Firestone Experience-Kist

After working at Firestone High School last semester, I was really excited to go back and tutor my student.  When I previously worked with my student, we focused a lot on science and language arts.  These two subjects gave my student the most troubles, and I really wanted to see if he had made any progress or not.  Together we discussed his classes, teachers, homework and so forth.  After talking to him for the first few minutes of arriving at Firestone, I asked him if I could see his grades.  His grades were substantially lower than what I would have liked them to be.  He did not show that much improvement from the last time that I had been there to tutor him, and his grades had practically stayed the same, or actually worsened, from the last time I had seen him. 

I asked him why his grades were so poor and at first he resorted to blaming his teachers.  My student said it was because his teachers were boring and didn’t know how to teach.  Then it was because they did not calculate his grades correctly, and that they were actually higher than what was being shown.  I asked him why he thought his classes were so boring and he could not put his finger on just one problem.  The problems that he described to me were dry, unrelateable novels in the classroom, repetitive assignments, and uninteresting class discussions.   Once we discussed his day-to-day classroom activities, I asked him what he had been doing to prepare for the OGT’s.  It was not a big surprise to me when he told me that the only preparations that he had been doing was what was done in class.  I flipped through his prep books and found that about only half of each test was actually completed.  Every question that was not multiple choice was left unanswered.  He told me that he felt that it was unnecessary to answer these questions because the practice tests were not the ones being scored; basically he was just being extremely lazy. 

These issues that we discussed, really made wonder what could be done to make English classes and test prep more intriguing.  This was difficult for me because while it is important to prepare for standardized testing, I don’t believe it should take away from the overall school year’s curriculum.  From traveling to other schools and reflecting back on my own high school experiences, I believe that some teachers become way to involved with test preparation, and forget about their actual purpose of teaching their designated subject.  While it is important for students to score well on these tests, it cannot become our sole focus.  As teachers we still need to teach and interpret different texts and strengthen our students writing skills, and not just focus on the best way to answer a multiple question from a short reading. 

After contemplating what could be done to incorporate multi-modalities with test preparations, I realized it would be harder than expected. The first idea that I had was to play music during the times that the students were supposed to be doing the practice tests.  My student and I discussed how we sometimes struggle in super quiet environments, so if there was music playing in the background, then maybe we would be able to think clearer and concentrate more easily.  When determining what music should be played, I thought it would maybe be a good idea for each student to suggest one or two songs, making sure they are classroom appropriate, of their own choice to be made into a classroom playlist. 

Also, since I noticed that my student was skipping over the short answer questions I thought that maybe we could incorporate different writing techniques in the classroom to get students more comfortable with written responses.  My first thought was just to have them focus on free writing.  If I were to have my own class I would like to find various writing prompts through different movie or television clips that could possibly relate to the class’s lesson for the day.  I would show the clip that would ideally be between two to five minutes and then have the class free write for about ten minutes.  Once they were done free writing, for homework they could proofread what they wrote and then turn in an edited copy.  This incorporates different modalities and also helps practice their writing skills for both short answer questions and the writing portion of the test. 

The writing section of the test is what I really wanted to focus on with my student, and I believe I would feel the same exact way if I had my own classroom.   I asked my student to look at one of the writing prompts from his practice tests and select one to work on.  After making his selection, I gave him as much time as he needed to complete what he believed to be sufficient work.  I was quite astonished when he handed me a one paragraph essay for his eighteen point essay.  His paragraph was loosely structured, had poor grammar, and overall did not really answer the question that was being asked.  Together we went over the basic five-paragraph essay format, and discussed some points that he could address in his essay.  After we did this, I encouraged him to make a second attempt at his prompt.  Another twenty minutes passed, and once again he turned in one paragraph.  It was both shocking and disheartening to see my student struggle so much with this portion of the test.  We attempted the same prompt for a third time after making yet another outline and really discussing what makes a well written essay.  This time he nailed it.  There were still some very prominent mistakes, but at least his organization and structure was much more clear and concise.  His ideas were coherent and his words were more fluid than what they had been previously. 

