The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

I absolutely loved this book because it showed what a Native American child experiences in school. I find Native American history to be interesting. I have taken two Native history classes, and children who are on reservations grow up with physical and alcohol abuse. Throughout Alexie Sherman’s book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Arnold (the protagonist, AKA Junior) goes through the ups and downs of life. My favorite part is when his teacher shows up to his house after Arnold hit him with a book in the nose. The protagonists’ teacher explains to him how he needs to leave the reservation, so he can make something of himself. The teacher doesn’t want Arnold to end up like the rest of the indigenous people on the reservation, drunk and broke.

I didn’t like how the school treated Junior when he first showed up to the school. The teachers were distant and the students were nasty towards him. The saddest part was when Junior’s grandma and sister die. The two people who were encouraging and supported Junior passed away unexpectedly by a drunk driver and a fire.

I heard this book is banned in Idaho and I completely disagree with the ban because this is the raw literature we need in classes. I always remembered reading boring books in class, and I could never connect with them. This book, I connected with because I have experienced bullying and discrimination because of race. I felt for the protagonist. These types of books raise awareness and emotion in a student to stand of for what is right. To see discrimination, go on every day in the halls is one thing, but to read about someone’s experience is another; however, I feel both are equal in importance.

Night Mini Lesson

TPA Lesson Plan #_1______

1. Teacher Candidate	Shenice Gillespie	Date Taught	3/13/17
Cooperating Teacher	N/A	School/District	EWU
2. Subject	English	Field Supervisor
3. Lesson Title/Focus	Theme, Night	5. Length of Lesson	20 min
4. Grade Level	8th graders

 

6. Academic & Content Standards (GLEs/EARLs/Common Core)	CCS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
7. Learning Objective(s)	The students will be able to define theme and topic in their own words.   The students will be able to list a variety of topics that derive from the book Night.   The students will be able to apply their prior knowledge about theme, topic, and the book to create their own theme based on Night.
8. Academic Language	Vocabulary: theme, topic. Function: define, list, apply. Discourse: the students will discuss a variety of topics from the book Night, and afterwards they will partner up and create their own theme based on the topics that we organized as a class.

 

9. Assessment

**Attach** all assessment tools for this lesson Theme and topic worksheet After I go through the first half of the worksheet with the class, the students will be asked to partner up and create their own theme. The theme is based off the list of topics we made as a class. In addition, the students must provide two examples from the book that support their theme. This assess the state standard I have provided because they are determining a theme within the book Night, and how the theme develops over the course of the text. Providing two examples to support the theme assesses how the theme influences the characters, setting, and plot.

 

10. Lesson Connections

Since the students have finished the book, this lesson is one of the last lessons in the Night unit. Since the students will be familiar with the book, they will understand the meaning of theme and topic in this lesson. They will also have prior knowledge on theme from other classes; however, I want to scaffold the meaning of theme and topic, so the class has the definition fresh in their minds. This lesson will focus on the meaning of a book. The theme is vital to a reader’s mind because if the story lacks a theme, the reader cannot connect with the book. Night has internal and external theme related struggles that follow the protagonist all the way through the book. My students will connect with Elie Wiesel by creating their own theme.   In Readicide, Kelly Gallagher discusses that he “cannot simply hand students who are simply unaware of the Holocaust copies of Elie Wiesel’s Night and ask them to have it read by October 15. . . these books are rigorous and heavy” (Gallagher, 2009, p. 107). Therefore, I want to discuss theme with my students because this book is very emotional and raw. I want my students to understand and connect with the author, but they can’t do that without my instruction. Otherwise, they won’t read it and will head straight to CliffNotes as Gallagher also states.

 

