Service Learning

I am excited to get started on our service learning project for this class. The children at the YWCA were all so polite and well-behaved, and I know it will be an enjoyable experience to work with them, not only for me but for them as well. I think that students, especially teacher-ed students, should be required to do some service-learning projects and get the valuable experience that comes with participating in something so important. As we read in the articles for today, these service learning projects are beneficial for the students, for those that the services are directed towards, and for the teachers as well. In my high school I was required to complete 24 hours of service learning in order to graduate. I recall many students complaining about this requirement, but I really liked being able to help out in my community and reach out to those who needed my aid. Even though this service learning project will be shorter than the one I completed in high school, I believe that it will still give me ample time to connect with the children and share some of my knowledge with them. I hope that the kids can learn from me, and I know that I will certainly be able to learn from them as well.

Chapter 5

This chapter’s discussion of the importance of talking, both in class and outside of class, is one that I can agree with but that I have always struggled with (at least inside the classroom). I am the type of person that hates being rejected or being wrong, so I rarely volunteer answers in class for fear of being incorrect or even being ridiculed by my peers. I know there are plenty of other students out there who, like me, simply do not speak up in class because they just can’t seem to make themselves open their mouths and allow words to flow freely. Some may be shy as well, in which case forced literary discussions may not help much, but for the most part many students that are unable to speak freely in a class have no confidence in what they have to say. A couple of literature courses I took at the University of San Diego had as participation as a component, of which 30% of my grade depended on whether or not you volunteered an answer or your opinion every day. When I saw these requirements, my heart sank, as I realized that I would probably get a bad grade in the classes due to my fear of speaking up in class. Knowing how important it was for me to succeed in school, however, I was able to muster up as much courage and confidence as I could in what I had to say, and every class period I would say something, even if it was just to pose a question that sprang up as I was reading a particular text.

                Now, I am not suggesting that all English teachers force their students to participate or risk getting a bad grade in the class. I am merely portraying how those requirements helped me to find my voice in the classroom. Teachers should be able to come up with their own unique ways of involving their whole class in discussions, whether it be through whole-class talks or group work as illustrated in the chapter. As teachers it will be our duty to make certain that every one of our students has the skills necessary to succeed in life, and making sure that they can speak their mind articulately is one of them.

BLadson-Billings Article

The readings for today both discuss the different variances in literacy that is apparent today and in modern-day schools. I particularly liked the first article by Ladson-Billings, especially the parts about teachers needing to demand success from all of their students. More often than not, at least what I think goes on in the classroom, is the teacher does not want to use up even more of his/her precious time to work with a student that may be written off as a “slacker” or “failing.” These students need extra care and attention from their teachers, but as they are passed from class to class merely because no one wants to deal with them anymore, the problem takes on a life of its own. Educators of course have a hard enough job as it is just running their classrooms and what have you, but they still have a duty to fulfill to their students. Their duty is to demand the very best out of their students, and not to settle for anything less. That may mean going the extra mile to mold a lesson to fit their style of learning, or taking them aside and having an actual discussion about why that student may not seem to be putting forth a lot of effort into the class. When students know that they are cared about, they will want to try harder in their classes, and prove to their teachers and themselves that they are capable of success.

Chapter 14

This chapter’s concern for technology in the English classroom and finding unique ways of integrating said technology comes to me at a perfect time because I happen to be taking Instructional Technology right now, and we discuss many of the things described in the chapter. In my class, we went in-depth with such activities as blogging, discussion boards, digital story-telling, and many of the other ways that technology can be utilized in any content course. The chapter we read for today was more detailed on podcasts and wikibook, which we did not talk about as much in my education class. The section of the chapter addressing the use of podcasts and how it benefitted both the teacher and the students was vastly informative for me, since I never thought of the ways that podcasts could be used in the classroom. In fact, I was kind of unsure of what exactly podcasts were, but now that I have a clearer vision I think that I will be able to make use of this type of technology in my future English classroom. Another technology-related activity that I would love to use in my classroom is the book trailer. I know how creative kids can get, and how much they love going to the movies and watching various TV programs. The book trailer will allow the students to share the book they read as well as dabble in movie making and inventing their version of a movie trailer. As the shy girl in the chapter exemplified, book trailers are a way to let the quiet student speak out in a unique way. These activities are remarkable, as I myself have never done any of these things in my high school or middle school classes, and I will be sure to allow my students to share in these new, creative ways of learning so as to further their literacy and increase their motivation to learn.

