Song Lyrics

1. Reliant K "Must Have Done Something Right"


We should get jerseys 'cause we make a good team
But yours would look better than mine 'cause you're out of my league

And I know that it's so cliched to tell you that everyday
I spend with you is the new best day of my life
And everyone watching us just turns away with disgust
This jealously, they can see that we've got it going on

I'm racking my brain for a new improved way
To let you know, you're more to me than what I know how to say
You're okay with the way this is going to be
'Cause this is going to be the best thing we've ever seen

If anyone could make me a better person, you could
All I gotta say is I must have done something good
You came along one day and you rearranged my life
All I gotta say is I must have done something right
I must have done something right

And maybe I'm just lucky 'cause it's hard to believe
Believe that somebody like you'd end up with someone like me

And I know that it's so cliched to talk about you this way
But I'll push all my inhibitions aside
It's so very obvious to everyone watching us

That we have got something real good going on

I'm racking my brain for a new improved way
To let you know, you're more to me than what I know how to say
You're okay with the way this is going to be
'Cause this is going to be the best thing we've ever seen

If anyone could make me a better person, you could
All I gotta say is I must have done something good
You came along one day and you rearranged my life
All I gotta say is I must have done something right
I must have done something right

If anyone could make me a better person, you could
All I gotta say is I must have done something good
You came along one day and you rearranged my life
All I gotta say is I must have done something right

If anyone could make me a better person, you could
All I gotta say is I must have done something good
You came along one day and you rearranged my life
All I gotta say is I must have done something right

I must have done something right




2. From Jessica Andrews "Who I Am"


I  am Rosemary's granddaughter
The spitting image of my father
And when the day is done
My momma's still my biggest fan
Sometimes I'm clueless and I'm clumsy
But I've got friends who love me
And they know just where I stand
It's all a part of me
And that's who I am

So when I make big mistake
When I fall flat on my face
I know I'll be alright
Should my tender heart be broken
I will cry those teardrops knowin'
I will be just fine
'Cause nothin' changes who I am

3. The Ataris "This Diary" 
Here in this diary,
I write you visions of my summer.
It was the best I ever had.
There were choruses and sing-alongs,
and that unspoken feeling
of knowing that right now is all that matters.
All the nights we stayed up talking
listening to 80's songs;
and quoting lines from all those movies that we love.
It still brings a smile to my face.
I guess when it comes down to it...

[Chorus]
Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up:
These are the best days of our lives.
The only thing that matters
is just following your heart
and eventually you'll finally get it right.

Breaking into hotel swimming pools,
and wreaking havoc on our world.
Hanging out at truck stops just to pass the time.
The black top's singing me to sleep.
Lighting fireworks in parking lots,
illuminate the blackest nights.
Cherry cokes under this moonlit summer sky.
2015 Riverside, it's time to say, "goodbye."
Get on the bus, it's time to go.
[Chorus]

Reflection

What strategies have you learned? I have learned how to use literature circles in the classroom, making learning personal, engaging students, and using different ways of grouping. Literature circles are NOT groups of students who fill out a worksheet while reading and a literature circle is NOT  a repetitive, pointless activity. Literature circles are meant to be student-centered, intermixed (including a variety of students per group), and engaging. One thing that I think of when I hear literature circles is that it's OK for our students to "venture" away from role sheets, assigned questions, etc. as long as it somehow pertains to the content that the class is studying. More meaningful, effective discussion can arise from this. Also, making learning personal opens the door for students to connect to topics, characters, and issues more so than not including or challenging them to connect personally. I keep thinking back to when I taught the Holocaust section earlier this semester. It may be challenging for us to get our students to get to the point where they are able to connect emotionally/personally to topics, and then to share their feelings, but we should press forward, and always ask them what their thoughts, feelings, etc. are because it shows them that everyone has a voice. And, if there are quiet or silent students in your classroom, challenge them by asking why they are quiet or silent, why they don't like something. These questions apply to topics that are "lighter" than the Holocaust, but no less important to ask. Obviously, asking how students relate to topics, characters, and issues creates an engaging atmosphere. Emphasizing student voice and choice does this as well. Ask you students what types of projects they would like to do. Challenge them to use certain media and technology (video, audio, Prezi, etc) that you may not be as familiar with--don't limit your students just because you are limited--allows them to be creative and perhaps work with a media that they are comfortable with or one that they may want to explore for the first time. Why not? Creativity and choice are two powerful words that could make a huge difference in the attitude and ultimately the outcome of how and what your students will learn while they are in your class... Different ways of grouping is an easy and effective way to manage your class. If you use pictures, names, words, colors, random questions, etc. to group students, it can provide for easy transitions, and uncomplicated management within your room. Plus, it's fun and not as boring as always counting off one by one. 


