Readicide

             In Readicide, Gallagher starts right away with shocking information and statistics. The book was gripping and hard to put down. Although, there was no actual dialogue with students, Gallagher managed to include student voice through paraphrasing and describing specific situations.

            It was astonishing to learn how the No Child Left Behind program was modeled after the deceitful Texas education system. Somehow it all made sense. It shouldn’t be surprising that students who are behind are falling even further behind under the current education system since it was modeled after a state that did its best to leave them out of the picture. Further, it is blatantly obvious that many of the schools in the area have given in and do not ask themselves the questions from chapter one. For example, when recently visiting a local high school with another class, after going to several classrooms the teachers were asked how they chose the decorations in their room. They spoke vigorously of how the motivational posters help the kids stay awake or inspire them, they commented upon the displayed student work and how it helps model and give students agency, they described the usefulness of dictionaries in the classroom, but there were no books anywhere to be seen in any classroom that I visited. This was disappointing, because one of the teachers I had visited used to be my high school teacher. I remember her having several shelves with novels and giving us plenty of voluntary reading time. I picked up Slaugherhouse Five off of one of those shelves; it later became one of my favorite books and now sits on my bookshelf.

            To be honest, Readicide reinforced many of the facts that often make me regret pursuing teaching as a career. I don’t want to have to follow a 122 page unit plan. I don’t want to chop-chop books for my students. I don’t want to have to fight with administration just to get the appropriate set of novels for my classroom. I don’t want to have to explain to parents why the bullshit they heard about education on TV from their favorite politician makes no sense. Maybe, if teachers out there didn’t have to do all of the above, then more than 2/3 of students would graduate high school.

On “reading flow”:

            I agree that the pleasure in reading can only be found when “flow” is achieved, when the reader has to “come up for air”,  but I do think that comprehension tools are useful for struggling readers or academic texts. However, I would find it very hard to ask my students to stop every paragraph and do something, even making them underline or think about a specific idea can hinder the reading flow. I think a summary question at the end of a large chunk of reading would be best to draw out the student’s reflection. I mean, do we really care what the main character wore to work in chapter one? If it is important to the comprehension of the theme, or maybe a symbol, or even if it helped us get a better understanding of the character – then yes, but if we are just asking our students to pick out pointless details soon they will lose the ability to point out the important ones.

I Read It, But I Don't Get It

                  I expected I Read It, But I Don’t Get It to be much different than what it turned out to be. The actual use of classroom situations and students quotes helped me envision encounters that I may have with students in the future, and allowed me to reflect upon and evaluate how I’ve addressed some situations that I’ve already been in. I also wondered whether some of us may be teaching classes similar to Tovani’s in the near future.

               One part of the book that stood out was how students struggle with text. By the time I entered first grade I had no trouble reading and read books as a hobby. It was difficult for me to relate to struggling readers. I didn’t understand how a person can read a piece of text and still have no idea what they are talking about. The book gave me this knowledge and I think it is crucial to helping struggling readers.

              Further, I think it is important to teach our students what good readers do, but we should emphasize that good readers aren’t using all of the suggested strategies all the time when reading. I feel that as Tovani suggested, we should introduce them slowly and one by one.

            A part of the book that I found confusing was the chapter that suggests we should teach our students the “voices”. Usually, I only hear a voice inside of my head when I start reading and later the voice quiets down as my reading speed increases. I still have “conversations” with the text and comment upon it in my thoughts, but there is definitely no voice. However, I understand how using this strategy can make students realize that they should be interacting with the text in their heads while reading in a manner separate from the words on the page.

            Finally, this book made me realize that in the same manner that we can teach readers how to read well by showing them what “good readers” do, we should also be teaching language learners what good language learners do.

Social Justice - Social Justice, Social Norms and the Governance of Social Media

I found the article Social Justice, Social Norms and the Governance of Social Media by Tal Zarsky to be very informative. The first part of the article compares different forms of governance in virtual space and existing social media platforms. We are all aware of the terms of use that we agree to when creating an email, account on a website, or installing our new video game. We joke around that we are “‘accepting’ our lives away”, but when we agree to those terms we really can be held legally responsible or penalized as a user for breaking them. The article forces you to consider this reality by comparing it to “company towns” where the workers are required to abide by certain corporate rules while living on site. The only difference is that social media does not affect and extend throughout an individual's entire life (although some social media users might argue that it does). Later on, the article compares how the two major forms of governance of social space (by companies and by government) respond to social pressures and the likelihood their response is socially just (takes the overall good of all people into account).

