Monday, May 2, 2011

Post-FOKI: A Renaissance Woman Emerges

Introduction:
       Identifying a journey book from my youth was difficult.  I am dyslexic, although it was not identified until adulthood.  I dreaded reading in school and reading for school.  The pressure stemming from time constraints was tremendous.  Teachers thought I was willful or lazy when I did not complete reading assignments.  Eventually, I stopped trying.  Amazingly, I loved reading at home and continued to read picture books long past the age that was considered acceptable.  I still love them!  Much of my reading was done in secret.  Until my sophomore year in high school, I had a reading hide-away.  It was a little room off of my bedroom that served as an attic access.  While there, I didn’t have to risk anyone seeing how long it took me to read each page.
       Mr. Pollock was my freshman English teacher in high school.  He was a young Hemingway look-alike right down to the beard and fisherman-knit sweater.  The poster of Hemingway that hung directly above his head when he sat at his desk made the connection unavoidable.  Mr. Pollock was different from all the other teachers I’d ever had.  He savored words.  He allowed time for their meaning to sink-in and take hold.  Suddenly, my painfully slow reading ability was an asset.  While reading The Great Gatsby that year, I discovered how wonderful it was to uncover layers of meaning in a text.  Every word Fitzgerald wrote was saturated with rich, intricate meaning.  I have read the novel eight times since my freshman year in high school.  The symbolism and rich imagery never fail to captivate me.
       We spent a great deal of time analyzing books in Mr. Pollock’s class.  Looking back on that experience, I can see how all of his students benefited from this opportunity to reach the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.  He treated his students with respect and placed a high value on our abilities to dissect literature and create meaning.  We discussed important, adult issues.  I remember feeling quite grown-up.  This was why everyone loved his class.  We were all completely intellectually engaged.  It was dynamic and exciting.


Professional Self:
        To this point, the majority of my very limited teaching experience has been with elementary students who are just beginning to read and English Language Learners (ELL).  Its no secret, as I learned from Mr. Pollock, that students who feel intellectually valued are more engaged in class.  While working with second grade students, I would facilitate large group discussions during “circle” story time.  Students would share their knowledge and personal experience as it related to the text.  The exercise gave students the opportunity to hear different perspectives and to increase understanding of the subject.  The discussions also helped students with limited subject knowledge connect to the text.  For instance, while reading Patricia Polacco’s Thunder Cake, students without access to grandparents could learn about those types of relationships from those students who did have access.  The children also learned that, while not all grandmothers bake cakes, they all have something to share.
        During my studies here at NCSU, I’ve become a big fan of Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).  ZPD is a wonderful tool for capitalizing on students’ strengths and promoting student ownership of the learning process.  I like the notion that every student is the “more knowledgeable other” (MKO) in regard to something.  Each student has something of value to contribute to the success of the class.  I believe that my job is to provide a wide variety of relatable texts and facilitate opportunities for each student to experience being the MKO.
   
Literate Self:

        My experience with young adult (YA) literature  is mostly through my children.  The first time I became aware of the YA genre was when my daughter began perusing that section at the library during the summer before the seventh grade.  I actually Googled it to find out what it was!  There wasn’t a YA section at the library when I was a teen, and none of my teachers used that term.  However, after reading several on-line explanations, I realized that most of what I read in high school fell into the YA category.  The difference between YA literature then and now is that the subject matter is far more explicit today.  With the target age being between 12 and 18, many of the gritty themes in this genre concern me.  An ocean could fill the maturity gap that exists between the ages of 12 and 18.  Before encouraging students to read graphic tales of incest, rape, sexuality, and suicide, it is important to know they are emotionally ready.  I also want to be confident that the details are necessary to the telling of the story and not simply used  for shock-effect.
        One of the first series my daughter delved into was The Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfield.  I believe the school librarian recommended them to her.  I have skimmed parts of the books but have not done a thorough reading; however, I did appreciate the conversations these books sparked with my daughter.  We discussed the value society places on appearance and who gets to define beauty.  This launched her into an investigation of how the media packages beauty for our consumption.  These books facilitated an important part of her development at a critical time in her life.  A couple of years later, she connected these themes to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.  Her experience is an example of the positive growth that can result from reading YA literature that is developmentally appropriate for the student.
        While I see a need for caution, the potential for YA literature to bridge the gap between modern teens and literary canon is too great to ignore.  The same themes exist in canon literature; however, the subjects are usually handled with a delicacy that makes them perhaps too subtle for the modern palette.  Literature helps us to explore critical issues, form opinions, and take positive action to make a better future.  But, it can have this impact only if we read.  For years I have had the practice of reading a classic work followed by a modern novel.  I don’t specifically seek to link themes, but, inevitably there are connections that illustrate the basic desires and conflicts experienced by human beings have changed little over the years.  Last week I finished Summer by Edith Wharton and now I am reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.  Both deal with women’s issues.  The perspective offered by both novels helps the reader to see how far women have come in terms of freedom and equality and how far we have yet to go.  I want to be well versed in YA literature so that I can help my students make these types of pairings to gain greater perspective.  We can’t make a better future until we understand the past.

