I was discussing our upcoming student teaching experiences with a few others girls from our 11am class, and realized I'm not alone in this, but I am slightly afraid of public speaking. Speaking to children or teenagers is not really what scares me, but presenting to my peers, and having my performance judged (as will be the case with our cooperative teachers and the Kent State men and women that will come to observe us) makes me super nervous. I chose to be a teacher, not because I am a great public speaker, but because I have had experiences with my younger brother and his learning difficulties that inspired me to do so, as well as the belief that there are just not enough high school teachers that genuinely care about their students' well-being. All along, I have just felt that things would fall into place and kept the mindset that "you can't be nervous speaking forever."
However, I have realized over the past semester that my anxiety over speaking in front of classes, both in our Teaching Literature class and my other classes, has dramatically decreased. I kept slightly nervous still, but once I start talking and get comfortable at the front of the room, I feel so much better. I really like that we have already taught two lessons in this class, one where we led a discussion on Yvonne's teaching and one where we taught our own lesson on Gatsby. The repetition of presenting a lesson to our class is what is making me so much more comfortable speaking, and is also giving me a greater confidence is my future ability as a teacher. I particularly liked the lesson we taught on Gatsby since we were given so much freedom on what direction we would take the lesson in. Working with partners, in my case, Erika, makes it so much easier, too.
Honestly, I'm actually beginning to get excited for student teaching, something that I have heard such horror stories about from all the women I waitress with who have yet to find a permanent teaching job. The direct quote from a waitress I know, Natalie, was "it really will be the best time of your life and the worst time of your life"...not exactly something that made ecstatic to get out there and teach a classroom of high school students. Now, though, I can't wait to get my phone call telling me where I could be student teaching so that I can start getting even more excited and ready to go.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Teaching Literature: Classics in the Classroom, Chapter 5
One of the things I really liked from Chapter 5 was on page 88 when she wrote about "The Difficult Poem". No one ever seems to really know why they love Shel Silverstein so much, but it makes sense that it would be because it's so easy, and that the reason no one appreciates the more difficult authors as well is because it takes so much effort to get as much out of them. Charles Berstein has to approaches to reading difficult approaches that include "It is not your fault that difficult poems are difficult," and "It is not the poem's fault that it is difficult."
For the first approach it said "Not being able to make sense of a poem at first glance does not mean there is anything wrong with you." That would be a great way to approach poetry do a class, I think. So many students find poetry difficult and at first problem, give up or feel that they are stupid for not understanding it. Telling students at the beginning of a poetry unit, and reminding them throughout, that poetry is difficult and that it is not them is great. I would probably elaborate on them to add that if the poetry is difficult, it means the exact opposite, and it means that they are smart. It is difficult because one must discern the hidden meanings in the poems, and if you are intelligent enough to understand that it is not straight forward and that you must dissect the poem, you are doing your job correctly.
Another part of Chapter 5 that I enjoyed was the part about Wordsworth's "The World is Too Much With Us". I read that poem last year for Literature in English II, and really liked the ways that Carol Jago relates it to her class with the question of "Do you find that electronic devices like cell phones cause the world to be too much with you?" The poem is not too difficult to discern the meaning of, but the idea of wanting to return to more primitive times and a larger appreciation of nature does sometimes seem like such a far-removed idea from the current generation of school-aged children and teenagers.
For the first approach it said "Not being able to make sense of a poem at first glance does not mean there is anything wrong with you." That would be a great way to approach poetry do a class, I think. So many students find poetry difficult and at first problem, give up or feel that they are stupid for not understanding it. Telling students at the beginning of a poetry unit, and reminding them throughout, that poetry is difficult and that it is not them is great. I would probably elaborate on them to add that if the poetry is difficult, it means the exact opposite, and it means that they are smart. It is difficult because one must discern the hidden meanings in the poems, and if you are intelligent enough to understand that it is not straight forward and that you must dissect the poem, you are doing your job correctly.
Another part of Chapter 5 that I enjoyed was the part about Wordsworth's "The World is Too Much With Us". I read that poem last year for Literature in English II, and really liked the ways that Carol Jago relates it to her class with the question of "Do you find that electronic devices like cell phones cause the world to be too much with you?" The poem is not too difficult to discern the meaning of, but the idea of wanting to return to more primitive times and a larger appreciation of nature does sometimes seem like such a far-removed idea from the current generation of school-aged children and teenagers.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Multi-Modal Literacies: You'e Leaving a Digital Trail
The article from the New York Times, You're Leaving a Digital Trail was very interesting, but also kind of disturbing. I feel that the internet is the best representation there is of someone's habits, publicly and secretly, and that being able to look at those would help someone get to know who you are more than even being married to them for twenty years would.
