Singleton--The Perfect Balance Say/Do

• Bridging English (pages 143-153) by Joseph O’Beirne Milner and Lucy Floyd Morcock Milner
• Reading Better, Reading Smarter (pages 21-74) by Deborah Appleman and Michael F. Graves
• When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do (pages 73-175 & 176-203) by Kylene Beers
• Preventing Readicide: How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It (pages 90-109) by Kelly Gallagher
• What Matters: Meeting Content Goals through Teaching Cognitive Reading Strategies with Canonical Texts (pages 53-61) by Mary E. Styslinger, Julianne Oliver Ware, Charles W. Bell, and Jesse L. Barrett

One of the biggest challeneges that I face is how much emphasis I will place on teaching the classics in my classroom. This week’s reading certainly deals a lot with how we determine a great balance between teaching classic literature as well as dealing with modern literature—in addition to numerous methods to teaching the classics.

By now, many people can tell that I am much more of a progressive thinker when it comes to my teaching philosophy. I think that we should focus moreso on reading texts that allow our students to connect with the real world, and I will be the first to depend that I don’t always think you can get that real world connection with reading texts exclusively from the “dead white guys” (but I will teach them nonetheless).

One of the reasons why I support the notion that we move away from the canon is for a number of reasons. When we read canonized text, the time period in which it was written is clear that those text were not written with today’s audience in mind. The readability of the text can sometimes deter students from wanting to engage in them which alters the connection that we would like them to have. One thing that Gallagher says in her article is that when we are using difficult text (canonized) text is the fact that sometimes teachers will just throw this literature at students and expect that they will be able to handle it, even with strategies---ummm WRONG! I believe that we need to work away from this thought and start with texts that students can engage with first which will provide meaning to their lives. Once students are engaged with the meaning of the text, we then move them to more difficult texts. “Ok, we have just read a book that you can identify with in today’s society, but how do you think Shakespeare addressed these common issues in Romeo & Juliet? We are going to use this mentor text to find similarities and differences in this play compared to the one we just read.” Students need to have consistent scaffolding before you should introduce the canon in the classroom.

The Styslinger article was a great insight along with Bears as it brought in so many strategies that are relevant and important for teaching—modern and canonized text. Understanding that we are trying to move towards developing a community of readers and not staying within the realm of reader response, these strategies are particularly important and provide great assists for teachers who may not have that perfect balance between to two mentor texts. Once we have built our community then we can move more to formal analysis—and I believe that you will have a much stronger analysis stage when your students have built a community around the text and each other. Using life experiences to navigate together is the key that many teachers fail to hark on.

For me, when Gallagher stated that she “is a teacher, not an assigner,” really sits quite well with me! I believe that when we approach texts like the canon, we often teach it the way we were taught it because that is the only way we can get through the text. How do you navigate a text that you wouldn’t read in your spare time and expect students to like it too? The problem like she says is how we teach these works, not the works themselves. Maybe I’m having a realization as I’m typing this that this could be the reason I dislike canonized text? I wasn’t taught it in a way that made me feel any emotion to them…perhaps, but let’s not forget what we give up when we don’t have that balance. Cultural responsibility is important in to the classroom too, and it should be addressed, and if you’re going to do so, teachers need to learn the ways to do it well—if your students don’t connect with ANYTHING you teach, look at how you’re doing it.

 

Do: For the do, I am doing something different. (Sty, I know, I know). It is a video I found on youtube and one that I intend to use as I am thinking about how to get away from the stigmatized “bad canonized text” teaching. What do you think??

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLSTyhZzPmc

Say/Do Blog for Theoretical Perspectives_Singleton, Davontae

Say/Do Blog for Theoretical Perspectives
Deborah Appleman and Michael Graves - Reading Better, Reading Smarter - Ch. 4: Lenses for Approaching Literary Texts

 Deborah Appleman - Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents

 

Say

One of the biggest challenges that any first year teacher faces is trying to figure out what theoretical perspective they will most likely inherit and how to take that perspective and put it into practice in their classrooms. But do we all have to choose one? Can't I be the Marxist feminist guy teacher who also believes and dabble with new criticism? Hmm...