Virtual Self:
        I have an affinity for classics and by-gone eras.  My husband is a computer engineer, who for years has attempted to usher me into the 21st century.  I resisted.  Prior to returning to school, I rarely touched our home computer.  I sent handwritten letters, read books printed on paper, and paid bills with checks delivered via the U.S. Postal Service.  My husband has occasionally referred to me as his “misplaced Victorian”.  That has dramatically changed over the past two years.  Every morning, after putting the tea kettle on the stove, I boot-up my laptop and log-in to Moodle, Facebook, a variety of wikis, and several email accounts.  I am an experienced user of several Web 2.0 tools.  I even have had a little experience with Second Life prior to this class.  Last Spring, I created an avatar to explore Second Life for a blog and podcast I created for ECI512 Emerging Technologies.  My in-world SL experience was fascinating, but I wish I’d had a guide. I am looking forward to learning more about SL and its potential applications for education.  While in-world last April, I stumbled across an interactive classroom developed by high school teachers in Indiana.  The main feature of the room was based on Dante’s Inferno.  I would love to have the ability to put together an experience like it for my future students!

Goals:
 1.  Professional Self:  I want to be able to create bridges between the past,  present, and future using literature that will encourage students to think critically and talk about the challenges they face today, the lessons of yesterday, and the solutions for tomorrow. 
       Although this goal is a long-term endeavor, I have made good progress toward reaching it this semester.  Incorporating Reader Response theory, Vygotsky’s ZPD and MKO, and bridge texts creates solid scaffolding to support student learning.  I have taken the first steps at developing this scaffolding for use in my future classroom with my ALP, which incorporated all three elements. 
       Reader Response theory provides a framework that promotes the value of the intellectual expression of students.  Instead of telling them how they should respond, this theory recognizes the ability of young adults to interact with literature in meaningful ways.  Although he never identified it by name, Reader Response is the approach Mr. Pollock took in my freshman English class.  The technology tools we’ve used this semester, such as Prezi, Wallwisher, VoiceThread, and ToonDoo, offer unique ways for students to engage with and respond to literature.  Bookcasting provides a mulit-sensory way for students to express their responses.  It requires to think about texts deeply on both textual and personal levels.  The experience is empowering because it requires the student to orchestrate composition using words, pictures, and music rather than crafting responses with words alone.  I will definitely teach my students to bookcast.  My favorite aspect of Reader Response theory is that it gets students to reach for the top levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy: analyzing, evaluating, and creating. 
       Our “Waves of Change” research and my ALP definitely strengthened my love affair with Vygotsky’s work.  As I’ve mentioned before, in my research last year, I came across an article that suggested the MKO could be a computer tutorial (I have tried to locate the article again without success).  That led to my hypothesis that it could also be a text of some sort that would bridge student comprehension of concepts and history.  My work on the ALP helped me to make better sense of this idea; however, I believe I still have work to do before I will be able to confidently articulate the implications.
        I was surprised to learn that slow, or ludic, reading is now valued as a teaching strategy.  My experience as a student in the seventies was the opposite.  Our research about slow reading this semester has reinforced the positive aspects of my struggle with dyslexia.  I now have theory to back-up my beliefs about the benefits of reading more slowly.  My slow reading is one of the reasons that books impact me so deeply.  As a teacher, I will be able to encourage students with dyslexia and to help them see the strength they bring to the task of reading.

