I must say that this article fit incredibly well with the education I received at DePauw through my Education Studies degree. Much of the Ed. Studies degree includes discussions of the importance of diversity, deconstructing stereotypes, defying gender norms, etc. This article encouraged all of these things as the author examined past and present fairy tales and the way in which they often encourage children to conform to society's expectations of gender, sexuality, and race.
I took a particular interest in this article because my senior thesis was a study of violence in children's literature and how these instances of violence could be used to create a curriculum about resisting domestic violence. While Christensen does not specifically talk about violence, I found this article to be closely related in that the themes and motifs that our children read in literature are what they mimic in their own lives. Whether the character is depicted as strong because he is a man or the character is being abused because she is female, both of these ideas teach our children that this is how society should be. I even included gender prejudice as a form of violence in my study because the two are closely related. I think Christensen's points are valid, and while I do not agree with everything in the article, she reiterates the idea that what children read in their stories becomes very real to them, and if these stories are so real, why wouldn't they mimic what they see? It should make us as adults hold ourselves accountable in how we discuss and read these books to our children, if we choose to at all.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Multi-Modal Literacy and Teaching Immigrant Students
Prior to the doing the readings for today I was a bit confused why we were reading them in the same week, but after doing them, it made complete sense to me. I loved reading "The Silent Stage" because it was such a vivid description of hope. I felt like I was able to really watch Dennis transform from a shy, ashamed, immigrant child to a confident, well-adjusted student. It was amazing to me that the instructor was able to develop the idea of the film strip with him in order to engage him in his learning. Not only did Dennis exceed expectations academically through the film strip, but the pride it gave him as a person was incredible. I never would have guessed that the film strips would have benefitted Dennis so much! I did have a question, though. How could teachers go about helping immigrant students if they do not have as much one-on-one time with students as this instructor had with Dennis? Dennis was able to be in a different classroom working on his own assignments for the majority of the day, but what if schools don't have these types of resources? How can we tap into kids interests if our time with them is more limited?
Along the lines of resources, I felt the readings about Multi-Modal literacy and the importance of technology were critical to address in this class. In today's world, technology is surrounding us and incorporated into most aspects of our lives. It is important that children have access to this technology because not knowing how to use a computer, for example, could be detrimental in today's "real world." However, what happens when schools don't have the resources to provide for their students? The classroom that I do my field experience in has four computers in it, and students have assigned days to go on the computer every week or two. But this is a wealthy school where students who don't get a chance to get on the computer regularly at school have time to get on at home. What about in schools where this isn't the case and then the teacher tries to take her students to the computer lab and few students are familiar with basic functions on the computer? I think it is critical to teach students how to use technology, but I worry about schools with very few resources and how they can accomplish these goals as well. I don't mean to be a downer, but I do think it's a very real problem!
Along the lines of resources, I felt the readings about Multi-Modal literacy and the importance of technology were critical to address in this class. In today's world, technology is surrounding us and incorporated into most aspects of our lives. It is important that children have access to this technology because not knowing how to use a computer, for example, could be detrimental in today's "real world." However, what happens when schools don't have the resources to provide for their students? The classroom that I do my field experience in has four computers in it, and students have assigned days to go on the computer every week or two. But this is a wealthy school where students who don't get a chance to get on the computer regularly at school have time to get on at home. What about in schools where this isn't the case and then the teacher tries to take her students to the computer lab and few students are familiar with basic functions on the computer? I think it is critical to teach students how to use technology, but I worry about schools with very few resources and how they can accomplish these goals as well. I don't mean to be a downer, but I do think it's a very real problem!
Monday, November 8, 2010
MGRP Reflection
It's done! I've posted pieces of my reflection because I think they explain my feelings pretty well after finishing!
The idea of the Multi-Genre Research Paper was completely foreign to me until this class. Not surprisingly, I have written many research papers throughout my school career, but I have never been asked to represent my findings in such a unique way. While I knew that writing could take the form of many genres, I never considered the inexhaustible amount of possibilities for genres. For example, I still find it fascinating that a list can be considered a genre. I grew to appreciate many more types of writing through my exploration of this topic and very much enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone to write from multiple perspectives and represent writing through various forms. (I guess I should clarify by saying that I really enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone toward the end of the project, but was a bit intimidated at first).
This experience will shape my teaching in a tremendous way. I plan to use the MGRP in various ways throughout the year. I think the idea of the multi-genre can be applied to all types of subjects. I plan to assign topics for specific units and let students choose for other units (within reason of course) but I don’t see why the MGRP cannot be incorporated somehow into every unit. Letting students have a choice in how they express and represent their information seems to me to be the most powerful form of education because it says that we value their ideas. What is more important than that?
