1. Sketching My Way Throuh the Text (p. 120)
For this strategy the teacher draws simple pictures or diagrams to help students conceptualize or visualize ideas from their reading. As an English teacher I like this strategy because it can help students visualize character, setting, or the progression of plot in a piece of literature--sometimes all at once. I can think of at least a couple times when I use this strategy with my sophomore American Literature class. When we read the Iroquois creation myth "The World on the Turtle's Back" during our unit on Native American literature, I draw a simple diagram of Iroquois cosmology with sketches of who rules which realms of the universe as described in the myth. I also use this strategy when we read "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe. The setting for most of the short story is a bizarre "castellated abbey" owned by Prince Prospero. The interior design of the castle is an irregular arrangement of seven rooms, each with a different color scheme. The most westward room is all red and black. Near the end of the story a grotesque phantom intrudes on Prince Prospero's party. The Prince accosts it and pursues it through the seven rooms, followed by his guests. In the final room the phantom disappears and Prince Prospero and all his guests drop dead. I illustrate the sequence of events at the end of the story by drawing rough sketches of the interior design of the castle, Prince Prospero and his guests (stick figures) and using arrows to simulate the pursuit and the final scene/image. Finally, the students occasionally use this strategy themselves when we play "Vocab. Pictionary" as a way to review for a vocabulary quiz. The students divide into two teams and players draw pictures of the vocabulary words for their teammates to guess.
2. Double-Entry Journals (p. 118)
In this strategy, students divide their notes in half vertically down the center of the paper. On the left side of the sheet, they take notes on a text as they normally would. (This might include paraphrasing, summary, or simple page and line references.) On the right side of the sheet, they reflect, analyze or interpret their notes from the left side and formulate comments and questions on them. I like this strategy because it can be helpful especially with difficult texts and it promotes metacognitive learning. I use this strategy with my freshman English class when we read Romeo and Juliet. On the left side of the sheet the students copy lines and line numbers from the play that are confusing and wrestle with the meaning of them. I ask them to pay particular attention to figurative language (similes, metaphors, personification, etc.). On the right side, they reflect on the lines, questioning the meaning and sometimes challenging the views expressed in them. Then in class the students discuss and revise their notes both in small cooperative learning groups and in the larger context of class discussion.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Rhode Island Beginning Teacher Standards Assignment
Substandard I feel most confident about...
Standard 1: Teachers create learning experiences using a broad base of general knowledge that reflects an understanding of the nature of the world in which we live. Teachers...
1.1 reflect a variety of academic, social, and cultural experiences in their teaching.
I feel very confident about my application of this substandard in my teaching practices. In particular, over the last year I have really tried to stress multiculturalism in my sophomore American Lit. course. Traditionally, the American Lit. survey course has focused on the "dead white guys"--Emerson, Thoreau, Twain, Faulkner, etc. (The list goes on and on.) Granted, these Anglo writers are important and should occupy a prominent place in American Lit. But last year I was able to incorporate writers from a whole range of other cultures and backgrounds into my curriculum. My class analyzed and discussed the slave narratives of Olaudah Equiano, Charles Chesnutt, and Frederick Douglass and the feminist perspectives of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin. As a culminating project for the year, each student had to select a contemporary American writers who represents a diverse or divergent culture. My students delivered outstanding presentations on subjects like Sojourner Truth, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Philip Roth. Also, in my senior Composition & Literature class just this week my students have begun to brainstorm topics for narrative essays. In preparation for writing the narratives my class has analyzed and discussed models of short narratives from writers representing a range of backgrounds (Langston Hughes, Annie Dillard) and I have shared with my class personal experiences that would make good fodder for narratives. I feel strongly that through both the content of the courses that I teach and the activities that I plan for my students I tap into a variety of academic, social, and cultural experiences in my teaching.
Substandard I feel least confident about...
Standard 4: Teachers create instructional opportunities that reflect a respect for the diversity of learners and an understanding of how students differ in their approaches to learning. Teachers...
4.1 design instruction that accomodates individual differences (e.g., stage of development, learning style, English language acquisition, learning disability) in approaches to learning.
