I CAN do it!

As Cindy (pseudonym) was taking her gifted and talented entrance exam, her eyes became wide, eyebrows raised, and the smile that she normally wears had turned upside-down.    It quickly became clear to me that she was distressed and a bit overwhelmed by the page that lay before her.  After of few minutes of staring at the test, I noticed that she was discretely pulling out her small dry erase board and marker from her desk.  Intrigued, I continued to observe her.  Thinking that she had given up, I expected that she would begin to doodle.  However, I was surprised to find that she was actually writing, “I can do it!”  Before picking up her pencil to fill in another bubble on her scantron sheet, she had written this statement three times.   I was touched, encouraged, and inspired all at the same time. 

                Reflecting on my observation of Cindy’s experience several weeks ago is still very inspiring to me as I continue to work on my MGRP.  From high school forward, I feel that I was really only provided with the opportunity to write expository pieces.  Consequently, I often feel that my abilities to write in other genres are diminished.  Just as looking at the test questions overwhelmed Cindy, looking at all the different and artsy genres that exist almost have the same effect on me, but forcing myself out of my writing comfort zone is a challenge that I embrace.  Because like Cindy, I CAN do it!

Keeping an Open Mind

Stanza, meter, rhythm, and rhyming schemes are all terms that quickly come to mind when I think of poetry.  Similarly, I could add daunting, stress, and anxiety.  As you may be able to gather, my experiences with poetry have not been so great.  Although I do enjoy reading poetry, I’ve never considered writing it to be my forte.  For some reason, I’ve always felt really constrained by the "rules" of poetry, but perhaps this is because my definition of poetry is constrained. 

Reading Chapter 4 in Allen’s book reminded me of the many types of poems that do exist.  They don’t necessarily have to contain repetition and rhythm.  Instead, they can focus on capturing voice (e.g. double voice poems) or constructing a list of descriptive characteristics.  When I think of these alternatives, particularly the list, poetry doesn’t seem to be quite as overwhelming. In fact, as I was reading the list poem on page 46, I thought to myself, “I could write that!” 

 Not only did this chapter broaden my perceptions of poetry, it also instilled a bit of confidence within me.  Last week I had totally marked the genre of poetry off the list of possibilities for my MGRP, but after reading this chapter and exploring the different types of poems that exist, I’ve begun to at least consider reinstating it. 

Furthermore, I feel that re-examining my views of poetry is essential as I enter the classroom as the teacher becuase I will have the opportunity to set the tone for each lesson.  If I maintain my feelings of drudgery against poetry, I could unnecessarily turn my students off to writing it, causing them to think to that it is a chore. Because imposing a negative mind-set is definitely what I don't want to do, I must keep an open mind and remind myself I CAN also write poetry.

Learning THROUGH Experience

                   Reading the article about situational learning through the empowerment model by Powell and Davidson took me back in time because I experienced a similar learning experience in second grade.  My teacher had designed his classroom to function as a mini-economy.  As students, we received a paycheck each week for completing both our homework and our designated jobs (e.g. board-eraser, line leader, attendance-taker, etc.).  Our pay was based upon merit so we had to do the job and do it satisfactorily to be paid.  Because a paycheck really has no value if there is no money, we had a bank in addition to bank books.   Your check could be cashed to spend at the general store that was located in the classroom or put into a savings account.  The benefit to putting your money into savings, of course, was that it would accumulate interest.  As a student, it was your responsibility to keep track of your money and your savings account.  As I mentioned, the general store was there for the purpose of purchasing little knick-knacks or school supplies.  The added benefit to saving your money was the auction at the end of the year, where books and other educational items were auctioned off.  All businesses within the classroom were student run! 

                By learning in this environment, math was made practical to students because we were learning through experience, and our teacher would refer to the status of the economy by integrating it into his lessons.   This real-world application model has always been something that I have wanted to integrate into my own classroom.  Prior to reading this article, I had always focused on how I could further capitalize teaching math through this experience.  But Powell and Davidson helped me to realize how I could take my project a bit further by taking advantage of all the literacy that is inherently incorporate, but I have just overlooked in the past!  I could easily include real-life paperwork processes and have the students look for patterns in the words that they write like those described in the article! 