Let's talk theory first. Much like Appleman, I believe that teachers today should focus on adapting to a modern teaching perspective as we have seen a huge shift in education--our students needs are no longer the same as they were 30+ years ago. One of the biggest challenges that Appleman faces is trying to convince veteran teachers the value and importance of having theory taught in their classrooms (a modern theory). Appleman believes that when we invite students to study using this approach, not only are we helping students to engage with the text in the classroom, but we are helping our students to reach beyond just the text--we are having them "not only read and interpret literary texts, but their lives--in and out of school" (Appleman 2). Isn't this what we want in our classroom? Do we not want students to have some type of transaction with literature (of course with a capital L) so that they can make meaning of it in the classroom, but have that meaning apply to their lives? From my understanding this is how we get students to become much more effective critical thinkers.

Stepping aside from theory itself--the biggest thing that I got out of these readings, especially the Appleman are the ways that we can use theory in our classrooms. While we are able to bring in multiple approaches such as a feminist and Marxist view, there are still many challenges that I see in Appleman's logic--and her approach in general. From what I recall from my own days in undergrad, theory was not something I was quite fond of! In fact, I dreaded having to bring any type of theory into the classroom for the fact that it just seemed to be far to analytical and advanced for even myself. I get the idea that we want our students to be able to use theory as a bridge to connecting with the text and life itself, but how are we supposed to teach this when we have a difficult time even getting our students to make meaning of the text alone? Now bringing in new theories such as feminist critiques just seem to be a bit rash. I am in no means against using Appleman's ideas, but, the issue lies in trying to connect the bridge.

There were several suggestions coupled in the reading that made this all seem a little more do-able, for example having a very simplistic version of all the multiple theoretical perspectives proves to have its benefits--students can refer to it and then move on to making meaning using alternative ways of thinking.

One idea that I have played over and over in my head was when we had the speaker from RVHS come and talk about how she is all about theory in her classroom--I LOVE this! But, when I sit and think about what she does, I sit and think about how can I make this accessible and relevant to my non honors students? In short, theory is HARD, but when you are able to break it down and work with it like Appleman suggests, then you will find that your students will be able to have much more enriching experiences with the literature.


Do
**See link below.

Lesson Plan Link

Singleton Say/Do #2 (Reader Response)

Reader Response
Say: One of the biggest challenges I have had so far in my internship experience is being able to separate the fact that I am in a middle school classroom, and so when I am working with students on thing like RR, I often have to remind  myself that it may look differently for my students because they are not at the same level as my typical high school students. From a book I have been reading on middle school readers, it states, "In independent reading classrooms, students show their mastery of the con- tent through varied means. Written reading responses can be adjusted to meet the needs of the individual learner; book discussion topics can be varied to allow even the most challenged of readers to participate. Individual conferences give students a chance to discuss their understandings and confusions in a safe environment that nurtures their growth. Reading responses, book discussion prompts, and conference questions are all designed to meet each learner at his or her particular point of need." (Heinemann, 57). The students who I work with are all at a different level of reading and to gage their understanding, I often provoke them with simple reading strategies and writing strategies so that I can understand their abilities to make connections. For RR, I decided that I needed to create an assignment that will set us up for taking students where they are and creating a dialogue and open class assignment in which we will all work together. We have finished reading "Wump World". An allegory book about the problems with pollution in the world. To gage students understanding, I have set up a writing prompt that will be able to connect RR to the students, but also help me to pay more attention to the students who are in need. See below for the first part of the do. 

DO: 

Creating Our Piece of Legislation!