Probably due to the fact that I have taught in exclusively private Catholic schools to this point in my career, I feel least confident about this substandard. While I have taught a variety of different levels of English courses at a variety of grade levels, I have rarely faced the need to make accomodations for individual differences for the simple reason that very few students with disabilities attend private schools. Parents of students with disabilities elect to send their children to public schools where there are the resources necessary to meet the children's special needs. That said, I did take a Special Education course at RIC over the summer (Universal Design) and learned a lot about accomodating students with disabilities. The major grade for the class was a group project in which we had to create a Differentiated Unit in a specific content area. My group chose Romeo and Juliet as a unit. Even though I felt I had extensive knowledge of the play going into the project, it was still challenging to force myself to move outside my "comfort zone", to differentiate the teaching style that I was accustomed to and the materials that I already had to accomodate a variety of learning styles and disabilities. While I welcome the challenge of differentiation, of trying to accomodate a variety of students, in the future, I sort of dread the prospect of having to do it for my entire curriculum for the entire year!
Standard 1: Teachers create learning experiences using a broad base of general knowledge that reflects an understanding of the nature of the world in which we live. Teachers...
1.1 reflect a variety of academic, social, and cultural experiences in their teaching.
I feel very confident about my application of this substandard in my teaching practices. In particular, over the last year I have really tried to stress multiculturalism in my sophomore American Lit. course. Traditionally, the American Lit. survey course has focused on the "dead white guys"--Emerson, Thoreau, Twain, Faulkner, etc. (The list goes on and on.) Granted, these Anglo writers are important and should occupy a prominent place in American Lit. But last year I was able to incorporate writers from a whole range of other cultures and backgrounds into my curriculum. My class analyzed and discussed the slave narratives of Olaudah Equiano, Charles Chesnutt, and Frederick Douglass and the feminist perspectives of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin. As a culminating project for the year, each student had to select a contemporary American writers who represents a diverse or divergent culture. My students delivered outstanding presentations on subjects like Sojourner Truth, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Philip Roth. Also, in my senior Composition & Literature class just this week my students have begun to brainstorm topics for narrative essays. In preparation for writing the narratives my class has analyzed and discussed models of short narratives from writers representing a range of backgrounds (Langston Hughes, Annie Dillard) and I have shared with my class personal experiences that would make good fodder for narratives. I feel strongly that through both the content of the courses that I teach and the activities that I plan for my students I tap into a variety of academic, social, and cultural experiences in my teaching.
Substandard I feel least confident about...
Standard 4: Teachers create instructional opportunities that reflect a respect for the diversity of learners and an understanding of how students differ in their approaches to learning. Teachers...
4.1 design instruction that accomodates individual differences (e.g., stage of development, learning style, English language acquisition, learning disability) in approaches to learning.
Probably due to the fact that I have taught in exclusively private Catholic schools to this point in my career, I feel least confident about this substandard. While I have taught a variety of different levels of English courses at a variety of grade levels, I have rarely faced the need to make accomodations for individual differences for the simple reason that very few students with disabilities attend private schools. Parents of students with disabilities elect to send their children to public schools where there are the resources necessary to meet the children's special needs. That said, I did take a Special Education course at RIC over the summer (Universal Design) and learned a lot about accomodating students with disabilities. The major grade for the class was a group project in which we had to create a Differentiated Unit in a specific content area. My group chose Romeo and Juliet as a unit. Even though I felt I had extensive knowledge of the play going into the project, it was still challenging to force myself to move outside my "comfort zone", to differentiate the teaching style that I was accustomed to and the materials that I already had to accomodate a variety of learning styles and disabilities. While I welcome the challenge of differentiation, of trying to accomodate a variety of students, in the future, I sort of dread the prospect of having to do it for my entire curriculum for the entire year!
