I loved the two voice poems that we opened the day with. It was great to hear the interaction of the voices and the interplay between the words and perspectives. I don't do enough reading aloud and performance in my own classroom. I think maybe because so much of my own reading history revolves around my own silent reading, that when I think of reading, that's my default mental image of what reading is, even though it really is so much more than that.
Following that same idea of our own histories affecting our current actions and beliefs, I like that Nicholas had us reflect on our teacher identities. What a very fitting demo to wrap up SI. I think sometimes I forget to step back and examine why I teach the way I do and why I approach things the way I do in my class. I forget to step back and remember that school is a Figured World and that perhaps some of my students don't see themselves as fitting into the School world. Maybe acknowledging that attending school and being a student is just one facet of their identities (if it is at all) would allow students to share their other identities with me. Just like how I'm not Teacher 24/7 but also Daughter and Sister and Friend and Yoga-Attempter, maybe I also need to remember that my students are also Athlete and Friend and Marching Band Member, etc. but that again, I can't fall prey to the idea that one word can sum of their identity. That they are the sum of their parts.
Nicholas's demo and the Julian Baggini Ted Talk video reminded me a little bit of this New Yorker book review I read about Thomas Nagel's "Mind and Cosmos," where he describes mental thoughts as being "as irreducibly real as her brain waves are, and different from them." Very confusing but also very intriguing as well.
But the activity we did where we listed our memories, desires, beliefs, and knowledge did serve to remind me again of the awesome power of teachers to hurt or inspire. I think SI has really served to remind me that teaching is so personal because learning is so personal. It IS really hard to learn when you don't feel like someone is listening or that they care about you. It IS really hard to learn when you feel like what you say doesn't matter. I've been really inspired to go back and make my classroom a place where it matters who students are and what they have to say. I love that we've been shown how we can rethink or reinforce our own identities as teachers and as writers. I love that I've been shown how a writing group can make me want to write and share my work. I love that I can see how teaching doesn't have to be an isolating endeavor. Writing celebrates who we are and what we have to say and teaching writing can be so joyful and so exciting and so new!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Revision and Personal Connections
Tonya's revision activity made me feel like a detective editor, sifting through the paragraph pieces to find the flow and the main ideas of each. Both Tiffany and I had narrative pieces and I found it so interesting how we both arranged our cut-up paragraphs into a more chronological order. But as writers, we had crafted our pieces by dropping the reader into the middle and then used flashback and dialogue. It would be interesting to point out to students how writing can be crafted and approached from different perspectives depending on what effects the writer wants or if the reader is reading for just comprehension. I think this activity would improve my students' skills as actual editors. In the past, when they do peer editing, the changes they suggest are usually mechanically based and do not revolve around the deep structural analysis we did today.
Robin's demo made me reflect on what background, what characteristics, what assumptions I bring to my classroom and what my students bring as well. Working to understand the culture and background they come from will help me understand the individual. It's so necessary to remember that learning is personal and about how we connect to our students as people and sometimes I think that school as an institution makes us forget about the humanness of who we teach and who they are. I was loving the extensive amount of resources Robin collected and gave to us.
Robin's demo made me reflect on what background, what characteristics, what assumptions I bring to my classroom and what my students bring as well. Working to understand the culture and background they come from will help me understand the individual. It's so necessary to remember that learning is personal and about how we connect to our students as people and sometimes I think that school as an institution makes us forget about the humanness of who we teach and who they are. I was loving the extensive amount of resources Robin collected and gave to us.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Wobblin' With the Worms
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| CC Image Courtesy of emily.aurel504 on Flickr |
Sarah's demo opened my eyes to a harmful practice that I do in my classroom. I taught an argument writing unit where we brainstormed potential topics they could write about and then I handed out a graphic organizer for them to fill out. Some students groaned and asked if they could use something else besides the graphic organizer and I did say that it was fine. But the majority of them still filled out the formulaic graphic organizer that I created with another teacher. I like that Sarah put us in our students' shoes and we knew how it felt to be constrained in our writing process. Our group talked about how it didn't even feel like we were writing. We didn't feel like writers. Our writing is usually messy and all over the place and it doesn't fit into a nice oreo shape. We felt like we were just going through the motions to get this done. It's like we were doing a paint-by-numbers picture. Writing-by-numbers.
Maybe the whole process of how we approach these genre unit blocks are too constraining. Lil said that she never sits down and tells herself that she's going to write a persuasive piece. It is unnatural and strange to write with the format in mind, instead of a message. I think I need to either ease students into the process with a lot more freewriting beforehand, or show them a lot of models of different types of brainstorming (Ashley's idea), or incorporate what Lacy was saying about asking students to think about what is being valued in this type of writing (translingual?). I think I also need to bring in a lot of model texts of persuasive texts so students could know the possibilities (like a modified, more specific version of Kendra's demo--asking 'what is good persuasive writing?' and ). Lots of swirling thoughts in my head about this topic.
