Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allen Poe Complete Tales and Poems was very fascinating. I know for a fact that I have read some of his works before, however when going through the book, only “The Masque of the Red Death” was recognizable for me. For this 20 page assignment I decided to read one story and a bunch of different poems. The one story I read was “ The Oval Portrait” which I actually really liked. With the stories and the poems in this text, I think that this book would be a great thing to have and use in the classroom. Edgar Allen Poe is a fantastic tool to use for the practice of analyzing.

This text could be used in all grade levels. I remember reading a poem by Edgar Allen Poe in elementary school and trying to figure out what it was about and then I just read “The Masque of the Red Death” in college just last quarter. I think that reading this in the high school and middle school grade level would be a great way to work on coming up with different interpretations. Honestly, I could not really come up with any challenges that may arise with using this text in the classroom when it comes to parents, administrators, or even students. Perhaps some parents may think that reading such dark and dreary texts could be problematic for some people, but that is pushing it a bit. I just cannot think of any other reason why this would be a challenge to have in the classroom. Poe has great pieces of work that are just great for analyzing and writing papers on.

I really did find this book to be intriguing. Even the poem section, which typically I hate reading poems but I know that poems are what he is mostly known for so I thought I’d focus on them and see why. One that I really liked was “Annabel Lee.” Although I do not remember ever reading it, it just sounded so familiar. I think that for students it would be a great poem to come up with different interpretations. As I was reading it I had a few just from the title. Overall, this text was quite enjoyable.

Book Talk - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Book Talk – Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

1.    Detailed Description of Text:

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is about a firefighter named Guy Montag. Unlike the real-world firefighters, in this book ironically, they are not the ones who put the fires out but actually start them instead. They are the ones who are in charge of not only burning illegally owned books but also the homes of those who were hiding them. Books in this novel are seen as a threat to society people are not supposed to be thinking about things. Rather than thinking, they are expected to give up their own individuality and spend their time watching tv and listening to the radio. As the story progresses, Guy Montag begins to question his entire life when he meets Clarisse. Clarisse is his neighbor who is a young girl that loves to ask deep, thought-provoking questions. Although Clarisse has made a rather large impact on Guy Montag and his life, things did not begin to change with Montag until he had a run-in with a woman who ended up burning in her house along with her books because she could not bare to live without them. This moment was when we begin to see a real change in Guy Montag. This woman burning with her books really got to him and he realized that perhaps it is through reading that he can find true happiness. Guy Montag begins to read any book he can get his hands on and begins to grow as an individual. Although his reading is great for him, very quickly the people who are close to him soon find out and he is quickly outcasted. As the book progresses Guy Montag joins a rebellion full of people who have memorized books before they are burned in order to preserve them and this is where I will end this summary due to spoilers for those of you who have not read it.

 2.    Why I Chose This Text and who Would Read it:

I think that today especially, this book can have a huge impact on everyone of all ages. This book describes the world we live in now, where individuals are constantly being lured in by social media and television. I think that this book really highlights the impact both books and the media can have on our lives. Although I am one to constantly be on my phone or watching tv, I think that this book was a good reminder that books can be just as important and just as alluring. This book is truly great for all ages. I think that this could even be an easy read for middle schoolers. This book is filled with messages that are affecting everyone in todays society and so both high schoolers and middle schoolers would be able to benefit and read this book with ease. 

 3.    Teaching Ideas:

Something that could be done with this book are journal entries. Having students write on each of the sections each time they read a part of the book can really allow them to think more about the book in the context of their own lives. Some questions that could be used as prompts for their journal entries would be: “Is social media making us less social?” “Have you ever been impacted negatively by social media?” or “Has social media replaced boredom? If so is that good or bad?” I think that getting students to think about these types of things would allow for a more in-depth look at the book and would open them up to being able to relate to the book more and compare the book to their own lives. Another thing that could be done with this book with students is to have a class discussion and to guide them into taking a look at the symbolism that the author presents within this text. Some things that could be discussed as a class is the way the author describes and uses Clarisse, fire, and books. Another thing that could be done with this book and a way to allow students to connect more to the book would to have them pick a quote, as they are reading, from the book that describes how they feel towards reading and to share the quote and their reasoning behind it with the class.

4.    Challenges:

Quite honestly, I could not think of very many challenges with reading this book. So many schools have it as a part of their curriculum already and so many students are already being expected to read it. Something that may be troubling for some administrators and parents is that there is talk about the Bible in this books and perhaps it may offend some people. Another thing could be that there is the usage of drugs in this book. One challenge that may arise with students is that they may disagree entirely with the book either because they are not a fan of reading in general and this book is all about the importance of reading or that it sort of makes fun of those who are enthralled in technology and this may offend them or make them feel called out.

