1 - What have you learned about yourself as a teacher (or future teacher) of adolescent literature (or English) in this class?

First of all, I learned that as much as I love the “classics,” I can absolutely see the value in teaching students books that they find more interesting. I still think the classics have something to offer, and I still want to teach them, but now I can see how pairing them with other literature that children enjoy might make for a more valuable experience all around. I also remember a time in class with Dr. M said something that really resonated with me: “You are the expert in your field.” I know it is simple, but seeing as I don’t teach yet, hearing this really made me think seriously about my role as an authority figure and educator, and that the sky really is the limit if I just put some work into justifying my decisions in my classroom. I don’t want to take the easy way out – I want to make a difference.

2 - What strategies will you take from this class to apply in either the Methods course next semester or your own English classrooms?

Quite honestly, I don’t know what the methods course entails yet, but I do like the “ticket out” idea a lot as a way of assessing the class at the end of the day/lesson. I also like literature roles, Socratic method, and the idea of teaching reading strategies to students. I feel like each teaching strategy has its advantages and disadvantages, but each can be used effectively depending on the lesson.

3 - What books resonated the most with you? The least? Why? Which selections do you think should be kept/removed from the class?

I guess I would say that the books that made the most impression on me in the way that they made me think about why we would teach them would be Boy Meets Boy, Forever, The Book Thief, and Persepolis. The first two because of the wonderful discussions that they produced (both on why they should and should not be taught, and also on what my classmates and future students and their parents might think if they were brought into the classroom), the third because I think it was a WONDERFUL book and a great perspective to offer to students who have read Anne Frank one too many times, and the last one because it was a graphic novel and it really helped me to see “the other” side of this argument – I always considered graphic novels just longer comic books, but I had no idea how much they had to offer until this class.
I guess if I were to say there were any that did not resonate with me, it would be Harry Potter and Twilight. I actually did like both books myself, but they didn’t really produce as much discussion as was possible simply because the class was divided over who liked them and who didn’t, so that swayed the discussion a bit. It was harder to get to the issues surrounding the books since some people didn’t think they should be taught simply because they didn’t like them.
I can’t really say that I think any of the books should have been removed. I think they were all worthy text. I really liked “Disturbing the Universe” as well – it provided a lot of insights into the adolescent literature that I would not have thought of right away, and served to get me into the groove of thinking of those and more issues surrounding the use of adolescent literature in the classroom.

4 - Would it have been more helpful for you to read "classic" or traditional texts alongside the adolescent novel? For example, would reading To Kill A Mockingbird (a frequently taught text in the secondary schools) alongside Monster have yielded more realistic approaches for using adolescent literature in the classroom?

I would have to say no on this one. Number one, it was already a lot of texts to read, and it was hard to keep up at times. Number two, probably having been English majors (at least some of us) but also high school students, most of us in the class have already read the classics, and it would have just been bogging everyone down. I felt that without pairing them, it exercised our brains to the point where we had to think of what we would pair with the nontraditional text provided, and I liked the different ideas that people came up with when thinking openly about it.

5 - What are your perceived strengths as a teacher of literature at this point? What remaining weaknesses or anxieties do you have regarding teaching literature (or teaching students!)? How might this class have better helped you to address these concerns?

I would say that my biggest strength is my true love of literature, my real desire to be a good teacher, and my willingness and openness to learn new things to better myself in my field. At this point, I don’t know what it will be like, but I hope that these things will at least serve me well, if not push me throughout my career.
As for my anxieties, I am scared to death to be an authority figure to kids. I am afraid that I will end being a push over or something. I’m hoping that becoming a parent in the near future will ease my concerns here, but I guess we’ll see. I think my problem is disconnecting myself from that age that I still remember all too well, and I’m also hoping that when I get to the point of teaching, it will come naturally to me. Again, we’ll see.
I think the Group Teach project actually helped me with my fear of speaking in front of people. Actually, in general as is probably obvious with my participation in class, I don’t have a problem speaking in front of my peers as much as to younger kids (with ultimately blank faces), but still, being up there and presenting an entire lesson made me feel that I might be more comfortable than I give myself credit for.

6 – Was the group-teach a valuable experience for you? What was beneficial? What was frustrating? What did you learn about yourself in this experience? Should this experience be included in future classes?