I was very impressed with the progress that my student had made in such a short period of time, but I do know that this tutoring was not as sufficient as it could have been.  If we were given more time to work with our students I deeply believe that a lot more could have been accomplished.   I also worry that since we were only able to work on the writing portion for two days, that he might forget what we went over and discussed.  It is imperative that students develop good writing skills and as teachers we must make sure that no student slips through the crack.  While most students despise writing formal papers, I believe my idea for free writing could work.  It allows students to be creative and work on their skills, especially when they go back through and proofread.  This activity also not only benefits students just for standardized testing, but it also can benefit their daily writing skills. 

Readings- Kist

There were a lot of really interesting points that were brought up in the assigned readings.  There was loads of information about various, new technologies and ideas that completely took me by surprise.  Each article I read resonated with me differently, leaving me with more knowledge and a state of surprise.  The articles made me wonder about how different classrooms will be in the future as technology keeps advancing and what kind of impact, whether it be positive or negative, this will have on the teachers, students, parents, etc.
This made me think about how we had to set up Facebook and Twitter accounts for our class.  I have also heard of other classes and schools requiring students to make accounts for these social networking websites.  In the article "I'm So Totally, Digitally Close to You", it states that generally speaking most people age 30 and older find these sites to be insane.  This would then mean that the parents of the students who are making these accounts find what they are doing to be completely irrelevant.  How do these parents really feel about schools requiring their students to make these profiles? As generations pass I believe it will be completely acceptable, but right now I wonder how controversial this is.  This less than traditional method also made me think about the article "Video Games in the Classroom".  It is rather compelling to think about a classroom being transformed into a typical living room, including gaming systems, films, and computers.  In this setting and environment, while it may seem a bit odd, I believe it could really work.  Students learn best when they are able to relate to the lessons that are being taught, and students can easily relate to technology because it is such a major part of their daily lives.  "Salen’s theory goes like this: building a game — even the kind of simple game a sixth grader might build — is equivalent to building a miniworld, a dynamic system governed by a set of rules, complete with challenges, obstacles and goals. At its best, game design can be an interdisciplinary exercise involving math, writing, art, computer programming, deductive reasoning and critical thinking skills. If children can build, play and understand games that work, it’s possible that someday they will understand and design systems that work. And the world is full of complicated systems."  Even though they are gaming, they are also learning important lessons, ranging in all subject areas.  I do not know if I would necessarily use gaming because I am not that well versed in that field, but I do believe we could incorporate movies, music, different websites, etc.
One of the most shocking things that I read was from the article "Publish or Perish".  In the article Steve Jobs states, "40% of people in the U.S. read one book or less last year."  This was extremely shocking and depressing to me. I cannot even imagine reading only one book for an entire year.  It is so important for people to read and to read for all purposes. Whether it be for education or pleasure, people need to be reading.  I am not necessarily a fan of kindles or iPads, just because I enjoy physically turning the pages, but I do believe it is a great new technology to get people to read more.  Russ Grandinetti, Amazon's Vice President, states "people buy 3.1 times as many books as they did 12 months ago".  This is really incouraging.  If making books easily accessible online, gets people to read more, I am totally for it.  The problem here, is that this probably only works for those who have access to these tablets, which cost hundreds of dollars.  I see these tablets more for personal purposes opposed to being implemented into schools.  Some school districts just simply don't have the funding for these tablets. 
With technology always upgrading and changing it is impossible to predict how our class's will be conducted in the years to come, but I know that technology will have a very prominent role.