11. Instructional Strategies/Learning Tasks to Support Learning
Learning Tasks and Strategies Sequenced Instruction 1)     00-02 State learning objectives, pass out worksheets, introduction to theme and topic. 2)     03-08 List out topics, theme formula 3)     09-14 Students create their own theme 4)     15-20 Students share their theme they created, closing.
Teacher’s Role: 1.a. Greet students, and state learning objectives. b. Pass out worksheets, tell students to put their name and date on the worksheet. 2.a. Ask students to define theme and topic in their own words. b. Create a list of topics that originate from the book Night. Provide theme formula for the students. 3.a. Explain directions and example that I have provided on the worksheet. -Tell students to partner up with someone in their row, and create a theme based on one of the topics we came up with as a class. -Tell the students to provide two examples that support their theme. 4.a. Bring class back together after 5 minutes, so students can share their theme with the class. b. Close the lesson by referring back to the learning objectives, and how today’s lesson will tie into tomorrow’s lesson. Socratic seminar will take place as tomorrow’s lesson, and the topics we created as a class today will serve as topics tomorrow in the seminar.	Students’ Role: 1.a. View the learning objectives on the whiteboard, and listen to the teacher read them aloud. b. Receive worksheets, put name and date on the worksheet. 2.a. Volunteer to define theme and topic in their own words. b. Create a list of topics as a class that originate from the book Night. c. Review theme formula and how theme and topic go hand in hand with one another. 3.a. Listen to directions that are provided by the teacher. If students are confused over directions, the directions will be provided on the worksheet or they can ask me to clarify. b. Partner up with elbow partners or someone in their row. Create a theme based on one of the topics we came up with as a class. c. Provide two examples from the book that support the theme they created. 4.a. Discuss the themes they came up with as a class, including their examples that support their theme. b. Listen to the teacher close the lesson and explain how today’s lesson ties into tomorrow’s lesson. Topics that they created as a class will be used tomorrow as verbal topics in Socratic seminar.
Student Voice to Gather While gathered as a class, ask the students to provide different topics that correspond with the book Night, ask if they understand how theme and topic go hand in hand with one another. In the final analysis, students will share their themes they created. Ask the students if they feel like they have the tools to define theme and topic, gather information from the book to create multiple topics, and construct a theme that you believe connects you to a certain character or book.

 

 

12. Differentiated Instruction

Plan Audio learners will sit in the front, so they can hear the class define theme and topic and come up with a variety of topics that correspond with the book.  Visual learners will benefit from seeing the list of topics on the board, the learning objectives, and the definition of theme and topic as well. Kinesthetic learners will benefit from the opportunity to create a theme of their own with a partner. Students who are struggling to grasp the concept of theme will benefit from working in partners. I will walk around, making sure the class is on task and to answer any questions; however, if the group seems to understand the meaning of theme, then I will move on to a group that is actually having difficulties.

 

13. Resources and Materials

Plan Whiteboard Whiteboard markers Pencils Theme and topic worksheet Night Gallagher, K. (2009). Finding the “sweet spot” of instruction. How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It Readicide. Retreived from print.

 

14. Management and Safety Issues

Plan The morbidity of the book may be a sensitive issue to some students. It should be acknowledged throughout the unit that the Holocaust was a historical event that happened, and even though it is gruesome, it is vital to learn because it creates a sense of awareness within. Some students may have trouble creating a theme, but that is why I go through the first half of the worksheet with the class and the second half is done with a partner/s. If the student does not comprehend theme, they can either ask me to clarify or ask their partner/s to clarify for them.

 

15. Parent & Community Connections

Plan A monthly bulletin will be emailed to parents, detailing what we’re planning to read or view and encouraging the parents to write back with any concerns or questions. After this lesson, the students may be able to apply what they learned from Night, and help with a Jewish community/church. Or stand up for what is right whenever they witness stereotype/prejudice/racism occurring.

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Canon

          I really like the idea of a graphic canon, and since I do well with visuals when learning, this book helped me understand the stories better. A lot of them, I had already read, but it was nice to see what illustrations would bring the story to life. Some of the stories were confusing such as “The Hill” by William Faulkner. The illustrations helped me a little to deciphering what the anecdote was about, however, I still was confused. My favorite story was Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, illustrated by Dame Darcy. The story stuck to the traditions of Alice, however, the illustrations were more dark and gloomy which I really liked. I feel the Graphic Canons would be appropriate for middle school. I can see having these books in my room and high-schoolers can look at them, but I don’t think I would ever conduct a lesson involving the books if I was to teach high-schoolers. Middle-schoolers, however, these books are on their level. I can think of many lessons that I would teach using these books. A lesson that came to mind would be for the student to make their own comic book of their favorite story, and then to present it to the class. This would apply to kinesthetic, visual, and auditory learners. I also like how before the story there is a summary about the author and story. For people who haven’t read the story, or know nothing about the author, this was helpful to me. For example, I didn’t know the story of Alice was told by a “graduate student and lecturer in mathematics at Christ Church College at the University of Oxford”, and went boating with the daughters of the dean of the church. The middle daughter, Alice, told Dodgson to tell them a story and so he did. This story, however, came to be published and now is one of the top read children’s books and multiple movies were developed.