P.S. Worms should be eaten for dinner by vikings who won't be brushing the teeth of their pet alligators who own only one T-shirt collectively.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Multigenre & Persuasion
Erika's demo on multigenre projects was exciting and also made me think of how putting constraints or parameters around things produces really creative work. It seems paradoxical and counter-intuitive to me. But having to think of the questions about democracy in terms of the genre conventions of a personal ad or a restaurant menu made me think deeper and in more flexible ways. But then having all of those choices of different genres was exciting too.
I really liked that Erika gave listeners a specific task when we were sharing. I find that my students often seem to only listen with one ear or don't listen with purpose. But having us write down words or phrases that we heard from our partner's genre piece gave us concrete feedback for us to share.
With Sarah's demo, I loved the progression of seeing and interacting with so many different pieces and identifying purpose and audience for each. Starting off by being able to see student examples (the two videos) and analyzing the purpose and audience segued nicely into identifying the persuasive devices in the print ads.
I thought that the discussion around everyday situations and the purpose and audience of those helped illuminate the distinctions between genre, purpose, and audience. Erika described how the cookbook authors (genre) could write to beginning bachelor cooks (audience) or to more knowledgeable cooks (Julia Child's books) and how the purpose would look differently for each. Wendy described how as a customer, a retail store focuses on so many details like the store layout and what store employees say, etc. That opened my eyes to how prevalent those ideas of genre, audience, and purpose are in the world around us. It's not just something specific to a small type of writing. I used to complain and think that the RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) acronym was so formulaic and artificial but apparently I was the one that was thinking too narrowly.
Working in our small groups to act out our PSA skits was fun and engaging and watching them was hilarious as well! I felt like we could really get into bringing these persuasion devices to life. This would work so well to tie into a Civics unit / Animal Farm unit as well.
I really liked that Erika gave listeners a specific task when we were sharing. I find that my students often seem to only listen with one ear or don't listen with purpose. But having us write down words or phrases that we heard from our partner's genre piece gave us concrete feedback for us to share.
With Sarah's demo, I loved the progression of seeing and interacting with so many different pieces and identifying purpose and audience for each. Starting off by being able to see student examples (the two videos) and analyzing the purpose and audience segued nicely into identifying the persuasive devices in the print ads.
I thought that the discussion around everyday situations and the purpose and audience of those helped illuminate the distinctions between genre, purpose, and audience. Erika described how the cookbook authors (genre) could write to beginning bachelor cooks (audience) or to more knowledgeable cooks (Julia Child's books) and how the purpose would look differently for each. Wendy described how as a customer, a retail store focuses on so many details like the store layout and what store employees say, etc. That opened my eyes to how prevalent those ideas of genre, audience, and purpose are in the world around us. It's not just something specific to a small type of writing. I used to complain and think that the RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) acronym was so formulaic and artificial but apparently I was the one that was thinking too narrowly.
Working in our small groups to act out our PSA skits was fun and engaging and watching them was hilarious as well! I felt like we could really get into bringing these persuasion devices to life. This would work so well to tie into a Civics unit / Animal Farm unit as well.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Journaling, theme songs, open mic, oh my!
Both demos on Friday gave me so much food for thought and lots of great new activities for my classroom. I enjoyed the specific sacred writing rules that Tiffany uses in her classroom and I think I need to adapt similar rules for my class. Oftentimes during journal writing time I would see students half-heartedly write for maybe a minute or two and then spend the rest of the time looking off into space. I think having those parameters and starting them off with only 2 minutes or so of writing for each prompt is easy and low-stakes.
I like the idea of devoting a whole day to journaling writing in response to different prompts. I'm so grateful for Tiffany posting all of our prompts that we came up with! I think my students would also love coming up with their own prompts and adding to them throughout the year.
I loved how Wendy's demo started with something we are all familiar with: TV theme songs. I think it's a great way for students to start thinking about themes. I also really enjoyed how we were then to come up with theme songs for each super short story. I love how it causes us to think in so many ways (what's the main idea of a song and how does it apply to a work of literature). Looking at a genre through the lens of another type of genre! And students would be so excited to share the songs they know and love--which made me think of how it's tapping into their interests and culture (something that Delpit encouraged in her piece).
Thanks Sarah for sharing the details of her Romeo and Juliet playlist! I teach Romeo and Juliet as well and I want to use this next year!
Then the discussion about the concept of universal themes and whether or not they are even universal was very thought-provoking too. I don't think I had really questioned the validity of "universal" themes and how much they are socially constructed. Even when we think about emotions like love, there are counterexamples of societies with arranged marriage that do not subscribe to our Western idea of romantic love. Lots to chew on.
And it was so wonderful to hear the different pieces everyone has been working on in their writing groups. Poignant, hilarious, reflective.
I can't believe it's our last week! I've learned so much about writing, teaching writing, my own identity as a writer. And I have so much to bring back to my classroom!