Ch. 5 How Poems Work

There were a lot of topics discussed in this chapter that I particularly liked.  Poetry has always interested me, but there is no doubt in my mind that I struggle with it.  Poetry has many purposes, depending on what the author or reader is looking for.  I really like that Jago opens the chapter by referring to music as a form of poetry.  Music plays a huge role in many teenagers lives, and it is a great way to introduce poetry.  All songs use different literary devices like rhythm, tempo, alliteration, etc. 
I also really liked that she uses think-aloud strategies to teach poetry.  In my opinion, reading poetry out loud is one of the best ways to teach poetry.  It allows the reader to hear all of the literary devices the poet purposefully added to the poem.  The more correctly a poem is read, the easier it becomes to understand what the poet is trying to convey.
Jago's section about the difficult poem was my favorite part of the chapter.  I really liked the two points that Charles Bernstein brings up.  He states, "It is not your fault that difficult poems are diffficult. In fact it is perceptive of a reader to discern that a poem may be hard to understand. Not being able to make sense of a poem on at first glance does not mean there is anything wrong with you"(88), he also says, "It is not the poem's fault that it is difficult.  Many are quick to jump to judgement and declare a poem incoherent or meaningless simply because it is hard to understand.  When a poem is difficult, there is not necessarily anything wrong with the poem"(89).  When poems are difficult it is common for people to just give up, but as readers we have to realize that one of the best parts of the poem is its challenge.  We need to look for imagery, themes, and so forth.  Poetry would not be poetry without difficulty.

Ch.3 Choosing Which Books to Teach-Pytash

I honestly agree that choosing which books to teach is highly impacting on how well a classroom will respond to the different lessons.  A book must intrigue the reader, yet still provide a challenge.  As teachers  it is our job to help students understand classic literature.  A point brought up by Jago that I really liked was how important it is for even teachers to reread texts.  She says, "I spent most of my spring break reading, rereading, and thinking about the Compson family. It is not simply a matter of generating new handouts or creating a day-by-day plan...but, rather, a deep knowledge of the book itself that I needed to acquire"(50).  Sometimes when I read a book I do not understand all of the ideas and concepts the first time.  When I go back and reread the text the ideas become simpler for me to understand, and I benefit from this a lot.  Even though we are teachers, we are not superior to the complex writings of the classics. 
I also really liked that she wanted her students to record all of the books that they read.  It reminded me of the Multigenre Autobiography project that we put together for Kist's class.  It was a really fun project and I loved seeing all of the different books, movies, and shows that influenced my life.  It really is a "cultural artifact"(45).  This also relates to number seven of Italio Calvino's definitions of a classic: "The classics are those books that come to us bearing the aura of previous interpretations, and leaving behind them the traces of the culture or cultures(or just the the languages and customs) through which they have passed"(41).  Culture is such a fascinating topic to read about in literature, and I believe that I will teach a lot of books that deal with different cultures. 

Ch.1 Seven Guiding Principles for Literature Teachers- Pytash

There were some points that I strongly agreed with from Carol Jago, but there were also some points that I strongly disagreed with.  One point that I really agreed with was, "That students can't read a book on their own doesn't mean that, with help, they can't and shouldn't read it"(7).  I believe that sometimes teachers find books to be too challenging for their students, and opt to teach another book.  It is not fair to those students who enjoy reading and like the challenge of a more difficult book.  As teachers, our ultimate goal should be to teach complex literature and have students understand and relate to it.  If we choose not to teach more difficult texts we are only hindering the growth of students knowledge.  My senior year of high school my English class read The Sound and the Fury.  It was one of the hardest books I ever read, but with the guidance of my teacher I was able to understand the book and fall in love with it and its characters. 
Another point she brought up was the use of other media to bring literature to life. Many movies, television programs, etc. can be used complimentary with books.  When students have a hard time visualizing what is going on with character, plot, and setting, these media can help.  It gives students an idea of what is going and helps trigger their own imaginations.  
One of the statements that I strongly disagreed with was, "Learning suffers when teachers squander it by taking a full class period for seventeen-year-olds to play with markers and poster board"(2).  I couldn't really believe that Jago saw working with these tools as just play time.  I am a very visual learner and whenever I did activities like this in my classes I benefited a lot from them.  While I agree the whole class period shouldn't be devoted to this, I don't see anything wrong with having students partake in these activities. 
I also disagreed with her views of young adult literature.  While they should not be the only texts taught in a classroom I believe a lot can still be learned from them.   They are great books to be read on their own, or to be paired with a classic.