Conclusions April 15, 2007
Posted by hpiette in Classroom Reflections.1 comment so far
Well, as we all know the semester is coming to an end. It is crazy to think about how much time has passed and how much was learned about the classroom environment. I think in all of my education classes this one has been the most beneficial to me and my understandings of how to better equip my students for their educations which hopefully continue into their college careers.
Exploring these blogs was very useful for me. It gave me an opportunity to look more closely on an educational topic which a feel very strongly about. As a result, many articles I was able to find reinforced much of my own thinking about No Child Left Behind and how high-stakes testing is affecting our educational system. In other words, this legislature was created with “decent” intentions but overall, has not been successful in practice. Students’ futures are being placed on the results of one test, just one. This determines so many possibilities of consequence. I still ask myself how punishing schools helps students be more proficient? Is No Child Left Behind really just to alleviate some embarrassing appearance because if anything I feel this act is reinforcing this. The truth is many students are capable of so much, learning more maturely so they can process and develop skills which will benefit them their whole lives, not just if they go to college.
What is preventing this from happening is the rigid format that teachers have had to revert back to in order to concentrate on yearly testing. This rigid format does not help students process because a dislike for English is being instilled on their psyches. Rather, help students love to learn reading. Then yearly tests will not be a necessary tool of measurement determining “proficiency.”
This class has sincerely been beneficial because it helped motivate as well as innovate my thinking about what is important in getting students not only educated in English but instilling a love for literature and writing. Regardless of having to wake up early for Saturday’s conference I felt that this too was beneficial because it gave me opportunities to hear other perspectives of instructors who are only reinforcing everything we have discussed in class. For me, everything has been joy!
Bright Ideas Conference 2007 April 15, 2007
Posted by hpiette in Classroom Reflections.add a comment
As we become English teachers in the near future, innovating our thinking as we reinforce the knowledge we have already learned is important to developing skills which will benefit our work in the field. After finishing the trip to Lansing for the Bright Ideas Conference, many concepts which have been explored in class thus far, I feel were examined in depth in the various sessions that I attended.
The keynote speech given by Jacqueline Amanda Woodson provided some basis for many of the meta-cognitive ideas which have been discussed amongst our classmates. For example, she often discussed how instructing writing is important but teaching students to value their own voice is just as necessary. In addition, in order for students as well as others to be aware of what they are writing they must simply be allowed to do just that without stipulations or instructions interfering. But when students write they should be able to become aware of their flaws because doing so will allow improvement. I agreed with Woodson when she described how students should be allowed to express themselves outside of “standard requirements” because doing so will open more to the possibilities writing has to offer. Also, with guidance students are more likely to think meta-cognitively about what they are doing therefore developing skills which will continue to help them.
I also attended the presentation titled, “Engaging Literature Lovers and Reluctant Readers” which provided oppositional ideas for these kinds of readers. For those who are reluctant, the speakers suggested fostering the love of reading when students have free time. In other words, when we are in school we often are forced to read selections from the “cannon” or other pieces which may not suit our liking that causes students to formulate an opinion about English which lasts the rest of their lives. But what is useful in a classroom is allowing students to read what they love while getting them to think critically about them which can be done through various activities. As future teachers, we need to think about how we can incorporate what students are reading on their free time into classroom curriculum.
The other portion of this session discussed those who are advanced and love to read literature. The speaker explained how having lit circles outside of the class allows students who do read this much an outlet to express their ideas with each other while keeping up with their pace of reading.
The last session attended was the “macBeth” presentation in which the speakers mostly discussed how in this digital world, students have been immersed with this technology giving us as teachers more reason to incorporate technology into the classroom. In other words, giving students the opportunity to use iMovie or MySpace creatively can still enable them to think critically while innovating the way we do this. I feel this conference was beneficial to my personal knowledge of the classroom and it demonstrated many of the principals which have been discussed in our class.
