Throughout this project I found that we all learned from each other in different ways. I enjoyed working on this project as a group because it gave each of us a chance to work as a team and to gain different ideas from one another. Among the 5 of us, we all worked very well together and developed a concise, organized unit on this novel. I especially found the 5 different subtopics we taught to the class to be very useful and helpful in all aspects of our lesson. We touched on crucial parts of the novel that will enhance any student's knowledge and thinking when it comes to literature.
I am not sure I would really change much on the way we went about this project. I kind of felt this project snuck up on us, but we managed to put together a reliable unit plan on The Bell Jar. I think by each of us teaching different parts we wanted to discuss provided the class with variety, a chance to apply their knowledge, and discuss their own interpretations of the novel as well. Since our presentation included these three things I feel that our colleagues learned a lot on how to teach this novel as well as explore other aspects of the novel that may enhance their own learning as well.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Text Debriefing-Webb
I think Literature & Lives by Allen Webb is an enjoyable text. It is interesting to read and fun to read some of the experiences he had as a teacher. I think this is a great text for English 4800 because I think each student can find something useful within the book. It was not the average text that most students are used to here at WMU.
I like how we discussed each chapter in this book within the class period. I am not sure how you could do things differently but it would be cool to see that happen next semester for parts of it. I personally did not like the last chapter of the book. It was boring and didn't really close out the book too well. I was a little disappointed that we ended this book with that particular chapter.
I do not think I will be keeping this book as a resource for my teaching. I think Webb has some great insight in this book, although I think it mostly serves its purpose in an undergraduate class like this, instead of the actual teaching world. I will say that the only reason I would keep it is because of the chapter on Homelessness. I really enjoyed reading this chapter and I think it is a great theme to teach in a high school classroom setting.
Overall, great book for class, not so much to put on my book shelves in my own classroom.
I like how we discussed each chapter in this book within the class period. I am not sure how you could do things differently but it would be cool to see that happen next semester for parts of it. I personally did not like the last chapter of the book. It was boring and didn't really close out the book too well. I was a little disappointed that we ended this book with that particular chapter.
I do not think I will be keeping this book as a resource for my teaching. I think Webb has some great insight in this book, although I think it mostly serves its purpose in an undergraduate class like this, instead of the actual teaching world. I will say that the only reason I would keep it is because of the chapter on Homelessness. I really enjoyed reading this chapter and I think it is a great theme to teach in a high school classroom setting.
Overall, great book for class, not so much to put on my book shelves in my own classroom.
Text Debriefing-Appleman
I think Appleman's book, Critical Encounters in High School English, is a tremendous and necessary book to use in this course. Without this text I do not think I would know as much as I do now about theory in the classroom. This is definitely a great resource for undergraduate students.
I like how we discussed the chapters in this book, although I wish we would have practiced using them more in the class session. This way it might have made us more comfortable going into teaching by having experience using them and implementing in specific activities. I think each chapter serves its own purpose. The deconstruction chapter is by far the most difficult chapter to discuss. Because of this I do not think a student should lead discussion on this chapter, but rather you as the instructor leading it instead.
I plan on keeping this book for reference for teaching. I think the classroom activities in the back of the book will be useful along with the chapters itself. The book is very reader friendly which allows the reader to find what they are looking for quickly.
Overall, this book was very useful and it gave me a good idea of literary theory. It will serve a great purpose if I forget what certain theories are or an idea of how to use them.
I like how we discussed the chapters in this book, although I wish we would have practiced using them more in the class session. This way it might have made us more comfortable going into teaching by having experience using them and implementing in specific activities. I think each chapter serves its own purpose. The deconstruction chapter is by far the most difficult chapter to discuss. Because of this I do not think a student should lead discussion on this chapter, but rather you as the instructor leading it instead.
I plan on keeping this book for reference for teaching. I think the classroom activities in the back of the book will be useful along with the chapters itself. The book is very reader friendly which allows the reader to find what they are looking for quickly.