Overall, the most important thing that I learned as a future teacher, student, and citizen from the article is that all institutions (regardless of their belonging to the public or private sector) are forced to act when they feel enough pressure from the masses. Though the institution may not respond in the way the people expected, or the people may be asking for something that is not socially just, the fact that an action is taken as a response shows that there is power to people. Since those in need of social justice are rarely part of a majority, I think that it is important for our students to understand what social justice is so they can advocate for those that may not have a voice.

Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School English Classroom

Writing a narrative essay for another class recently, I switched my topic three times. When I sat down to write the first two times, my fingers would not move, but when I finally allowed myself to write on a topic I cared about I felt free. In the end, I produced something I can be proud of. I was reminded of this experience while reading “Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School English Classroom”..

The topic that I ended up embracing was one close to my heart and something I had actually experienced. I had to connect my real life with the topic in order to produce my best work. Therefore, I definitely hope to one day create a similar experience for my students. Though, the traditional school system may not value certain strands of popular culture, our students do; and our job is to serve our students as best as we can.

Further, I thought that one of the best parts of the curriculum presented was how it touched on the particular situation that the students are in and empowered them to act within it. The central idea of critical pedagogy is to push students to a higher level of thinking and to encourage them to contextualize their learning by showing them ways to apply it.

Another awesome, but subtle aspect of the curriculum, is how each unit built upon each other. The units not only allowed students to carry over their previous skills, but also created a productive, civil environment necessary to reach deep understanding of controversial topics. For an example, had the teachers started the school year by showing Time to Kill, they may have had a very negative reaction in the classroom. Also, had they asked the students to create the magazine, which later became the final project, at the start of the school year, they would likely have poor student interest resulting in a bad product. The fact that the students were themselves interested in creating such a magazine, shows that the methods of critical pedagogy are successful in allowing students to recognize their place in society and act within its means in order to speak up against oppression.

Therefore, in order to “help make students more critical consumers of all information… and to give them the skills to become more capable producers of information” (7) the first step is to ensure that we, ourselves are such critical consumers and capable producers of information. Sadly, the list of “hegemonic texts” on page 6, fails to address the most important “‘sacred’ texts” and sources that “serve to limit and constrain, or control actions or thought”--  media, advertisement, and social media. The latter disseminators (and producers) of information can potentially entrap people in an “information net” if they lack the critical thinking skills promoted in critical pedagogy. This “information net” can be stretched even further and constrain all information an individual is exposed to; it is largely self-created by our cultural and political beliefs, our experiences, people around us; pretty much all information we choose to expose ourselves to and choices we make as consumers. In terms of social media, (and perhaps the internet as a whole) the “information net” is largely self-constructed by websites’ collection of personal information and it’s use in selecting the information an individual is further exposed to (through cookies - browsing history/patterns, and tendencies as a user). For an example, I log onto facebook and “like” the band Nirvana. Soon, facebook suggests that I “like” a similar in genre band “Foo Fighters”. Thus, I’ve successfully limited the variation in the genre of bands that facebook exposes me too with a single click. This is clearly dangerous when attempting to be “critical consumers” of information. So we should always consider if we are being obstructed in our goal of being “critical consumers”.

Paulo Freire: Chapter of Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Chapter two of Frerie’s “Education of the Oppressed” explores the connection of the classical “banking method” of education and argues that this method makes students see the world as “static”, thus robbing them of “the critical consciousness which would result from their intervention in the world as transformers of that world”. The latter is exactly the outlook I had when I left high school. I believed all questions were answered, we knew all there is to know and all innovation occurred by chance.

I had previously read Frerie’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” after reading Francis Cody’s “The Light of Knowledge” (a book that discusses impacts of literacy through the Arivoli Iyakkam literacy movement, which uses Frerie’s ideas as a base), so I decided to take the assigned reading as an opportunity to read it out loud to my girlfriend (Hannah). We went to high school together, so I expected her to have a similar reaction to the article. Instead, she pointed out that she didn’t listen to a thing her teachers said, because she thought they were just indoctrinating and closed to new ideas. In other words, they acted as though they had all the answers, in order to fill their assigned role, and did not present possibilities she knew existed. She didn’t feel that her teachers were “partners”, but rather oppressors.