Edgar Allen Poe

The Cask of Amontillado and The Black Cat, by Edgar Allan Poe, have similar plot lines because both the main characters burry their victims in the wall. The Black Cat made me cringe consistently as I was reading it. Who the hell kills animals because they have an anger and alcoholic problem? That’s messed up for Poe to write about! Yet, intriguing because it’s taboo. I’ve never known any author I’ve read, besides Poe, kill a cat and their wife, and feel no guilt about it. I do like how Poe has a dark sense of humor. Don’t like a person? Burry them in the wall! In addition, in his poem The Haunted Palace there is detailed imagery about this beautiful palace representing a human head. I enjoyed reading this poem because in the beginning everything seems joyful and cheery; however, in the last two stanzas the tone of the poem changes to ominous and gloomy. This kept me interested throughout the poem because I enjoy the dark attitude of Poe. A unit on Poe would be fun to use in my classroom. He has so much work in his name that there is more than enough to create a unit. The only issue I would see with this type of unit would be the content. I didn’t learn barely anything about Poe in high school, but if I were to guess why, it would be because of the inappropriate content of Poe. The narrator gouging his cats eye out and then killing his wife with an axe probably isn’t something that the school would like their students to be reading. However, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t other works of Poe that the students can’t analyze. In my Intro to Fiction class, we read Fall of the House of Usher. This is a work of Poe’s that really confused me. I had to look up the analysis of it because I was confused what was going on. I haven’t read Poe since then until recently in this class, and now I don’t hate Poe as much as I used to. His writing can be confusing sometimes, but I just need to learn to go slow and make sure to read every word carefully.

The Handmaid's Tale

Shenice Gillespie

Book talk

The Handmaid’s Tale     

1.       Overview of the text

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, takes place in Central America, with a futuristic government controlled by the Eyes. Eyes are incognito, have their own vans, and no one questions them. Think of them as the CIA/FBI. The protagonist starts out as a Handmaid being trained in a school gym.  All the Handmaid’s are watched by aunts and guards. Aunts carry electric cattle prods, patrol the gym, and escort the girls to the bathroom. Guards are chosen by Angels, guards are not allowed in the building, but instead they must stay outside watching the premises. The premises consist of a football field that Handmaid’s can walk on, fencing surrounds the area, and barbed wire is on top of the fencing. On the outside of the fences are Angels—who are objects of fear.

The Handmaid’s are placed in a house, governed by a Commander, or the man of the house. The central character is placed within the house Offred. That is her name now, however, she keeps her real name tucked away in the back of her mind, so she will never forget it. The room Offred stays in has the chandelier taken out because the government is afraid that Handmaid’s will hang themselves on it. The windows are shatter proof and only open partially, so Handmaid’s don’t escape or commit suicide. The frames in the pictures have no glass in them. In this society, they wear the specific color of their rank/job. For example, Handmaids wear red dresses, Commander’s wives wear blue, Marthas wear green, and Commanders wear black. Marthas are the help in the kitchen and around the house. They cook, clean, serve trays, etc. Handmaid’s can go out and grocery shop by asking the head Martha for tokens. These tokens have pictures of food on them, since the Commanders are the only ones allowed to read.

The Commanders and Commander’s wives are described in the book as being elderly and having arthritis. There is a black market that Commanders, Commander’s wives, and guards can buy products off, such as cigarettes. The black market exists because the government is poor. Nick, the guard who works for the house Offred, throws forbidden behavior towards the protagonist (winking/talking to her). This isn’t the first time the narrator has encountered a pass from a guy. Her doctor offers to have sex with her, so she can have a baby and not go to the Colonies. The Colonies is where the Unwomen go, the ones who don’t provide the government with children. The doctor knows that all the Commanders are shooting blanks, however, Offred doesn’t want to risk taking the offer because being caught means being hung on the wall.

The protagonist is constantly looking at The Wall every time she goes into town. It’s inevitable because the government places The Wall right in the center of the town. The citizens who break the law are hung on The Wall by hooks and have bags put over their heads, with a sign of their sin hung around their necks. The Wall has a security system, barbed wire on the bottom, and broken glass on the top. All paperwork on abortions is destroyed because if the government finds out which doctors performed the abortions, they will be placed on the wall.