 What have you come to understand about both preparing and delivering engaging and rigorous content to your students? It's hard. It's fun. It takes a lot of time. It's rewarding. You put all this time into making sure you accommodated for a wide variety of learners. You have to make sure you have good transitions between activities. You have to make sure you have good effective activities that fit together and pertain to an essential question or a theme that you are presenting to the class. But it is so fun. I loved putting together my lesson about the Holocaust and apathy and I am having fun with my Shakespeare group. Both were/are challenging and it's not "fun" all the time, but it's fun all the time in the sense that I'm learning so much during the processes.... It's also so rewarding. You put all this time and energy into the final product, so it's rewarding to have it finished and put together. It's rewarding to see how a lesson goes, especially if you have no idea what to expect or how your students will react. I didn't really think that I accomplished as much as I wanted to when I did my lesson, but it's still rewarding to be able to say, "OK, I think this part was good, but how can I make it great? Maybe I could have done this better..." I think that it is so hard, fun, time consuming, and so worth everything that is put into preparing and delivering engaging and rigorous content to students.  


 What has your performance and the performance of others in the class taught you? Both have taught me that you're not going to succeed in meeting all of your expectations all the time. BUT, you still need to move forward and ask yourselves those questions that I stated in the previous question. I've also learned that you need to have a coherent theme, idea, essential question, or something to tie together what you do in the classroom. If you assign activities or assignments that don't seem to go together, then your students may get confused. Along with this, you need to let your students know why you're assigning what you are. I feel that if you are unable to justify what you're doing in the classroom, then why do it? What's the point? It's awful when this happens--you get apathy. Your students may shut down, becoming uninterested and just not care about anything that you present in this manner, OR they may still do the activities/ assignments, but then what are they learning in the process? 


 What are your current philosophies and beliefs about what it means to teach literature specifically? Creating an avenue for my students to connect to literature, become engaged, and produce life long readers--readers who want to read on their own. Teaching literature doesn't have to be teaching from a huge anthology, front to back in chronological order. It shouldn't be just this. It should produce life long readers through emphasizing creativity and student voice and choice. It should far surpass the classroom,.   

Where are you as a teacher of English today? I am in the process of learning and developing who exactly I want to be as a teacher. I know how I want to teach and what types of things I want to accomplish, but I am still learning and developing this. I think I always will be. The point where I am right now is learning strategies and developing my thinking from a teacher's perspective, which will hopefully never stop. I think that I will always be developing new strategies and ways of engaging students.   



   

 

                                               

                                                                     

Teaching Shakespeare Manga Style

Well, I think that teaching Shakespeare Manga has many benefits. Like all comics/ graphic novels, there are visuals that are able to assist in student's comprehension. (This is along the lines of what Rosenblatt and Wilhelm's views are for visualization in the classroom, and I agree with them. I think visuals are so helpful to a wide variety of students)...These links specifically focuses on students with autism; however, visual aids are helpful for a plethora of students who learn with this type of assistance (ELLs, ELS, etc), as well as those who have no "issue" of learning without visuals. There is some pretty interesting stuff, including a lot of theory pertaining to education, in both of these links... http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_17687028 ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJt5pWeX6E4
Along with the visual benefits, I like how Manga editions incorporate contemporary ideas. This definitely allows for an easier connection from the reader to the text. When I signed up to take Shakespearean lit, I about had a panic attack. Shakespeare freaked me out and intimidated me soooo much. Only reading a few meager sections of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, I did not have a tremendous background from high school, pertaining to this author. I think the entire aura around Shakespeare was like "oh crap! Shakespeare is so old, the dialog is ridiculously incomprehensible, and we should only glimpse over his work because of the difficulty of it." Hmmm, dang it! Now after being in Shakespearean lit (I have it currently!) I do not feel the same way. I understand his work, and therefore I can appreciate Shakespeare's literature! This is possible because of the way I am being taught it. It kinda sucks that my teachers did not allow me to engage in this literature as much as they could have in the past though. Also, I think that my attitude towards Shakespeare (including me being intimidated) could have been lessened if my teachers would not have treated his work this way.
This is also where Manga comes in. The graphic novel we read gives off a less intimidating, more fun aura than the original text. It also does not make me think, "Oh great, now I have to read Shakespeare..." But rather, it makes me think, "hmmm, I wonder what this is going to be like." The latter is a much better thought, and I think that our students may have a similar response. Also, the Manga edition stays true to the dialect, which I found to be very interesting.
However, the Manga editions of a text do leave out certain scenes, and only depict the main ones that the team who creates the novels feel are important. I think that this limits the students to what they are experiencing. Perhaps one of the "insignificant" scenes within Romeo and Juliet could be the moment where a reader connects to a character, time period, etc. This is really the only negative aspect in using Manga, in my opinion (based solely upon having only one experience with Manga) .
So, I think that using Manga could be very beneficial, especially when introducing Shakespearean literature. There are many aspects of Manga that allow students to ease into Shakespeare. The graphics are able to assist in understanding for a large groups of students and students are able to relate better to the contemporary aspects added into the graphic novel (the motorcycle, watches, the fact that it's placed in Japan, etc). Manga also creates a much less intimidating atmosphere than the original text, without lacking the beauty of Shakespeare's work. I believe that Manga could be used more frequently than just easing into Shakespeare also. Perhaps in addition to original texts, or even by themselves (if there are sections or scenes that are missing in the Manga addition, you could talk about those scenes or find an interesting way of representing the scenes--like setting some sort of perimeter and having your students act our the scenes that are not included in the Manga edition).