This made me question my initial line of thought: after high school I believed my teachers had all the answers and didn’t even consider outside possibilities, yet Hannah thought they were “full of shit” and hid the real facts; how did our views differ so drastically? We had attended the same high school and middle school, maybe we had some different teachers, but still...  I went further back. Hannah’s educational background consisted of bouncing from country to country almost yearly until 7th grade; I had been in the Bulgarian educational system until 7th grade. How did I never see it before? “Verbalistic lessons, reading requirements”-- I bet if Freire kept listing aspects of the “banking method” he would soon construct the curriculum of my childhood. These thoughts were soon reinforced by cringe-worthy memories of my grandpa’s pedagogical suggestions (he was a teacher and principal for many years in Communist and Socialist Bulgaria). But wait… Hannah’s outlook towards education was disappointing as well. After further thought, I realized that although some classes and activities had differed, the majority of my learning experience in the U.S. classroom had been “banking method” based as well. I remembered filling out multiple choice boxes, taking down notes on long lectures, and even a classroom where students were not allowed to speak unless they raised their hand during question time which occurred once a week. I went to a “highly ranked” school, how can this be??? I think I know -- standardized testing.

In conclusion, Hannah and I were lucky. Our natural dislike of authority, love for literature/history, and life experiences, helped us “come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation”. Further, I believe that liberation of thought should be one of the main goals for education and as Freire suggests problem-posing education may be one of the tools.

Some Quotes I liked:

• “conscientizacao” - conscious rising
• “fail to perceive that the deposits themselves contain contradictions about reality”
• “They may perceive through their relations with reality that reality is really a process, undergoing constant transformation.”
• “To achieve this, they must be partners of the students in their relations with them.”
• “Verbalistic lessons, reading requirements” - ex. of “banking method”
• “Its objective is to call the attention of true humanists to the fact that they cannot use banking educational methods in the pursuit of liberation, for they would only negate that very pursuit.”
• “He does not regard objects as his private property, but as the object of reflection by himself and his students.”
• “Students, as they are increasingly posed with problems relating to themselves in the world and with the world, will feel increasingly challenged and obliged to respond to that challenge.”
• “Thus, men and women begin to single out elements from their "background awareness" and to reflect upon them.”
• “They come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation.”
• “Banking education (for obvious reasons) attempts, by mythicizing reality, to conceal certain facts which explain the way human beings exist in the world; problem-posing education sets itself the task of demythologizing.” - Religion???

CA State Univ. Expository Reading and Writing Course Assignment Template - 10/05/2015

During class on Wednesday, for the first time I began to understand the frustration of some teachers with the Common Core Standards (CCS). I could not picture any type of district-wide curriculum that I would enjoy working with. I believed that forcing all teachers to do the same would surely be cumbersome and ineffective as it wouldn’t allow them to build in differentiation based on student needs or cultural differences. After reading the “Assignment Template” handout, I realized that curriculum doesn’t mean day-by-day lesson plans that all teachers across the district use. Instead, the Handout suggests activities, assignments, and strategies based on the CCS.

Since reading the handout I have changed my mind and believe that as a starting teacher, working with similar curriculum would be very helpful. Even now, I plan on using the Handout as a resource in planning some of the lessons for my practicum. It clearly shows which CCS respond to each suggestion or activity; in addition, rather than giving premade worksheets, it provides open ended prompts that each teacher may alter for their purpose.

Further, while reading the handout I realized the difference in approach that students should use to access informational text and literature. Many of the suggestions could be used in reading literature as well, but it seems most of the handout focused on informational text. This fact left me wondering if there is another part of the curriculum focused on approaching Literature.

Lastly, I enjoyed the way that the handout outlines the different types of writing occurring at each revision. It seems like a great idea to communicate the purpose of each draft to the students. Recognizing that a first draft is more like working an argument out on paper and it is revising that leads to clarity for the reader is a good way to take pressure off students when writing.