that our professor has scheduled a number of workshops in which we are able to get feedback on different components of the semester plan project such as our semester calendar, lesson plans, writing activities, and etc.  It is totally up to you how much effort you want to put in for the workshop but it is best to have as much of a genuine effort as possible to get the most out of these workshops.  These semester plans are imperative to our planning processes as future educators.  I have enjoyed creating and modifying activities that I have participated in the past.  I have spent countless hours modifying my semester plan and I plan to return to it even after I have submitted it for a grade.  I look forward to that pivotal moment when I get to engage with these types of activities as a professional in the field of education.

A Note on the DMAC (Dual Major Across Colleges)
I just wanted to write a note to future pre-service teachers considering DMAC programs that universities may have to offer.  I chose to double major in English literature through the College Liberal Arts and Sciences at my university because I ran out of classes to take for my pre-student teaching semester (this semester).  If you are considering this program, consider that it will be significantly more work than your normal semesters.  Not only will you have to balance your placement/method requirements but you will also have to balance your additional coursework.  Consider this route if you are up to a semester full of challenges.  I've enjoyed taking the additional courses to satisfy the requirement for the DMAC because it allows me extra experience with research and knowledge of English literature.  I knew it was going to be a tough semester coming in but I have found it especially rewarding (and stressful at times).

A Note on LGBTQ(Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transgender/Questioning) YAL(Young Adult Literature)
This week we were assigned to read articles over bullying and LGBTQ.  Up to this point in my professional education I have not encountered issues regarding LGBTQ.  I attended the KATE (Kansas Association for Teachers of English) conference and one of the presentations was over LGBTQ and how to create a comfortable and safe environment for all students.  I have several friends who are homosexual but until this point, I have never considered how to integrate LGBTQ literature or themes in to my classroom, until now.  I plan to integrate a variety of books into my classroom library and even curriculum, including books that have LGBTQ themes and conflicts.  I have read many testimonies through my assigned reading that it has changed both the lives of homosexual students, as well as heterosexual students who were vehemently against homosexuality.

It is our duty as educators to address every derogative term and statement in the classroom.  Statements such as "that's so gay" or "you're such a fag" will not be tolerated in my classroom.  I will not be a bystander allowing this type of behavior to occur.  I will make every moment a teaching moment and these types of moments should be addressed immediately.  Many teachers think that issues regarding sexual orientation are irrelevant to the curriculum but that is because many teachers choose to neglect and ignore these issues.  These issues, when relevant to literature study and literacy, can facilitate a broader understanding of the diverse nature of human conditions.  Students have the right to read what they are interested in to reflect their personal situations, emotions, and opinions.   I want to make sure that every student that walks through my door is under the firm understanding that bigotry and discriminatory acts will not be tolerated and that these actions will result in consistent and firm consequences.

Genre Reflection Publication

This is the hard copy of my Genre Reflection.  I originally chose to reflect via poetry but I felt that it didn't completely capture a genuine teaching experience.  just in case the pictures are too blurry, the story is provided below.  I hope that you enjoy reading my reflection!

Mr Slattery

What to do…

Everybody wants to be something-a real somebody, something that defines that somebody. Mr. Slattery grew up in a small town in Kansas and ever since he was a young runt he wanted to be remembered for making his mark on an entire generation.  He went to high school; he completed community college and received his Associates degree.  He did everything he could to set up his future.  In high school, he wanted to be a pharmacist, but there wasn’t enough human interaction for him. 

Mr. Slattery is extremely extroverted and this allowed him to excel in journalism.  He thought he finally reached his decision, “I’ll become a journalist!” Yet this still wasn’t the perfect match for him. If he were a journalist, he would primarily report the news, coming short of influencing an entire generation. Even writing opinion columns wouldn’t allow him the influencing factor that he so desired. 

Freshman year of College

Mr. Slattery was enjoying a steamy cup of coffee in the Conq Corral with a classmate (that was the café located on campus at his Community College) and an epiphany struck him.   It took him a while to come to this realization, 18 whole years, but he finally concluded that his skills in writing and reading were primarily due to his influential teachers and professors.  “If I were to become an English teacher, I could help students learn to appreciate the art of writing and reading.  I’m going to go see my advisor and see what our school has to offer for teacher preparation courses.” 

Many semesters later….