Overall, this book was very useful and it gave me a good idea of literary theory. It will serve a great purpose if I forget what certain theories are or an idea of how to use them.
Text Debriefing-Wilhelm
Wilhelm's book, You Gotta Be the Book, is definitely a good text for English 4800. Having read this book this semester I feel like I learned a lot useful ideas for the classroom. I was not familiar with the term "Reader Response" up until this course and I now doing my final project on this theory. It is very reader friendly and quick read.
I think each chapter serves a significant purpose for any individual seeking an English Education degree. I like how the author provides real life stories within the book instead of writing a book with facts and boring text. It made the book interesting to read and I learned a lot from it as well.
I am considering keeping this book as a resource for me to use throughout my teaching. I think it serves as a great reminder of things to use in the classroom and how we can use it as teachers. Even if I do not keep the book, I think this book is definitely something I can look back on and remember key concepts.
I think each chapter serves a significant purpose for any individual seeking an English Education degree. I like how the author provides real life stories within the book instead of writing a book with facts and boring text. It made the book interesting to read and I learned a lot from it as well.
I am considering keeping this book as a resource for me to use throughout my teaching. I think it serves as a great reminder of things to use in the classroom and how we can use it as teachers. Even if I do not keep the book, I think this book is definitely something I can look back on and remember key concepts.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Webb-Chapter 7
After reading Webb's chapter on testimonial and autoethnography, I found it an interesting approach and somewhat outside the norm of a traditional English classroom. I'm used to reading mostly about different novels and the theories behind each. Instead, I see varieties of novels that can be looked at through a testimonial or autoethnography way.
Webb states, "In my experience, teaching testimonial narratives leads students to ask challenging questions about the priorities of literature classes and their everyday schooling experiences" (137). Webb has had amazing responses throughout his teaching from students that we've been able to see throughout his book. Although this gives me hope for the future, I still want to know how he gets such thorough responses, especially using some of the novels that I did not read until college. As my internship soon approaches, and my career of teaching is right around the corner, I worry that although this is my ultimate goal as a teacher that I may never reach this mark. I want to be creative and touch on different aspects of literature like autoethnography and testimonials, but I feel that because the way I have been taught that these things will be overlooked based on the curriculum I am to go by. So how to I allow myself to break free of these barriers and incorporate things like this into my classroom in order to enhance the knowledge of my students, and enable them to leave my classroom with an honest learning experience? I think what Webb has done a great job throughout this entire book and has additionally been inspiring and amazing. I hope I can have the kind of impact he has had on his students along with the variety of experiences he has encountered that has made him a better teacher because of it as well. Overall, testimonials, autoethnography are only the gist of what I am interested in using from this text by Webb. I plan on saving this text and using it as a resource to guide me into become a great educator who teaches many young lives the meaning of literature and how to incorporate literature into one's own life.
Webb states, "In my experience, teaching testimonial narratives leads students to ask challenging questions about the priorities of literature classes and their everyday schooling experiences" (137). Webb has had amazing responses throughout his teaching from students that we've been able to see throughout his book. Although this gives me hope for the future, I still want to know how he gets such thorough responses, especially using some of the novels that I did not read until college. As my internship soon approaches, and my career of teaching is right around the corner, I worry that although this is my ultimate goal as a teacher that I may never reach this mark. I want to be creative and touch on different aspects of literature like autoethnography and testimonials, but I feel that because the way I have been taught that these things will be overlooked based on the curriculum I am to go by. So how to I allow myself to break free of these barriers and incorporate things like this into my classroom in order to enhance the knowledge of my students, and enable them to leave my classroom with an honest learning experience? I think what Webb has done a great job throughout this entire book and has additionally been inspiring and amazing. I hope I can have the kind of impact he has had on his students along with the variety of experiences he has encountered that has made him a better teacher because of it as well. Overall, testimonials, autoethnography are only the gist of what I am interested in using from this text by Webb. I plan on saving this text and using it as a resource to guide me into become a great educator who teaches many young lives the meaning of literature and how to incorporate literature into one's own life.
