Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Summary and Closing Thoughts
Well, I think the one thing that I took from this class is that critical literacy is everywhere, and to the creative teacher, anything can be critical literacy. As long as we are challenging our students, no matter what kind of literacy we use, then it is appropriate. I've never been to strict on "defined literacy", using poems, pictures, funny youtube clips, raps songs etc. in my lessons, but I also learned that pulling literacy from other classrooms to expand on my examples would be a viable and easy option. Using the history of the number zero to illustrate a point about origin stories in a classroom, or a model of waterspouts to show something like mob mentality in a play. Almost everything from my text-set is straight from my bookshelf in my room. I literally just looked at it and wrote down what I thought would be good to use. And that's the same bookshelf I plan on having in my classroom, though hopefully with a few additions. I can't wait to use Shakespeare to help teach my ELL students about the structures and fallacies of the English language. I can't wait to show culturally diverse learners works like Persepolis or the works of Walter Dean Meyers. I can't wait to here the first oral presentation given in my class on whether or not Tupac's rhyme and verse are comparable to that of Walt Whitman, or if Scout Finch follows the hero's journey. There isn't much else to say except for, I honestly can't wait to get out there and start learnin' some youngins'.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Self Selected Project
Becca, Aly and myself decided that we wanted to do a text-movie combo that touched on the same things. We decided to use Speak by Laura Anderson and "It's Kind of a Funny Story", a movie based on the book of the same name. I'd read funny story before and knew enough about Speak to know that they would work well together, one being from a girl's perspective and the other being from a boys. Both character's are also around the same age (around 13-14) so that helps give perspective as well.
Speak was really interesting, being something I'd been meaning to read for a while and never getting around to. I thought that though some of the actions and dialog of the characters were a little exaggerated, it helped to show the surrealistic world Melinda was living in. I really liked how the book paralleled what was going on in her life with what was happening around her at school. From dissecting frogs in Biology class to reading The Scarlet Letter in English, everything external symbolized what was going on inside her head. I thought that was great. I also liked the way the cliques were set up, and the fact that though Melinda was going through all this inner turmoil, she assumed no one else was, even though her art teacher was having a mental breakdown right in front of her.
Funny Story is great and I would highly recommend at least seeing the movie, if you don't want to read the book (both are really similar). Funny Story is just that, funny. Which is hard to pull off on such a sensitive topic. The zaniness that happens around Craig allows him to put things into perspective. And like Melinda in Speak, Craig finds the best way of battling his depression is through art. This movie has a lot of heart, and characters that at first, may seem unrealistic, quickly become complex and moving. Great movie, great book. Fun assignment.
Those are some of the things we agreed that we liked about the literature. A few things that we weren't so stoked about was some of the content. Now I have no problem reading/watching anything, but I'm told parents can be a little huffy when it comes to certain topics. We decided that though we're against censorship in (most) forms, you do need to prep students and parents when introducing a touchy topic like rape and depression. You don't know what students will be dealing with in their personal lives and what might send them over the edge. But I also think it's important that, if done properly and with care, these topics should be touched upon. Who knows, it could really help a student going through something similar. Learning that you're not alone is one of the first steps to recovery. That's what the kids in the literature learn.
When it comes to including the literature in a classroom, as English majors we agreed that it's all gravy. Both book/movie has a movie/book equivalent, so you could show clips from the movie supplemented with exerts from the book. I think that would take care of the issues that might come with showing either books or movies. It would also allow you to do both of the texts in a shorter amount of time, cover more sides on the issue of depression.
As for the book club portion, it was GREAT to get to pick our own books. As I've said, I love Funny Story, (both book and movie), and was pleasantly surprised by Speak. After I learned the Twilight chick was the main character in the movie, I've been dubious of the whole thing. It was a little disheartening reading such a sad book this close to finals, but the humor in the story made it not only tolerable, but truly enjoyable. I could definitely see myself teaching both books in a class... maybe after tenure.
Speak was really interesting, being something I'd been meaning to read for a while and never getting around to. I thought that though some of the actions and dialog of the characters were a little exaggerated, it helped to show the surrealistic world Melinda was living in. I really liked how the book paralleled what was going on in her life with what was happening around her at school. From dissecting frogs in Biology class to reading The Scarlet Letter in English, everything external symbolized what was going on inside her head. I thought that was great. I also liked the way the cliques were set up, and the fact that though Melinda was going through all this inner turmoil, she assumed no one else was, even though her art teacher was having a mental breakdown right in front of her.
Funny Story is great and I would highly recommend at least seeing the movie, if you don't want to read the book (both are really similar). Funny Story is just that, funny. Which is hard to pull off on such a sensitive topic. The zaniness that happens around Craig allows him to put things into perspective. And like Melinda in Speak, Craig finds the best way of battling his depression is through art. This movie has a lot of heart, and characters that at first, may seem unrealistic, quickly become complex and moving. Great movie, great book. Fun assignment.
Those are some of the things we agreed that we liked about the literature. A few things that we weren't so stoked about was some of the content. Now I have no problem reading/watching anything, but I'm told parents can be a little huffy when it comes to certain topics. We decided that though we're against censorship in (most) forms, you do need to prep students and parents when introducing a touchy topic like rape and depression. You don't know what students will be dealing with in their personal lives and what might send them over the edge. But I also think it's important that, if done properly and with care, these topics should be touched upon. Who knows, it could really help a student going through something similar. Learning that you're not alone is one of the first steps to recovery. That's what the kids in the literature learn.
When it comes to including the literature in a classroom, as English majors we agreed that it's all gravy. Both book/movie has a movie/book equivalent, so you could show clips from the movie supplemented with exerts from the book. I think that would take care of the issues that might come with showing either books or movies. It would also allow you to do both of the texts in a shorter amount of time, cover more sides on the issue of depression.
As for the book club portion, it was GREAT to get to pick our own books. As I've said, I love Funny Story, (both book and movie), and was pleasantly surprised by Speak. After I learned the Twilight chick was the main character in the movie, I've been dubious of the whole thing. It was a little disheartening reading such a sad book this close to finals, but the humor in the story made it not only tolerable, but truly enjoyable. I could definitely see myself teaching both books in a class... maybe after tenure.
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