Well, back to my previous answer, it was really beneficial for me. I watched myself go from completely freaked out, to overwhelmed, to feeling a little more comfortable, to being really excited for it all to come together. The hardest part or the most frustrating was simply trying to coordinate the schedules of three other very busy people with my schedule. Group projects are always like that, and it is frustrating trying to work it out, but either way, I still thought the project overall was really beneficial. I don’t know if I could say the same for those in my class who already teach, but at least for me, not teaching yet, it solidified my decision to go back to school to become a teacher. It took me 5 years to decide to go back to school for this, and I must admit, I was worried I might have been wrong about it (aka: could I really do this? Is this really what I want???). But after finishing the Group Teach and being excited to be in front of the class presenting it just made me realize that I’m doing the right thing and that this is what I’m supposed to do with my life. I would definitely recommend keeping it for your future classes.

7 - Skim through the blogs you wrote this semester. Was creating your own blog and responding to the literature in this blog each week a valuable activity for you? Why/why not? Would you consider using a blog with your own students?

Hmm…yes and no about the blogs. I think blogging helped me get my thoughts in order before class, which made me feel more at ease in class discussions. And reading other people’s blogs was nice, too, because they often had interesting ideas or thoughts as well. On the other hand, I think what we put in our blogs almost always came up in class, and I’m not 100% sure that these ideas wouldn’t have come up anyway whether we blogged or not, so at times, it seemed like an extraneous activity that I would rather not have done.
Having said that, I do think it is valuable enough to use with my students. As a teacher, I think having students blog on the reading would be a great quick/easy way to see if the students read the material, and also to see what they got out of it (if anything). So, I think while at times it seemed like a lot to ask, it is still a worthy activity, and a great way to incorporate technology into the daily lessons.

8 - What recommendations or suggestions do you have for the content of this course. Was anything missing that you felt would have better prepared you? What was valuable to you overall? Feel free to address any other areas that may not have been raised here as well.

The only thing I would have liked to have seen, and this very well could just be me, was how to create lesson plans. When the group teach was introduced, I very nearly panicked because I had never created a lesson plan. Never. So I had no idea, and luckily I had a current teacher in my group who was able to help, or I might have completely lost it. So, it might have been helpful to have one class prior to the first group teach (aka my group) to show us different styles of lesson plans. In the beginning, we did a lot more on the novels themselves (which isn’t a bad thing) and not as much on different teaching strategies. One thing I thought that was really helpful was the list of different things we could use in our classroom to get our students thinking: KWL charts, story maps, free-writing, etc. etc. Really helpful. I’d like to see more of that, since it was a class on “teaching” adolescent literature, and not just on adolescent literature itself. I think it got better after the fourth or fifth class, but for the first few classes, it felt just like any other English class, except with younger, sometimes easier-to-read novels.
On another note, I think you did an incredible job catering this class to the many (and I mean many) different students you had in this class. I was so impressed with the way you were able to differentiate your instruction and adjust what was probably your plan for the class as soon as you found out how different we were. Your flexibility was amazing and notable. It really gave me a true understanding of how you can’t enter the class with a firm plan in mind; you have to be willing to adjust when needed, and I was really impressed with how you were able to do it so…seamlessly. Given another class that I have with a similar variety of students (Josh, you know what class I mean) where the teacher made no effort whatsoever to adjust her teaching or lessons to account for the variety, I was truly impressed. So, thank you so much. Having seen both sides, I really think you should know how much I do appreciate your flexibility and adjustments.

Harry on the way home with the Dursleys

Harry followed Uncle Vernon out of the train station and saw Aunt Petunia and Dudley waiting in the car. At the sight of Dudley, Harry immediately wished he could go back to Hogwarts. But he followed silently behind a grumpy Uncle Vernon and climbed into the car next to Dudley.

“No funny stuff, Potter,” Dudley said, eyeing Harry suspiciously, and Harry noticed his cousin’s voice had dropped an octave. With the loss of an octave he had gained at least fifty pounds to his already hefty exterior. In his mouth hung a large chocolate bar, which reminded Harry of the chocolate frog he bought on the train ride back to London.

He cautiously slipped it out of his pocket to keep it from melting, trying desperately to keep Dudley from seeing it. But Aunt Petunia said suddenly, “What have you got, you wicked boy?”

Before Harry could say anything or shove it back in his pocket, Dudley snatched it out of his hand. With his mouth still full of his chocolate bar, he opened the wrapper and noticed immediately the card inside. “What’s this?” he asked, slowly pulling it out.