Mr. Slattery is now a super senior at the State University and has furthered his professional education, in pursuit to become a teacher of English/Language Arts.  Super is the correct word to describe his emotional state and exhausted would be the relative word to describe his mental state.  He is now a pre-student teacher and is gaining work experience through a program called Co-Op.  Between a full load of college courses, pre-student teaching, Co-Op and his job at the local grocery store, his most enjoyable experiences are located in the classroom or preparing activities and lesson plans for his conceptual unit that is coming up in a few weeks.  Mr. Slattery is establishing his identity and pedagogical practices one day at a time. 

He has the opportunity to teach a conceptual unit which will be his first time teaching consecutive lessons that correlate to one another.  Although Mr. Slattery considers this as an opportunity, it is a requirement for his education program.  This allows him to engage in the process of design and planning for a weeklong unit. He has been in his placement classroom for a couple of weeks now and he has students’ names, classroom procedures, and expectations all down.  It was now time to discuss the unit of study that he would choose for his conceptual unit.

“Well we are going to start our unit over Night by Elie Wiesel in the beginning of October, would you like to do that?” said his cooperating teacher.

“I’ve actually never read that book before, but I’ve heard that it is a powerful book over the Holocaust” said Mr. Slattery.

“Well we’re going to spend much more than a week with it since we only have one class copy.  We’re going to have to read it in class and discuss as we go.  You could plan activities that build on their background knowledge.  Most of them have had a unit over the Holocaust in the eighth grade, so they will have a lot to bring to the table about the Holocaust but I think it would be a great opportunity for you to build background knowledge, introduce themes and other elements that will be brought up throughout the book, and also some other texts, such as poems and other mediums that will make the engagement of this text much more meaningful for these students.  Here, take home a copy and read the preface through chapter two and let me know if you would like to teach this” said his cooperating teacher. 

Only in her fourth year of teaching, his cooperating teacher is a veteran in the art of designing overarching concepts, essential questions, and especially classroom practices such as classroom and time management. She was definitely a tough act to follow, but Mr. Slattery knew that he had a great mentor that he could discuss questions or design concerns with.

“Thanks, I’ll do that!” Mr. Slattery said and departed from her classroom and made his way to his Co-Op.  On his drive across town, Mr. Slattery pondered about the kind of activities he could bring to make for a meaningful experience.  He was definitely a fan of kinesthetic activities such as “Mix Pair Share.”  He was also a fan of the impact that non-print texts make when correlated to the text itself.  He was definitely going to use some of those.  On his drive across town, Mr. Slattery felt enlightened because of the flood of ideas that he could incorporate into his classroom.  This was making him anxious and excited to teach his first unit.

Show time

The last couple of weeks, Mr. Slattery was not only planning his lesson, but working on additional assignments and obligations as well.  Still, he found the appropriate time to plan and design a weeklong lesson that introduce and assess background knowledge, creating a discussion and establishing purpose for reading this text.  Mr. Slattery could feel the power of this book and he hoped that his students could feel it too.  Maybe the activities that he designed would help some of those reluctant readers feel that same power.  Hopefully the activities didn’t make those active readers more reluctant.  He hoped that he wouldn’t completely ruin their education for a week.  These were all the insecurities that passed through Mr. Slattery’s head but he assured himself; he would prevail.  He had spent countless hours developing a PowerPoint presentation, searching for videos that would pair with introductory design and various writing activities.  The preparation is done.  Now it is time to practice his acquired classroom practices and apply them to real life.  It is show time.

Mr. Slattery had everything in order for his introductory lesson and waited for the 8 o’clock bell to ring.  It finally rang and a voice came over the intercom: “Good morning City High School, please stand for the pledge.” 

As he was saying the pledge of allegiance aloud, his mind raced:

“I pledge allegiance to the flag,”

Almost time, ah crap I forgot to turn on the projector.

“Of the United States of America,”

Remember to keep your body position open to all students.

“And to the republic, for which it stands,”

Is everyone here today? Okay looks like we’re missing a few.

“One nation under god,”

Remember, this isn’t a history lesson,

“Indivisible, with liberty and justice,”

but the history is relevant

“For all.”

For a literary discussion.