Technology and Lost Identity :( (<--ha, you do this on a phone/computer...get it?)

The article titled "Impressionable Minds, Indelible Images" present multiple ways of delivering information to a class that I agree with. First, I like how Kramer had her students focus on a relevant topic (she discusses how current brands are noticeable within her class). When presenting the essential question of "How are you influenced by advertising?" I would do something similar: Have my students begin with independently contemplating this question (Kramer had her students give themselves a numerical value). I believe that self-assessment is a great way to engage students. Then, perhaps I would have my students elaborate on their answers to the question (she had her students elaborate their numerical value in writing). Finally, the students could then get into some sort of small groups (based upon their answers) or discuss their answers as a whole class (Kramer had her students get up and all the ones went to one side of the room and the tens went to the other). 

Kramer's idea of student's knowledge of pop culture and the knowledge one gains from class should merge is interesting. I agree that students should be encouraged to apply their experiences to the texts that they read. The author stresses the importance of having your students questioning the world and questioning their own personal beliefs. This is one of my goals as a teacher. I want my students to ask these questions. Kramer stated that even though her students may only tell her that they are aware of the media and branding, this is a positive step towards having her students ask the larger questions (about their own identity, the world, etc). 

This picture is huge, BUT it shows how thorough the thought process is behind some of these logos (the Nike Swoosh is simple, stands on it's own, and is recognizable, etc) and how they compare to one another. 

1984 includes the idea of finding one's identity, or the lack of it, as well. What a scary world this book describes! There are Thought Police (where "Any sound Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up" (3)), people fearing to write and not even being familiar with doing this activity (if Winston's diary was detected "it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death" (6)), "WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH" ahhhh!, and the protagonist did not even know for certain what year or how old he really was (he only had a hunch). 

This novel is rather depressing, seeing as Winston never defeats Big Brother. The entire book describes how the human race has lost the power of expressing one's self and the fear that people live in. If one were to express one's self, they would be paranoid and fear that they would be "wiped out." This concept of expressing your ideas parallels that of Feed. I think that this novel would be interesting to use, even though Winston ultimately caves into society. It would allow my students to be exposed to how media is so influential, and the possible drastic outcomes that could potentially arise from the media. I am definitely open to some suggestions on possible activities that I could use in the classroom, with comparing both Feed and 1984...

 

The two novels, Feed and 1984, both detail how identity is lost, and unity is taken overboard, which is shown in this picture. The only smiling guy is the one who's different! 

In the Classroom

Well, Feed is an excellent, brilliant novel. Anderson is able to create this new world mixed with the theme that society is becoming so attached to technology and people are materialistic and unsympathetic, combined with a love relationship. Everything in this world, which is not so "out there" compared to our present world, is readily accessible to people. Also, people, such as Titus, in this world are emotionless.

This novel would work if it were paired with other literature that pertains to human relationships. The Uglies novels would work well with this too, because they also deal with this created world in which technology is ridiculous and human emotional connections are lacking. Plus, if you present one of them in class, like Uglies, then maybe it would intrigue some students to read the others on their own time.

  
Great books by the way!

If I were to use Feed in my class, I would definitely like to ask my students questions such as "Do you think America is becoming a 'dumb' society and an illiterate society because of technology?" (vocab lessened, not using language properly, etc...Similar to the question that we were asked in class...), "Can technology be a good thing? What is too much?" and "Does technology, in your life, prevent you from making personal, emotional connections with others?" I think that this book can be used to assist our students in assessing their personal lives.
Like I said in class, I would love to have my students be challenged to go one week without their phones, getting on Facebook, or not accessing whatever their "feed" is. I would ask them to journal their experience as they went through it, noting their feelings (panic, worry, weirdness, etc) to not having the particular technology accessible, write their challenges that may have arose from not having this, and how has it affected other's views of them (ex: Perhaps a text message was sent out inviting you to the latest party, but you didn't get the message, thus you didn't go, so now your group of really close friends that did go to this party think you're a total loser....Or perhaps something beneficial/ positive arose during this) or whatever vibes they get from others during this one week period because they don't have this technology.
I also like the idea of using some sort of performance with this book. I'm not sure where or how to do this, but I think it would be interesting to do some activity that is performance based... Maybe even just having my students draw out their interpretation of the world in the novel, or create scenarios that are not directly in the book but based off of the themes (crazy technology, lack of human emotions, etc) then have them act it out in groups? I don't know... it could be interesting. What are some ideas that you all have?

