Integration of "New Literacies" in Student Teaching
I am very fortunate to be able to develop and design my own unit of teaching in the school I am working. As many of the students in my cohort can attest, I love the use of technology. I have actually been teaching technology for the last three years and am excited to incorporate it within the Language Arts curriculum. For the classes I will be teaching, English 9 and English 11, I will be designing a wiki for both, having the students add and edit content as we go. In addition to the wiki, I have created a blog for Red Bagde of Courage, http://shs-english11.blogspot.com which has both the full text and audio of the text (compliments of audiobooks.com). Because the school is technology rich and has computers in every classroom, the accessibility of these tools is not an issue. I added the audio clips for struggling readers and those struggling with language and vocabulary. I will be adding open-ended questions to each chapter as a form of on-going assessment.
Another form of new literacy I will using is in the writing portion of the course. I will be having the students create a multigenre project, including both written parts and visual presentation. I will give the students a choice of 10 genres, 7 of which must be written. The other 3, however, can be made in the form of a podcast, an imovie / movie maker project, a scenery/building design in Google Sketchup, a cartoon on ComicStrip Creator, or a song created in GarageBand. I will also open this up to other ideas. For each of these programs, I will be giving a “mini” lesson (10-15 minutes) on how to find and use. In my past experience, many students will teach themselves once they are introduced to the technology.
The last “new literacy” I am hoping to use is E-pals, a site that connects schools across the world in different projects. I have posted a project to discuss the Red Badge of Courage and the slave narratives of Frederick Douglass and Linda Brent to e-pals and am hoping to get a reply from another school. Ultimately, it would be amazing to discuss the book from a southern point of view… and better yet, a southern black point of view.
Q: What are your purpose of teaching literature? It’s all about stories. Stories are fundamentally human. People always tell stories, they always have. To understand the art of story telling is to understand what it means to be human. Interestingly, in the article Dripping with Literacy, a Jazz-Fueled Road Trip, a Place to Breathe, Maja Wilson makes the exact same statement, “English class is about stories” (71), identifying a common theme and purpose among teachers.
Q: Has this philosophy ever changed over the year? Oh no. I actually started out as a social studies teacher and kind of fell into teaching language arts, partly because stories have always been important to me.
Through Eric’s response, I could sense the enjoyment he has with the subject area of English and the passion he has for teaching it. This ties into Csikszentmihalyi’s theory on intrinsic motivation in his article Thoughts on Education. Csikszentmihalyi states that, “When people enjoy whatever they are doing, they report some characteristic experiential states that distinguish the enjoyable moment from the rest of life” (2). This holds true for students as well. Once students realize that learning can be enjoyable, then tend to succeed.
Q: What is your teaching philosophy? Teaching is about touching the future and trying to give it roots in the past. In many ways I am a Shepard, helping to lead the flock from one place to another in the time that I have them. It’s always my job to go from a condition of less to a condition of more. I think it’s important to look at what do they need, where are they coming from, and where are they going. Essentially, what can I give them, in the time I got, to get them closer to what they need?
This statement ties a little into the article by Smith and Wilhelm, Teaching so it Matters: Where Should We be Going, and How Can We Get There? Eric’s statement that we need to tie the future in with the past gives meaning to teaching. It matters because we are preserving history and passing on stories, morals, and ideas to the future.
Q: What is your philosophy of classroom management? Classroom management slash discipline is something you do ALL the time. It involves everything in the classroom. When you get into discipline, i.e. punishment, that’s when something else didn’t work. It’s just something you do all the time. It’s keeping in mind what the goal is, what are you trying to get done, what kind of atmosphere are we trying to create. I think the kind of atmosphere you’re trying to create is a bit of a collegial one, to a degree, where we all understand that we are here to learn about something… to do something, and we’re in it together. The idea or goal is to build a community whereas the students don’t want to disrupt that community, they want to be a part of it and move along with it. The discipline classroom management issue is something you build into every second of your time. It’s best when it’s subtle, when the students don’t realize you’re managing them, even though you are. What you’re doing is bringing them along, in a very gentle and persuasive way. The confrontation thing is about you building a culture. If classroom management is all about confrontation, then you are building a confrontational atmosphere. I don’t think there’s many teachers that would say that is what they want to happen, but that’s what you’ll get. You reap what you sow, you get what you put in.