What perplexed Mr. Slattery was this ability to be saying one thing and thinking about the next thing.  One advice from his professors was “Think fast, talk slowly,” was finally being put to the test. 

  l“Good morning class, I hope you all had a great weekend.  For bell work today we are going to discuss our ‘lit term of the week’ and watch a brief video clip that will help you understand what the term means.  Remember that if you bring an example of the lit term, write it on a sticky note and put it on the board, you will get an extra credit point.  This may not seem like a whole lot but say, you didn’t do so hot on a quiz or an essay, the combined extra credit points from every week could boost your total score for this class” said Mr. Slattery as he introduced the “lit term of the week” which was the word archetype. 

Following the bell work activity, Mr. Slattery then went over the day’s agenda and moved on to the next activity, which was an introduction to the book that will be read in class.  “Remember class, take notes today in your thinking notes, I will give you directions as how to label each section as we are proceeding throughout today’s lesson,” said Mr. Slattery.  As he was introducing this book, he found himself emotionally empowered to deliver the same intense mood that is presented in the book.  He read passages from the preface that added to the author’s purpose for writing this book.  Throughout the introduction, he also asked questions informally assessing the background knowledge of the class. He then started discussing the upcoming activity, which was a KWL chart over the Holocaust. 

As he was giving instructions, he realized that much of what he discussed during the book’s introduction could be used in the KWL chart.  He couldn’t decide whether this was a good or bad thing, because he wanted to know what the students knew without any instruction, but he also thought that the book introduction was a good warm up.  This was something that he didn’t consider in developing this lesson. 

Either way, the KWL lesson went without any quarrels. He could have maybe done a better job of time management but he didn’t want to stop the activity in the middle of a good discussion.  Mr. Slattery then directed the students to engage with their thinking notes as they watched an interview between the author of Night and Oprah.  As they watched they were instructed to think about their concepts of thinking notes such as “questions,” “predicting,” “connection,” and etc.

Throughout the lesson, Mr. Slattery kept wondering, if and when we were going to get to the poetry discussion.  It would have to be pushed back a day, which devastated him.  His cooperating teacher told him “That’s the beauty of being a teacher, if you don’t get through an entire lesson, we can always come back to it tomorrow.  It’s better to overplan, than underplan.”  Still, this was the beginning of his conceptual unit and he will have an opportunity to come back to this activity. And he did. 

This conceptual unit was an important learning experience for Mr. Slattery.  On Friday, Mr. Slattery discussed his performance with his cooperating teacher.  Mr. Slattery felt confident that he was going to become a great teacher with the help of great role models like his cooperating teacher and university professors.

Training

I was searching for so long.

What was a college freshman to do?

With no clue of occupation, how will I do it?

Now a senior, and singing my song,

I made a choice, a life long decision;

In the class I will remain, I must model composition

And teach my students about precision.

But am I prepared for their questions?

“When are we going to need this in life?”

“Why do I need dissect stories

with my minds knife?”

“We’re in the twenty-first century,

I don’t need this stuff.”

Don’t worry child, I know it’s tough

These are the questions and quarrels

That plague our youth.

How can we bridge the gap

between the useless and relevance

To bring revelation and practicality

for an educational experience?

You see, it starts with us,

Future educators that aspire,

and believe our students bring

practical background knowledge.

I began as a spectator, now incorporated

In to an active participant, the title of Mr.

New school, new rules, Freshman class

How can I help you? Bet you never thought,

I’d be learning from you.

Through my education to be an educator,

I’ve been to many schools, studied theory

But the only way to learn is to

Experience in inquiry.

Progress in quicksand

I see student’s speed in strife.

I see them calm in calamity

But this where we get it all wrong.

Time is our enemy but it is also our friend.

It’s almost three, but you just blew your chance.

Just give it time, young one,

even when you think you can’t.

I see student’s across the spectrum

And I see the same thing

I see student’s prevail and careless

Regardless of what you think,

I will show you what the meaning is.

Official Response 2

This semester has been jam-packed with new experiences, which has led me to reflect on a number of these experiences.  For one, I’m learning how to plan lessons on top of the already hectic schedule on my plate, but hey, that’s the life of a teacher, right?  It’s actually quite interesting how excited I get in planning the lessons for my unit!  In my placement I’ve also had the opportunity to grade papers, vocabulary quizzes and even oral presentations, which was a new experience for me.   