The part that actually made me really mad was the part where they say that insurance companies can use your internet records to find out about any health issues you have and use that information to deny you coverage. First off, I do not believe one should be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition, but basically sneaking around people's internet history to find out about that stuff is downright unnecessary.
Don't get me wrong- the technology advanced discussed in the article are amazing, such as the ability to track people throughout stores. It could serve as a great way to catch shoplifters in the act somehow, and can help businesses prosper by being able to study shopping habits, etc. However, it does seem dishonest in a way, that a business can become successful by having almost this secret knowledge rather than just being successful on their own. It almost makes me wish for the old days.
The part that actually made me really mad was the part where they say that insurance companies can use your internet records to find out about any health issues you have and use that information to deny you coverage. First off, I do not believe one should be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition, but basically sneaking around people's internet history to find out about that stuff is downright unnecessary.
Don't get me wrong- the technology advanced discussed in the article are amazing, such as the ability to track people throughout stores. It could serve as a great way to catch shoplifters in the act somehow, and can help businesses prosper by being able to study shopping habits, etc. However, it does seem dishonest in a way, that a business can become successful by having almost this secret knowledge rather than just being successful on their own. It almost makes me wish for the old days.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Multi-Modal Literacies: Great Films and How to Teach them, Chapter 9
Reading Chapter 9 of Great Films and How to Teach Them by William V. Constanzo really got me thinking about how I would incorporate films into my classroom in the future. He writes that before doing anything, a teacher must consider their motives, teaching philosophy and goals for the class overall. When I thought about it, I think that showing films in class is a great way to get students excited about a text that they might otherwise not want to read.
However, simply showing it is not enough. When I show a film, I want students to be able to actually appreciate the artistry of the film, including the lighting, editing, acting, writing, everything that goes into it. I will expect them to be familiar will all the aspects of creating a film, as well as be able to draw similarities, differences, and comparisons between the film and the text. I watched a lot of films in my English classes in high school, and it was always a blow off. A teacher needs to hold students accountable for actually getting something more than entertainment out of a film in the classroom.
I think the film review study guide that we used for our review of the film we saw at the Cleveland Film Festival would be a great guide for teaching a film in my own classroom. It addresses all the important things that go into making a film great, and they are things students should learn about and be able to appreciate, not only for the class, but also to serve their appreciation of films in the future. It would be a good guide for students to jot notes on while watching to look back on later before whatever project/paper/mode of assessment the teacher decides to use following the film.
However, simply showing it is not enough. When I show a film, I want students to be able to actually appreciate the artistry of the film, including the lighting, editing, acting, writing, everything that goes into it. I will expect them to be familiar will all the aspects of creating a film, as well as be able to draw similarities, differences, and comparisons between the film and the text. I watched a lot of films in my English classes in high school, and it was always a blow off. A teacher needs to hold students accountable for actually getting something more than entertainment out of a film in the classroom.
I think the film review study guide that we used for our review of the film we saw at the Cleveland Film Festival would be a great guide for teaching a film in my own classroom. It addresses all the important things that go into making a film great, and they are things students should learn about and be able to appreciate, not only for the class, but also to serve their appreciation of films in the future. It would be a good guide for students to jot notes on while watching to look back on later before whatever project/paper/mode of assessment the teacher decides to use following the film.
Multi-Modal Literacies: Film Review of The Elephant in the Living Room
Personal Issues: The thing that struck me most in this film was how these exotic animals being kept in domestic homes, or being set free in our own cities, can result in horrible, unexpected deaths, but at the same time they are just like domestic dogs are in terms of what companions they become to their owners. Some people really do know how to take care of them and these animals become like best friends to them, but some people are so uneducated on how to take care of them and are ruining it for everyone else. It seems so unfair.
Technique: The thing I liked best about the film was its editing. The viewer would be watching Terry and his beloved lions, and then it would cut to Tim Harrison in his car on the way to go capture another escaped exotic animals, and then next would be a clip of a news station reporting on the death of an owner by their escaped venomous snake. By doing this, all the possible views of this issue were presented and the constant switching ensured that viewers were never bored. It also kept up the suspense for what would happen next when they switched back to Terry, Tim, or to another news story.