                Overall, I am just more excited about implementing this kind of project-based learning into my class!  Any suggestions or critiques that you have for this kind model of situational learning is welcomed!

Observing Literacy in the Classroom

Although our field experience has only been underway for two short weeks, I feel that I have already benefitted and accumulated more knowledge than I ever expected.  Watching my cooperating teacher (whom I will call Mrs. Doe) teach has allowed to realize more than ever that literacy and the priniciples that surround the subject of language arts are truly embedded into every single aspect of our lives.  And, Mrs. Doe only seems to drive this point home as she never fails to pass up an opportunity to relate the subject she is talking about back to the basics of reading and writing.  For instance, rather than always testing her students on the material that they have learned in science through the standard multiple-choice test, she is a strong proponent for allowing them to write about what they learn.  This writing analysis may take on a creative form or may be more objective.  She has also pointed out that lacking fluent reading skills creates difficulties with mathematics since math problems are not merely computational but instead require comprehension skills.

Fortunately, Mrs. Doe is also a big advocate for letting teachers-in-training, i.e. people like me, become actively involved in the classroom by engaging with the students.  Each week that I have been in her classroom, she has allowed me the privilege of leading a small reading group that merely consists of faciliating questions at the proper time as the students read aloud.  Seeing the proficiency of these readers is quite amazing!  However, it is undeniable that some of the students are not quite on the same reading level as their peers.  When these particular students read, I have noticed that those who are more fluent readers often have difficulties following along because they come bored or simply find it hard to follow along.  For the future, I wonder if anyone has any effective strategies for helping these more fluent readers keep interest while their peers, who may not be at the same level, read.

Indirectly generate personality and creativity into writing BEFORE picking up a pencil?!

Writing is personal, and writing is creative.   So why don’t we allow students to experience these feelings before they ever pick up a pencil to write?  I think that Hale makes a valid point in stating on pages 196-197 that we can spark enthusiasm for writing by simply setting aside time for students to decorate their writing notebooks.  Although it seems to be trivial, I think that we may be incredibly surprised by the reactions.  I think more than anything it gives students a sense of ownership and pride in their work.  When the outside of the notebook reflects their masterpiece of art, I think it could help them realize that the writings within the notebook are also amazing works of art.  Because these works of art are theirs, they are personal to them.  I actually have seen a similar idea put into practice this past week in my field experience.  The students received new social studies workbooks, but these workbooks weren’t your typical run of the mill workbooks; they had blank covers.  Because the focus of the unit was going to be on community, the students were given the opportunity to let their creative juices flow as they were supposed to decorate the cover according to the things that they enjoyed about or linked them to the community.  Some decided to cut and paste pictures of their favorite local basketball heroes while other opted to draw pictures of their family.  Nonetheless, it was an activity that the students really seemed to enjoy…because it made social studies more than just a school subject; it became personal. (Whether this excitement translates over to the following week when they actually have to complete the first page of the workbook might be a different story, but I’ll keep you posted!)

Just as the decorated notebooks can generate enthusiasm for writing, the location may also.  Hale suggests that teachers create “writing spots”, consisting of a small space that is designated for writing that is decorated with beanbag chairs and a small table, nothing fancy, but nonetheless special.  Recently I read a book by Esme Raji Codell entitled Educating Esme, a personal diary of a first year teacher in the inner-city of Chicago.  At one point in the book, she describes how uninterested her students were in reading so she creates a “time machine” out of a refrigerator box by decorating both the inside and outside.  The idea behind this was that reading books allows students to travel back in time.  Her students were absolutely excited about it, and everyone wanted a turn!  Thinking about this makes me think that it would be ideal to have these “special” areas in a classroom, but in both instances that I mentioned, they were used as an incentive for good behavior.  This makes me wonder if designating these spots for use as an incentive is really a good idea?  Because these writing spots are indeed special, I think that it would subconsciously spark an intrinsic motivation for students to write when they have the opportunity to utilize the space.  Yet, because there is always a chance that a teacher could be partial to one student over another, this would mean that perhaps all students would not get to experience the “writing spot” and thus not be able to experience the subconscious motivation that comes from being there.   Would drawing names out of a hat be a more fair way?