Classroom management is a huge issue, and one of the biggest fears of many new teachers. I really like the advice Eric gave in this question, don’t get into confrontations or you will build a confrontational atmosphere. I think the more students are engaged in learning, the less time they will have to become restless and, often times, confrontational and misbehaved. I really think the Understanding by Design books helps offer tools and planning to set up an engaging curriculum and active lesson which ultimately would help alleviate behavior issues
Q: How do communicate both verbally and non-verbally? Everyone comes with their own style for how to do that. This is the part of teaching that is more art than science. I think one of the things that all teachers learn, at least beginning teachers learn, is communication and classroom management are things you need to do to match your own style, or it wont work for you. So, it’s a very individual art form. You need to communicate with students in both verbal and non-verbal ways… so you need to be aware of thing like body language, gestures, and locus (walking around the room).Also,make sure you are projecting the character you want to be projecting. I always think of teaching like possessing an acting degree.
I believe this is a very important question. Taking from my own experience of coaching girls volleyball over the years, I know what an impact body language and gesture can have. If even one girls gives another girls a “bad look”, that negative energy spreads throughout the team. I think the same thing is true in the classroom.
Q: How did you establish rapport with your students and what’s the importance of that? Oh it’s very important. It’s also a balancing act… you don’t want to be their best buddy, that’s not your role…but at the same time, you’re not their antagonist either. You’re an adult and their not, ok, but they will be. You kind of talk a lot to their future selves. You show a genuine interest in them as people and the things they are interested in. The kids I find out are interested in sports, just by listening to them or hearing them talking in the hallways before class, I talk sports with them. And I don’t care about sports myself, but I’ll talk sports with them. And I don’t try to pretend that I’m interested in sports for my own sake, they understand I’m interested in sports for their sake, because I’m interested in them. I think everyone that wants to be a teacher has in their heart a great love for every kid, so you tap into that. You don’t care about kids in general, you care about this kid, this kid, and this kid. And you really nurture that care in yourself and be open for all the little wonderful surprises that will pop up.
I’ve realized in my observations that rapport is an incredible way to connect with students and if that rapport is established early, students will learn to respect you and, although they may not complete a certain assignment, they’ll do it anyway just because of the respect they have for you.
Q: How does your teaching method align with your values? Well, one of my values is being painstakingly picky about being honest. Honesty is a big thing for me, I don’t even like white lies or lies of omission. I like being really, really honest with kids, which is a value that affects my teaching style. For instance, when we’re covering material, I like to very honest with them and say, “This is why we’re covering this. This is why I think you need to know this” and just be really open about that. And material that I don’t think would be of value to them, frankly, I’ll try to avoid covering it.
Q: How do you interact with students families? It’s tough to motivate yourself to do that sometimes. I think, however, the more I do it, the more comforatable I get with them, and the easier it is to do it. Here at Spectrum, with our technology focus, there’s an expectation that everyone has and reads their e-mails. And that really helps, because an e-mail is a quick and convenient way to send out a message saying this happened and so on. Good and bad messages alike. Phones can be tricky sometimes, because you never know how you come across on the phone, but e-mails are nice. If you’re not sure how its coming across you can always not send it, look it over, and send it the next day. You don’t want to be doing anything in the heat of the moment. Sometime, however, parents will come to you in the heat of their moment and in that case you should just sit and listen, let them state their point, then wait till they come down from their emotion. That’s something I find myself still working on … doing that communication piece with parents. Part of that is becoming a parent myself and having kids go through school. There’s been times I’ve wished teachers had communicated with me more to help them through something. I realized that 90 to 95% of the time that’s where parents are…wanting that same goal.
