MAT 402: Blog Reflection #1

My adoration for books began at a young age.  I can remember my mother reading me infamous children books such as “The Giving Tree” or “Love You Forever” as a young child.  I soon began to memorize the words (I still called it reading) and would rummage through the pages reciting the words out loud.  I have always been an avid reader.  My enthusiasm about reading can often be motivated and overwhelming.  During the summer of my sophomore year in college, I read a novel entitled “A Thousand Splendid Suns.”  The novel details a story of two women living in the Middle East and their struggle to escape lives of oppression and violence.  The novel was interesting and captivating, but it did not have a profound affect on me.  In the months prior to entering the program I re-read the novel.  The second time around the characters were real and heart-breaking.  It was then that I realized that characters, novels are a means of living someone else’s experience.  I believe that my affection for books, rich stories, drive my passion experiences in an English classroom. 

Initially, when reading Ball’s article I was turned off by the rhetoric that was used.  I felt somewhat attacked when she emphasized the idea of being a master of your content.  It was discouraging because, as a first year teacher, I felt like the level of mastery that was being stressed was unattainable as a first year teacher.  As we discussed the article in class, it became more apparent that the emphasis being placed on content was to highlight the idea that an in depth knowledge of your content allows you to captivate the interest of your students.  During the discussion, I became less critical of Ball’s argument because it became apparent that this “mastery” should be something every good teacher strives to acquire as their career unfolds.  Ball highlights the idea that the good teacher, the motivate teacher, will strive to delve deeper into their content and seek to uncover new territory which they can then bring into the classroom.  I agree with Ball on that front.  Teachers should constantly seek to refine and redefine their craft, but it is the passion within the teacher that drives the quest to obtain more knowledge.  Although it may place another task upon the shoulders of the teacher, it is important that teachers have a passion for their content and that passion should drive them to continue to uncover as much as possible about their subject.

At this point, I have no focus for my capstone project.  I am playing with two ideas- but as I continue to focus on them, I am not sure how fond I am of either idea.  The first question focuses specifically on ELD students.  My interest is in what programs can be placed in schools to heighten the chances for ELD students to attend four year colleges? Also, why many low performing students tend to drop out of community colleges. The second surrounds the idea of the “great books.”  What is taken into consideration when deeming a novel a “great book.”  Are the “great books” an essential aspect of content and delivering skills in the classroom? Could more current novels heighten student’s interests in reading? I either need to work to drastically reform one of the above ideas or refocus on another topic because I am not happy with either of these as of now.  At this point, I think it would be wise to do more research on both topics to see if the research could lead me to a more concrete topic and question.

See my Comments for Colleagues:
Alana Scott: mademoisellescott.blogspot.com
Mike Rose: Mikejas.blogspot.com
Sheridan Arrendondo: sheridanarredondo.blogspot.com
 

Warm Up Reflection

Warm Up Reflection:


As an English teacher, with only one year of real experience under my belt, I have more quickly been introduced to topics that I am unfamiliar with.  Yet, this year also provided me with insight into what type of teacher I want to be, what I am comfortable with, and what I hope to accomplish and foster inside my own classroom.  I am comfortable and thrive when teaching American Lit.  But, this year I taught Sophomores.  The literature that exists in the realm of Sophomore required reading lists is difficult, somewhat bland, and apparently uninteresting to Sophomores.  What I realized as the year went on is that I needed to find a way to capture the interests of the students.  I needed a way to allow them to make connections to texts that were written years before they were even born.

Interestingly, the quantitative article that I chose for the blog discussed student motivation to read.  The researchers stated that students placed heavy emphasis on the cover of the novel as well as how well the teacher introduced it to the class.  I learned this the hard way.  Half way through our first novel, Animal Farm by George Orwell, I looked up to see many dreary faces.  I realized that they were disinterested, unmotivated, and half of them hadn't even read.  They say the first year is trial by fire.  I missed the mark with that novel, but I continued to seek out new methods of capturing student's attention and desire to read.  I definitely did not have pre-reading activities perfected by the end of the year, but I can say that I was able to refine how I introduced novels.  I think that these misfires are what the first few years about.  As educators, it is important to continuously refine our skills.  That is what I hope to gain from this program.  I hope that I am able to develop skills that will allow me to continuously seek out articles or discover new resources that allow for change and evolution in my own classroom.  I hope to learn how to continue learning on my own and with a group of colleagues.

Guiding Questions:
1.)  How does student motivation factor into students completing assigned reading?
2.)  What strategies can teachers use to create higher success rates for ELD students in hopes of them pursing higher education?
3.) What pre reading activities will pique student's interests to read transcendentalist texts?
4.) What themes in Shakespearean literature would high school students find most enjoyable?
5.) What types of non-academic activities can school sites host to intrinsically motivate ELD students?