I like the idea of devoting a whole day to journaling writing in response to different prompts. I'm so grateful for Tiffany posting all of our prompts that we came up with! I think my students would also love coming up with their own prompts and adding to them throughout the year.
I loved how Wendy's demo started with something we are all familiar with: TV theme songs. I think it's a great way for students to start thinking about themes. I also really enjoyed how we were then to come up with theme songs for each super short story. I love how it causes us to think in so many ways (what's the main idea of a song and how does it apply to a work of literature). Looking at a genre through the lens of another type of genre! And students would be so excited to share the songs they know and love--which made me think of how it's tapping into their interests and culture (something that Delpit encouraged in her piece).
Thanks Sarah for sharing the details of her Romeo and Juliet playlist! I teach Romeo and Juliet as well and I want to use this next year!
Then the discussion about the concept of universal themes and whether or not they are even universal was very thought-provoking too. I don't think I had really questioned the validity of "universal" themes and how much they are socially constructed. Even when we think about emotions like love, there are counterexamples of societies with arranged marriage that do not subscribe to our Western idea of romantic love. Lots to chew on.
And it was so wonderful to hear the different pieces everyone has been working on in their writing groups. Poignant, hilarious, reflective.
I can't believe it's our last week! I've learned so much about writing, teaching writing, my own identity as a writer. And I have so much to bring back to my classroom!
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Language, Identity, Code-Switching
Wow. So many emotions today about the impact, the identity of language. It was powerful to hear Robin's reaction and Tiffany's reaction to what Delpit was arguing about in her piece. And the fact that this piece of argument writing is so personal and compelling and creative is astounding to me. I do tend to think about nonfiction, informational, or argument writing as something that is drier than fiction or poetry. I forget that when the author really feels for her subject that argument and persuasive writing can be both personal and universal.
Robin said that really listening to a student, creating that safe place for her is important before trying to say something. That we shouldn't just jump in and try to interpret what someone is saying. Delpit's point that language is culture and identity, and that we are denigrating someone's mother tongue when we focus only on correcting and standardizing their language.
At first I was really puzzled too by the question that Delpit raised: If children pick up different languages or dialects or are able to code-switch so easily, why is it so hard to get students to adhere to the standard English dialect. But it makes so much sense that children pick things up easily when they identify and like the people who speak the adopted dialect. Standard English with its rules and grammar edicts isn't affirming or positive for most people. This really fits in well with my inquiry of how to make a classroom a safe, inviting place where students feel comfortable sharing their writing. How can they feel safe or want to share when they don't feel valued. I liked Delpit's line, "Those of us who teach must first make our students recognize their potential brilliance."
Delpit's piece also made me think about my own code-switching abilities, about the English I speak at school and most places and the Chinglish (Chinese + English) I speak at home. I also thought about growing up, how I would often translate for my mother at the doctor's office or at the grocery store and how I would feel embarrassed by her broken English. Why was I so embarrassed by my mother tongue? By my mother's tongue? How has that influenced how I feel about language?
Robin said that really listening to a student, creating that safe place for her is important before trying to say something. That we shouldn't just jump in and try to interpret what someone is saying. Delpit's point that language is culture and identity, and that we are denigrating someone's mother tongue when we focus only on correcting and standardizing their language.
At first I was really puzzled too by the question that Delpit raised: If children pick up different languages or dialects or are able to code-switch so easily, why is it so hard to get students to adhere to the standard English dialect. But it makes so much sense that children pick things up easily when they identify and like the people who speak the adopted dialect. Standard English with its rules and grammar edicts isn't affirming or positive for most people. This really fits in well with my inquiry of how to make a classroom a safe, inviting place where students feel comfortable sharing their writing. How can they feel safe or want to share when they don't feel valued. I liked Delpit's line, "Those of us who teach must first make our students recognize their potential brilliance."
Delpit's piece also made me think about my own code-switching abilities, about the English I speak at school and most places and the Chinglish (Chinese + English) I speak at home. I also thought about growing up, how I would often translate for my mother at the doctor's office or at the grocery store and how I would feel embarrassed by her broken English. Why was I so embarrassed by my mother tongue? By my mother's tongue? How has that influenced how I feel about language?
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Technology Thoughts
I thought that the quote that Ashely picked out for group discussion was very thought provoking: "Never before have we had so many forms of communication at our disposal, and yet rarely has our sense of loneliness and alienation been so profound." --Jonathan Martin, Prototype. It sparked such a passionate and wide-ranging conversation. People brought in so many pertinent examples from their lives about how technology is something that connects or something that isolates.
I feel like I can see how it can be both but that I do tend to lean towards the idea that technology isolates. It does allow people to connect in so many ways across great distances and I think it's amazing to see how many supportive online communities have cropped up to serve people in many different situations. I think I remember reading an article about how caretakers of sick relatives often spend time online connecting with people in the same situation. Likewise, people with different diseases often find support online as well. And I know that those types of online relationships often become in-person relationships as well.