I think this will be a challenge in teaching, just because you are adding more personalities and opinions into the mix of everything else.
Q: How diverse do you think this school is? By most normal measures of diversity, this school really isn’t very diverse. Gender diversity is about 50/ 50 like you’d expect, maybe a few more girls than boys in the 9th grade, maybe 60/40, but still around that even split. The socio-economic is pretty middle class, a few upper, a few lower, but a pretty middle class white protestant community.
Q: How do think in the language arts department we should integrate diversity?What benefits are there to that? Well, if you’re talking American literature, which most literature in high schools is centered around, you can’t ignore diversity, because American literature and history is all about the melting pot. If you ignore African American writers, Native American writers, etc… well, you’re missing the boat, your missing American literature and what it really is. It’s not a stretch at all to say it’s absolutely necessary to include diverse authors in a literature course, otherwise you will miss some of the greatest American writers.
Although the school I will be teaching at is not very diverse in regards to the demographics of the school, I am really looking forward to introducing diverse issues and discussions.
Q: How are different learning styles incorporated into classroom activities and instruction? Well, you got to make sure that not all of the assignments are the same. Different kids learn in all different ways so you want to make sure you’re building on all kid’s strengths and weaknesses. Kids sometimes just need to work in their strengths, where they’re comfortable and other days they’re more ready to do the stretch, so you provide that variety and choices too.
Q: How far do you go in offering differentiated instruction? As much as time allows, and what you can manage. The reality is that we are all limited in our time. Ideally, you would tailor instruction to each person, but there is just not enough time.
Q: How important is assessment? Are we teaching to standardized testing? and what do you think about that? Ah… so first we need to ask “what do you mean by assessment?” Teach to the test is great if the test is good. Even though we have a lot of standardized testing we’re doing right now, it’s really not that much. It’s not like we’re doing a standardized test every month, there are really only a few a year. We are to a point that many teachers are asking, “Are we testing too much… you know the ‘no child left untested’”, but “teach to the test” are not dirty words to me. That’s just reality. The tests we have are not bad tests. The tests measure certain things and it’s not bad to teach to those things. Besides, we are still not to the point of overload… I can teach to the test AND still have time to teach other things. So… that’s’ ok. I think people can get kind of wound up about assessment, especially if they think “assessment equals standardized testing”. Assessment is all the different ways to check if the children are learning and that’s something you’re doing all the time, in both formal and informal ways.
Q: What advice would you give to a brand new teacher? Well, 3 things: First, pace yourself… including saying no, especially the first year. You just want to get through the year and focus on the teaching. Be realistic about what you can and can’t get done. Take it one day at a time. Number 2, keep the big picture in mind, remember what you are here for. There are going to be things every day that will annoy you, but just try to let that roll off your back. You’re there to help the kids and be a positive role model, so keep that in mind. And 3… always have 3 things to say, even if you really only have two J.
Overall, I thought this was a great assignment. I really learned a lot about the school’s atmosphere and how to better manage a classroom through the interview with Eric. He seems to have a plethora of knowledge regarding teaching theory and practice, which I am really looking forward to continue to learn from.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. - Confucius
The first picture I chose to represent myself as a teacher is a quiet, calm stream in southern Minnesota. Although I have never been considered to be quiet, nor calm in many cases, I do seek, as well as most, tranquility in my life. The smooth, stable skin of the river represents the patience I wish to offer my students, with an understanding that winds and storms arise, that waves create, crash, and disturb, and that forces unforeseen cause turmoil in a student's life ... an essential component to teaching, I believe.
The river also represents a teaching style I wish to adopt, a meandering, ever-changing body of knowledge supplied by a rich bed of content and shaped by the banks of curriculum and pedagogy. The river is in a constant state of motion, shifting pace and shape, searching for a nominal path to an undefined destination. Similarly, we as teachers are on that journey as well, understanding the absence of a "nominal" way to teach and knowing each child's destination may be different. And finally, the picture offers a vision of beauty. Knowing our hard work and dedication to teaching can create an image of wonder, often enjoyed only by those who are fortunate to see, is something we can carry with pride throughout our lives.