Chapter 8

I particularly was interested in today’s chapter because, as someone who just decided to minor in ESL, I know that I will need to utilize many of the techniques that the writer’s were talking about. I especially liked how the writer’s were highlighting the differences between other languages and English, and that teachers need to focus on directing their teaching to adhere to the expectations of their foreign students. I feel like too many teachers teach the same way to all of their students and don’t consider their students’ differences or make adjustments accordingly. ESL students most definitely need to have their teachers adjust lessons to help them keep up with the class, and when I have ESL students I know that I will try and account for all of their differences and learning styles.

Other points of interest from this chapter were the writers making note that students of course need to practice English as much as they can in order to become fluent, but that they also need to continue to speak and read in their native language to acquire better English and learning skills. Being able to read a book in their native language before reading it in English helped many students, as we read, and talking to students about certain topics or lessons in both languages further aided these students in the learning process. As someone who can only speak English, I would find it hard to allow my students to write and speak their native languages in my class, but I know it is something that will help them immensely. I would have to go past my comfort zone, something that these students would be doing everyday so at least I would be able to know what they are going through. That way, they will be learning and I in turn will be learning about them and their native cultures.

Chapter 7

As a future high school English teacher, I can agree with this chapter on the significance of students learning and truly understanding a wide array of vocabulary words. We are exposed to thousands of words in our everyday lives, through conversations, reading various materials, or watching TV programs. If students do not understand certain words, the meaning of a sentence or an entire message can be completely lost to them. In turn, students become frustrated when they do not know a certain word or when they think they know what it means but it is used in a different way. As future educators, it will be our job to help clarify to students the many definitions and meanings of words they need to know.

            This chapter’s stance on reading books as a means of gaining new vocab knowledge is also one I can understand fully. I learned to read at a young age, and I would devour any book I came across. As a result, I gained a huge store of vocabulary words and I was able to excel in almost every class I took because of my reading ability. I am very grateful to have been able to push myself and to have teachers who pushed me to gain as much knowledge as possible, because had I not then I may not be where I am today. I want to give my students the same opportunities to get ahead in life, and starting off with learning new vocabulary sounds like a good springboard.

Chapter 4

This day’s reading really spoke to me personally. The detailed discussions of how students only study for what they know will be on the tests, and immediately forget directly after they take the exams, is something that, although I don’t like to admit, I have done for years. The author stated how she believed that more kids these days find it difficult to truly comprehend what they are learning in school, which is possibly due to the complexity of some of the concepts, the fast rate in which topics are discussed and then new ones brought up, or even because teens these days have more responsibilities. I can say for myself that the main reason why I only memorized information for exams was if I did not really understand what I was learning. I never had any of the new information devoted to my memory, so I had to use note cards to memorize definitions and concepts that I knew would be on the tests. Of course, I did not do this for every class I was in, just the ones like philosophy and psychology where I just couldn’t seem to grasp the material. My teachers were all adequate, yet they just covered the topics far too quickly and I couldn’t seem to keep up.

                The way I was able to just memorize definitions and still do well in those classes was because teachers these days only test students at the lowest level of learning. As I learned in my Ed 249 class last semester, there are 6 levels of learning- remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and lastly creating. Teachers generally test students for remembering only, and maybe a few will venture off to understanding. These upper levels of learning require that the learner truly understand the material and be able to use what they know in a variety of different ways. If students were taught to understand better, and were given tests and essays that actually tested them on these upper levels of learning, chances are students would indeed learn far more. They would be unable to merely memorize information- they would have to have the concepts become a part of their lives. This type of learning requires more out of both the students and the teacher, but I definitely think it is worth it in the long run. Teachers need to expect more out of their students, because they can deliver and exceed even what they themselves thought possible.

