Choosing What’s Important October 28, 2007

The title of this entry is the main question I struggled with this week when try to put WWI into a week and a half.  This is the first time the time constraints are slightly binding because the test must fall on this coming Wednesday (HALLOWEEN!!!).  After Wednesday our students are recieving  four day weekend, due to parent teacher conferences, and I do not want them to come back and test the following week.  So, everything must be complete by then and there is so much to cover.

My CT is letting me run the show, and with this means I am picking out the main points of the topics and going with what I feel is important.  I like this freedom, but at time I feel inexperienced.  I am not exactly sure what it will take for the students to get the BIG picture.  I am having a difficult time deciding what to leave out.  As we talked about with textbook bias last Monday, our textbook does not cover any battles in WWI besides the ones Americans fought in.  This is upsetting because the war was going on for nearly three years before we joined it.  Obviously the book is not placing an importance on this time period.  So, in order for the students to get it they need to use other resources.  I have to give them these because our library and traveling computers are signed out for the next two months straight (this is anothe source of frustration).  I ended up cutting it down to the two major battles before the U.S. entered, but even now I do not know if that was the right answer.  Also, I am having a tough time fitting the geography into the work.  I tried to cover it with an annotated battle map, thinking I would kill two birds with one stone, but the students did not do well with this.  They were very vague on locations (if that is possible).  The whole geography in general is difficult to fit in, because on our wrap up day we should cover the League of Nations, Reparations, Wilson’s Fourteen Points, Post WWI Maps, Treaty of Versialles, and more.  It is just so much information to fit into a lesson. 

I guess these types of questions are answered with experience and as I continue in these semester and next, hopefully some of the kinks will be worked out.  It is amazing looking at a lesson plan you thought would go so well and take a certain amount (usually I am thinking of what can be done in case the lesson runs short ) of time and then after you are saying….”what the heck happened to the 72 minutes.”  I am working on understanding the motto, “Practice makes Perfect”, or at least semi-perfect.

That’s What I Said…My Comments April 17, 2007

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A Different Kind of Censorship April 12, 2007

Throughout the semester I have taken a look at censorship through literature.  This time I wanted to explore the topic on a slightly different level and I found an article that touches on censorship with movies that are shown in class.  The article is really about more than that though.  One could say that it is about the censorship of class time and how it should be used.

An issue arose at Newburgh Free Academy when a new policy was put in place.  The policy required the teachers to get permission to show videos in class before they are viewed.  The teachers decided to make it an issue of censorship.  They believed it was being done because some of the video selection was not necessarily appropriate for all viewers, and everyone know the quickest way to get what you want it to scream “CENSORSHIP”.  That way the administration looks like the bad guys because they are not allowing valuable educational material to be used.   The main complaint from the teachers was:

“That the new policy would prevent them from using controversial films as a way to discuss important issues in class.”

Interestingly enough the movies they discussed were those such as Saving Private Ryan and Schiendler’s List.  These are excellent movies, but some of the material in them may be questionable to show students, not to mention they are rated R.  Many students would have to see these movies with a parent if they were in a theater.  The debate about whether the movies are appropriate or not is really beside the point.  It was not the main argument posed by the administration when they created the policy.  The main problem was:

“Saving Private Ryan” is 170 minutes long. By the time a teacher turns off the lights and turns on the DVD player, there goes a whole week. Depending on the length of the periods, a class watching “Schindler’s List” at 195 minutes might do nothing else for more than a week.”

So really what they are doing is more of a censorship of class time.  In this regard I can see both sides of the argument.  If a teacher were to show the entire movie it would take up a considerable amount of class time.  Are movies educational though?  I think we can all agree that showing visuals to coincide with a written material if there is a point to tying it into what is being done in class is valuable.  Movies can reach a student that may have a tough time envisioning what is on the written page.  They can touch the visual learner.  This can really bring the text alive for this type of student.  Does it take a entire movie to do this, probably not.  Especially if the movie would take up a week of class time.  An argument posed in the article states:

The question is not whether students should be exposed to the issues raised by these superb movies but whether a whole week in the dark has anything to do with education. These students already know how to watch movies. What they do not do as well is read and analyze — skills that will help them much more after they graduate.

Like I have previously stated, movie can do something that novels do not allow.  If students are having a hard time visualizing a movie can really benefit them.  Even if students do visualize well than a movie lets them see how another person interpreted the book.  I do think it is important to make sure that a text is used with a movie like Private Ryan.  The article suggest the book Johnny Got His Gun would show war, violence, and the effects of the war much better than a movie.  This may be a book that could be read along with a viewing of part of a movie. 