The narrator has an abundant amount of flashbacks throughout the book, referring to the old days. As a reader, we know that she was married to this mysterious man named Luke. They had a baby, the baby was taken away (assuming by the government). She also went to college and had a best friend named Moira. Moira ends up showing up to the gym one day, and her and the protagonist have secret meetings in the bathroom. Moira ends up escaping the training center, and never comes back.

Then there comes the ceremony, which consists of the Commander reading everyone in the household stories from the Bible. The Commander’s wife must sit behind the handmaid, holding her hands, while she is having sex with her husband. The Commander is to ejaculate once and that’s it. Strictly business, no pleasure.

The Commander and the protagonists’ relationship enhances when the Commander asks Nick, the guard of the house, to tell the narrator to come by his office in the late hours. However, Nick kisses the protagonist when he gives her the message from the Commander. Story twist, what!

In chapter 19, readers find out that pregnancy machines are banned. That means no finding out what your gender is, or even if the baby is healthy. In addition, there is only natural births. Chances of handmaid’s becoming pregnant is 1 in 4. They blame it on the pollution and global warming. Never does it cross the government’s mind that the reason these women aren’t getting pregnant is because they are having sex with old men who only have dust in them. When a woman is pregnant, though, it is made a big deal and every Handmaid and Aunt is involved. They consider like a “girl’s night out”, bringing booze, wine, and food. They all sit down, chant, moan, and sway back and forth. Again, the commander’s wife sits behind the Handmaid when she is giving birth. The horrific part is that once the baby is born, they prepare a bed for the Commander’s wife and give the baby to her. As if she did all the work of pushing that thing out! After the ceremony, the Handmaids’ energy is depleted greatly. Their breasts are swollen, fake milk comes out, and everything in their body hurts.

While this nonsense is happening, there is more of it happening in the Commander’s office. The protagonist is still meeting up with him after hours. And guess what they do? Play scrabble. The Commander hates the idea of being alone, so he invites the narrator to read with him and play scrabble. The only condition is she needs to kiss him like she means it, at the end of the night. The second time the Ceremony comes around, the narrator is more conscious of her body since she knows the Commander in an emotional intimate way now.

We encounter our first meeting with the Eyes in chapter 27. All the cars move aside for the black van, two men in gray suits hop out, grab a man, and throw him in the back. Nobody asks questions, no one talks, and no one screams. They all go about doing their own business as if it never happened.

The narrator explains how the president was shot and the congress was machine gunned down, however, the government blamed it on the Islamic fanatics. The Constitution was suspended, there were no riots, and everyone stayed in their homes watching TV. The old government was gone. In with the new. Citizens saw signs of it as the newspaper companies began to close, newspapers were also censored, identipasses were created, porn marts were banned, compunumbers were assigned (to access bank accounts), and road blocks were put up. A new election was to be held, but in time. The election never came, and the protagonists’ compunumber declined while she was trying to buy cigarettes. She goes back to work, and her boss let all the females go. Two guys (replaced army) with machine guns stood outside his office, telling the boss that he had ten minutes to let everyone go. Bank accounts of females were transferred to their husbands or next of kin. Women aren’t allowed to own property, and marches were shut down because the army would open fire on everyone. Citizens now watch what they say because they don’t want to be reported for disloyalty.

                The commander’s wife knows that her husband is sterile, so she offers the narrator a deal. She will give her a picture of her daughter, if she has sex with Nick; the guard. Wanting to know any information about her daughter, the protagonist accepts the deal. Later on, the protagonist goes to the Prayvaganza.  Prayvaganzas are for group weddings, the men ones are for military victories. This Prayvaganza is for young daughters who are being married off to Angels. Their duty is to provide children for them, and if they can’t then the husband is assigned a Handmaid. After the Prayvaganza, Ofglen tells the protagonist that everyone knows she is seeing the Commander in private, and to find out any information possible from him, so the other Handmaid’s can know.

                The narrator continues her flashbacks with Luke, her daughter, and herself trying to cross the border. She ends up crying after the flashback, convincing herself that she’s a refugee and her life is worthless. The Commander’s wife brings in a picture of her daughter, the protagonist looks over it seeing that her daughter has grown quite a bit. In addition, she realizes that her daughter has probably forgotten her and again her life is meaningless.