Now that we have finished reading “Wump World”, you will be asked to create a letter to our local legislatures who will determine if we should create laws to stop global warming and the mass production of pollutions in the environment. Use specific examples from “Wump World” to back up your points that you are arguing. The letter will be the final product that you will create. Follow the steps below to get to the end piece!

Step 1: Create a summary of “Wump World” (DONE)

Step 2: Compare Wump World to the world in which we live

Step 3: What specific examples can you find in our own state that could be related to what Chief Pollution has done in Wump World?

Step 4: What laws do you think should be created? Why?

Step 5: Create a letter summarizing all the main points and create your letter to the legislation.

See below for a summary from one student:

The Wump World

I read a book called the Wump World, and it was about animals called wumps. Every day they would graze in the fields and wade in the water, it was a nice, peaceful laid back world. Then these people called the Polluters came , and took over the world one day this overwhelmed the wumps. They ran in their caves, and started hiding. The Polluters brought their whole city with them, and built skyscrapers, and buildings. This started Polluting the wump world with all of the noise, the air, and the water. Finally, the world was so polluted that the Pollutions left. Then, the buildings were destroyed, and the wumps found some grass. But, the wump world was never the same again.

Singleton Say/Do 1 (Transacting with Literature)

Say/Do #1

Say: One of the biggest tasks that I am faced with as a teacher is being able to connect what I am reading in class to my students. I mean--isn't that one of the first things we are taught as educators? Are we not taught that if we do not understand the lives that our students come from, we will have a harder time trying to get our students to be engaged in the classroom especially when books are involved? I like to think that I am a more realistic teacher--I know that the population of students who I will be serving will have negative preconceived notions about reading and writing. We are often taught that in our readings, one of the biggest tasks to do is create a classroom in which my students are able to transact with literature and hopefully build collectively so that they will be able to explore reading more. And while some may feel that it is best to read a mixture of YAL books, some feel that they aren't able to do that due to their lived experiences don't exactly matching that of what they are trying to teach and are afraid that their teaching will come off as "unauthentic". Roberts stated, "But no matter how much I loved all the YAL I was reading, I couldn’t help but feel a little unsettled. After all, if I wanted to be a high school English teacher, shouldn’t I have been devoting more time to reading the classics?" Growing up, I never really liked reading and this was due to me not being able to connect with what my teachers had in class. I now understand that my thoughts were wrong!! I know from transacting with the literature that a key component to connecting students is by having them engaged from the beginning. There is no one set type of literature that we are forced to teach--in fact I am certain that you can teach ANY literature (canonical included) as long as you're able to do what Rosenblatt says we should be doing..."Making meaning." Rice says that we can achieve this even with the newly accepted genre of graphic novels in the classroom. I also learned that if I want my students to truly transact with literature, I need to set my own experiences aside that I think we may share, and focus on what may be best for them, not what I think is best for them. I absolutely agree with the quote from Directing vs. Exploring,  "Our own love of reading and literature presupposes what we select and what we think is best for our students". I decided that I wanted to do this with my class that I have in Internship A--I wanted to find a short piece of literature that they would be able to become engaged with together, not because I thought they would connect with it, but because it helps us all connect together so that they would not only work with the literature, but create their own literature in the process. Please see the results as I upload a selected poems written by one of my students as a result of us reading and discussing the poem, "I am From".

Do: Artifact

I am from……

BY: K. D.

I am from birth of a loving mother and father

I am from the spirit of happy- so I dance

I am from the spirit of education- so i go high and beyond the standards

I am from the spirit of niceness- So I welcome others

I am from the spirit of helping- So I tutor.

I am from the spirit of silliness- So I make others laugh

I am from Christ who saved me

I am from M&M eating

I am from traveling

I am from people all around the word because we share the same home.

I am from the spirit of home training

I am from pink

I am from the spirit of loving

I am from a loving mother and father

I am from sibling rivalry

I am from Barnwell

I am from girl get out my face

I am from ME!!!!!