This next picture represents the challenge of teaching, the enormous weight that can be felt dealing with resilient students, overbearing parents, and budget constraints. As a teacher, however, I think it's important to learn to share the load and use other teachers and staff as support.
There is no doubt that teaching can be a big job. I was talking to a friend not too long ago and expressing to her my fear of grading papers and assignments, having anxiety over not having enough time and possibly giving poor feedback as a result. Jokingly she replied, "Just simply get a bigger pen!" I chose this photo (not altered in photoshop in any way) to represent the size of a teaching job. Being married to a teacher myself, I know the amount of work that can go into the profession. When we first moved up to the Elk River area and she took a teaching position where she had to build her own curriculum, I cannot begin to tell you the amount of hours she spent prepping. Often we would hear people comment, "Oh, teacher's have it so easy... you only work 9 months of the year." This drove my wife crazy! Sure, you get some time off in the summer, but when you put in long hours the rest of the year, I think it balances out. With this photo, I am also expressing what I forsee to be one of my own greatest challenges in teaching, time management. How do you balance the amount of time to grade papers, and do a quality job at it, and prep for up coming classes?
The above pictures represent some of my teaching experience. I have been blessed to have been able to teach over the last three years some computer classes, as well as having several years of coaching experience. In my opinion, there is no substitute for the knowledge gained through experience. Benjamin Disraeli once wrote:
Experience is the child of Thought, and Thought is the child of Action. We cannot learn men from books.
In the classes we're taking, we learn a plethora of information regarding pedagogy, teaching methods, lesson planning, class room management, the use of technology, and many other valuable tools, however, due to the dynamic nature of human beings, teenagers in particular, every classroom situation is unique. Through experience we learn how best to deal with certain students, problems with how to teach different content and genres, and how to develop intellectually and socially as teachers.
And finally, I think commending ourselves is of up-most importance. We all make mistakes in life and should express humility in our shortcomings and be humble with our successes, but in the end we need to reconcile with ourselves the mistakes we made and move forward in life. Below is a poem I found in the dusk-cocooned vault of my attic. One in which I wrote during a dark period in my life... one in which help bring me back to the light. Although amateur in form and lacking in mechanics, the poem has a personal power to me and is the epitome of the power of writing, because it helped change my own life. As a teacher, one of my goals is to help pass on my passion for reading and writing and to illustrate the tremendous power of literature, both globally and personally.
To Whom Do I Say Thanks…
I would like to thank spirituality,
You’ve been a dear friend, always there for me.
I would like to thank the four-leaf clover, and the blade of grass
that bowed out of the way, just so I could see it.
And my family, the core of life, the
Secret sauce put in the finest recipes-their
love is my poetry.
I would like to devote to them a
Very special ‘thank you’ cup – full and blessed.
I would like to thank Father Time, and the makers
Of pop rocks and tootsie rolls, oh, and the kid that didn’t hit me with the
Iceball in third grade, I’d especially
like to thank him.
But beyond the norm, beyond the gratitude's
Of the loves of life, the air, the sea,
The scent of rain and roses, and the Gods,
There are others.
Thank you to the evil that
dwell in the every day human
the child full of painful tones
of mockery: harelips, freaks and outcasts.
I owe you so much of my pain, but as I
Think about it, isn’t the pain our greatest source of our strength, for this I say thanks.
“Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be...Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you'll live as you've never lived before.” - Erich Fromm
In every quaint motion my shadow will remind me that I am still alive, with every true beat my heart will remind me that I still care, and even with unwarranted, uneven, unbalanced steps, my feet will continue to always remind me that forward is the only direction the future lies, and that, I have resolved, is where love and life prevail. - Patrick Morrow