One question that Meredith brought up in describing discussions she's had with her middle school students was, "Do you have friends who are different online versus in person?" And I found that intriguing, especially as I skimmed over part of an article in the Research in the Teaching of English journal later on during inquiry time. The article was entitled, "Examining Digital Literacy Practices on Social Network Sites" by Amber Buck (Volume 1: Number 1, August 2012) and it described a college freshman who was a member of different sites like Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, Myspace, Tumblr, Flickr, YouTube, Linked In, LibraryThing, etc. The description of his digital self was more positive; he saw himself as a creator and "publisher" and was very savvy in navigating between the different sites and what they represented. He described Twitter as being more 'stream of consciousness" and his Facebook was more focused on his college activities. It reminded me of the phrase "conventions of genre" that Lil brought up earlier. [I also loved the idea that Wendy suggested of how we can have students play with putting on character personas, like blogging from Hester Prynne's point of view."
It makes me think that technology can shape our thinking and maybe also our view of ourselves as writers. That technology can allow us to expand who we influence with our words and thoughts and that it can make us more compelled to write. It's exciting to have people tune in and listen to what we say and even more exciting when they can respond right away. That continual digital conversation promotes writing and writers. I liked what Erika said this morning about how technology allows people to address presidents and people in power. How it democratizes (?)societies more. Why else do oppressive governments try to control digital output or in general, any type of communication?
But when does it become debilitating? I know that I often seek out digital spaces that reinforce my own beliefs, my own thoughts. I don't often search out websites or forums that disagree with my own opinion. When does it move from support and connection to groupthink?
In terms of how digital spaces influence language, I think it's exciting but also sometimes strange to come across unfamiliar slang or abbreviations that quickly become commonly used. It's also disconcerting to hear these things being spoken out loud or written down on paper. I've had students write down "tbh" and "lol" and hashtags on written reflections. I've even had a friend say "shaking my head" out loud during an in-person conversation with me instead of actually shaking his head!
I feel like I can see how it can be both but that I do tend to lean towards the idea that technology isolates. It does allow people to connect in so many ways across great distances and I think it's amazing to see how many supportive online communities have cropped up to serve people in many different situations. I think I remember reading an article about how caretakers of sick relatives often spend time online connecting with people in the same situation. Likewise, people with different diseases often find support online as well. And I know that those types of online relationships often become in-person relationships as well.
One question that Meredith brought up in describing discussions she's had with her middle school students was, "Do you have friends who are different online versus in person?" And I found that intriguing, especially as I skimmed over part of an article in the Research in the Teaching of English journal later on during inquiry time. The article was entitled, "Examining Digital Literacy Practices on Social Network Sites" by Amber Buck (Volume 1: Number 1, August 2012) and it described a college freshman who was a member of different sites like Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, Myspace, Tumblr, Flickr, YouTube, Linked In, LibraryThing, etc. The description of his digital self was more positive; he saw himself as a creator and "publisher" and was very savvy in navigating between the different sites and what they represented. He described Twitter as being more 'stream of consciousness" and his Facebook was more focused on his college activities. It reminded me of the phrase "conventions of genre" that Lil brought up earlier. [I also loved the idea that Wendy suggested of how we can have students play with putting on character personas, like blogging from Hester Prynne's point of view."
It makes me think that technology can shape our thinking and maybe also our view of ourselves as writers. That technology can allow us to expand who we influence with our words and thoughts and that it can make us more compelled to write. It's exciting to have people tune in and listen to what we say and even more exciting when they can respond right away. That continual digital conversation promotes writing and writers. I liked what Erika said this morning about how technology allows people to address presidents and people in power. How it democratizes (?)societies more. Why else do oppressive governments try to control digital output or in general, any type of communication?
But when does it become debilitating? I know that I often seek out digital spaces that reinforce my own beliefs, my own thoughts. I don't often search out websites or forums that disagree with my own opinion. When does it move from support and connection to groupthink?
In terms of how digital spaces influence language, I think it's exciting but also sometimes strange to come across unfamiliar slang or abbreviations that quickly become commonly used. It's also disconcerting to hear these things being spoken out loud or written down on paper. I've had students write down "tbh" and "lol" and hashtags on written reflections. I've even had a friend say "shaking my head" out loud during an in-person conversation with me instead of actually shaking his head!
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Body Biography
The activity we did today with the story "Envy" really had a lot of layers to it. Going through and highlighting the words and phrases that stood out to us and then reading them out loud when we felt moved to was so expressive, collaborative, and unexpected. It made me look at the story in a different way. When I compare my freewrites from the night before to the freewrites or riffs we did today, I am more aware of Campbell's language, the lyricism and rhythm of her words. Yesterday I was more focused on the actual events of the narrative (who's saying what? what's happening? what's going to happen next). And even hearing people read their phrases out loud reiterated words that stood out to me, or even made me look again at words that I had missed.