Acting: There was not necessarily any acting in The Elephant in the Living Room because it was a documentary. However, the principal roles were Tim Harrison, an advocate for not keeping exotic pets, and Terry Brumfield, a man who owns, and adores, his two adult lion pets. Because the issues were real and not acted out, and also because all viewpoints of the issue were presented, their performances were very credible and non-biased.
Plot: Tim Harrison is a policeman and paramedic who works with an organization called Outreach for Animals, which encourages people not to keep exotic pets. One of the projects he is working on is convincing Terry Brumfield not to continue keeping his two adult lions, who later give birth to three cubs, as pets. However, Tim is torn because he sees how much Terry loves his lions and what heartbreak it causes him to lose them. I think this was very original and compelling because exotic animals as pets is not a very often discussed topic. The way the movie played out made it compelling because it was always switching between Terry, Tim, Terry and Tim, or news stories about deaths by exotic animals. By doing this, viewers were always kept in suspense, waiting to see what would happen or what was going to be shown next.
Themes: The main issue of the film is whether or not to keep exotic animals as pets. There are no laws prohibiting it, but because so many uneducated people do it, and eventually set them free or don't take proper care of them, deaths occur all the time.
Genre: The film is a documentary. While I do not watch a lot of documentaries, I cannot list other film that is resembles, but I think documentaries are gaining popularity today because there are so many topics that people feel strongly about, on both sides. This film was great because it did what a lot of currently popular documentaries don't do- it presented it from both sides and did not lead the viewer to lean towards either side.
Representation: The film focuses on two groups of people: those who are advocates and keeping exotic animals as pets, and those who discourage exotic animals as pets. It does not represent either group in a clear-cut way, though. Tim Harrison, who works as director for an organization that discourages it, also shows obvious sadness over removing Terry's lions from him. Terry, who loves his pet lions, realizes the danger that occurs when his male adult lion breaks free from his pen and ends up in a popular interstate, so much that he places them in a trailer where they cannot get free and cause more danger until he has decided what to do with them.
Ideology: The film challenges the cultural belief that we should be allowed to have pets, and takes the issue farther to raise the question of "when do we stop?" People in this country love their dogs and cats, some love their critters and birds, who has the authority to say people can't have wild cats or venomous snakes? They accomplished a presentation of this issue in a non-biased way by presenting both sides of the issue in a diplomatic, as well as emotional at times, way.
Technique: The thing I liked best about the film was its editing. The viewer would be watching Terry and his beloved lions, and then it would cut to Tim Harrison in his car on the way to go capture another escaped exotic animals, and then next would be a clip of a news station reporting on the death of an owner by their escaped venomous snake. By doing this, all the possible views of this issue were presented and the constant switching ensured that viewers were never bored. It also kept up the suspense for what would happen next when they switched back to Terry, Tim, or to another news story.
Acting: There was not necessarily any acting in The Elephant in the Living Room because it was a documentary. However, the principal roles were Tim Harrison, an advocate for not keeping exotic pets, and Terry Brumfield, a man who owns, and adores, his two adult lion pets. Because the issues were real and not acted out, and also because all viewpoints of the issue were presented, their performances were very credible and non-biased.
Plot: Tim Harrison is a policeman and paramedic who works with an organization called Outreach for Animals, which encourages people not to keep exotic pets. One of the projects he is working on is convincing Terry Brumfield not to continue keeping his two adult lions, who later give birth to three cubs, as pets. However, Tim is torn because he sees how much Terry loves his lions and what heartbreak it causes him to lose them. I think this was very original and compelling because exotic animals as pets is not a very often discussed topic. The way the movie played out made it compelling because it was always switching between Terry, Tim, Terry and Tim, or news stories about deaths by exotic animals. By doing this, viewers were always kept in suspense, waiting to see what would happen or what was going to be shown next.
Themes: The main issue of the film is whether or not to keep exotic animals as pets. There are no laws prohibiting it, but because so many uneducated people do it, and eventually set them free or don't take proper care of them, deaths occur all the time.
Genre: The film is a documentary. While I do not watch a lot of documentaries, I cannot list other film that is resembles, but I think documentaries are gaining popularity today because there are so many topics that people feel strongly about, on both sides. This film was great because it did what a lot of currently popular documentaries don't do- it presented it from both sides and did not lead the viewer to lean towards either side.