                The protagonists’ next meeting with the Commander involves him having her dress up in lingerie, putting make up on, and going to a secret club that only officers, senior officials, and trade delegations know of. The club is in an old hotel that the protagonist recognizes instantly. There are no rules, they have booze, cigarettes, and sex. The main purpose of the club for the men is to talk business and over hear conversations. For the woman, it is an alternative life that they prefer, however, they are not allowed to gain weight. If they gain ten pounds, they are stuck in solitary to lose the weight again. At the club, she sees Moira, her best friend, and Moira tells her everything in the girls’ bathroom. Moira describes her story after she stabbed the aunt and escaped the training center. She says how she walked to a house that she knew, and they provided her with new clothes and food. After that they took her to another house, and told her that they were going to get her out of the country. She got all the way to Main, so she could board a boat and go across the border; however, the Eyes got to her first. Moira explains in details about the Colonies, she states that the Eyes gave her a choice. She could either be a part of the Jezebel’s or go off to the Colonies. The Colonies is where all the elderly woman and some transgender men go. They are to clean up all the dead bodies and burn them. Some Colonies are even worse, where they must clean up toxic spills. The life span there is only three years. Some Colonies aren’t bad because all they do is garden. Of course, Moira picked being with the Jezebel’s because it’s only a night job, they have access to booze and drugs, and she can still be lesbian there. The narrator sees that Moira isn’t the same anymore, she’s not the firecracker she once knew. Moira is now just going through the motions and trying to save her own skin. The protagonist never sees Moira after that night.

                At the end of the night, the Commander brings the protagonist into a hotel room where he seduces her and has sex with her. She doesn’t want to be there, and she especially doesn’t want to have sex with the Commander. Not in an intimate way. But, she fakes it and does it anyways.

                At midnight, the Commander’s wife comes into the protagonists’ room and tells her to go knock on Nick’s door. The wife covers for her while the narrator goes and does this. Nick and the protagonist have sex; however, she feels she is betraying Luke since she doesn’t know if he’s dead or not. She continues to have sex with Nick, without the Commander’s wife knowing. The protagonist begins to fall in love with him, however, she doesn’t ever speak those words because it is bad luck. She ends up telling him everything, except about Luke. The narrator feels that Luke is fading away because of her unfaithfulness. Nick does not reveal anything to her, instead he just watches her talk. Offred can feel that she is pregnant, but she will find out in a couple weeks for sure. Ofglen prods and nags her about the Commander on their walks, but Offred is involved with Nick now and only cares about him. The narrator doesn’t tell Ofglen about Nick, though. Instead she keeps it to herself because she wants to stay at the house, being able to access Nick whenever she wants.

                One day the Protagonist goes to a district Salvaging, only for women. There are Angels everywhere guarding with guns and plexiglass shields just in case things get out of hand. The Handmaid’s are told to kneel on red cushions, and they are in the front row to witness everything and be watched by the Angels. Two Handmaid’s and one wife is to be salvaged that day. Wives are uncommon, so the narrator wonders what transgression she has committed. All three of the women are hung in front of everyone to see. After the Salvaging, the Handmaid’s are asked to form a circle. The guards bring a guard who has committed rape, and put him in the middle of the circle. Aunt Lydia declares that this guard had accomplices as well, but one of them was shot. The woman they raped was pregnant and they killed the baby. This sends anger through all the Handmaid’s because they work hard to become pregnant. The guard whispers “I didn’t…”, but he didn’t get to finish his sentence because all the Handmaid’s beat him to death. Ofglen kicks him in the head three times to put knock him out, so he doesn’t feel any pain. Ofglen tells the narrator that he didn’t rape anyone, he was one of them, a political. But, the government wants to cover it up as a rape.

                After the morning of the Salvaging, the narrator goes to the grocery store. She waits at the corner for Ofglen, but finds that there is a new woman in the house Ofglen. The old one has committed suicide because she saw the Eyes were coming for her. She killed herself, so they wouldn’t torture information out of her, so she wouldn’t give away the things she knew and the people she coincided with; including the protagonist. The protagonist feels the true power of the government at that moment, she realizes that she doesn’t want to be hung on the wall or feel pain. She is willing to do anything the government asks since she has been given a second chance. The Commander’s wife is waiting for the narrator when she gets home, and holds out the cloak and lingerie she wore that one night with the Commander when he took her to the club. The wife is furious with the Offred and tells her that she trusted her and how could she do this. She ends her fury by saying she is going to end up like the other Handmaid. Dead. Nick has witnessed all of this.

