My reading nowadays shows more a meandering journey than a straightforward route, as I step in and out of genres and time periods. It reflects the reading of a teacher, I feel, and thus positions me to (hopefully) attempt to do this Capstone justice. But I will always find solace in letters penned by Ranier Maria Rilke. I will always find a home away from home in Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Barcelona. And smile at the quirky cast of Neil Gaiman's characters. And remember why it is we teach literature when I'm immersed in the writing of John Fowles, Elena Ferrante, John Irving, Margaret Atwood, Graham Greene.
From what I understand, the purpose of this blog is/ will be to document what seems to be an investigation into an inquiry question regarding innovation in teaching/ learning. At this moment, I am considering a few streams for this course:
(a) What is the responsibility of the (English) teacher in terms of representation of peoples & places, in the texts formally studied?
(b) How do we meaningfully bring First Peoples' Principles/ Ways of Knowing into English classrooms?
(c) How do we, as teachers, recognize but also act upon our responsibilities as stewards of this land?
(d) I teach New Media 10 as an alternative to your traditional English 10 course. We do film studies over novels, rhetorical speeches over poetry, ads/ commercials over short stories. The course is sort of "innovative" in and of itself, in the sense that it redefines what it means to study English and communication. I've taught this course for 4 years now, and what I've noticed is that my students go into New Media 11, and then mainstream English 12, with this idea that books are bad and Shakespeare is "hell on Earth." There's no one to say that we can't do novel studies or plays in a New Media classroom - and I've been feeling over the last year or two that we really should. It just pains me to hear kids boast in Grade 11 that they "got away" with "not reading" last year - in my class.
As if in retaliation, I've ben spending the minutes before each bell reading at the front of the room and during non-meeting lunch breaks. I feel like I have to defend my identity as a reader, in teaching self-professed non-readers who take a class that doesn't have extensive reading.
When I first created my New Media 10 course, I wanted to innovate to the max - hence why we had the units and materials that we did. But I am starting to think that sometimes, innovation doesn't mean throwing everything to the wayside. And it's not just about keeping "the good stuff" and adding original pieces. I think what I need to do is learn to take that "good stuff" (I'm talking novel studies and Shakespeare, folks) and reform it, remodel it, repurpose it so it works within this context of New Media.
Huh. I think I've just solved my own question through this journaling process. Looks like we're going with Option D, folks! Next step - summarize this in one inquiry question. Stay tuned for that!
Hi Kaitlin! I’m not an English teacher myself but I do enjoy reading! Right now, the book club I am in is reading Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, so I definitely relate to quirky characters. When I was in high school, we didn’t have New Media as an English option but my fiancée taught it as part of her teaching practicum so I am familiar with the course. However, when I was in high school reading Othello our teacher had us read the play while dueling with foam swords. This seems to be a cool way to still have the students read, but also add an interactive spin to it. Good luck with you innovative journey!
ReplyDeleteHi Cody, AMERICAN GODS IS SUCH A SUMMER BOOK! By which I mean, like, it is a ROAD TRIP. How can you NOT want to read that in summer, of all months? My first read of AG was, I think, around like October or November last year, but I knew that when I reread it, it HAD to be in the summer. But anyway, back to the actual course stuff - foam sword battles in the context of Othello sounds so fun! You might be able to do this with Hamlet, too, to sort of re-enact how, exactly, Hamlet dies (spoilers lol).
DeleteHi Kaitlin, thanks for being so open and honest. I too am not an English teacher, and would put myself in your New Media class instead of a typical English class because I never liked Shakespeare, never understood it. I thought I liked poetry in Elementary and then when I went to college that little notion of "I've got this" was taken right out. I will say that I like where you are going with your thoughts about "not throwing everything to the way side". I took an English course in University (after college) and was dreading the course. What I will say was WOW! the way the teacher introduced Shakespeare and Poetry to us was amazing! It was my best experience yet, I saw that she loved the "old English" (not sure what it's actually called) but she presented it to us in modern ways. I honestly will never forget her and the way she taught us. I don't know that it worked for ALL (I don't know that we will ever get there) BUT I do know it brought back my feeling of being competent and not hate learning it.
ReplyDeleteHello! This is a great point you make in your conclusion, which then brings up the bigger question: how do we make something work for "all?" I'm going to say how and not "can" because I am yet naive as a 5th-going-into-6th year teacher - plus, I am a bit stubborn. I don't know, with, like, Lit Circles and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and student choice... I WANT to believe people ARE making learning inclusive and accessible for all (and effectively so)... But this is a great question.
DeleteHi Kaitlin!
ReplyDeleteGreetings from a fellow John Irving and Margaret Atwood fan!
Your point about not throwing everything to the wayside when innovating was a good one. I read something similar in Dan Obsorn's blog (his 2nd post) about NOT throwing away the baby with the bathwater. They're both important!
I love that you chose your own Option d) for your blog and am looking forward to following your professional musings.
I teach high school French Immersion and our newest curriculum revamped our reading outcomes in a way that I absolutely loved! As teachers, we were highly encouraged to become reading models for our students. Independent reading time was to be scheduled regularly throughout each week. New, interesting fiction and non-fiction books were ordered for classroom libraries. In addition, I showed them how to access online french books through libraries and merchants. I loved this reading time for myself! It was so relaxing! I got to share excerpts with my students from the books I was reading, and I hoped to impart a positive attitude towards books in general. You should definitely seek a way to share your love of books with your students! You have so much book wisdom to share!
Your oprion b) is the topic of my blog, if you're so inclined :-)
Cheers!