This is really long, but please read it :) I think there are some valuable things in here.

  Frustration. Anger. Pretty much any word that has a negative connotation is applicable to how I was feeling after my group leader work. I was so irritated at myself for being so nervous! I couldn't help but to continuously think about the flow of the activities throughout the 20 minutes and I was trying to be aware of the time frame that I had to work with, and I do feel that I could not relax and be myself, because I was overemphasizing these aspects. This is not anyone's fault but my own because I am the one who was over thinking these aspects of teaching. 

I felt totally defeated. Once I got home I was questioning my ability to teach. I thought "Oh my gosh. Why am I even thinking about this profession? I'll probably just always be too nervous and I'll never be able to present my ideas without feeling this overwhelming anxiety." (Dr. Mortimore, I'm not saying that I hated this experience or that I hated the assignment. I think it's a great thing to have us do. I really liked my ideas and activities that I came up with, so it really wasn't a totally bad experience...I'm just saying that this is my first experience with having these feelings, but it's a good thing because, well...keep reading!) BUT I know this is not true. It's true that this is what I thought. It is true that I felt just awful after leading the group. What is also true is that I have taught (in a teacher's assistant position) and felt very comfortable as well. I had taught a lesson a few weeks ago and nothing of how I felt Wednesday night was present in my experience as the teacher. 

Also, the funny thing is, I had to teach the next day, after my experience on Wednesday night... I so did not want to teach. I was definitely not in the mood. But, as I reflect upon what I was thinking and how I was feeling, I think that I knew I had to do it (teach) and so I just faced that fact. As I started I seriously just jumped right into what I had planned. The crazy thing is.........I did not feel nervous. At all. I felt completely relaxed, like myself, and ready to explore the text that we had read.

To make things even better, this was the most amazing experience that I have ever seen. I'll tell you a little about the class. It's a class that has zero English majors, so many of them are not innately interested in literature--they're just fulfilling a credit requirement. Many are freshmen that don't have much of a background/ experience with literature. I'm not pointing out these qualities to suggest that my students are "dumb" or that they are unable to comprehend the things that we talk about. In fact, they present very thought provoking ideas and I was so impressed with them today.

Today was the day that they seemed to finally warm up to...to me, to the actual professor, to the concepts that we were talking about, to the thinking process. It was truly amazing. I structured the lesson around discussion, with a writing assignment that I'll talk about in a second. But with the discussion: The professor doesn't really use this much when she lectures. Well, she asks questions and allows the students to respond but many times she cuts them and their thoughts off, and then adds her opinion/thoughts to conclude what the student has said. So anyway, we discussed a lot about "Happy Endings" which is a metafiction (and really different and interesting). I had the time to allow everyone who wanted, to express their thoughts and opinions (this is something that I value--having all voices heard. I know that not every time this is feasible, but when it is I think that you will get very good feedback). The students were engaging with the text, telling me how they interpreted things and how they felt the characters were, in their eyes. More hands went up, as others shared. They were kind of seeing how I reacted to what their peers were saying, I think, to see if it was "safe" to voice their thoughts. 

I would also like to mention that the students who always participate in that class were more silent than normal. Two of the students say at least six or more things during a class and today they said maybe two things. I believe that this may be because they are a product of their environment, meaning that they (like me) have not been taught how to connect and discuss how we were--openly, freely, emotionally...They may have been used to "ok, here's the simile, this is what the author means," etc. Perhaps something unrelated to class was affecting them. Who knows. I just thought it was interesting to see this correspondence. 

So anyway, I had the students summarizing and applying their thoughts, feelings, etc to the text, for each option (the literature involves six "options" the writer provides (option A, B, C, D, E, and F). Each option talks about a certain scenario for the characters. Like, option A involves a "picture perfect" story of John and Mary. They have a nice house, nice jobs, and nice relationship. Then option C involves John being a jerk and not caring about Mary. Each option is different, talks about the beginning and ending of stories in general...the authors point is that the middle of a story is the most important part). This could have gotten mundane and boring, but I think that the pace that we had as we went through the text allowed it to not take forever, while still allowing all of the students to have their voice being heard. 

After we did this, I had them all get into 8 different groups of about four to five students in each group. They were to write a story, an option E, that differed from the options provided in the text. I was a little hesitant to put them in groups for fear that not everyone would participate. I asked them to make sure it is a collaborative writing and encouraged them to allow everyone to participate in the process from mind to paper. And they did!

Another side note: I said that I would like to have them all write in paragraph form, BUT if they were having problems with coming up with ideas that they could use bullet points. All eight groups wrote in paragraph form. I think that giving them this option made the task less scary or less intimidating, and they were willing to give me a nice response in return for allowing them to have some type of independence. 