Representation: The film focuses on two groups of people: those who are advocates and keeping exotic animals as pets, and those who discourage exotic animals as pets. It does not represent either group in a clear-cut way, though. Tim Harrison, who works as director for an organization that discourages it, also shows obvious sadness over removing Terry's lions from him. Terry, who loves his pet lions, realizes the danger that occurs when his male adult lion breaks free from his pen and ends up in a popular interstate, so much that he places them in a trailer where they cannot get free and cause more danger until he has decided what to do with them.
Ideology: The film challenges the cultural belief that we should be allowed to have pets, and takes the issue farther to raise the question of "when do we stop?" People in this country love their dogs and cats, some love their critters and birds, who has the authority to say people can't have wild cats or venomous snakes? They accomplished a presentation of this issue in a non-biased way by presenting both sides of the issue in a diplomatic, as well as emotional at times, way.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Multi-Modal Literacies: Cleveland Film Festival
I attended the Cleveland Film Festival on Friday, March 26th, originally intending to see Handsome Harry because it was earlier in the day and I had to be back at home in Pittsburgh for work that night. However, due to parking difficulties, my boyfriend and I missed that film, which was showing at 11:45am, and chose to see The Elephant in the Living Room at 2:20 instead. I'm glad we missed the first film, because The Elephant in the Living Room was great. The film followed Tim Harrison, a policeman and paramedic with a specialty in capturing exotic animals in neighborhoods or nearby parks that have been set free by their owners, or are the result of animals set free by their owners breeding. He works for an organization that encourages people not to keep exotic animals as pets because he sees all to often what happens when they become too much to handle.
The film also follows a man named Terry Brunfield, a man who owns to adult lions, a male and a female. Tim is trying to convince him to hand the lions over and cease keeping lions as pets. When the male lion gets free and ends up in the middle of the interstate, Terry is forced to put the two adult lions in a trailer, although the lion injured no one. However, this causes further difficulties, because the two mate and bear three cubs. Tim and some of his friends assist Terry in building new cages with more space for all the lions, but the film ends sadly when an electrical surge of some sort ends up killing the adult male lion, finally leading Terry to relinquish over his remaining four lions to live in a reserve where they will have much more area to roam and can still remain together.
There are no laws forbidding people from owning exotic animals as pets. The reason I enjoyed this film so much, aside from the absolute cuteness of all the cubs, was that it investigated the issue from both sides. You saw how often Tim was wrangling exotic animals near neighborhoods where they could possibly have caused damage, and the film would periodically show news footage of different instances where exotic snakes as pets killed a member of the household or other similar stories. However, you also saw how much Terry loved his lions and what a large part of his life and happiness they had become. Viewers of the film are left to form their own opinions as to whether laws should be created forbidding exotic animals from being kept as pets, whether there should be more restrictions on it, or if it should be allowed freely as it is now.
It was a fun today, overall, but something has got to be done about the limited parking availability (and the disorganization of the parking lot in general).
The film also follows a man named Terry Brunfield, a man who owns to adult lions, a male and a female. Tim is trying to convince him to hand the lions over and cease keeping lions as pets. When the male lion gets free and ends up in the middle of the interstate, Terry is forced to put the two adult lions in a trailer, although the lion injured no one. However, this causes further difficulties, because the two mate and bear three cubs. Tim and some of his friends assist Terry in building new cages with more space for all the lions, but the film ends sadly when an electrical surge of some sort ends up killing the adult male lion, finally leading Terry to relinquish over his remaining four lions to live in a reserve where they will have much more area to roam and can still remain together.
There are no laws forbidding people from owning exotic animals as pets. The reason I enjoyed this film so much, aside from the absolute cuteness of all the cubs, was that it investigated the issue from both sides. You saw how often Tim was wrangling exotic animals near neighborhoods where they could possibly have caused damage, and the film would periodically show news footage of different instances where exotic snakes as pets killed a member of the household or other similar stories. However, you also saw how much Terry loved his lions and what a large part of his life and happiness they had become. Viewers of the film are left to form their own opinions as to whether laws should be created forbidding exotic animals from being kept as pets, whether there should be more restrictions on it, or if it should be allowed freely as it is now.
It was a fun today, overall, but something has got to be done about the limited parking availability (and the disorganization of the parking lot in general).