 2.  Literate Self:  My goal is to become more knowledgeable about the YA genre, to increase my comfort level with the themes addressed, and to develop the ability to pair YA novels with literature from canon.
       I have moved from skeptic to advocate with regard to the use of YAL in the classroom.  Omitting it from the classroom would be irresponsible.  After meeting with the Eva Perry Bookclub for the Melinda Awards, I am far more comfortable with student ability to process these themes.  My long-term goal is to continue to identify YA novels that are compatible with canon literature. 
       Yes, the themes are gritty and still make me cringe from time to time, but YAL is an excellent way to bring social justice themes into the English classroom.  First of all, my perception of and appreciation for the quality of YAL has increased dramatically.  While fluff does exist in this “genre” in mass quantity, a wealth of challenging literature is available to share with students.  Prior to this class, I had not personally given YAL a chance.  I viewed it as being just for kids.  A narrow minded approach to be sure!  In fact, I have to confess, I gave my sister a hard time for reading Meyer’s Twilight series.  Now, I’m eating my words.  Although I was captivated by all the books I read this semester, the turning point occurred when I read Teller’s Nothing.  I was taken with the quality of the writing.  I now have a stack of YA novels sitting on my desk for my summer reading that includes: Speak, Hunger Games, and Rot & Ruin.  Our “Making Bold Choices” research left me with some great ideas for preparing to defend my use of YAL.  Including the books I read this semester, I am beginning to build a database of rationales and book summaries (as discussed in the Bookhenge 4/4/11) to include with my class website.  As a parent of teens, I think I am in a unique position to address the concerns of parents.  I envision this tool being a positive resource to share with students, parents, and colleagues.
       This semester has strengthened my advocacy for the use of bridge texts.  My ALP successfully demonstrated that YAL can be used to reveal the relevance of the themes found in literary canon to modern life.  The real trick here is finding the right bridge text.  The process of connecting these past and present themes should be challenging but not frustrating.   At this point in my development, this is a daunting task.  I simply don’t have enough YAL in my repertoire from which to draw.  Over time, that situation will self-correct.  Until then, the librarian will be my best friend!
 
 3.  Virtual Self:  During my first experience in SL, I did not interact with other people in-world.  I want to learn how to interact with others as well as how to connect to environments in-world that may be professional resources.  I want to be able to incorporate 3D technology in my classroom in substantive ways.  On a more superficial level, I would also like to learn how to customize my avatar in order to incorporate more of my personality.
       I met my “virtual-self” goals and identified a list of future goals that might take the remainder of my life to fulfill.  Michelangelo is credited with saying, “Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.”  What a valuable sentiment for the  exciting times in which we live!  This semester, I overcame my fear of interacting with people via SL.  I’ve even chatted and spoken with people outside of our class!  Although it is irrational, I felt self-conscious about talking with people in SL at the beginning of the semester.  I have definitely developed more confidence.  My avatar has gone through some changes over the semester, but she is still a work in progress.  In some respects, I would like to make her a more realistic representation of me.  On the other hand, I appreciate the illusion of being younger and thinner!  In SL, I can wear all the clothes I can’t wear in RL!
       I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed SL.  My skill at navigating the world and trouble-shooting technical difficulties grew dramatically.  I developed a better understanding of using navigation tools to locate interesting resources within SL.  Exploring it has given me great ideas for “field trips” if/when schools decide to allow the use of SL for high school students.  I think SL experiences could inspire a wide range of written responses and an opportunity to write for a larger audience.  I hope SL will become more widely used as a professional development tool.  Wouldn’t it be great to have NCTE “conventions” there?!
       In the future, I would like to learn more about developing a virtual classroom.  With our country’s current economic problems, SL is a viable solution for addressing the financial hardships facing public schools.  I think it would be exciting to teach in a virtual classroom.  Chilbo offers courses on building in SL, and I hope to have the time to participate in one in the near future.

Synthesis:
In a nut-shell, I seek to use 21st century technologies along with Young Adult and canon literature to engage the minds of my students and to empower them to think critically and to express themselves creatively and effectively.

For the present, this synthesis represents my mission statement. 

Building Literary Bridges

My ALP is finished!  This video contains a brief overview of the project and its outcomes.  It was exciting to see my students experience success using bridge texts.