As I walked around the room, to each group and sat in to listen to them, I was so excited to hear what they were coming up with. They were amazing. Also, one girl asked if her group could make two of the characters come back to life (in the options from the story they end up dying) and my response was "sure! You can do what you want with this." I really think that they enjoyed the freedom that they had while creating their work. They were so creative too. One group had secret agents, another involved going to Europe, one had a man buried alive, and another involved a woman killing her husband without anyone knowing and then marrying her dead husband's father.

So, each group went around and shared what they came up with to the entire group. I asked them to read what they wrote, instead of deterring from their writings. (I wanted to see how they were able to have the story flow, and they had a good amount of time to create their work. Sometimes I like being able to add to and not read directly from what I wrote, because sometimes I don't have enough time to write down everything in my head. I really wanted to hear what they wrote though...) 

We were laughing together, able to connect certain themes to what they wrote and aspects stemming from "Happy Endings," such as an element of surprise. The stuff that they wrote was AWESOME! The professor even said, "Wow. I'm really impressed. Some of what they wrote was better than the actual authors!"

It was really cool to see the students interacting with one another, hearing their thought process, and seeing how they formed their own, original writing. There was such a relaxed, accepting (of their thoughts) aura. 

One student really stood out to me, and to my professor. We both noted that he was smiling at certain points during the lesson. This is HUGE. This student seriously sits throughout class, very glazed over, and detached from everything that we do. Getting any emotion, even as insignificant as a smile, meant so much to me. He seemed to interact more and I could tell that there was something different with him today. Although there is much more growth that I hope to see within this student, today gave me hope. Hope that these students that seem so "out there" and so detached from class are able to change. You have to try different things, different ways of presenting material... 

I'm not sharing this with you to merely share my two drastically different experiences, just for the sake of sharing them. I want you all to know that it is basically inevitable that you will experience a day where you are really doubting your career, your ability to teach, or not being satisfied with your performance in the classroom. Even though this will happen, I want you to know that you are good enough to teach. If you are passionate about what you want to do and are willing to learn from your experiences and are able to get passed your "road blocks" (anything that re-directs your thinking pertaining to your career, ability, or performance) then you should not give up. 

It doesn't matter if you're not the top of your class, if you’re not perfect, if you’re not happy with something that you have done (like me being unhappy with my performance in class). You can still reach students, no one's perfect, and you can learn from your mistakes. We are just merging into the thoughts of teachers and just now being introduced to having our own class. We are not going to get it right every time, even when we have been doing this for years. But I urge you to keep going. Shake it off, find out what you can do to make it better next time, and go. I know that when I teach what I presented Wednesday night in my actual class, I want to move around the classroom more, I want to give even more think time since the Holocaust is such a heavy subject and students may not know what to think right away, spend more time on what I presented in general, and not seem so nervous! 

Even though the Wednesday night experience was not fun, I am glad that I experienced what I did in a way. I think that this "project" is awesome and I love it. It really gets us up there, in front of the class, and allows for a very real experience. I have learned that I will have negative experiences in the classroom. Well, it's not all that negative. Yea, it pretty much sucks that my nervousness probably affected my grade, but I have learned something that far outweighs the mere concept of a grade. I'm so glad that I was forced to have to teach the very next day. I personally needed this so much. It has allowed me to realize that I will have tough days teaching, but that those experiences don't mean that I can't teach. And I guess that is what I want to portray to you. That even though you have a not-so-positive occurrence you can still be and develop into an amazing teacher that can reach that one student that seems disconnected, uninterested, or negatively approaching your class.

The Holocaust

Maus I is so amazing. What a powerful ending! This addresses the question that was asked during the multicultural lesson asking us if we think that sensitive issues should be presented. I would still have to agree with what I said earlier on my paper: "We do not ignore these issues! I think that to ignore them is to forget, or act as though they didn't happen and this is NOT OK. The horrible things that have and do happen such as rape, racism, and the use of the "" word are reality..." The ending of Maus, when Artie states, "You burned them?...You-you murderer! How the hell could you do such a thing!!...Murderer," he is saying that his father has killed his mother's life by erasing everything that she wrote about her experiences. It is as though his mother's pain and suffering and the time that she took to write about them were worthless. Artie couldn't believe his father would do such a thing. It is the same thing when we refuse to weigh the heaviness of such a delicate topic. Yes, the Holocaust is a touchy topic that can produce such strong emotions, but at the same time it is packed with such sorrow and well, heaviness. I definitely would love to use this graphic novel in my classroom. I think it provides for a great representation of the importance of writing about the Holocaust. Perhaps I could pair it with Night, and examine how both texts work to portray the same importance/ goal.