My unit so far…

So far I have planned three days of my unit and I might have actually over-planned but when I conferenced with my cooperating teacher, she said it is a lot better to over plan, than to under plan.  My CT and I have been discussing my unit since the beginning of the semester and we have had it established that I would do my unit over Night by Elie Wiesel.  This powerful memoir has enacted me to plan multiple higher-order questions, and engaging reflective activities. 

I have chosen to keep the structure of my CT’s class in order to prevent any confusion and to create coherence because I believe my CT does a great job of that in the little structural activities that she enacts.  On Tuesdays(the first period for our English class due to block scheduling) my CT utilizes a “Lit Term of the Week,” and allows the students to gain extra credit by coming up with an example outside of the classroom.  I think this is a great activity not only because the students have an opportunity to bridge outside experiences to the classroom but it also saves the stress of teaching an entire lesson over figurative language and other literary techniques, which I think creates a lot of stress, and in this particular usage, creates a more meaningful educational experience.  This exemplifies Bomer’s chapter “Appreciating Existing Literacies” because it allows the students to bring in their existing literacies, either in music, movies, or any other mediums, in order to make sense of this (possibly new) knowledge. 

I have also chosen to keep her discussion question bellwork, which is usually more grounded in today’s controversial issues, such as ditching class/work, letting someone cheat off of your homework, and other issues but I will, for the sake of my lesson, adapt it in a way that it makes the students think about the holocaust and how crimes of hate can affect them today and measures that can be taken to prevent these hate crimes. 

My first day will be dedicated to activating prior knowledge regarding the holocaust, because for most, they had a unit over the holocaust in the 8^th grade.  I have chosen to overview of the holocaust in congruence with a preview/selective reading from the prologue by Wiesel.  In doing so, my main point of this introductory lesson is to “get the students excited, and/or curious about the text that we will be reading over the next couple weeks,” as quoted by my CT.  I have also chosen a number of reading strategies such as the KWL chart, which we will complete before, during, and after we read this text as a sort of running list of accumulated knowledge. 

The second day (Wednesday) is a shorter day because it is a day that every class is in session.  For the second day, I have a prepared a powerpoint presentation with some of the vocabulary that is used within this book, that may be unfamiliar to some students.  I will then have the students read along with an audio recording and ask the students to reflect on how the speaker sets the mood of the book, and the students will also be required to engage in thinking notes which asks the students to make predictions, question the text, chart main ideas, and other important notes.  Following the pause and reflect activity, we will then finish chapter one, and because of the shorter class period, I have already run in to issues in planning because I am not so sure that we will be able to finish chapter one, so this activity may run in to the next class period, which is Friday.  Regardless, I will ask the students to reflect on the reading for today by asking them to compose an Exit Slip.  I hope that this activity will add to their inquiry that will lead in to the next class period. 

Friday, I will most likely finish chapter one, and then begin chapter two.  But before moving on with the text, I will ask the students to watch an interview between Oprah Winfrey and Elie Wiesel, which he reflects on his Nobel Peace Prize  and his journey in life.  I will then have the students reflect individually about how the decisions that they make today will affect how they will be remembered in the future, hoping to connect their lives to the reader, and eventually the text. I will also have the students mix-pair-share to engage a lively discussion, eventually leading in to a whole class discussion.  We will then finish chapter two and have the students compose thinking notes again.  I haven’t thought of a concluding activity quite yet but I am going to discuss this with my CT this coming week.

Grading…

I have had the opportunity, as stated previously, to grade vocabulary quizzes, assist in essay workshops, and also grade oral presentations.  To me this was a token of higher responsibility, and made me feel more of an active participant in the teaching process.  The students got homework grades for completing their LINCS cards over vocabulary, which consisted of a synonym, visual, definition, and an antonym.  Every week the students are asked to complete eight LINCS cards as a part of their vocabulary grade and as discussed in previous professional education classes, this allows the students to engage actively with the vocabulary, essentially bringing the words to life, and comprehending meaning.  I then get the opportunity to grade the vocabulary quizzes, to measure their comprehension of these words.  I found it most interesting to make up sentences using the words that they have selected.  In one instance, a student has written a sentence using every single vocabulary words and I cannot help but laugh every time I read her sentences.  She does a great job of using the words in context and I even want to give extra credit for her effort, but again that wouldn’t be fair to the other students.  Instead, I circled each word that she used and wrote a note regarding her valiant effort. 