I did like how the body biography kind of sneakily made us revisit the text over and over again (lots of close reading!). And the idea of symbolically representing character traits (along the spine, through colors, through poems) was very effective. I liked how there were so many different types of suggestions but also there was accountability through what the biography needed to contain. I can see this activity working well with my students.
I did like how the body biography kind of sneakily made us revisit the text over and over again (lots of close reading!). And the idea of symbolically representing character traits (along the spine, through colors, through poems) was very effective. I liked how there were so many different types of suggestions but also there was accountability through what the biography needed to contain. I can see this activity working well with my students.
At the Kitchen Counter
I tried mincing garlic today,
but the pieces were uneven.
I know you’d frown if you saw them,
all scattered, ungainly, askew.
But the pieces were uneven—
(maybe right from the beginning)
all scattered, ungainly, askew.
I tried ignoring all the signs.
Maybe right from the beginning
My eyes should have been wide open.
I tried ignoring all the signs,
but they blurred in the heat of my thoughts.
I tried mincing garlic today.
My eyes should have been wide open,
but they blurred in the heat of my thoughts.
I know you’d frown if you saw them.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Revision
All the talk about revision today was so exciting! It really opened my eyes to what the idea of revision is all about and all we can do. The write into the day opener by Katherine Bomer was so different than the revision I'm used to thinking about. I never thought of revision as being about hope. I never thought of revision as forgiveness. I always thought of revision as something tedious, superficial, almost unnecessary. Perhaps part of this was laziness and another part fear. I am a BIG procrastinator and in high school and in college I remember putting essays off until the last day and then just sitting down to spew out an outline and then a draft. To be honest, my first draft was often my final draft as well, with only minimal, surface-level changes. I think after writing something down, I also wanted some distance. I didn't want to see it again, much less have to manipulate it. I didn't want to have to dig into it and maybe get rid of the words that I'd just gotten down on paper.
But I like the idea that revision is a process, it's a chance. Her emphasis on revision running through our lives (we can change our identities, we can change our teaching) is thrilling. Reinvention isn't just for Madonna; we can all do it.
Mary Ellen's demo played into this idea so well when she presented how we can look at regular objects in different ways. The revision strategies were wonderful. So concrete! Stepping outside the writing piece and playing around with it can be fun! i never knew revision could be so creative. I liked what Nick said about how revision, even if we don't use it in the final project, helps us to think about our subject in a deeper, more meaningful way.
But I like the idea that revision is a process, it's a chance. Her emphasis on revision running through our lives (we can change our identities, we can change our teaching) is thrilling. Reinvention isn't just for Madonna; we can all do it.
Mary Ellen's demo played into this idea so well when she presented how we can look at regular objects in different ways. The revision strategies were wonderful. So concrete! Stepping outside the writing piece and playing around with it can be fun! i never knew revision could be so creative. I liked what Nick said about how revision, even if we don't use it in the final project, helps us to think about our subject in a deeper, more meaningful way.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
What's in a grade??
I loved how the demos today and the essays we read and reflected on all moved everything to the personal. That the writing and the work done in the classroom is about the students as writers and as humans who all have different and varied reactions to literature, poetry, art. And that does raise the challenge that we kept bumping up against. That because writing is so personal, so subjective, it's really hard to grade. It's hard to assess or quantify the output.
Lil mentioned how hard it would be to read a student's heartbreaking memoir about her father dying and then to slap a C- on it. And I thought Wendy brought up a lot of excellent points about how hard it can be to reconcile all these great, creative activities into a system that still requires a number grade and a certain number of set writing pieces as dictated by the curriculum. How do we teach students those formal mechanical guidelines so that they can know them and then break them? Is this even a chronological sequence or can they break the rules while learning them?
Wendy said something else today that really stuck with me: "My students don't see themselves as writers." They have this mindset of completing an assignment just to get the grade and just the get it over with. I admit that even as a student who did think of herself as a writer and did love writing, I hardly went back and did any meaningful revision to my papers. My first draft was basically my final draft. How can I show my students that they are writers? How can I show them that revision is important and necessary? How do I dig into my own personal writing and learn to revise in a meaningful way?
Some possible solutions that were mentioned in the discussion included portfolios, providing space for teaching / peer commenting earlier on in the writing process, conferences, and fluid revision circles. I'd like to hear more about what those are. I also remember reading about a book called "Rethinking Rubrics" by Maja Wilson that I might try and take a look at. It might apply to what we've been talking about today.
Lil mentioned how hard it would be to read a student's heartbreaking memoir about her father dying and then to slap a C- on it. And I thought Wendy brought up a lot of excellent points about how hard it can be to reconcile all these great, creative activities into a system that still requires a number grade and a certain number of set writing pieces as dictated by the curriculum. How do we teach students those formal mechanical guidelines so that they can know them and then break them? Is this even a chronological sequence or can they break the rules while learning them?
