Learning Letter

I consider my book talk on Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Boy Soldier a success because I managed to convince at least two classmates to read it. Beah’s memoir is in the top five of the most important books I have ever read, I am excited to find a way to integrate into my future curriculum at my first opportunity. While I will probably never teach In the Name of God by Paula Jolin, I will never forget trying to do a mini-lesson on that piece. Hands-down, mini-lessons are more difficult than 50-minute lessons. I learned that trying to cover all bases in a fraction of the usual time takes a tremendous amount of efficiency and practice.

My unit plan was based on a novel I dislike but am fairly certain I will have to teach in the fall at my placement: A Separate Peace by John Knowles. Although I did not find the text itself interesting, I enjoyed the challenge of trying to get the most out of a necessary evil. I did all of the lesson plans back-to-back over the course of a few days, which helped create and cement good lesson-planning in my brain. I recognize the value of creating a daunting unit plan, it is like walking through the valley of the shadow of death and coming out the other side a new person, stronger, smarter, and exhausted. If I can do THAT, then I can teach certainly teach middle school.

I love integrating pop-culture into the classroom; not on a daily basis, but maybe once a week. Good teaching begins with building relationships with the students, and bringing part of their personal life into the classroom shows them you are paying attention to them as a person. Plus it’s fun! Done effectively, it can propel students toward critical thinking exercises. In every class my last couple of quarters, great emphasis is given to increasing student critical thinking skills. Beefing up student’s cognitive processing makes them better learners across disciplines.

My participation in this course has shown me how good teachers consider a dozen elements when designing an effective lesson, constantly molding instruction to fit the diverse needs of every student. Asking students to write two words on a sticky note seems small, but when done correctly it significantly contributes to their learning process. As I move forward in my education and my career, I aim to keep my eyes wide open in an ongoing effort to take advantage of learning opportunities.

Response #14 Shakespeare

Knowing the high probability of teaching Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (R&J) in my future classroom, I have been gleaning as many brilliant ideas involving that future unit as possible. What I aim to avoid is making every student read every word of the play in old English and dissecting every line. One particular introductory activity involves Shakespearean insults, providing a fun way for students to familiarize with the language and culture. I don’t think R&J can be taught without studying the elements of tragedy and iambic pentameter, but even those literary devices can be fun, engaging, and meaningful. Presenting the play as a tragedy, some teachers have the students decide which character is the most at fault for the tragic ending and do a final essay or project supporting their opinion. When teaching students about iambic pentameter, a parallel should be made to rap music. Students should also be shown at least two different interpretations of the same scene, to illustrate how much work Shakespeare did as the director. Trying to produce a Shakespeare play from the written text involves a lot of interpretation because there are so few directional notations outside of “Tybalt draws his sword” or “enter the Capulets”.

Because Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be performed, a visual element should always be included as part of the student’s final project/assessment. I think a jigsaw would work for the entire play. Let the students watch a 5-minute summary video of the basic plot (spoiler alert!), then assign groups to different acts from the play to study more in depth and present to each other. Each group would be required to provide a minimum amount of vocabulary words, character analysis on two assigned characters, connections to how their act aligns with the tragic plot line, key lines, quotes, or sonnets, and a visual representation of the plot. These visuals could be acted out live or on a video, presented as a comic, puppet show, or whatever else they can think of that would be appropriate.

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Response 13: Spiegelman

I don’t remember which year of secondary school typically addresses WWII, although Maus would be appropriate regardless. Even though it deals with suicide, murder, and a little language, students from sixth grade through twelfth grade would benefit from reading Maus. Few pieces of literature are appropriate for such a wide span of students, but Spiegelman’s graphic novel makes the grade (lol). I would LOVE for someone who either has or can imitate a “jewish” accent read some of Vladek’s lines for the students (I have tried and am nowhere close) so they get a more animated sense of the way he talks. As I read, I imagine the Jewish dad on the movie Independence Day.

In the fall when I student teach, I have to do A Separate Peace, but I wish I could do Maus instead. I might see if the history teacher at my placement has read Maus and lend it to him/her if they haven’t. I really think students learning about WWII would get more from this than any of the boring movies and other literature out there. However, I do think a WWII unit should be supplemented with pieces from the cannon.

In the novel, Vladek is “cheap”: finding a use for almost anything tangible (chunk of phone cord in the trash), but not valuing anything frivolous (weekly appointments to the salon). While Jews get a bad rap for similar values, many people from that generation remained frugal even if their financial burden lifted later in life. One part that horrified me was how German soldiers dealt with small Jewish children who were too noisy when they separated them from their parents. I guess because I am a parent, every instance having to do with kids stands out to me; from the one lady poisoning herself and the three kids to the way non-jewish children were taught to fear and hate the Jews.

Response 12: Poe

I have been a Poe fan since my first exposure to the Pit and the Pendulum in ninth grade, although it was my college career that sealed the deal. In my intro to Poetry class at EWU, we delved more deeply into the devices Poe used and his theory behind good writing. With that foundation, I am even more receptive to enjoying his works.

I had the privilege of working with both The Tell Tale Heart and The Raven in my placement last quarter, the middle schoolers really got into The Tell Tale Heart. They were a little more reluctant about The Raven till I exposed them to a YouTube video with Jamel Earl Jones as the narrator and the Simpson’s acting it out.

Fall is always an ideal time to use Poe in curriculum, since many of his works are in a setting of cold and decay… which supports the declining progression of several of his poems and stories. In my opinion he is the king of tone, whether it has to do with foreshadowing or changing the tone within the piece. Despite his personality quirks, his dedication and passion for writing is inspiring. However, his quirks and conspiracy theories surrounding his death make him intriguing as an author. Poe is so dynamic, he can be used to teach literary devices and connections to human nature.

Of all the works featured by my classmates, The Bells is the only one that was new to me. Because Poe was SO invested in his work, I wonder if we did him a disservice by publishing it after his death. I would hate for us to read something of his before he was ready to release it. As I read it, I appreciate the genius of transforming bells from symbols of joy and hope to the complete opposite of doom and despair.