Teaching Literature: Classics in the Classroom, Chapter 4
One of the things I really liked from Chapter 4 was Freytag's Pyramid, which serves as a way for students to chart the structure of the stories they are reading. Carol Jago writes that she will often use it within her classrooms when studying different stories, or plays, such as Shakespeare. Having students map out the different aspects of a story in terms of its "Rising action" or "Denouement/Resolution" helps them to learn the different terms that apply to the different parts of a story, but also helps them to commit the story's plot to memory. Becoming familiar with those terms will help enrich their discussion of literature, and becoming so familiar with the plot of the story will obviously benefit them when it comes time to take a test or discuss it in class.
There was also a quote in Chapter 4 on page 67 that I really liked. Carol Jago quotes Daniel T. Willingham's article about the research confirming that students remember what they think about, "If 'what ends up in a learner's memory is not simply the material presented- it is the product of what the learner through about when he or she encountered the material', then books that demand hard thinking on the part of a reader are more likely to be remembered than those students breeze through." I think that information speaks volumes about the importance of rich, in-depth class studies, often through discussion, of the complexities of a novel's characters or themes, even if they are difficult. So many of us remember many of the classics we read in high school fondly, many of us even citing them as the reason for our love of literature. The classics we remember are the ones that are rich in symbols, themes, complex characters, etc. We had to work to get to the bottom of everything in those books, and so they have remained with us throughout all this time, often leading us to re-read them.
There was also a quote in Chapter 4 on page 67 that I really liked. Carol Jago quotes Daniel T. Willingham's article about the research confirming that students remember what they think about, "If 'what ends up in a learner's memory is not simply the material presented- it is the product of what the learner through about when he or she encountered the material', then books that demand hard thinking on the part of a reader are more likely to be remembered than those students breeze through." I think that information speaks volumes about the importance of rich, in-depth class studies, often through discussion, of the complexities of a novel's characters or themes, even if they are difficult. So many of us remember many of the classics we read in high school fondly, many of us even citing them as the reason for our love of literature. The classics we remember are the ones that are rich in symbols, themes, complex characters, etc. We had to work to get to the bottom of everything in those books, and so they have remained with us throughout all this time, often leading us to re-read them.
Teaching Literature: Classics in the Classroom, Chapter 2
I was looking forward to reading Chapter 2 because teaching vocabulary has always been an aspect of teaching an English class that has always worried me. There is nothing fun or enriching to a student about vocabulary quizzes, but the list of Do's and Don't's on page 32 were very helpful to me and offered many great suggestions for incorporating vocabulary into the classroom without killing my students with boring, weekly vocabulary quizzes.
My favorite from the Do list was "Use personalized examples when defining new words. 'I wonder if Wendy's doleful expression is a result of not having her homework completed.'" It would be difficult to remember to incorporate those words into your own speech if you're not used to them. Even if you're not using words that are being used in the class readings, simply having a diverse vocabulary will benefit your students. I think it is very important for a teacher to have a large vocabulary because hopefully a lot of the words you use will rub off onto your students anyways.
My second favorite point that Carol Jago made throughout Chapter 2 a few different times was the importance of teaching prefixes, suffixes, and roots. That's one thing I don't remember being focused on very much in my own high school classes, but that I wish I had a better knowledge of. I was always an avid readers, so I do know most of the commonly seen ones, but not as many as I wish I did. Teaching students all of the prefixes, suffixes, and roots would be so important because it will help them out not just in everyday reading, but would also serve them very well on the SAT and state standardized tests where there are words that are not commonly seen, or where questions about prefixes, suffixes, and roots are addressed.
My favorite from the Do list was "Use personalized examples when defining new words. 'I wonder if Wendy's doleful expression is a result of not having her homework completed.'" It would be difficult to remember to incorporate those words into your own speech if you're not used to them. Even if you're not using words that are being used in the class readings, simply having a diverse vocabulary will benefit your students. I think it is very important for a teacher to have a large vocabulary because hopefully a lot of the words you use will rub off onto your students anyways.
My second favorite point that Carol Jago made throughout Chapter 2 a few different times was the importance of teaching prefixes, suffixes, and roots. That's one thing I don't remember being focused on very much in my own high school classes, but that I wish I had a better knowledge of. I was always an avid readers, so I do know most of the commonly seen ones, but not as many as I wish I did. Teaching students all of the prefixes, suffixes, and roots would be so important because it will help them out not just in everyday reading, but would also serve them very well on the SAT and state standardized tests where there are words that are not commonly seen, or where questions about prefixes, suffixes, and roots are addressed.
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