The idea of the Multi-Genre Research Paper was completely foreign to me until this class. Not surprisingly, I have written many research papers throughout my school career, but I have never been asked to represent my findings in such a unique way. While I knew that writing could take the form of many genres, I never considered the inexhaustible amount of possibilities for genres. For example, I still find it fascinating that a list can be considered a genre. I grew to appreciate many more types of writing through my exploration of this topic and very much enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone to write from multiple perspectives and represent writing through various forms. (I guess I should clarify by saying that I really enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone toward the end of the project, but was a bit intimidated at first).
This experience will shape my teaching in a tremendous way. I plan to use the MGRP in various ways throughout the year. I think the idea of the multi-genre can be applied to all types of subjects. I plan to assign topics for specific units and let students choose for other units (within reason of course) but I don’t see why the MGRP cannot be incorporated somehow into every unit. Letting students have a choice in how they express and represent their information seems to me to be the most powerful form of education because it says that we value their ideas. What is more important than that?
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Chapters 5 and 7 in MGRP and Seedfolks
5 & 7 MGRP
I came away with two main ideas from the assigned chapters for the week in MGRP. The first idea: The importance of showing, not telling. Allen provides us with multiple reasons why showing is more compelling than telling and ways to incorporate this idea into class activities. Through showing, the author "describes the scene as something is taking place with plenty of description" (Allen 58). Telling, however, "lets the writer sneak into the text with interpretations and conclusions" (Allen 58). If we are trying to educate children to write for an audience, it seems important that we teach the importance of not always including our own ideas in our writing. Of course there is a time and a place to allow for our own opinions as writers, but not all the time. Showing seems to be an important way of teaching students to write without filling pages with their own opinions and let the readers form opinions for themselves.
The second idea: This is nothing profound, but I'm constantly grasping the idea of the importance of letting children share information in a way in which they are passionate. For some children, a traditional research paper is comfortable and worthwhile, but for other children, a research paper is absolute torture. As a teacher, it seems critical that we allow for all types of assignments for students to display what they know or what they've learned. This could include anything from computer programs to drama to a traditional research paper. However, if we, as teachers, stick to one or two types of assignments, certain children will struggle to stay afloat. It is our job to explore with our students, so if we are not as comfortable with non-traditional forms of expression, we can assign these types of assignments and learn with our students as they participate!
Seedfolks
This story provided me with a wonderful example of Allen's "showing, not telling." I loved the way Paul Fleischman created all thirteen characters through a strong depiction of their voices. While each character did not always re-appear, I left the book feeling like I had a deep understanding of who each character was, even if their story was only five pages. I attribute much of this to Fleischman's ability to capture the character through their personality and voice, not simply tell us about them. This book really was quite charming...I loved the idea of such a dark and desolate neighborhood being completely transformed through a garden and the relationships that the garden helped to foster :)
I came away with two main ideas from the assigned chapters for the week in MGRP. The first idea: The importance of showing, not telling. Allen provides us with multiple reasons why showing is more compelling than telling and ways to incorporate this idea into class activities. Through showing, the author "describes the scene as something is taking place with plenty of description" (Allen 58). Telling, however, "lets the writer sneak into the text with interpretations and conclusions" (Allen 58). If we are trying to educate children to write for an audience, it seems important that we teach the importance of not always including our own ideas in our writing. Of course there is a time and a place to allow for our own opinions as writers, but not all the time. Showing seems to be an important way of teaching students to write without filling pages with their own opinions and let the readers form opinions for themselves.
The second idea: This is nothing profound, but I'm constantly grasping the idea of the importance of letting children share information in a way in which they are passionate. For some children, a traditional research paper is comfortable and worthwhile, but for other children, a research paper is absolute torture. As a teacher, it seems critical that we allow for all types of assignments for students to display what they know or what they've learned. This could include anything from computer programs to drama to a traditional research paper. However, if we, as teachers, stick to one or two types of assignments, certain children will struggle to stay afloat. It is our job to explore with our students, so if we are not as comfortable with non-traditional forms of expression, we can assign these types of assignments and learn with our students as they participate!
Seedfolks
This story provided me with a wonderful example of Allen's "showing, not telling." I loved the way Paul Fleischman created all thirteen characters through a strong depiction of their voices. While each character did not always re-appear, I left the book feeling like I had a deep understanding of who each character was, even if their story was only five pages. I attribute much of this to Fleischman's ability to capture the character through their personality and voice, not simply tell us about them. This book really was quite charming...I loved the idea of such a dark and desolate neighborhood being completely transformed through a garden and the relationships that the garden helped to foster :)
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Poetry in MGRP and "Invitations"
POETRY
I was at first struck by Allen's statement that poetry is "a great way to ease into writing." As someone who sometimes struggles to write poetry, I found this statement a bit hard to swallow. But after reflecting on what poetry actually is and continuing to read Allen's chapter, I definitely see her point. If students are intimidated by writing, poetry can be great, if only in the sense that it's often short in length. Students will not be bogged down trying to reach a certain length or have their mechanics just right. It can be appealing to all students because it seems to me that poetry can have as much or little structure as the writer wants. This could be great for students who need structure (you could provide a specific structural outline for a certain type of poem) and students who tend to be more confident with poetry and are comfortable writing their own poems with little prompting or structure. I have come to appreciate the actual act of writing poetry and the value of the creative process it involves after reading this chapter!