Chapter 6

The reading from the Adolescent Literacy book brought up the idea of newer topics and items which are considered helpful for students to become more literate. The main focus was the changing faces of books and the novel themes and issues that they discuss. Decades ago, authors would never have dared venture into such controversial realms, and readers would not have been caught picking up such risky books. But now, these types of books are much more commonplace, and in fact they are an invaluable tool for the ever-changing teenager. When teens read these types of books that don’t hide those kinds of issues that teens may come across in their school or personal life, they appreciate the fact that they are reading something that has value to them. These books and stories can give deeper meaning into a young adult’s life, and perhaps teach them more than any educator possibly could. Teens these days especially don’t seem to like talking to parents or counselors about problems they might be having, so the ability to read these books and recognize that their problems are shared with others out there could have a great impact on the teens’ lives. I know that in my future English classes, I will gladly allow my students to choose books that may be a little more controversial but all the same are great books. I might come across some opposition from parents, but their children need to be able to experience their world from the eyes of another. It’s worth taking the risk of upsetting a few parents if it means that a student will get the chance to read a book that truly speaks to them.

Chapter 3

Our reading for this class once again brought into light an issue that I’m sure many other students were not aware of. This time it was about what the majority of people think of as literacy nowadays, which is simply the ability to read books. But in today’s society, being a highly literate adult (or adolescent) means having the ability to do much more than just read novels. We need to be able to peruse the loads of information on the internet, and decipher the good from the bad; we need to be up-to-date on current events and politics, and have a strong hold of what is going on in the world today. However, high school classes rarely teach their students to be literate in these ways- they stay true to their strict schedules of “traditional” teaching, only allowing the students to learn these further things on their own time. With teenagers’ hectic schedules and crazy lives, they rarely take their own time to learn how to do these things, and thus their literacy capabilities falter as a result. The chapter really interested me when it pointed out that something as far removed from books as video gaming is considered a solid teacher of learning and literacy. I never thought of video games in this way, and in fact I usually think of teens who constantly play as merely wasting their time. This chapter made me realize that these games are further tools for the adolescent mind to learn by, and in the future there may be even more unique ways for individuals to become more literate.

Chapter 10

The portion of this chapter which interested me the most was how the ACCESS class got to hear from a number of different professionals about the importance of being literate in all of their different work places. This notion may not be completely obvious to many high school students, especially those who are on a vocational track and know that they do not plan on attending college. For these teens, some who plan on working as say a mechanic or a construction worker, they may not think that they need to be highly literate, and these types of students will be less motivated to learn oftentimes. As this chapter highlights, every profession has an area where training and developing skills is essential, and having the ability to be literate and capable of advancing your skills for an ever-changing world can be the difference between keeping said job or being replaced. I hope that the students I will have in my future classes will see the relevancy of having these literacy abilities. Many students will always question why they have to do certain things- why do I need to learn this science theory, or what does it matter if this country fought that in that war? Well, if my students need reasoning behind what they are learning in my English class, then I can simply tell them that they need these invaluable literacy capabilities to be able to have a future career. Some may try and argue back, saying that whatever job they plan on getting doesn’t require any reading or literateness at all. But the fact of the matter is that every job requires these basic skills, and I can only hope that every student that I have will want to be literate in every subject that they have.

Chapter 1 Journal Response

       The first section of this chapter addresses the relevant issues of NCLB standards and how the AYP is not attainable for those schools which are unable to fully facilitate the students and their needs. This issue is obviously still prevalent today, and will surely be a cause of concern when we become teachers (unless they decide to change or completely eliminate NCLB). I for one would not want to focus on testing my students and preparing them for these ridiculous state tests that, as the author insinuated, don’t really tell anything of the potential of the students that they test. This chapter encourages me further to teach my students in a way that allows them to express who they are as people and to research and complete homework and essays on topics of their own liking. My main goal for my future classroom is to be able to get all of my students to have a strong interest in learning English, and giving the students the freedom to choose their own subjects should help them attain this. Taking valuable class time out to study for state tests would lower the effectiveness of my teaching as well as the motivation of my students. These tests severely hinder what can be taught, and the freedom to learn more about subjects that interest the students would be virtually eliminated. I agree with the author that lower-economy schools suffer the most from NCLB standards, but I have to argue that basically all schools pay a price for these standardized tests. I can only hope that when I am a teacher these state tests will no longer exist.