Harry panicked. He knew that Dudley would react wildly if he noticed the face moving in the card, and Aunt Petunia would surely search all his things. But he also knew he wasn’t allowed to use magic while away from Hogwarts.

“It’s a chocolate bar,” he said quickly and tried to pry it from Dudley’s hands.

“Mom! Harry’s got a chocolate bar!” he shouted, struggling to keep it.

Quickly, Harry slipped the card out of the candy bar and said, “Just keep it, Dudley,” before Aunt Petunia had time to react.

Dudley shoved it into his mouth and forgot all about the card inside. Harry, on the other hand, noticed that it was the card that Ron needed and he smiled when he thought of his friend.

Perhaps now was as good a time as any to request permission to see Ron and the Weasleys over the summer.

“Uncle Vernon?” Harry began, and Uncle Vernon grunted. “I met a friend at school, and his mother invited me to stay with them for a few weeks. Would that be all right?”

“Absolutely not!” Aunt Petunia interjected. “While you are here with us, you will not interact with anyone from that school, is that understood?”

Harry’s face was hot. It was all he had to look forward to and just like that he was shot down.

“Now wait a minute, Petunia,” Uncle Vernon began in his gruff voice. “It may work out for us to be rid of him for a few weeks this summer.”

“Yes, yes!” Dudley interjected, the chocolate melted to his lips and face. “Let’s get rid of Harry for the whole summer! Let him stay with those freaks all summer long!”

“Yes…you’re right. Less time with us means less time for him to cause us trouble. Okay, Harry. Tell us when, and we’ll drop you here and your friend’s family can pick you up.”

Harry smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he said quietly, and Aunt Petunia murmured something under her breath, which was drowned out by Uncle Vernon’s grunt.

Twilight and Intertexuality

I am embarrassed to admit that, despite my preconceptions, I did enjoy Twilight, and have even moved on and finished New Moon. The reason I am embarrassed is because I typically enjoy really well written books because I admire good writing and the challenge that it imposes on the reader, and this book is not exactly well written. I've been trying to come to terms with what exactly about it, then, I enjoy enough to make me want to read the rest of the series. The article actually brought to light the reason that I liked it (I think). It's not really well written, but the characterization is well done. "Readers are drawn into this story becasue the characters are intriguing and develop complex relationship as the story progresses" (Bull 113). I think this sums up what I liked abou the book. I fell for Bella and Edward and their tensions and struggles and the complexity of their relationships. It's funny, but the idea of forbidden and difficult love, though a really over-done idea, is still very intriguing and interesting to me.

The article had some interesting ideas for how to teach Twilight in a classroom, since it is a text that would have to be justified to an administration as to it's educational value. I like the idea of digging into the idea of characterization, since it is helpful in learning fiction writing skills. We've talked about intertexuality on several occasions, especially the pairing of modern texts with more "classic" literature. I think since the book alludes to Romeo and Juliet, and Romeo and Juliet is taught in early high school, the use of a venn diagram to talk about similarities and differences between the two could be helpful. I even enjoyed the idea of multimedia and comparing and contrasting the book and the movie, though I'm not sure how much educational value this has. The think alouds would be helpful in making deeper connections.

After checking out the sites on fanfiction, I was a little disappointed. I wouldn't really want to read fan fiction regularly. I'd rather stick with the author and their ideas, since authors know their characters so well. Having said that, I can certainly see the value of fan fiction. The fact that students are so inspired to write extensions or to take the characters and put them in other situations is really encouraging. I think it could really be a useful tool to set students off and running with fan fiction or fan art (is that what it's called?) after reading a story. It would really force them to dig deep into the character and consider the character's motivations when putting them in certain situations.

The article did start out strong, but I found that by the end, I hadn't really discovered a way to justify the teaching of this novel, despite the large fan base among adolescents. I think the only real reason we'd teach it is because students would read it, but I don't really know if there is enough to teach in this novel to students. It really makes me think about the texts we DO teach and why we teach them. I can't justify teaching a novel that I don't think is well written. But I'm curious to hear what everyone else has to say about how this could be taught (or if it should be taught or just left for outside reading). I think it would be valuable to come up with ways to teach it, since kids are enjoying it and reading it (so that they aren't reading it instead of books they are assigned, but rather for class). But after reading the article, I don't think Bull really gave me anything more to work with except for the pairing of this book with a classic.

