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.  

You Gotta Be the Book: Chapters 1-3

I loved the introduction to this book! I really like reading about teacher's experiences, so this was awesome for me. It provides for a great reflection for ones self as well as their readers. Creating a teaching journal such as this demonstrates the care, compassion, and motivation for the author to become the best teacher FOR his students that he can be.
With that being said, one of the fist journals the author shares with us states, "The eighth graders simply hate reading, or say that they do, and they refuse to even try to do it" (3). Nothing that the teacher was attempting was working. How frustrating this would be! It seems as though the teacher was so open and willing to attempt all possible avenues to get his students engaged in independent reading.
Thus, his first chapter explores how to morph the classroom into a reader-centered one. The author describes a reaction that I am so familiar with, pertaining to the boy, Randy. He stated that "school is a bunch of crap that doesn't mean anything... you just do a bunch of crap for someone else so you can get through the year" (19). This, for me, epitomizes my entire high school career. Yes, I do like reading. Yes, I did exceptionally well in school. Yet, I was also able to produce what the teachers wanted. They wanted a five page paper on "my" representation of a character in a novel, that they said represented a certain thing, so I wrote the paper based on what they told me it represented. Quite honestly, I did not really notice that I was moved to "do as told"  as much as the reality of it, until last semester. I was talking with a fellow classmate who had been out of school for a while, thus offering more world experience than what I could offer. Our one professor would tell us something, yet could not always tell us why it was this way. My classmate could not accept this. She said she learned by connecting things together; learning by knowing why things were the way they were. At first, I could really care less why the answer was the answer. Ridiculously, I just wanted to memorize it and get that "A." However, as my peer continued to question why and was further agitated by the unresponsive professor, I became interested in the "why." As a side note, one of my other classes began stressing that as a student teacher/ teacher in general, one should continuously ask "why are things this way?" Asking "why?" will get you answers, and when it doesn't, you can go out and find the answers. So anyway, I became unsatisfied with not knowing how ans why things connected, it didn't make sense. We were being fed ONE person's view, ONE person's answers. We were being told to memorize certain things that ONE person felt was necessary, yet that person could not provide why we were memorizing it. As a student, I felt I was being slighted. Yes, I could memorize this ridiculousness; however, I could not tell you why it was important, how it connected to other information, and why I was learning it in the manner that I was. I ask you, is this teaching?! Is this really learning?! I think not. Teaching, as well as learning, is an interactive process. It's a process in which one explores the "why" when they are unsure. It is NOT the ability to regurgitate an answer, simply because the teacher tells it to you.
Ahh, sorry for the off-topic long reflection, that's not all that off topic. Nonetheless, I shall get back to the book in a later post! Thanks for reading : )