I found this article to be very interesting because of the variety of issues that it brought up.  Class time, censorship, tying movie into reading are all very valuable issues for teacher to think about.  The topic of censorship on videos and when they should be used ties into teaching as a whole, especially in an English class.  The interpretation of the movie and comparing it to the literature can make for many interesting writing prompts.  As far as what content is appropriate I believe the argument is the same as it is for literature.  Parents are always going to have something to say.  When it comes to movies a letter home may solve much of the problem and the child does not have to attend the class if there is a issue or they can work on an alternate assignment in another area. 

Movies in Class are a Waste of Time

March 22, 2007

The Herald Record

Full Article

A Cautionary Tale April 11, 2007

As I have sifted through multiple censorship articles this semester I have not decided how I feel about which specific books being banned,  who has the right to ban books, or even what is appropriate for each grade level.   What I have concluded about book banning in schools is that a system of order must be in place. 

This conclusion is a direct response to the my most recent read on the topic.   Recently, at Eastern High School in Louisville, Kentucky students in an advanced placement English class were told they must stop reading Beloved, which is a very popular Pulitzer Prize winning story by Toni Morrison.  The novel deals with slavery and the experiences of one young girl.  The content of the story contains tales of rapes, murder, and beatings.  All of which seniors in high school already know happened during the dark history of slavery in the United States. 

If they want to ban the book that is their choice as a school.  The problem arises when the facts of the situation become clearer.  The students had already started reading the book.  Honestly, they had not even just started…they were nearly finished with the novel when principal James Sexton decided that he had to remove the book from the classroom.  A few parents from the class finally decided that they were opposed to the content of the book.  Sexton’s response was:

 ”I was trying to make the best of a difficult situation.  People think I’m censoring, but I’m not.  The only reason we stopped the discussion process is that we didn’t have a good process to challenge books. … They can finish it at home.”

They can finish it at home, but one of the key elements of reading a book with a class is the discussion and response time that students get when they share their thoughts and ideas about what they read.   During this time the students really get the chance for higher level thinking and they feed off the ideas of others.  By eliminating the discussion some of the meta-cognitive thinking will be lost.  This is disappointing and I would see it as a lot of time lost in class because the end result was lost.  Not to mention the fact that some of the students will probably not finish the book at home on their own.

This loss of class time, and having to start over on a new novel, The Scarlet Letter, was brought about by the school system not having the proper plan for challenged books.  Educational time could have been saved if a system would have been in order.  Well it’s good that we now have the reassurance about a system being put in place.

Sexton said there is no procedure for challenging books before the school council, but that one would be created.

In this particular case the book should have been finished.  A majority of the students in the class did not object to what they were reading.  Also, the students were so far into the novel that they had already encountered some controversial material.  One student was quoted as saying:

“At one point, it’s talking about a plantation. And there’s no females. So the men resort to bestiality,” he said, adding that he didn’t object because “we’re in a college-level class.”

 This whole situation could have been avoided had the school system had a plan of action in place.  The whole thing took up valuable time from the principal, the teacher, and the students.  This article is a caution to all of the other school system who do not have the proper steps in place when it come to controversy over a book.

“Ky. principal tells students to stop reading acclaimed novel” 
By The Associated Press
03.29.07

Full Article 

Pleasure To See You! January 15, 2007

Hi, and welcome to my blog.  I am a first time user of blogs, and I will admit that I am not the most tech-savvy person.  This will be a learning experience for me, but it is one that I am very excited for.  I am a participating in both English 310 and 311, so the specific blogs for the two topics are under “Classes” on the right side of your screen.  Each section will have it’s own opening. 

On a general note, I am a senior at GVSU and this is my last semester before student assisting.  I am actually a Group Social Studies major, with an emphasis in History.  This is where my teaching heart belongs.  I am an English minor.  I truly enjoy English, and I am hoping at these couple classes give me a stronger feel for the subject. 

Because I am down to my last semester, I have been able to substitute teach on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  This is great experience as far as classroom management goes.  I also coach volleyball at Otsego High School.  I love my girls, and they work extremely hard.  We are off to a great start, 16-3-3.  I think educational athletics are an essential part of every school.

I knew from day one that I wanted to be a teacher.  It is a great job for a working mother, and someday that is what I hope I will be.  I also love athletics, my father was the Athletic Director at my high school, so consequently I grew up in the gym.  I am the fifth of six children, so family is huge.  I have nine nieces and nephews whom I adore.

That’s a brief introduction to me and my background, which I think is very important in the structure of the opinions that I will express throughout this blog.  I am looking forward to this semester,  and can’t wait to see everyone in class!