Teacher Inquiry Project

Teacher Inquiry Project Topic: Teaching Student to Enjoy Reading
Essential Questions:
1 - What makes a "good reader"?
2 - Why do some students dislike reading, while others enjoy it?
3 - What role does the students' gender, family, or socio-economic background play in determining whether they enjoy reading?
4 - How important is student choice of text in helping a student enjoy reading?
5 - Can a resistant reader, no matter why they are resistant, be taught to enjoy reading? If so, how? If not, why not?

So far, I have found a ton of resources for this topic. I have several books that I plan on pulling some information from, including: I Read It, But I Don't Get It, Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning, Mosaic of Thought, What Really Matters for Struggling Readers. As for the journal articles, I found several regarding the role of gender, family, and socio-economic background, as well as a few that talk about the importance of student choice.

It's really interesting to me to see the different articles that discuss some reasons why boys in general enjoy reading less than girls, and the importance of reading in the home. There is a lot of evidence that actually ties in all three (family, student choice, and socio-economic background) as the cause for boys reading less for pleasure than girls. I'm really glad that Jen (I think it was Jen) mentioned something about the role of gender when we did the activity last week. I might not have thought of it, and it has opened up a lot of information for my topic.

I don't really have any questions yet. So far, I have just read the articles to make sure they are relevant, and I plan to read them again and highlight what I'm using. I've done a preliminary works cited as well, just so that I have something to work from. I'm starting on an outline to help me organize my ideas and decide exactly how I want to work out the paper.

Persepolis & the Use of Graphic Novels in Schools

As I think I mentioned when we read American Born Chinese, I have been pleasantly surprised with the graphic novels we've read. I wasn't a proponent of the genre (I thought of them as comic books, and never as novels) until I read our first book, and now after Persepolis, I'm starting to swing. I don't think I'll read anymore on my own, as much as I've enjoyed these. It's still not my favorite, but I can now really see how there is something of value to offer to students, especially to those who don't want to or like to read for school.

Persepolis, the story of the young girl in Iran during war time, was very poignant. The fact that it is an autobiography of sorts is also really interesting to me. There is something to be said for the fact that this is the author's way of dealing with what she saw and went through at home. I like that it was from the perspective of a girl from Iran because it draws me in and causes me to feel more sympathy for her and her family. I couldn't believe she had to leave her family at the end, and I couldn't stop thinking about it after I had finished the book.

As for use in schools, I think this genre appeals to young readers for a reason. We are looking at a generation of kids who spend a large percentage of their time on the computer or in front of the TV. They are a visual generation! It's certainly not to say all kids are this way, but there are a lot of kids who need to see a story to understand it. I was thinking about the book I read for my book review which deals with struggling readers and the strategies they need to employ to understand a book. That's when it hit me. The reason a lot of kids don't enjoy reading is that they don't see a picture in their heads when they read! Seems simple enough, but it was something that never occurred to me until now. I have ALWAYS seen a picture when I read, which is why I love books - it's a movie in my head! So, it's what I've always known, and to realize now that not all kids have this same experience when they read really opens up some ideas for me of what I would need to do as a teacher to try and make sure the students get the most out of my class. I think the use of good, quality graphic novels makes a lot of sense.

Something I didn't think about, though, until I read the article, is how helpful graphic novels can be for the writing skills of English Language Learners. Using the graphic novel not only as a way to open them up to reading, but to help them write is genius! No matter what thier background, kids can look at a picture (with or without words) and figure out what it is about. It only makes sense to use this knowledge as a way to increase their writing skills! I was really impressed with the results. Practice makes perfect, and the more kids are writing (with the help of pictures) the better writers they will become. I think that using graphic novels to help kids learn to write should be used on all students, not just those with langauge barriers.

The Book Thief and "A Class Divided"

Well, first off, I LOVED The Book Thief. I started out struggling with it - the constant interruptions by our narrator were a bit distracting at first, but I got used to it quickly. It took me a while to get really into it, but I balled my eyes out the last 75 or so pages!

