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.