Response 6: PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED

I have written before about the pedagogical crime of teachers acting as the knowledge depositors and students acting as the account in which the knowledge is deposited. This article speaks to the ineffective banking style of education. One layer deeper on this concept I gleaned from Mr. Freire is how the banking style rests upon the assumption that the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing...which is entirely untrue! I see how banking-style teaching also places a monopoly upon knowledge itself, making it seem inaccessible to students directly. Knowledge should be accessible to everyone, and students should be encouraged to access it. The goal of teaching should be to create lifelong learners, which is impossible under the banking pedagogy style.

Indirectly, banking style teaching perpetuates individuals who follow the status quo, right or wrong. While authority is important and rules and laws matter, we do not really want a society that blindly follows whatever was done before them. Humans are capable of so much creativity and innovation, it would be a shame to discourage one of the coolest elements of our nature.

I really like the idea of changing the classroom climate to one of mutual respect, where both teacher and students have opportunities to teach and to learn: “the teacher's thinking is authenticated only by the authenticity of the students' thinking”. Classrooms modeled this way will appropriately prepare students for life in the 21st Century. People will need to be collaborators, team players, and synthesizers; all of which require higher order thinking skills. The modern world is all about making connections with each other, with different pools of information, with ideas. Our students need classrooms that encourage making meaningful connections.

Overall, I felt this article almost had a hippie Ralph Waldo Emerson vibe to it, with the whole consciousness rant. While I totally agree with the main idea of the article, I am not really a “philosophy” person so it hurt my brain a little to work through it.

Response #5

"ASSESSING AND EVALUATING STUDENTS' LEARNING"

I found this chapter helpful in a couple of ways: providing ideas and specific tools I can implement in my future classroom, and confirming good teaching practices I have experienced.

I really like the idea of providing my students with a variety of ways to write in my class: informally in a journal or blog where the emphasis is on their ideas and connections instead of mechanics, and more formally where they apply the conventions relevant to the learning objectives. I think the most important concept in assessment is to "clearly articulate to students what is expected and how it will be evaluated" (231-2). I think two important components of that goal are well-designed rubrics and providing examples of exemplary work. I could use a rubric similar to the example on evaluating classroom discussions as either participation or extra credit points. I think using template writing assignments is more appropriate in middle school to help lay foundations for what they should be able to do on their own in high school.

Some big pedagogical concepts I have learned recently at EWU that were echoed in this chapter include: having the students be more responsible for their learning (doing more of the work than the teacher), using reader-based descriptive responses on drafts (from teacher and from peers), and moving away from "covering" material and towards fostering life-long learners.

When teachers focus too much on fact-based literature learning and assessments, the teacher takes the role of the knowledge-giver and the students simply receive it and try to spit it back out later. The students have a much richer learning experience if the teacher assumes more of a facilitating role in the classroom. My ENGL 408 instructor at EWU modeled the reader-based responses outlined on page 229. On our first paper she conducted individual conferences with each of us on our rough drafts, encouraging our strengths and asking for clarification on other aspects. She struck the difficult balance of challenging us without overwhelming us. Then on our next papers we held conferences with each other, doing our best to imitate her example. "Covering" a chapter or key terms and the like seems to be turning into a taboo concept in modern pedagogy. This points back to the teacher as the knowledge-giver and the students as mindless robots regurgitating information. Memorizing is only the basic form of learning, dogs can do it. Meaningful learning requires use of the higher end of Bloom's Taxonomy.

Response 4: Assignment Template...

ASSIGNMENT TEMPLATE: ALIGNED TO CALIFORNIA’S COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND LITERACY

Looking ahead to fall quarter when I will be student teaching, I realize I will need to use some introductory techniques to gauge student ability before I launch them into the first novel of their curriculum. They will need to practice some pre-reading exercises and close reading techniques on some short relevant articles before tackling a novel.

In an attempt to satisfy the language CCSS, I could do a 10-15 minute segment every Friday on pertinent vocab and/or other relevant language components that popped up throughout the week. These language recaps could address definitions, pronunciations, origins, and any other language-based digressions. I could pick my own words the first couple of weeks then turn it over to the students; requiring each of them to submit a vocab word or language question each week or every other week.