Wendy said something else today that really stuck with me: "My students don't see themselves as writers." They have this mindset of completing an assignment just to get the grade and just the get it over with. I admit that even as a student who did think of herself as a writer and did love writing, I hardly went back and did any meaningful revision to my papers. My first draft was basically my final draft. How can I show my students that they are writers? How can I show them that revision is important and necessary? How do I dig into my own personal writing and learn to revise in a meaningful way?
Some possible solutions that were mentioned in the discussion included portfolios, providing space for teaching / peer commenting earlier on in the writing process, conferences, and fluid revision circles. I'd like to hear more about what those are. I also remember reading about a book called "Rethinking Rubrics" by Maja Wilson that I might try and take a look at. It might apply to what we've been talking about today.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
A Single Story
The theme of dominant stories was one that resonated with me. The Literacy Dig activity put all the messages we get about being a teacher together in one place. I do get frustrated that pop culture always sends the message that teachers need to be hugely charismatic, overly involved, and burnt out in order to make a difference in their students' lives. People gave different examples of pop culture teachers that are depicted as martyrs (Mr. Holland's Opus and Freedom Writers) where their students and their school lives come before their families and personal lives.
It gives an unrealistic goal where I feel like I can never measure up to the idea teacher. My lesson plans don't make students stand up on their desks and I don't see those dramatic, life-changing revelations every day in my classes.
Maybe movie makers and TV writers focus on the inspiring teacher because it makes for a more effective narrative arc and then, like Steve said earlier, it is easier to place the blame on ordinary teachers, who aren't giving 110%. Maybe it's easier to ask why individual teachers aren't living up to their movie counterparts than to ask what we as a society need to change in order to alleviate the poverty and inequality that contribute to student struggles in school.
Watching the TED talk this morning, I feel like I am both subject to and a perpetuator of single stories. I often find myself making assumptions about people based on the little information that I know or expanding ideas about a whole group of people based on one person.
Personally, I used to rebel against the automatic assumption people had that if I was an English major the only thing I could do with my life was to teach. It used to really aggravate me that people thought that was the only thing my degree was useful. I would vehemently say that I was not going to be an English teacher. I don't know if I felt so obstinate because that was the refrain I kept hearing again and again. I decided to double major in both English and graphic design, which was through the journalism school.
As a requirement, I took a copy editing class my senior year in college and loved it. The professor was very passionate and told stories of working in news rooms around the country. I had an internship after graduation in a news room but not before a ten-day training session at Temple University. The professor who trained us was intimidating with dark eyebrows below his white hair. He seemed seven feet tall and tested us on world capitals and even made us draw a map of South America on an entirely blank sheet of paper (I think mine ended up looking like a squished comma).
I really felt inspired by his high expectations of us and his constant reiteration that copy editors had to constantly question the story. What's the other side? He would tell us that there were stories in all the objects around us. He pointed to a banana on the table and asked us what we saw. We stammered all kinds of matter-of-fact, inane statements but he continued and asked, "Where is this banana from? What country? Who picked it? What were the labor conditions like? How do we trade with that country? and so on and so forth. I started to realize how often I took things for granted, just accepted the status quo without trying to dig any deeper, just like how often we default to the single story.
After the internship and struggling for a few months to find a copy editing job, I landed one at a small paper in Texas. But the day I went to find an apartment, the job was gone because of budget cuts. I was back to square one. And I asked myself, "Why didn't I want to become an English teacher?" Was it just because I wanted to be ornery? I loved to read, I loved writing. Why not push past my own hang-ups? So I went back to school and discovered how challenging and rewarding teaching can be.
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I'm reminded again of the exercise we did this morning where we wrote down the words that came to mind when we think of "doctor," "mother," and "teacher." I remember sitting in my classroom one afternoon my first year of teaching. A student I didn't know rushed into my room.
"I HEARD there was an ASIAN teacher here now! Wow, it's true!" (the student was Asian herself). I was so taken aback. Should I feel flattered? Confused? Saddened? The high school did not have a lot of Asian students, and it's true, I was the only Asian teacher there. I guess "Asian" wasn't really something that came to her mind when she thought "teacher," even though she was Asian herself.
When she left after chatting with me for a while, it reminded me that my students were curious too and would ask me where I was from or even "What kind of Asian are you?" (she was rebuked by other students who whispered, "You're not supposed to say that kind of stuff!"). My own high school that I attended was pretty diverse and a lot of my fellow classmates were Asian but my middle school and earlier years were not as diverse. I remember hearing things like, "Oh you must be related to *other Asian student.*"
I've even had other people of my nationality express surprise that I'm an English teacher, instead of someone who teaches math or science. Even my mom shakes her head and wonders why I prefer English.
I like sharing the poem, "Can I Ask You A Personal Question?" with my students because they can all relate with the situation where people make assumptions about them--where they are defined by a single story. They can see the absurdity of that kind of limited thinking.
It gives an unrealistic goal where I feel like I can never measure up to the idea teacher. My lesson plans don't make students stand up on their desks and I don't see those dramatic, life-changing revelations every day in my classes.
