Monster & Reading Engagement

I have loved reading Monster so far (I am over halfway through the text at this point). I believe that the text is super engaging being written in a movie script format. I think that students will gravitate towards this text because of this format and it makes a super quick read. A lot could be done with a text like this.

First off, as I talked about in my last post, it is very important to create a safe and welcoming environment before discussing hot topics like this.

I would personally pair this book with a To Kill a Mockingbird, so that I would be teaching a canon book and a young adult literature text. I would pair these two books together because I believe it would help students better understand the themes of To Kill a Mockingbird. In Ashley Boyd’s young adult literature class, we often talked about pairing a canon book with a young adult literature book with similar themes and ideas to help kids get excited about what they are reading and to help them decipher the canon books (because they are often difficult for students to comprehend).

One way to approach the book Monster would be to have a group discussion on the issues of race, gang violence, honesty, prison, and the court system within the book. I would want to get students opinions on how these issues are shown in the book, like are they accurate? Do you think they are right? Would you change anything, how?

I believe that the KWL chart would be beneficial with this book when looking at the themes. I would really question the students on what they already know about them and what they want to know. I would possibly tag on a research paper fat the end of the unit in order to educate students about society further. I think students would be interested in researching topics of the court system, racial issues and profiling, gang violence, and how the prison system works. The research paper could be the L part of the KWL process.

I could also have students have a journal that they write in every 45 pages or so and just reflect what has happened in that section. The reflections could be on anything that they like and then possibly take it to the next level with a research paper when going in to To Kill a Mockingbird.

I think a great discussion topic to have in small groups of students would be about judgment of people. This could lead in to problems at middle and high schools, such as bullying and friend clicks. I could use this time to attempt to bring students together in the classroom in a positive way and then leeway into the hard stuff in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Overall, I really think this book would be really great to teach in high school. I have never read it before and would love to know what high school students think of the themes.

Teaching Difficult Subjects

I personally believe that English classes are the perfect setting to discuss difficult subjects. I think that reading short stories and novels work for a great leeway into these topics because it shows these issues such as race, gender identity, and undocumented workers through perspectives that students can identify with and also question. 

It is important to first establish a classroom that students feel safe in and feel that they are able to talk and express their opinions. I would not start off the school year by introduction hard topics; I would start off with easy topics and then ease my way into controversial topics. It also important to create awareness in the classroom that people may have different opinions and perspectives on a certain topic, and that they all must be respected.

When it comes to the topic of undocumented workers, I would most likely team up with one of the history teachers in my school. I would have the history teacher teach students about the history of the topic and where it is now, and then in my class we could discuss the topic as a whole—how to approach it, is there a way to fix it, how you feel about it.

I would have a complete discussion based class where we discuss literature that deals with the issue, like The House on Mango Street. I would never call on people to answer because it might be a trigger topic for them that could really upset them. Usually in classes, there are people who like to share their opinion, which causes a ripple effect on other students sharing. If I notice that the topic is not going over well with classes, I would most likely talk about the issue as a whole and then move on from it—so what will be and will not be discussed will be up to the class.

Another way I would teach subjects like this besides discussion would be a journal. I would have students write their opinions and thoughts down on paper. I would give them pretty much free range on how they could write about it, just as long as they critically think about it in some way. Then I would have them turn it in and I would have one pile where the students are okay if I read what they wrote and then another pile where they do not want me to read what they wrote. I would probably grade for completion that they did something, rather then content since I wouldn’t be reading all of them.

Other than discussions and personal journaling, I honestly do not know how I would approach discussing controversial topics in the classroom because I do not have experience with it. In my classroom experience, teachers tended to avoid such topics, and I know that I do not want to be like that. I know that I want to teach and discuss hard topics because I think it is valuable for students to know to become quality citizens—I just think it will be a trial and error till I figure out the best way to approach the subject.

Burke Intro and Chapter One

Burke shares in his book Writing Reminders, the difficulties that teachers may encompass with teaching writing in the classroom. With a demanding course load of common core standards, finding time to write everyday is very difficult. However, Burke stresses the point that writing every single day will tremendously affect students' writing in a positive way. Writing in classes, regardless of the subject, helps students feel a sense of accomplishment and engagement with the material they are learning. The only way for students to learn how to write is to write themselves.

An important point that Burke makes is, “Students should also be encouraged to develop the critical ability to evaluate their own work, so they can become effective, independent writers in the world beyond school.” College and a lot of jobs require effective writing skills and teachers should be preparing their students to be successful with their futures. Being able to revise your own work is a very difficult thing to master and I would like to explore in class how to help students learn how to be successful in doing this. It is also the teachers responsibility to create a community within their classroom to create a comfortable environment for students to write, share and work on revising their works.

Through practicing every day, students develop personal style and voice. I believe it will help encourage students to write to make them realize that writing is personal, even if it is a research paper or lab report. The voice and style they develop personalizes each paper they write and the more they practice, the more concrete they becomes. Teachers should make the concept transparent that through writing, a person is able to find him or herself and the beauty of writing is in the struggle of the writing process. Writing is a powerful tool that has the ability to establish change in society. A writer has the ability to impact his or her readers and change their perceptions on a subject.

Teachers need to set an example for their students by always practicing writing everyday. I believe that a teacher should not ask anything of their students that he or she would not do themselves. Teachers can help students by modeling how to write and the process that they go through to construct their thoughts on paper. Burke writes that thinking out loud while brainstorming topic ideas for what to write to your students is helpful to learn how to approach writing. He also suggests writing notes or letters to individual students may challenge them to read and look at writing.

Blau & Freire Articles

In Freire's article, he talks about how students metaphorically are containers that are filled by teachers. In other words, the students are depositories and the teacher deposits information into them; the better teachers deposit more information into the depositories and the better students are the ones more open to be depositories. Freire discusses the concept of “banking”, which is when students only memorize information for tests or papers and not process the information to form thoughts about it. With the concept of banking, students bank the information and then let it go away instead of becoming collectors of the information being taught.

Freire writes, “The more completely they accept the passive role imposed on them, the more they tend simply adapt to the world as it is and to the fragmented view of reality deposited in them” (73). This shows that the banking concept creates students who cannot formulate thoughts and ideas on their own and just settle into society rather than contribute to it. Students need to be able to think for themselves rather than having teachers give them the information needed to get by to the next grade. Freire states, “The solution is not to “integrate” them into the structure of oppression, but to transform that structure so that they can become “beings for themselves” (74). Students become citizens who are passive of reality and life, only adapting to the world and never changing it—limiting women and men’s creative skills.

Blau’s article was about students being frustrated with readings and giving up due to not understanding. When most students read text that is difficult, they tend to stop reading and wait for their teacher to explain to them what it meant. Students do not try as hard as they can to analyze and understand a text because they know that the teacher will do that for them in class. This causes students to rely solely on teachers for the information. 

This point ties into what Freire’s main point was that students are waiting for their teachers to make their deposits for them, causing them to not be able to critically analyze texts or form opinions from them. Blau makes an important point saying, “…when it comes to the reading of difficult literary texts, the difference between us and our students s that we have a much higher tolerance for failure” (30). Teachers should be helping students continue on with trying when a reading is difficult and also facilitate learning that teaches students how to navigate through hard texts (not just giving them the answer). Students need to learn how to critically analyze difficult information and form their own thoughts on it. When teachers give students the answer, they do not learn anything and become depositories, creating a passive student and human.