I am really glad that we were able to read "A Lesson from the Holocaust: Bystander to Advocate in the Classroom." This article has made me look at the Holocaust, and other sensitive subjects, in a new light. I have had many lessons on the Holocaust, yet I was still surprised at how my emotions can create such a stronger connection to the literature that I read. In presenting this topic, one key is to allow yourself, as the teacher, to be vulnerable. This is not as easy as it seems. I am being the group leader for this article, and I have found myself asking "How are the students (you guys!) going to respond to me?" and "Are you going to be able to/ willing to make strong emotional connections as well?" I shall wait and see!...

I definitely agree in that we need to take several steps away from apathy and many towards empathy. In doing this, a greater understanding and appreciation will arise between our students and literature. Also, if we are examples of these emotional connections within our writing, our students will be encouraged to do the same in their writing. 

Some of the methods that we have looked at so far, that I would like to implement in my classroom would be literature circles, graphic novels, reflective writing, and using images. Literature circles are so beneficial in that they provide for independent work as well as group work. Students are able to read independently and then get in groups to discuss their reading (there are other options of doing lit circles, this just being one of them!). Also, student choice is a key factor in this method, which I like. I think that students are more apt to engage in something that they have some sort of say over... Graphic novels allow students to know that there are other options for reading and writing, than novels. I don't think that we should get ride of the novel genre altogether, but I would like to add some graphic novels into my classroom. These incorporate visual aids as well as written words, which as a combination assist in understanding... I really like the idea of reflective writing, which has come up in a few of my blogs. I think that writing needs to be valued over speaking/discussion, sometimes. For instance, in "A Lesson" the author said that she offered her vulnerable writing and then asked the class a question. The students were speechless. She decided that that moment would be better suited for writing, rather than verbal discussion. I also like that with writing, those who are more shy or less willing to voice their thoughts, are able to do so easier on paper than not... Using images can be a powerful asset to teaching. They can be used for a plethora of things as well. I am fascinated with the idea of presenting pictures, then asking students to narrate the picture. Also, something that may be interesting is to have students act out the picture (like act a certain way that the person looks like they'd act, or have a picture from a certain scene in a piece of literature that your students have read and have them act this out.). Adding these methods and approaches to teaching would be interesting as well. Maybe have one literature circle focus on a graphic novel that has minimal words, then have each group perform the novel as some sort of drama? Hmmm...

Literature Circles

Literature circles and Harvey Daniels support some of my beliefs pertaining to teaching, like student choice is good, tracking not so much...

Students are able to benefit on a large scale "when given choices, time, responsibility, a little guidance, and a workable structure. Our students were reading lots of good books, thinking deeply about them, writing notes and journal entries, and joining in lively, informed literature discussions. They shared responses with peers, listened respectfully to one another, sometimes disagreed vehemently, but dug back into the text to settle arguments or validate different interpretations. In short, our kids were acting like real readers, lifelong readers" (Daniels 1). Wow, literature circles support and produce outcomes such as this! I was surprised and delighted to read how advantageous literature circles can be. A brief overview of my experience with lit circles, or inaccurately titled activities, closely resembles Daniels's description of the inaccuracies of some learning environments: the student choices were gone and we were executing and producing a very mechanical action. For my one class, we often completed a packet that consisted of many (not open-ended) questions independently, which had to be completed by the next class. Then, during class, we would discuss the novel that we had read, the questions stemming from the packet. We were never encouraged to form a relationship between us and the text and the thought of us ever picking a book of our choosing to read would be ludicrous. What we were doing should never have been called literature circles seeing as it went against everything that this week’s assignment discussed.

Literature groups oppose the tracking idea and are based off of "several people's desire to read the same book or article-- not by reading level, ability grouping, teacher assignment, or curriculum mandate" (19). This appeals to me, because I do not see the benefits of tracking. I believe that students are more successful when they are able to focus on readings that they find enjoyable, rather than being forced to focus upon topics of little to no importance to the reader. I was in a situation in seventh grade where I had to read an article about a ridiculous topic and then answer questions about it. After reading, I could not remember the majority of what I read. I was frustrated. I wanted to scream because I was so angry that I had to read about a topic that was so boring, and I knew the importance of answering the questions (if I performed poorly I would have to stay in a Reading Resource room (even though I had the highest level of reading on the PSSA test) but if I did well, I would be taken out of the class, which I wanted so badly!).

Choice is a key element of literature circles, and having a variety of "books--fiction and nonfiction-- as well as articles, magazines, and other printed materials" is essential (92). I particularly liked this quote because often times I think that teachers focus solely on novels, particularly classics. Classics, classics, classics... blah, blah, blah... However, articles, magazines, comics, and other types of literature can aid in allowing students to choose and learn from a variety of media. If I would have been exposed to texts, other than CLASSICS, I would have been a more active reader, connecting better with what I was reading, better prepared for my college classes...probably better at life in general. But, this is one down-fall to literature circles. The choice of texts to read are often limited and it can be challenging trying to find at least six copies of the same text. It can be done though. I view this task (of finding the proper amount of texts) as reflecting how genuine and determined you, as the teacher, are in amplifying your students learning experience.