Maybe movie makers and TV writers focus on the inspiring teacher because it makes for a more effective narrative arc and then, like Steve said earlier, it is easier to place the blame on ordinary teachers, who aren't giving 110%. Maybe it's easier to ask why individual teachers aren't living up to their movie counterparts than to ask what we as a society need to change in order to alleviate the poverty and inequality that contribute to student struggles in school.
Watching the TED talk this morning, I feel like I am both subject to and a perpetuator of single stories. I often find myself making assumptions about people based on the little information that I know or expanding ideas about a whole group of people based on one person.
Personally, I used to rebel against the automatic assumption people had that if I was an English major the only thing I could do with my life was to teach. It used to really aggravate me that people thought that was the only thing my degree was useful. I would vehemently say that I was not going to be an English teacher. I don't know if I felt so obstinate because that was the refrain I kept hearing again and again. I decided to double major in both English and graphic design, which was through the journalism school.
As a requirement, I took a copy editing class my senior year in college and loved it. The professor was very passionate and told stories of working in news rooms around the country. I had an internship after graduation in a news room but not before a ten-day training session at Temple University. The professor who trained us was intimidating with dark eyebrows below his white hair. He seemed seven feet tall and tested us on world capitals and even made us draw a map of South America on an entirely blank sheet of paper (I think mine ended up looking like a squished comma).
I really felt inspired by his high expectations of us and his constant reiteration that copy editors had to constantly question the story. What's the other side? He would tell us that there were stories in all the objects around us. He pointed to a banana on the table and asked us what we saw. We stammered all kinds of matter-of-fact, inane statements but he continued and asked, "Where is this banana from? What country? Who picked it? What were the labor conditions like? How do we trade with that country? and so on and so forth. I started to realize how often I took things for granted, just accepted the status quo without trying to dig any deeper, just like how often we default to the single story.
After the internship and struggling for a few months to find a copy editing job, I landed one at a small paper in Texas. But the day I went to find an apartment, the job was gone because of budget cuts. I was back to square one. And I asked myself, "Why didn't I want to become an English teacher?" Was it just because I wanted to be ornery? I loved to read, I loved writing. Why not push past my own hang-ups? So I went back to school and discovered how challenging and rewarding teaching can be.
-------------
I'm reminded again of the exercise we did this morning where we wrote down the words that came to mind when we think of "doctor," "mother," and "teacher." I remember sitting in my classroom one afternoon my first year of teaching. A student I didn't know rushed into my room.
"I HEARD there was an ASIAN teacher here now! Wow, it's true!" (the student was Asian herself). I was so taken aback. Should I feel flattered? Confused? Saddened? The high school did not have a lot of Asian students, and it's true, I was the only Asian teacher there. I guess "Asian" wasn't really something that came to her mind when she thought "teacher," even though she was Asian herself.
When she left after chatting with me for a while, it reminded me that my students were curious too and would ask me where I was from or even "What kind of Asian are you?" (she was rebuked by other students who whispered, "You're not supposed to say that kind of stuff!"). My own high school that I attended was pretty diverse and a lot of my fellow classmates were Asian but my middle school and earlier years were not as diverse. I remember hearing things like, "Oh you must be related to *other Asian student.*"
I've even had other people of my nationality express surprise that I'm an English teacher, instead of someone who teaches math or science. Even my mom shakes her head and wonders why I prefer English.
I like sharing the poem, "Can I Ask You A Personal Question?" with my students because they can all relate with the situation where people make assumptions about them--where they are defined by a single story. They can see the absurdity of that kind of limited thinking.
Found Poem
-->
Who’s OK Here?
“The nail that sticks
out gets hammered in.” –Japanese saying
Soft-spoken
with sleepy eyes
slurping noodles and soup
talking movies and music for a miserable year.
Cooped up inside their rooms and inside their heads—
heads as thick as an astronaut’s helmet.
Three holes in the wall—the size of fists.
“To hell with it. I don’t like it and I don’t do well,”
he said with the intensity of a hungry college freshman.
(From “Shutting Themselves In” by Maggie Jones, The New York Times, January 15, 2006)
Monday, July 1, 2013
Murray Cards
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| My Murray Cards |
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| Writing Timeline |
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| Digital Timeline |
I really liked the Murray Cards activity today. It was great for me to see how it helped me find a topic to write about. The first two index cards I kept freewriting but then discarding my ideas and starting anew. I liked how I always had that option to make a new start if a topic didn't grab my attention. It's funny to look back and see the different topics and to trace the tangents of my brainstorming. I first wrote about my best friend, then about libraries, then about Japanese shut-ins (all over the place, I know!).
I thought it was helpful to have the listener act very, very enthusiastic and interested; I think that it would help my students to learn how to react to someone's writing pieces and help reluctant sharers feel more comfortable. Giving the listeners specific questions to ask like "What do you intend to do next" and "What do my readers need to know that I haven't told them" was beneficial in giving examples of concrete, foward-moving inquiry. I think students (and me as the teacher) often have trouble coming up with ways of responding to a piece of writing.