                At the end of the book, the Eyes do come for the narrator. However, Nick is a part of the Eyes. He tells Offred to go with them, to trust him. Nick disappears and the Eyes take her away. The Commander and Commander’s wife are not the ones who called the Eyes because they throw a fit about them taking their Handmaid. The Eyes tell the Commander and wife that they don’t need a warrant, and the protagonist has spilled secrets of the state. As this is said the Commander’s wife calls the narrator a bitch and says “after all he’s done for you.” The narrator is taken into the van and doesn’t know if she is going to her death or a new beginning.

 

2.       Why I chose this text

I chose this text because I think it’s important for students to have an idea of what a dystopian world is like. In my Sociology and English class combined, we had a dystopian unit where we read the Hunger Games, and got to choose another dystopian book to present to the class as a group presentation. So, this book would be a good example to explore a dystopian world. In addition, my students can compare the society in the book with a past societies. For example, when Hitler was dictating Germany. Having a woman play a strong lead in a book and go through trials is also vital because it include feminism. This book focuses on a more mature and older group. I would say 11^th-12^th graders. Possibly AP students of 10^th grade. I say this because I teach in a pre-AP class and they are mature to handle materials as this one. This book’s Lexile number is 750L, which would be around 6^th grade. However, the content is not 6^th grade appropriate. Deepening my students understanding of this book will prepare them for college.

3.       Teaching ideas

a.       Assigning groups at the beginning of class into ranks of society that occurs within the book (Handmaids, Econowives, Jezebels, Commanders, Commanders wife, Marthas, Eyes, Angels, Guards). This can be done by drawing by random out of a hat, making sure to separate the females from the males.

b.       An informational essay comparing Gilead’s society with a real-world society that is repressed, could be past or present.

c.       Watch the movie and write a reflection on how the book and the movie differ and complement each other.

4.       Obstacles

Some obstacles I may come across are the sexual content and violence within the book (The ceremony, the club, sex with Nick, the wall, salvaging). An administrator, parent, or student may say that the book isn’t appropriate for their child, or that it delves too deep in politics and feminism. I would respond with that students learning about politics, repressed regimes, and feminism is vital to their education because then they aren’t sheltered to the real world. Education is becoming a helicopter parent, when it should be teaching students how to be members of society and to stand up for the right thing. Having my class be aware of current world issues, and issues that could very well become true in the future will aid them to use their voice because their generation will be the one to save the future generation, so why not keep them aware.

5.       Etc.

I think it is also important to send a letter out to the parents to inform them on what we will be reading. I don’t want to leave parents in the dark. Plus, religion is also an aspect of this book. The whole country is one religion, which is Christianity. Nobody wants to put a bad name on Christians, so I want my students to understand that just because the book paints a stereotypical picture of Christians doesn’t mean that they must do the same. Ultimately this is a book, that consists of what if’s and what could be’s, doesn’t mean it will happen. However, it is always useful to be prepared just in case a catastrophe does happen within the country.

 

 

 

Readicide

          In my 408 class, we read a Kelly Gallagher book called “Teaching Adolescents”, and it was about teaching kids how to read, but in an effective way. I really enjoy Gallahger’s outlook on reading because it helps me as a future teacher prepare for what I am about to face. 

          In my class, today we were talking about teachers preparing students for the test. Now, this seems to be a hot topic in all my education classes because it is an issue that we, as future educators, realize is ineffective because students become bored with the subject. Gallagher states, however, in his book Readicide “that teaching to the test is the foundation of good teaching, and when every minute counts, teaching to the test provides necessary focus, so time is not wasted” (12). It isn’t about teaching to the test, but instead it is about teaching shallow tests. I love this statement because it is so true. We as teachers, are educating our students to practice for a multiple-choice test, yet we create prompts for essays that hold more value than state test questions do.

          A quote that really stuck out to me was on page 106, “if you want to kill the love of reading in a student, plant innumerable stop signs in the text that will require the student to exam his reading process from each stop” (Gallagher). This quote applies to over analyzing a text, meaning the teacher is over teaching the material.

          The differences between over teaching and under teaching a text are very interesting. I didn’t know that it was hot and cold, I just thought it was underteaching. I don’t know what grade I’ll be teaching, but I like how the author talked about if my students are higher level, have them read a book and come back and discuss it as a class. Otherwise, if my students are lower level then I should incorporate mini lessons into how to read better. Gallagher gives the example of having students mark spots that were confusing in their books.