One of the teachers featured in Literature Circles, Margaret Forst, was willing to go above and beyond for her students. Her goal was to create lifelong writers and readers, believing that too many students were graduating high school without establishing "regular, engaged, personal reading" (160). So, to fix this issue, she began a new elective that centered on book clubs. Maggie went even further and contacted school employees and asked if they wanted to partake in her class and the literature circles. Long story short, this teacher made this class and her students amazing, because of her willingness and determination to create lifelong readers. Reading her student's responses to the mentoring atmosphere, I feel that I would be so happy and excited if I were their teacher. The students expressed how they have learned so much, and one girl said, "I have learned this year how fun it is to get lost in the words of literature." We lose this a lot in schools today. It is not emphasized, to have fun, enjoy, and just get lost in literature. The students were inspired to read due to this teacher's innovative idea. I would love to be able to incorporate this type of structure into my class. Perhaps I would be able to do this in one of my classes, or even start an after school program, or build upon an already existing one. I participated in an after school program, every Thursday in middle school that lasted about two hours or so. This could be an excellent time to have a group of students and teachers get together and form literature circles. This may be a better alternative than trying to create a class, like Maggie did, especially if the school did not follow block scheduling and only had forty-five minute classes. It can definitely still be done in a short amount of time, but my personal preference would include being able to devote more time to literature circles.

One other teacher that was featured in this book, Teresa Bond Fluth, brings up relevant observations. After finding that her students were not engaged or enthusiastic with her attempt at literature circles, she turned to doing some research rather than quitting this concept altogether. She states that she "studied several different models of book clubs" (153). She liked one model, yet the time that she was allotted would not allow for the exact same components (reading, writing, discussion, and instruction). So, she turned to five different models, adapted them to her classroom, and got started. We need to be observant, search for what others have done successfully, and willing to adapt to what works for our classroom! There is no shame in seeking additional help and we should feel good about looking to others for assistance. If we are 'in a rut' then we need to inquire about some sort of help. I view this as part of my job: going out of my way, above and beyond in order to get my students to the point of being engaged, and perhaps lifelong readers, which can be produced from literature circles.

                                                        

I put this picture here because I can envision myself creating a relaxed, very coffee shop-like atmosphere if I were able to start an after school literature circle club. It could have comfortable chairs, couches, etc with the dimmed lighting like the one section in the book talked about.

"If reading is about mind's JOURNEYS, teaching reading is about outfitting the travelers, modeling how to use the map, demonstrating how to use the key and legend…
until, ultimately, it’s the child and the map together and they are off on their own."

- "Mind Journeys," Mosaic of Thought

Multiculturalism

 "Reading Multiculturally" was an interesting read. I was intrigued by the author's daughter's responses to his question. The nine year old said the Lion King, and the ruling of Scar, is Simba's story, not Nala's, therefore, he has to fix the horrible ruling of Scar, not Nala. However, I was mostly interested in his fifteen year olds answer. She states that she "doesn't like to let the details get in my way of enjoying a story." This reminded me of something one of my professors said the other day. I asked him something about using student's interests to teach, rather than using typical methods (I said that it is important for us, as teachers, to go into our student's discourse, in order for us to attempt to understand them and where they are coming from. I then asked why we weren't using things such as our student's raps that they write outside of class, or their poetry that they're writing in their free time, or their comics that they are reading on their own.) My professor brought up the point that students may think, "Why would I want to bring that stuff in here?! You're just going to make me clean it up and make the grammar proper. Why would I want to do that?" Essentially, the students may be afraid of losing the pleasure that they receive from their work. They just like to write their own stuff, while not bothering with the details that get in the way of enjoying their literature. Rebecca, the author's daughter, reminded me of this conversation....

This is a picture of The Lion King on Broadway. I want to see this production soooooooo much! The visuals look stunning, the dance remarkable, and the masks amazing!  

I also find it extremely interesting to view Hade's experience with using multicultural books in his classroom. It is important to note that humans do indeed mediate how we interpret text based upon race, class, and gender. Therefore, it is somewhat easier to accept the fact that our students may have similar reactions to multicultural texts, as the author's students had. Hade states that some students laughed at the dialect, refused to read some of the books because of offensive language, refuse to teach with these books because of the use of poor grammar, and others were "amused" because of evidence of stereotypical behavior. If we have students in our class that respond this way, are we prepared to deal with these situations? I think that Hade makes a wonderful point. He states that we should take these negative views and turn them into positive learning experiences. We need to confront the injustices that may arise from reading multicultural texts by asking such questions as Why did you laugh at that reference? Why do you not want to read a book that has this word in it? Why do you feel that this language has bad grammar? ... We need to ask these questions in order to assist our students and encourage them to challenge injustices that are represented in texts.