At first I got a little frustrated because I felt like I kept coming up with superficial topics that I wasn't that really interested in digging into but not having to labor over the spurts of writing for too long helped and I liked that I didn't feel wedded to a topic. I could always start anew. And I felt more motivated because these were topics that I was coming up with; no one was pushing me to write about anything in particular.
Sharing with a partner and seeing how these directions and prompts could apply to someone else's widely different idea was revealing. Being able to get out of my headspace for a few minutes and really listen to what was going through someone else's head was a much-needed shift after those three minutes of writing. i think this activity will really help my students find a starting point for writing that is meaningful to them on a personal level.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Orientation Reflection
One thing I've been thinking a lot about is creating a comfortable classroom environment. My students share some of their writing or thinking almost every day in their small groups but whenever I ask for students to share to the whole class, all I get is crickets. I want students to feel safe about sharing what they write and to also feel proud and excited to share their writing.
I really loved the activity we did at Orientation where Lil read the poem, "Hotel Nights with My Mother" and then we highlighted words and phrases that spoke to us. We then wrote from those lines as inspiration. Then as the poem was read aloud again, we interrupted with a line or two of what we wrote.
I tried it with my third period class and it did not go as well. I explained the instructions to them twice and then tried to jump into the activity without showing them a model of what I meant. I should also have shared with them what I wrote as well. The second time I read the poem out loud, no one interrupted me with what they wrote. They might have felt strange about interrupting me as well as shy about sharing what they wrote, since they are more comfortable sharing with their groups, and often don't share with the whole class. I can imagine they would feel even less comfortable sharing in a new type of activity. Perhaps I could have had them share with their groups first, maybe even have their groups record it in a lower-stakes environment, and then present their recordings to the class.
When I read the poem one more time, I did have two students respond. I tried to get more people to join in but only one more student did. I felt frustrated and tried to threaten them with participation points--big mistake on my part. But I ended up dropping it and didn't try it with my other classes. I shouldn't have assumed that it would have worked in the same way as it did at orientation, especially since I knew that my students already were shy about sharing in front of the whole class. I should have shown them an example of what it was like, and given them a smaller audience to begin with. I definitely want to work on easing in my classes to sharing with one another in a more gradual and continuous way next year.
One idea that I really like from the book I was given at orientation (Inside Out by Dan Kirby and Tom Liner) is to publish student writing every week. I don't think my students hardly ever got to see each others' writing! Their writing was usually for themselves or for me, not each other. The authors describe starting the week off with reading these anonymous student excerpts aloud and then opening the floor for comments on why the piece is good writing and what else could be done. I really like this idea so that students can see what they are doing.
Kirby and Liner also suggest starting off with collaborative poetry, where the class or a small group of students write a poem together (80). Perhaps this would have been a better way to ease my students into feeling more comfortable with sharing what they wrote.
I really loved the activity we did at Orientation where Lil read the poem, "Hotel Nights with My Mother" and then we highlighted words and phrases that spoke to us. We then wrote from those lines as inspiration. Then as the poem was read aloud again, we interrupted with a line or two of what we wrote.
I tried it with my third period class and it did not go as well. I explained the instructions to them twice and then tried to jump into the activity without showing them a model of what I meant. I should also have shared with them what I wrote as well. The second time I read the poem out loud, no one interrupted me with what they wrote. They might have felt strange about interrupting me as well as shy about sharing what they wrote, since they are more comfortable sharing with their groups, and often don't share with the whole class. I can imagine they would feel even less comfortable sharing in a new type of activity. Perhaps I could have had them share with their groups first, maybe even have their groups record it in a lower-stakes environment, and then present their recordings to the class.
When I read the poem one more time, I did have two students respond. I tried to get more people to join in but only one more student did. I felt frustrated and tried to threaten them with participation points--big mistake on my part. But I ended up dropping it and didn't try it with my other classes. I shouldn't have assumed that it would have worked in the same way as it did at orientation, especially since I knew that my students already were shy about sharing in front of the whole class. I should have shown them an example of what it was like, and given them a smaller audience to begin with. I definitely want to work on easing in my classes to sharing with one another in a more gradual and continuous way next year.
One idea that I really like from the book I was given at orientation (Inside Out by Dan Kirby and Tom Liner) is to publish student writing every week. I don't think my students hardly ever got to see each others' writing! Their writing was usually for themselves or for me, not each other. The authors describe starting the week off with reading these anonymous student excerpts aloud and then opening the floor for comments on why the piece is good writing and what else could be done. I really like this idea so that students can see what they are doing.
Kirby and Liner also suggest starting off with collaborative poetry, where the class or a small group of students write a poem together (80). Perhaps this would have been a better way to ease my students into feeling more comfortable with sharing what they wrote.
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