          This whole book was well written and I enjoyed reading the author’s point of view on how we are killing reading. It makes me think, as a teacher, how I am going to teach reading to my students. While yet, following the state standards.

               

I Read It, But I Don't Get It

The chapter that stuck with me the most in “I Read It, But I don’t Get It”, by Cris Tovani, would be chapter 5. Tovani discusses how students get stuck in reading, and they just quit. That is exactly what I do, even to this day. If I don’t understand a text, then I don’t even want to bother with it. It was useful reading the different strategies on how I can fix that type of issue. I like when the author talks about thinking harder. That doesn’t even work! I had math teacher who used to tell me to think harder when I didn’t get a problem, as well. It frustrated me. If I don’t get it then I don’t get it, why are you forcing me to find an answer I don’t know. I feel like teachers in general do not want to give their students the answer, so they sit there until a light bulb turns on above their students’ head. Which sometimes it does, but most of the time the student just wants the answer.

One strategy I really liked was write about what you’ve read. I do this all the time in college. I even performed this strategy while reading Alexie Sherman. After each chapter, I would summarize what I read for that chapter, usually I would have a bullet point format. When my classmates perform their mini lessons on that book, I will be prepared because if I don’t remember something I can look back at my notes. Or if I have something that I want to share with the class, I can look back at my notes. Another strategy I do often is retelling the story, this really helps me grasp the text. No matter if it’s my parents, brothers, or my dogs; I will retell the story whether they want to hear it or not because it helps me as a reader.

As a teacher, I know reading is going to be tough for my students because it goes in one ear and out the other. However, Cris Tovani helped me better understand the frustration that my students will feel because he provided a story of his own experiences. This book will be on my shelf when I’m a teacher. It’s vital to put myself in my students shoes, and instead of getting upset at them for not understanding what they read, I need to support them and find different ways to collaborate understanding and reading together.

Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School English Classroom

           I absolutely loved this text because it talked about popular culture being integrated in the classroom. I feel like education is focused on preparing students for college, placement tests, ACT’s, SAT’s, etc. It’s stressful not only for the teachers, but for the students as well because they must compete with other students, and measure up to what their teachers/parents want them to be. Having students apply their life to the texts they are reading in class, helps them better understand the characters point of view, especially with oppressed texts. High school is a detrimental time in a young adult’s life, they are going through hormones, issues at home, peer pressure, and oppression as well. We, as teachers, can integrate multiculturalism in our lessons by having “students pay close attention to the treatment of those who [are] distinguished as cultural “Others” (5). When I was in high school, I hated reading classics. This included Old Man and the Sea, Poison Wood Bible, Romeo and Juliet, Fahrenheit 451, etc. They are boring, and I always felt the teacher rushed through it, so she could move on to the next thing that the state required her to do. To this day, I don’t remember any of those texts because multiculturalism was never applied. I remember reading the oppressive text, The Secret Life of Bees, and I will never forget that book. Why? Because my teacher made sure we, as members of society, recognized and understood racism. There is a difference between “reading the world and reading the word, where readings of the word informed readings of the world in a dialectic cycle” (9). Our teacher made us do both because you can’t have one without the other. She did this by creating a wailing wall for us to stick our prayers on, and she also made us kneel on grits so we knew what punishment the characters went through. I will never forget that book, or that lesson because it put me in the characters’ shoes.

PAULO FREIRE: CHAPTER 2 OF PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED

This chapter was very confusing, and used words that I didn't even know. I was constantly looking up certain words, just so I could understand the sentence. I did not like it at all, and it made me feel stupid for not knowing what anything meant. I was very frustrated. What I did like about it, however, was how they talked about student and teacher relationship. How the teacher thinks of his/her students as banks to be filled with knowledge. I don’t agree with this concept because I don’t want to think of my students as “containers” to be filled, and the more I fill them the better a teacher I am. Students are human beings and my efficiency as a teacher isn’t about how much I can teach them in one sitting, or even one year. It’s about understanding, compassion, and being sensitive to their intelligence. Everyone student is unique, and some will learn faster than others. The banking concept of education, I believe is wrong. One thing that stuck out to me was the teacher regulates how the world is perceived by the student. This applies to me because I want to be a middle school teacher, specifically, I want to travel the world and teach abroad. One of my goals as a teacher is to help my students become a civil human being in society. Students who are in middle school are moldable and vulnerable. It’s my job to help them be knowledgeable about the world, the good and the bad because when they go out there on their own, whether it’s in college or hard labor, I want them to remember me as the teacher who educated and prepared them for reality. I want my students to think of themselves as conscious human beings and liberate themselves.