A reflection about our reading…

I think I had the most trouble making sense of the overarching concepts that Smagorinsky, (or as I like to call him, Smag) outlines.  Smag states that these overarching concepts will allow the students to comprehend units, and concepts more coherently by visualizing and understanding these overarching concepts.  Smag also states that this will also take the stress of planning day-to-day off the shoulders of teachers because in essence, creating an overarching concept develops lessons in and of itself.  But that was where I was having troubles establishing an overarching concept.  How can I create an overarching concept regarding House on Mango Street, The Necklace, The Most Dangerous Game,  and Night?! In discussing and compiling multiple overarching concepts in class I finally found one.  

I started with Multiculturalism, no that’s not quite right.  Survival? This is getting closer.  And then I came up with Rising Out of the Ashes—Become a Phoenix.  Bingo.  This encompasses all that I have listed so far and I hope that this is will be as exciting a concept to my students as it has been to me.  

Official Response 1

Last week was as action-packed as it could get as a college student/pre-student teacher.  This blog-post will encompass the highlights of my week and will also consist of my reflections in conjunction with my Instructional Strategies and Methods course (ISAM or methods).  The information and ideas that I will include to supplement my experience will be from Building Adolescent Literacy in Today’s English Classrooms by Randy Bomer and Teaching English By Design by Peter Smagorinksy.  These readings will be referenced in future posts. 

So far we have read the preface through chapter one to Smagorinksy’s book and Chapter one of Bomer’s book.  Each of these books provides up-to-date tips and guides for student teacher candidates beginning their careers in the digital age.  Teaching English By Design mostly focuses on the design of lessons, units, and the entire course, whereas, Building Adolescent Literacy in Today’s English Classrooms focuses on content, environment, relationships and a plethora of other helpful guidelines and metaphors for beginning teachers. 

Reflection on the Fight and Classroom Structure

Mondays are usually filled with your cliché “Oh just a case of the Mondays,” “Just another Monday in paradise,” or “Another day closer to Friday.”  I chose the optimistic route and arrived early at my Co-op. My Monday was your typical Monday; rowdy middle-schoolers recapping the weekend, causing headaches for the teachers, but this is where you can judge the teachers that care to understand and keep order for the sake of learning.  I don’t mean the kind of totalitarian order that should be ruled with an iron fist, but the kind that creates an environment that is dedicated to learning, which can be difficult on a Monday for middle school students.  I bring up the chaotic element because it leads to the highlight of my Monday: a fight. 

 I had never experienced a fight where I was supervising so this was a bit of a shocking experience but it also called for reflection.  Attention, especially for middle school students, is a volatile trait.  At their age, and especially in today’s digital age, attention is their very enemy.  Bomer says “It’s not really a matter of attention deficits resulting from misfires in the brain; it’s a matter of an attention economy in supply.  Everyone wants our attention but it is in limited supply” (Bomer 4).  Bomer is referring to technology but I make this reference because it is true for middle school students. A classroom environment  that lacks the structure or relevance, among other important elements, will lose the attention of the students, thus creating distractions, and potential environments that will hinder the learning of students. 

Falcon Day

Friday was parent swap day at my placement, which is in conjunction with my methods course.  I had never experienced a parent-swap day at a high school before in my life.  I was very excited to meet the student’s parents but with excitement, came nervousness.  I was nervous because I didn’t know what to expect from meeting the students parents, but it ended up being a great experience for everybody!! 

This was a shortened day where the parents got to come in to every classroom and experience a falcon day in their student’s metaphorical “shoes.” I had the pleasure of meeting two class-full of parents.  My Cooperating Teacher (CT) and I got the opportunity to introduce ourselves and also interact with the parents.  There were several students who came to school because their parents could not attend.

The Activity that my CT had prepared was a creative writing activity.  This activity generated from the RAFT method, which stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic.  Though it was only one class period, the parents and students were engaged in the beginning process of a workshop which Bomer explains that “in a workshop, whether in an English classroom or a woodshop, the work is still there waiting when the maker walks in” (Bomer 13).  The brainstorming process in which the students and parents engaged in is an primary stages of exploratory talk.  This is the kind of speeches, which a student has assembled prior knowledge, but is making sense of their thoughts and processes through talking. 

Bomer, Randy. Building Adolescent Literacy in Today's English Classrooms. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2011. Print.

Smagorinsky, Peter. Teaching English by Design: How to Create and Carry out Instructional Units. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2008. Print.