Appleman-Chapter 4
I really enjoyed Webb's chapter on youth violence. This topic does not seem to be a top priority in most situations but rather lightly touched upon. As a future educator, I see more and more various issues with education. For instance, the Virginia Tech shootings, Columbine, teachers having sexual intercourse with their students, and even some close to home (Loy Norrix drive by shooting in spring 2007). I can't help but wonder how that impacts me and my safety, as well as my students safety. The fact that our society has become so unpredictable and capable of so many destructive things causing people to feel unsafe in an educational setting is surreal to me. How did our society get like this? How has education gone from a place of worth and learning to a place where every students' safety can be at risk? I worry for my own sake, my students sake, and for my future children's sake. If schools are becoming this violent now, how are schools going to be 10 years from now? 15 years? 20 years? 100 years? Scary huh?
Webb presented many novels that allow different perspectives on the media. The Giver, Brave New World, 1984, Fahrenheit, and Anthem. In high school, I read only one of these novels (The Giver) and cannot remember that at any given time this book was ever taught to me with a emphasis of learning perspective. I wish I had these experiences, like many I have come across in Webb's book, and I see teaching as my destiny. By this I mean I get the opportunity to teach kids things that were never taught to me and because of it may have impacted my way of learning. Hopefully by incorporating this type of learning in the classroom will generate a way of thinking and a sense of understanding for every student I come across.
Webb presented many novels that allow different perspectives on the media. The Giver, Brave New World, 1984, Fahrenheit, and Anthem. In high school, I read only one of these novels (The Giver) and cannot remember that at any given time this book was ever taught to me with a emphasis of learning perspective. I wish I had these experiences, like many I have come across in Webb's book, and I see teaching as my destiny. By this I mean I get the opportunity to teach kids things that were never taught to me and because of it may have impacted my way of learning. Hopefully by incorporating this type of learning in the classroom will generate a way of thinking and a sense of understanding for every student I come across.
Appleman-Chapter 8
After reading Appleman's chapter on Critical Encounters: Reading the World, I find that critical encounters and theory go quite well together. Specifically, I agree with Appleman where she states on page 138, "Critical encounters with theory help students and teachers re-evaluate what counts as knowing in the literature classroom. Contemporary literary theory helps students reshape their knowledge of texts, of themselves, and of the worlds in which both reside." Critical encounters and theory mesh well together in a sense that it enables not just students, but teachers as well understand literature. These two combined also allow people, especially students, to see things in society in a different light and from different perspectives. Since critical encounters and theory allow such things, students and teachers will have an adventurous and knowledgeable experience with literature and with each other.
Additionally, I really like the journal entries on multiple perspectives from various students. The entry I found to be most meaningful is the very first entry on page 142: "Every person sees things a little differently, through different eyes, and while it is not unusual for different people to look at the same thing differently, sometimes the same person can also look from different perspectives. The latter is aided by the use of critical lenses which help a reader to focus on different issues in the same book." This student's response, to me, defines perfectly what multiple perspectives entails. This student appears to have a thorough understanding of perspective which obviously came from great teachings from his/her instructor. I hope I can accomplish and teach to my students about theory and perspective that these students have learned and achieved understanding from as well.
Additionally, I really like the journal entries on multiple perspectives from various students. The entry I found to be most meaningful is the very first entry on page 142: "Every person sees things a little differently, through different eyes, and while it is not unusual for different people to look at the same thing differently, sometimes the same person can also look from different perspectives. The latter is aided by the use of critical lenses which help a reader to focus on different issues in the same book." This student's response, to me, defines perfectly what multiple perspectives entails. This student appears to have a thorough understanding of perspective which obviously came from great teachings from his/her instructor. I hope I can accomplish and teach to my students about theory and perspective that these students have learned and achieved understanding from as well.
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