Currently reading...

Week two is all said and done! Whew. Let me just say I have been quite the busy girl. I've already completed one novel--House of Mirth for Women's Literature and I liked it, but I didn't love it. We are moving on to Virginia Woolf and I am very excited for that! I've also been reading some poems by Walt Whitman--"Song of Myself," "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" and "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" for U.S. Literature. Soon we will be moving on to Emily Dickenson.

I'm also reading the textbook called In the Middle by Nancie Atwell. So far, I've read the first three chapters (I'm getting there!), and Atwell has a lot of information for soon-to-be teachers. In the first chapter, Atwell uses a metaphor that compares her own child to students in the classroom. Basically, she taught her daughter how to set the table. After a few nights, her daughter, Anne, soon folded the napkins in a special way all on her own. Atwell gave her daughter a model (setting the table) and then Anne went beyond that model to fold the napkins. In the classroom, if you give students a model and the choice to use their own expression and creativity, they can go beyond your expectations.
What striked me the most in this chapter is that Atwell actually participates with her students when it comes to writing! I think this is great! A general assumption made by students is that the teacher assigns all this homework and such to them, but gets to go home to do nothing. The idea of participating in activities sounds great to me because I think it could really get the students motivated. (Teachers could probably reuse items they've created if they reuse lesson plans)
In chapter two, I took a look at a big list of "Twenty-One Lessons Teachers Demonstrate About Reading" and I circled the ones that stuck out to me.
#4. There is one interpretation of a text: the teacher's (or the teacher's manual's)
This can be so true!! I know I have relied on a lot of professors to diagnose meanings for me for things such as Shakespeare's sonnets and characters in books such as The Odyssey. Sometimes, I have interpreted it differently, but I base my answers, let's say, on a test, according to what information the professor has given me. So, is this how I want my classroom to work? Admittingly, somewhat I guess. There is a fine line between what is right and wrong, but I think the best part of literature is the fact that there is so much room for interpretation! We are not the authors and we do not know the specific intentions of the authors always.
#6 Student readers aren't smart or trustworthy enough to choose their own texts.
Okay, I see where this point is going. BUT. I feel that students should get to experience literature circles and independent reading during their school careers. I've always had teachers that required their approval for independent reading and I think that works. There will always be that student who doesn't take it seriously, but in my experiences, I have seen that students like choosing books on their own. I am a supporter of discovery learning and I think this type of activity is perfect for students.
#17 Teachers talk a lot about literature, but teachers don't read.
Oh really?? I cannot wait to tell my students how many novels at a time I had to read in college. I think one reason teachers become English teachers is because of a strong passion for literature or elements of literature. Reading doesn't even have to include novels. It can be anything from newspapers to ads to magazines to cereal boxes. As Atwell described in chapter one, a teacher participating in reading probably motivates the students a lot.
In chapter 3, I have to say that Atwell touched base with a very important detail. She refers to middle school students, but I think this can be applied to high school too. She says that "Confusion, bravado, restlessness, a preoccupation with peers, and the questioning of authority aren't manifestations of poor attitude; they are hallmarks of a particular time of life" (54). We must remember this. We will try our best to get past these "distractions" in the classroom, but we cannot pretend they don't exist. Atwell has examples of poetry in this chapter that students wrote in relation to their adolescence. This is a good way to recognize that we all go through it and can relate in some way. Teachers could probably participate too! Maybe I'd write about bills. Ha, ha.