California State Universities Expository Reading and Writing Course Assignment Template

          While reading the standards for California, I noticed that they are in tune with their educational system. It is simple, yet detailed on what they expect from their students. I’ve always thought pre-reading is vital to assigned texts. When I teach, I want to make sure that my students “[survey]  the text and [consider] what they know about the topic and the text itself, including its purpose, content author, form , and language . . . helps readers develop a purpose and plan for reading” (33). I remember in English college classes, we were expected to read the biography of the author, so we had background knowledge. I like how their standards connect reading and writing, together. When I read a text, I have to process what I just read. This is how students process reading as well, they will ask questions, disagree or agree with the author, and gather evidence from the reading. This is an issue we have in school’s today. I notice while in my placement class that students don’t have time to process what they just read, and the teacher will automatically go straight to the writing prompt. This is when students can’t “imagine the trajectory their own argument might take as they develop their thinking and plan to convince readers of their stance” (35). Why do teachers not give enough time to students? Is it because they don’t have much class time? Are they in a rush to finish their unit plan, and move onto the next thing? When I’m a teacher, I want to be able to meet all the criteria for the state standards, but I also want my students to understand what is being taught. If they don’t understand what is being taught about reading and writing, how are they going to connect reading and writing together?

English Language Arts Common Core State Standards

               I like how students are required “to read stories and literature, as well as more complex texts that provide facts and background knowledge in areas such as science and social studies” (Common Core State Standards Initiative). I feel this is important not only for students, but for teachers as well. Teachers from the English department can correlate with teachers from other departments. This team work between teachers can create positive relationships, and the lessons can be linked together in some way. It is stressful that the main reason for these common core standards are to prepare students for college. That puts an abundant amount of pressure on me as a teacher and on the students. What if my students do not pass the test? What if they do not get anything that I teach? Going exactly by the book will be difficult for me, but I feel it is vital to make these lessons as fun as possible for the students. In my composition class, I read in my textbook that the author lets her students pick what they want to write about in the beginning. Why does she do this? Because she wants her students to engage in writing, but at their own pace and their own time before they dive into the deeper material that is required by the state. If you throw a student right into an essay about the use of symbolism in Lord of the Flies, they won’t have any interest in the essay. Instead warm their writing up with interesting prompts. For example, have them write five truths and one lie on a piece of paper, share it with their classmates/group, and then write about one of their truths in a personal narrative essay. Warming my class up to the idea of writing will benefit in the long run because when it comes time to write about the use of symbolism in Lord of the Flies, they won’t feel so unprepared and lost.

"Discussion As a Way of Teaching"

I really enjoyed reading each of these lesson plans that involve discussion as a class, or a group. It made me realize that most of the time, I won’t have to lecture and bore my students. Instead, I can mingle discussion time into my lesson plan. This way the students can get to know one another and hopefully become close knit as a class. I know this applies to my life because when I was in philosophy class back in community college, our professor was one I will never forget. His name was Professor Bagwell and he made sure every class day was student led. He would start off the discussion with a prompt or a question, and would then let our minds run wild with answers and fighting opinions. I always loved going to that class because I knew I didn’t have to listen to someone drone on about dead old philosophy guys. This is how I want my class ran. Where the students perform most of the teaching, and they are teaching one another. Educating my students to be a part of a community is what I strive for because if we aren’t together as one, the whole class will fall apart.

One of my favorite discussion plans was conversational moves. I, as the teacher, would have flashcards that have specific moves on them. For Example, “Use body language to show interest in what different speakers are saying”. Each student will have a specific move, and some can repeat. This idea can be used in a Socratic seminar, and all the students can sit in a circle with a specific move in their hand. They will keep their move a secret until the very end, this will allow students to guess at times in the discussion what they think their peers’ moves are; like an element of surprise. It also teaches students to communicate and think critically with one another. In addition, it builds the discussion to work towards more thoughts and opinions. There were some discussion lesson plan ideas I didn’t like. For example, I thought critical conversation protocol was confusing, I had to read it twice and I still didn’t get it. For something that confusing, I will make sure to model the activity for my class.