Writing a Conversation

Today, with my RU classes, I decided to throw out our normal warm-up of Independent Reading and replace it with a current event article, followed by a written conversation response. The sustained silent reading (SSR) that is supposed to begin the class has not been working well lately; my students have been restless and it seems to take a bit longer to start the class than it once did. So, this morning, I printed out an article from the Washington Post and made enough copies for my students. I organized my students into groups and they began to read the article -- some groups read aloud while others read silently. Once the students completed their reading, they were given a handout where the first student to write responds to the article in any way he/she chooses. Then, the next student reads the first response and writes his/her own in response to the previous one. This routine continued until the worksheet circled each group twice (3-4 students were in a group).

At first I was worried that this task would cause more chaos, but in the end, I was pleased with the outcome. Some students, who do not normally participate in the classroom conversation portion of the class were able to jot down their thoughts and ideas. And, the assignment set the precedent for writing, which is an activity that takes up the majority of class time. Now, I am thinking of ways to modify this task to make it run more smoothly, and then adapt it to give students a chance to add more of their thoughts and original ideas. I can't wait to see how this experiment of mine turns out!

Critical Literacy in Action

I have been doing a great deal of reflection in terms of incorporating technology into my classroom. The information and insight gained throughout this semester has helped put some things into perspective for me, especially when it comes to technology integration and how it can relate to literacy. I have been thinking about how I can incorporate such things into my classroom, as podcasts and blogging sites; but at this time, I don't think it's really possible. However, I plan on taking the knowledge I've gained in this class to infuse my future students' minds with how they can build upon their skill sets by creating blogs and podcasts. This is definitely an area I plan to explore in the future as a high school teacher!

What is Critical Literacy?

Vivian Vasquez’s, “Our Way: Using the Everyday to Create a Critical Literacy Curriculum” made me think of some of the ways I can incorporate creativity into the classroom, and how I can use that creativity to fuel classroom conversations on issues such as gender, race, age, etc.

I liked the idea of using artwork as a means to evaluate literacy skills. In my classes, I try to give students opportunities to incorporate drawings into their writing assignments; I feel this adds an element of confidence for those who struggle with reading and excel artistically. Another element I have used in my classes that encourage creativity (to keep me from having my students produce what they think I am looking for) was a process drama assignment. I originally was introduced to this idea in one of Brec Cooke’s classes and took the activity into my classroom.

When a day is approaching where class periods will be shortened, I divide my classes into groups and assign each group a chapter or certain number of pages. From that chapter/page selection, the group selects an incident to act out in front of the class. Their actions and words to not need to represent what a character says/does verbatim – they merely need to be their interpretation. I have had great success using this concept in my classroom with the Walter Dean Myers text, Monster; Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird and Gary Soto’s, Living Up the Street (“Being Stupid”).

In addition to using process drama activities to help student understanding, I used an activity where students wrote a letter to a character in Monster. The main stipulation was that the letter had to be written using newspaper clippings. I felt this activity had students reading and writing throughout the project. It was a messy assignment, and I eventually permitted them to include hand-written words, but my students did a great job and were all proud of their work.

I’ve found these types of activities help students better understand the textual inferences to social justices and inequalities in the story at hand. They also help to build confidence; with this in mind, I must wonder why school districts, like D.C. Public Schools, choose to follow rigid curricula, which offer a “one-size-fits-all” solution to improving literacy levels. It almost seems counterproductive, in the sense that students are not gaining the knowledge and understanding they truly need to progress in the fields of literacy and education. Instead, it seems like they should take all literacy components into consideration and come up with the curriculum that allows students to learn and understand in a variety of ways. I believe some would call that differentiating instruction… what a novel idea!?

Classroom Cultures

The article by Hilary Janks asked a probing question that resonated with me throughout the reading. In the “Access” section of her article, Janks asks, “How does one provide access to dominant forms, while at the same time valuing and promoting the diverse languages and literacies of our students and in the broader society?”

This question made me think about the importance of encouraging students to use their primary discourses in the classroom. This type of activity permits students to learn from one another in more ways than they realize. Additionally, this type of freedom in the classroom can help the teacher learn more about his/her students and how they learn best.

As I read this article, I tried to think of ways I can incorporate the culture of my students into my classroom, while still instilling in them the concepts of our readings and the importance of proper grammar. Because I teach English, I feel I have a great deal of flexibility in this area. One activity that I used with my students, which incorporated some of their primary discourse, centered on the tone, mood and voice of a story we were reading.

In order to introduce the characters into a classroom discussion, I posted two charts on the chalkboard. The first chart, titled, “MY VOICE” displayed three columns: At home, at school, with friends. This chart demonstrated to the students the number of ways they communicate with others depending on who they are talking to and the subject being discussed. The second chart contained a list of characters and their voices in different settings in the text.

I tried to incorporate my students’ thoughts and actions into the text by using their chart as an example. This also provided students the opportunity to share with one another how they communicate at home; and I had a better understanding of what some of their slang meant, which was beneficial for me!

I feel that Janks made a great point in her article about the use of dominant languages and discourse. I feel that by coming up with creative ideas that give students a chance to share their cultures and thoughts with each other and their teachers, a more positive learning environment will be demonstrated.