INVITATIONS
There is no denying that invitations are a wonderful teaching tool that help students foster their own learning through questions and discussions. I love how interactive invitations are--that they require students to build community through their discussions with one another. If a student is really engaged, it seems impossible that they would leave a discussion without learning something new and relating it to their lives, and isn't this the goal of most of our lessons as teachers? To teach students to think creatively and for themselves? What a wonderful way to engage students in literacy!
The one issue I have with invitations is the time commitment. It seems like a huge undertaking for teachers to create these invitations for students. While I think they are a tremendous learning tool, I would worry about the amount of time teachers would spend preparing them. I would love to do invitations often with my class, but I just don't know if that is realistic for a teacher?
I was at first struck by Allen's statement that poetry is "a great way to ease into writing." As someone who sometimes struggles to write poetry, I found this statement a bit hard to swallow. But after reflecting on what poetry actually is and continuing to read Allen's chapter, I definitely see her point. If students are intimidated by writing, poetry can be great, if only in the sense that it's often short in length. Students will not be bogged down trying to reach a certain length or have their mechanics just right. It can be appealing to all students because it seems to me that poetry can have as much or little structure as the writer wants. This could be great for students who need structure (you could provide a specific structural outline for a certain type of poem) and students who tend to be more confident with poetry and are comfortable writing their own poems with little prompting or structure. I have come to appreciate the actual act of writing poetry and the value of the creative process it involves after reading this chapter!
INVITATIONS
There is no denying that invitations are a wonderful teaching tool that help students foster their own learning through questions and discussions. I love how interactive invitations are--that they require students to build community through their discussions with one another. If a student is really engaged, it seems impossible that they would leave a discussion without learning something new and relating it to their lives, and isn't this the goal of most of our lessons as teachers? To teach students to think creatively and for themselves? What a wonderful way to engage students in literacy!
The one issue I have with invitations is the time commitment. It seems like a huge undertaking for teachers to create these invitations for students. While I think they are a tremendous learning tool, I would worry about the amount of time teachers would spend preparing them. I would love to do invitations often with my class, but I just don't know if that is realistic for a teacher?
Monday, October 18, 2010
Powell and Davidson article
I lived the elementary school dream with field trips ranging from the zoo to apple orchards to fire stations and even to Camp for a few days where all of the fifth graders stayed overnight! I was fortunate enough to be able to expand my learning outside the classroom, and it was not allowed; it was encouraged. My elementary classes allowed for much exploration through various field trips, however, I do not think we benefitted as much as the class with the donut shop. Perhaps since this class wasn't able to go on as many field trips, they milked this one for all it was worth. I was amazed by the teacher's dedication to making the donut shop field trip the most educational experience possible. And field trip doesn't even begin to do it justice. These children ultimately created their own business, learning about loans and collateral, in kindergarten! The teacher gave them the opportunity to see a business in their own neighborhood and then create their own business patterned off of it. She struck a wonderful balance between creativity and actual content teaching, allowing them to name their store and make donuts themselves, while still teaching them to spell and write more accurately.
As Powell and Davidson write, students from low income neighborhoods often have a poorer sense of self-efficacy so allowing these children to create such a detailed, organized business as their finished product was perhaps the greatest thing the educators could do. Students not only felt accomplished and proud at the end by what they made, but enjoyed and learned in the process as well.
I must admit that my elementary school field trips were no where near as in depth as the donut shop. While we would occasionally discuss a few things before we went on the trips, they were more for enjoyment than education. This teacher gave her students a remarkable gift--the ability to learn through creating and taking pride in their work. How wonderful!
As Powell and Davidson write, students from low income neighborhoods often have a poorer sense of self-efficacy so allowing these children to create such a detailed, organized business as their finished product was perhaps the greatest thing the educators could do. Students not only felt accomplished and proud at the end by what they made, but enjoyed and learned in the process as well.
I must admit that my elementary school field trips were no where near as in depth as the donut shop. While we would occasionally discuss a few things before we went on the trips, they were more for enjoyment than education. This teacher gave her students a remarkable gift--the ability to learn through creating and taking pride in their work. How wonderful!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Progress on MGRP
I was originally hoping to research dyslexia and literacy (Tentative Title: Deconstructing Dyslexia: Aiding dyslexic students in literacy). I have found a number of articles, however, some do not seem to be as much about dyslexia in particular, and more about learning disabilities in reading in general. I'm currently working on finishing up and finding the "meat" of all my articles and constructing an outline for where exactly I want to go with this paper. I must admit that I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment, but hopefully once my outline is complete, I'll feel like I have a little more direction! This topic is vast, but I'm hoping it will prove beneficial for my future career as a teacher :)
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