The video, "A Classroom Divided" presents a great concept... The results of the discrimination affected both the blue eyed and brown eyed students. It took the brown eyed students longer to go through cards (when they were discriminated against) than when they were the superior. Also, one blue eyed student called another student "brown eyes" in a discriminating manner (something he would not have previously done if he wasn't told he was superior). The fact that the students's test scores have increased when they were on top, yet declined when they were discriminated against, is outstanding. The power and consequesnces of discrimination are remarkable.

The adults that went through this were able to receive insight as well. They stated that no one had the courage to contest their discrimination, they felt anger, hopelessness, and even independently discriminated against the "lower" group.

This activity is an excellent way to teach about discrimination. I could see similar activities working in classrooms, especially if there is an issue of discrimination, or any type of segregation within the classroom (which is still apparent in schools today!). We could implement this, specifically when presenting a section about the Holocaust, Pearl Harbor, Iraq War, etc.

I think that incorporating some type of writing reflection would be interesting to do in my classroom, in addition to this activity. This would allow for all of my students to voice their feelings, something that doesn't always occur during a discussion. Some people are able to be more open through writing than they are through discussing their thoughts and emotions to a large group. However, I do think that it is beneficial to discuss the results of the discrimination activity, as well as during it, like the video displays. Analyzing the entire activity allow the students to correspond their emotions to that of real situations that have happened and those that could happen.

Here are some pictures of events in America's past, or pictures that represent events that have occurred, that I was reminded of while watching the assigned video. These are very touchy subjects, but it is important to allow our students to know about them, and to even feel similar aspects that people in the past (and unfortunately present) have felt. Hopefully this exposure will diminish re-occurrences. 

 

Graphic Novels/ Comics

Wow.... where do I begin? As I was reading "The Conventions of Comics" and "Using Graphic Novels, Anime, and the Internet in an Urban High School" my mind was racing. I was constantly thinking "Oh my gosh! Why have I never been exposed to this type of learning?...I could definitely use this in my classroom.... oh, but I could modify this slightly in my room...the kids's work is awesome! I want to read the rest of their writing!..." and so on. Seriously, I never even knew the convensetions of comics and how the visionary aspects of the comics displayed such meaning. We've all read the article, so I won't go through the actual conventions. However, I will say that knowing the conventions will be so beneficial for, because I will definitely teach via comics and/or graphic novels at some point in time. I totally agree that "teachers must be willing to think beyond ... "mere literacy"-- which remains centered on language alone, and begin to develop pedagogies of multiliteracies..." (9). Allowing our students to approach and interpret a text in multiple ways is proven to assist in developing their writing skills, as it is shown within the second article.

I just want to say that the more I think about it, the more angry and irritated I get that I was never taught through comics, graphic novels, or any of the such. This entire article states the changes, for the BETTER, in student's writing. So many different activities evolved around, and resulted because of, using graphic novels. The teachers had the students read aloud a story, study vocabulary, write their own literate (the ending of the first story that they never finished), study new, creative techniques of saying the same thing (with the overuse of the word "said"), create compound-complex sentences, peer-edit, take photos from various means and media to create their own comic, and create a story for their comic. All of this was done while fulfilling the requirements of fantasy or creative writing! These students were engaged and created authentic writing throughout this process. It is truly remarkable that these students were able to benefit so much from the comics/graphic novels. The students were responsive, which is shown throughout their writing. As I read the little snippets of their essays I found myself wanting to be able to continue to the end of their work. The content was so good!

If this is affective, if this is what it takes to get students engaged, and if this is what it takes to have our students become "not only better writers but also more knowledgeable consumers of ideas and information," then why are comics, graphic novels, and the internet not finding their way into our schools?! Come on people! This stuff needs to become known and accepted as a means of affective teaching!
Also, I know that this article focused on lower level English students; however, I think that this approach could benefit the lowest remedial level students all the way through the highest achieving AP students. This type of alternative reading allows students, no matter what level they're on, to be creative while improving their writing. Intermediary levels could benefit from the easy read as well as improving the above mentioned aspects of English (as shown within the second article) and AP students, even though they are in the upper most levels of some high schools, are still able to improve their English, as well as all the levels in between. So, let's go and make this happen!


Here is something that I found on the internet... It could be used for Elementary Education or Secondary Education. It discusses ways to approach using comics/graphic novels, using Reader Response techniques, and assessing your students. I do not think that I would have to go through this process, step-by-step, so I would adjust accordingly.
I also really like how I could use a computer to have my students create their own visuals. There are so many ways to go about using comics/graphic novels in the classroom! Anyways, enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS_V9esYmt0

Addition:
I could see myself using comics/graphic novels in my classroom by comparing this type of literature to a novel. I could have my students read both. For example, this video mentions reading a Dracula comic, so my students could read this as well as the novel...I could ask them how the two compare; is the mood different, are the comic illustrations how you would create the characters, how do these illustrations work with the text to create meaning, etc.