I really like the “Mapping the Organizational Structure” technique on page 8: determining the introduction, body, and conclusion of a given article. This technique will help prepare them to write effectively in the future. The questions posed on page 11 under “Analyzing Stylistic Choices” strikes me as particularly useful during an Edgar Allan Poe unit. When thinking about the writer (ethos) of a text, I am reminded of my Global View Children’s Literature class. One of the most important ethos questions we raised was whether the author had to personally experience something in order to write legitimately about it. Page 16 echoes a tool I snagged from my English 408 class last quarter: every draft of every paper must identify topic, focus, purpose, and tone. Students must always know what they are writing and why they are writing it. Another nugget I gleaned from that class relates to “Composing a Draft” on page 19; first drafts must be more about writing and less about editing. Natalie Goldberg’s Wild Mind refers to it as turning off the editor brain and allowing oneself to write freely.

Response 3: Team Teaching

Team teaching is modeling the group and partner work we require from our students; it’s probably a good idea that we practice what we preach. Both team teaching and student group work share the same characteristic: although the planning may take longer when more people are involved, the end product is richer. Student group work is not supposed to be divide and conquer, and neither is team teaching.

   

Team teaching opens more opportunities for teachers to model desirable academic behavior for their students, like a respectful intellectual debate and valuing a colleagues ideas. I like the strategy Anderson and Landy used to grade papers: divide and conquer the strong ones, solicit partner teacher on the rest. Team teaching automatically helps the student/teacher ratio, providing more opportunities for individualized attention.

If a teaching rotation model is used for a course, it’s success would largely depend upon the consistency of assessments. Listening to 5 different teachers is difficult enough, without throwing in different types and amounts of assessments along the way.I can see how team teaching is the most effective type of co-teaching when executed properly. I wonder how mainstream this trend will become.

My first placement was in an alternative middle school in Spokane called Eagle Peak, and my mentor teacher co-taught her class. Because this school is specialized, every student has a 504 and half of them also have an IEP for reading and/or writing. She is the special education teacher and her partner is the English teacher. They do spend a considerable amount of time collaborating and checking in with each other, but the co-teaching method has been working for them for the last couple of years. Because every student struggled with behavior, it was even more important to display respect for the other teacher at all times (which they did beautifully).

Response 1: Discussion in a Democratic Society

Laura Gemmill

Dr. Sean Agriss

ENGL 493

05 January 2016

Response 1: Discussion in a Democratic Society

In agreement with the authors of this article, an ideal discussion models an ideal democracy. While the ideal in either realm is unattainable, effective discussions and democracy are imperative for a meaningful human existence. Discussion is part of our humanity, and democracy is the vehicle for discussion. We are curious, social beings who crave interaction and knowledge. In a society built upon freedom of speech, we are invited to discuss ANYTHING. (Can I just point out it’s funny that a guy with the last name Lipman is writing about conversation?)

Because people are curious we like to be stimulated. Walking the conversational line between seriousness and playfulness is no fun unless you dabble on both sides along the way. Most people will not dwell in either camp too long before attempting to change it up. Considering the relationships between the three terms (dialog, conversation, and discussion), I would say dialog is structured and has a specific purpose, but no conclusion is required. Conversation has little structure or purpose, but usually has a conclusion. Discussions are less structured than dialogs but more so than conversations, begin with a purpose but could without one or with a different one, and may or may not produce conclusion(s) for those involved. I really liked discussion being described as an “unrehearsed intellectual adventure”. Humans are unique and organic, and everything we produce shares those characteristics. Every discussion is brand new, distinct from anything before it.

 Critical discussion requires some vulnerability, allowing your ideas to be challenged. If you are not vulnerable, it is a speech, not a discussion. I may display this quote from the text in my future classroom: “admit that one’s knowledge and experience are limited and incomplete”. Discussion is valuable for people who feel like they are alone in their experience; allowing people to connect while maintaining their identity. Without exposure to variety we would never grow. A great discussion fosters our similarities and our differences.