Friday, September 7, 2007
Personal Introduction
Hi there and welcome to my blog. In lieu of my real name I've chosen the name Pudd'nhead Wilson, the title character of one of my favorite books by Mark Twain. Let me explain the title of my blog by way of an introduction. The reason I chose "Shamrock Pride" as a title is because I am a high school English teacher at Bishop Feehan, a large Catholic high school in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and home of the Fightin' Shamrocks. (I know. It's a pretty pathetic name, especially when you see our somewhat less-than-intimidating school mascot, a leprechaun who runs wild and boxes make-believe opponents from Attleboro and North Attleboro at football rallies.) I am beginning my fourth full year as a teacher at Feehan but before there I taught two years of middle school at Sacred Heart, a small, private Catholic school in Plymouth, Massachusetts. (I do prefer to teach high-schoolers.) Currently, I teach freshmen, sophomores and seniors (for the first time this year...I'm just a little nervous). Also, I will be coaching freshman girls basketball at Feehan for the first time this year. I am very excited about this opportunity since I played basketball in both high school and college and it has always been a passion of mine.
In the process of all this Catholic school teaching I am--slowly but surely--trying to work towards my Rhode Island certification. I am very enthusiastic about the prospects of teaching high school English in the much more diverse Providence or Pawtucket Public Schools in a year or two. (As much as I love Feehan, you can practically count the number of minorities on both hands.) Meanwhile, I feel at the same time like my Catholic school teaching will give me the much-needed preparation and experience that I need to transition into the public schools.
In terms of my personal life, I am married for going on three years to a woman named Janelle, who I met and began dating at Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, as an undergrad. She is currently a kindergarten teacher at The Learning Community, a fairly new charter school in Central Falls, Rhode Island. We rented an apartment on the East Side of Providence, Rhode Island, (about three miles from Brown University) when we were first married and have been living happily there ever since. Eventually, we would like to buy a house but we're in no rush given the state of the real estate market. We both agree that the best part of living on the East Side is all the delicious and diverse restaurant choices--Oak, Chez Pascal, India, LJ's BBQ, and, if we want to drive just a bit further, the gourmet Italian restaurants of Federal Hill. Yum! We don't have any kids yet but when people ask we always joke that during the school year Janelle has 20 charges and I have upwards of 100. In addition to that our two bunnies, bonded sisters named Zoe and Chloe, keep us on our toes day and night. (You'd never believe all the destructive chewing a couple of cute little Mini-Lops can do!)
Anyway, that just about covers it. My wife and I have just completed our first week back to school. It goes without saying that we both see a lot less of each other in September and October than July and August. In fact, a lot of the time we feel like those proverbial ships passing in the night. But at the same time we both feel very fortunate to be employed in such a rewarding, albeit very demanding, profession.
In the process of all this Catholic school teaching I am--slowly but surely--trying to work towards my Rhode Island certification. I am very enthusiastic about the prospects of teaching high school English in the much more diverse Providence or Pawtucket Public Schools in a year or two. (As much as I love Feehan, you can practically count the number of minorities on both hands.) Meanwhile, I feel at the same time like my Catholic school teaching will give me the much-needed preparation and experience that I need to transition into the public schools.
In terms of my personal life, I am married for going on three years to a woman named Janelle, who I met and began dating at Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, as an undergrad. She is currently a kindergarten teacher at The Learning Community, a fairly new charter school in Central Falls, Rhode Island. We rented an apartment on the East Side of Providence, Rhode Island, (about three miles from Brown University) when we were first married and have been living happily there ever since. Eventually, we would like to buy a house but we're in no rush given the state of the real estate market. We both agree that the best part of living on the East Side is all the delicious and diverse restaurant choices--Oak, Chez Pascal, India, LJ's BBQ, and, if we want to drive just a bit further, the gourmet Italian restaurants of Federal Hill. Yum! We don't have any kids yet but when people ask we always joke that during the school year Janelle has 20 charges and I have upwards of 100. In addition to that our two bunnies, bonded sisters named Zoe and Chloe, keep us on our toes day and night. (You'd never believe all the destructive chewing a couple of cute little Mini-Lops can do!)
Anyway, that just about covers it. My wife and I have just completed our first week back to school. It goes without saying that we both see a lot less of each other in September and October than July and August. In fact, a lot of the time we feel like those proverbial ships passing in the night. But at the same time we both feel very fortunate to be employed in such a rewarding, albeit very demanding, profession.
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