So far this book has had some helpful advice. My favorite was the idea of the Read Around. I think this is a great idea because students are subjected to only criticism in many environments. I feel just offering positive feedback for a change can really help motivate students, and increase their self confidence. If I got a paper back and was able to just absorb all the positive comments first before just reading criticism, I feel that would motivate me more. It is important for students especially at middle school and high school level to not feel too discouraged. If a student just feels like they are a horrible writer, and their writer has no good aspects, they are ore likely to give up.
Another thing that really stood out to me was the poems. I enjoyed reading those a lot. I especially liked the one the blind student wrote. I think the poem is very touching. I think it is very sad that he got picked on by the other students for being blind, but it is great that they all started to realize they were wrong after hearing the poem. The "I am" poems were very interesting as well. They have a very cool layout to them. I like how they are kind of random to everyone else, but they make perfect sense to the person who wrote it.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Chapter 4
I thought chapter 4 of Early Career English Teachers in Action was very interesting. The passage that stuck out to me the most was Kibera Sings by David Jagush. This passage was very intense but I thought the lesson it had for aspiring teachers was really amazing.
I thought it was heartbreaking seeing the kind of home lives the children in Kibera had. It really shocked me to see just how many children are victims of abuse, especially sexual abuse. I am not very familiar with African culture, or what goes on there, so this was very sad and shocking to me. The story about the boy who watched his dad decapitate his mother really stuck in my head. I thought about that for about an hour after I read it because it was just very disturbing to me. I can not imagine growing up in that type of environment.
I think this was a very good lesson for aspiring teachers, because it just shows a perspective of how other cultures are. I learned many tragic things about the lives of African children that I did not know. I also learned that the children in Africa are much more eager to learn, and much less picky about how they do it. I think the part where all the students were cleaning the school was a very good example of that. He was right, in America students will throw their trash on the ground, and when challenged reply with "well isn't it the janitors job to clean?". I also think it was amazing that David worked so hard to impact these children's lives. He took so much time to try to get the instruments for them, as well as talking with the student with the learning disability. This passage really changed my perspective, and made me want to travel and see what the school environment in other countries is like.
I thought it was heartbreaking seeing the kind of home lives the children in Kibera had. It really shocked me to see just how many children are victims of abuse, especially sexual abuse. I am not very familiar with African culture, or what goes on there, so this was very sad and shocking to me. The story about the boy who watched his dad decapitate his mother really stuck in my head. I thought about that for about an hour after I read it because it was just very disturbing to me. I can not imagine growing up in that type of environment.
I think this was a very good lesson for aspiring teachers, because it just shows a perspective of how other cultures are. I learned many tragic things about the lives of African children that I did not know. I also learned that the children in Africa are much more eager to learn, and much less picky about how they do it. I think the part where all the students were cleaning the school was a very good example of that. He was right, in America students will throw their trash on the ground, and when challenged reply with "well isn't it the janitors job to clean?". I also think it was amazing that David worked so hard to impact these children's lives. He took so much time to try to get the instruments for them, as well as talking with the student with the learning disability. This passage really changed my perspective, and made me want to travel and see what the school environment in other countries is like.
Monday, February 8, 2016
English in Pop Culture assignment
I really enjoyed this assignment. I thought it was interesting to go back and watch "Pay it Forward" from a teacher's perspective, when I always watched it from a student perspective. I know this is a fictional movie and it is not realistic or appropriate to be completely honest to be quite as involved with student's lives as Mr. Simonet was with Trevor. It did teach me a lesson anyhow. It taught me that if teachers are involved in student's lives and push them, then the student may reach potential they never knew they had.
One thing I struggled with for this assignment was the length. I found it very difficult to write four pages about the topic, without going off and writing a summary of the movie. I felt I added some information that may not have been necessary, as well as repeating information. I will try the strategies discussed in class today to lengthen it without adding fillers for the final draft.
One thing I struggled with for this assignment was the length. I found it very difficult to write four pages about the topic, without going off and writing a summary of the movie. I felt I added some information that may not have been necessary, as well as repeating information. I will try the strategies discussed in class today to lengthen it without adding fillers for the final draft.
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