I kept thinking about teaching The Book Thief. I think it would be a refreshing perspective (rather than reading Night or Anne Frank, though both are good books) to see the Holocaust through the eyes of a young German girl, rather than from the perspective of a Jew in hiding or in a concentration camp (or maybe in addition to one of the other books). The main problem I see is that with kids, first impressions are everything. They would take one look at how thick the book is and groan. I'd be lucky if a handful read it all through. And then there is the struggle of giving them enough time to read it without taking away from something else. I think there is a lot to talk about in the novel, but it would take a really long time to get through it with a group of adolescents, if I could get them to get past the length in the first place.

After watching "A Class Divided," I must say, I was stunned. Stunned that a teacher had the guts (and the OK from administration?) to try such an experiment. I could certainly see how something like this would create a lasting effect on kids who go through it. It really is an effective way (if you can pull it off, as she could) to teach about discrimination, and let them see what it is like for a short time to be on the receiving end of prejudices. I kept thinking, how is she able to convince them (and then the adults, too! I couldn't believe they were able to be duped by the experiment) that their eye color is reason for discrimination? But I guess if I were a kid (or adult) who hadn't heard of this experiment before, I could be made to believe that eye color mattered. Especially since she was so convincing and serious about it. I felt squirmy and uncomfortable, especially watching the adults during the experiment, because at times she was so convincingly prejudiced. It was a lot to watch the reactions and how upset people got.

After watching that video, I read the article on teaching Holocaust literature. I like the idea of encouraging students to think about discrimination and to empathize with people who are different (in whatever way), rather than throwing them right into the literature. So many kids shrug off the things they read about that have to do with racism or prejudice, simply because they don't know what it's like (or think they don't). But if they are made to talk about the differenes, or the many times they probably were discrimated against (like the kid on page 30, who was wrongfully accused of using some drugs, simply because he fit the look of a kid who would do it), they might then be able to bring more to their reading of the literature, and feel some sympathy toward those who suffered during these terrible events in history.

American Born Chinese & John Gaughan's "Constructing a Teaching Life"

I must admit my first feelings when I opened this book were both hesitation and a little dismay. I don’t particularly like comic books – at least, I never read them as a kid or thought much of them growing up. I like the movies that come out of them (Batman is one of my favorite heroes, and I loved the Spiderman movies, however they might differ from the comics, so I hear). But I don’t particularly like to read them. There’s something about reading thought bubbles for an entire book that turned me off. I love dialogue, but I also love the descriptions that go along with them. I like to visualize in my head and not be forced to see what the author sees. Reading a graphic novel reminded me of watching a movie in another language with subtitles. It goes by quickly, but you don’t get as much out of it.

So, while I opened this book with some attitude, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I still have the same complaints (I still missed visualizing it on my own and the descriptions that come with a “classic” novel), but the subject matter was so artfully told in this poignant way. “Know Thyself” is a line in Shakespeare’s Hamlet that is still quoted today. This book had the same theme – be yourself, be proud of who you are, don’t try to be something you’re not, etc. – but was told in a way that students could understand. I’m not saying we shouldn’t teach Shakespeare, because I really believe we should. But I’m beginning to like the idea of pairing classics with modern novels that students can appreciate and maybe even enjoy. Exposure to Shakespeare may be important, but it’s useless if the students only dread, hate, and learn nothing from it.

I thought the article placed a lot of emphasis on this idea of knowing students, and teaching to their personalities. It really hooked me right away in the beginning by talking about three separate teaching styles of Huck Finn, another classic. I thought of Josh and his complete distaste for the classics and how sad it is to me, because as far as I’m concerned they have so much to offer! But I completely understand that it was likely he did not have a teacher that taught them to him in a way that made him love these novels! As I think someone said in class the other day, it is completely all about how we teach novels that can either make or break whether a student loves or hates it.

The ideas in this article played right into what we’ve been discussing in class for weeks now: What is our goal as teachers of adolescent literature – to foster a love of reading, or to foster a skill of critical reading and thinking and writing, or simply to inundate them with vocabulary and literary terms? Why do we need to teach the classics? How can we teach the classics in a way that is meaningful and enjoyable to our students, if we teach them at all? We’ve been discussing this for weeks and I love the discussion that comes out of it. Everyone has so many views, which is what makes us great up-and-coming teachers! There will be so many techniques and ideas and pedagogical styles among us, and all the while we will be trying to come up with ways to improve and be better teachers. It is an “evolutionary process” (6) as John Gaughan says in this article. We have the power to make our classrooms ones that students will never forget – we just have to learn how to use that power and work around the many issues that we will face with administrators and parents as well as students.