5.    Importance:

I really think that this book is important to have in the classroom because of the fact that besides the technology that is being used (it is very futuristic), this book is truly describing todays use of technology and I think that especially as English teachers, it is important to remind students the importance of reading and the affect that it can have on all of us. 

The Round House

The Round House by Louise Erdrich was a very good, yet sad book. I think that this book would be more suited for those who are in high school, preferably 10-12th graders, although in some cases I think that this book could even be used for the middle school ages since they are around the same age as the main character. This book is a very easy read. I did find it interesting that there were never quotation marks when someone was speaking within this book which I have never seen before. The books lack of quotation marks could possibly confuse students, but I highly doubt it. Once you realize the stylistic choice, you kind of just get used to it. I believe that this book is mostly suited for high schoolers because of the content. I think that, although not always, high schoolers tend to be able to handle more mature content and this book definitely has a lot of content that should be discussed very carefully and intently.

I think that this book comes with a lot of challenges, though they are worthwhile. One big challenge would be that this book includes sexual assault and an attempted murder. With these things, especially the sexual assault, maturity must follow. Some students in high school may not be able to handle reading this due to it hitting too close to home or even just because they lack maturity in general. I think that this book should be used in the classroom though because it could be great for opening up discussions. A lot of injustice occurs within this novel and that could be a great topic for discussion. It is also a great book to use in the classroom because a lot of the times students hear about the injustice that occurs with African-Americans, which is great however, it is also important to open students up to realizing that there are also other cultures who face different types of injustice as well.

I Read It, But I Don't Get It

I really enjoyed this reading! I thought that this book was chock-full of useful information. I especially enjoyed the fact that this book had stories that are easily relatable and can be seen in real life scenarios. One section that really stuck out to me was the section called “Strategies to ‘Fix Up’ Confusion” which provided a list of ways to help one get out of being stuck while reading. I have found myself getting stuck constantly while reading, especially texts that just do not interest me at all. I feel that if I had thought about the things on the list I might have better understood the text or have been able to read it more fluently.

Additionally, I have to say that my favorite part of this book was “What Do You Wonder?.” I really loved that the author is encouraging students to think more and to question things. I often think about what she wrote about in her book how when students were in elementary school they were constantly asking questions, but as we grow older for some reason, the older we get the less questions we ask. I just think that asking the students what they wonder is a great way to get them to start questioning things without worrying about whether or not it relates to anything.

Overall, I thought that this text was great. This book will remain with me as I begin teaching and I will be using this book without a doubt. Each section of this book had useful information that could help anyone, even students. Although I have always enjoyed reading, I think there have been many books that I just could not understand and made me think that reading was just a task rather than something for enjoyment (mostly books I have had to read in college), and I think that this book will help me with those books and books I will have in the very near future.

edTPA Making Good Choices

To be honest, I am rather nervous about the edTPA. Reading about it only made me more nervous about it. There is so much detail that goes into creating the edTPA and many of them are rather small and can easily be missed/forgotten. Although this reading did make me more nervous, it was entirely full of useful information that without a doubt I will be using for the rather near future. Every single section in this reading was full of vital information. There were a lot of section that addresses questions that I had not even thought about which was both eye-opening and completely helpful.

The section I found to be the most useful because it just happens to be a question I asked my previous professor and they had no idea how to answer it was, “How specific do my references to research and theory have to be?” I thought that this section was especially helpful because even outside of the edTPA I am never quite sure which websites are legit. Which is why I tend to just always stick to the library databases and journals just to be sure. I also found the lesson plan section helpful to see the layout and the key points that we need to have in there. I have had some practice with the lesson plans thanks to EDUC 303 but it was just one, and we have so many more to do.

Quite honestly, I had no idea that there had to be a video submitted for the edTPA. I had never heard of that prior to reading this. It was quite a surprise and very informative. I think that that portion of the edTPA is going to be the hardest for me. Especially the part on making sure to get video of student-engagement even though it had a little section on that. I am just rather nervous about it as a whole I guess. Even though this article was a tad bit on the overwhelming side, I still am incredibly grateful that this was a reading assignment. There was just so much about the edTPA that I just was not aware of/had not realized was even going to be a part of it.

Social Justice

The article I had found is called, “Social Justice Along a Continuum” by Collin R. Bonnycastle. This article was very long and I did not read the entire article, but from what I did read I have gathered a lot of new information. Especially since I had no prior knowledge about social justice before this assignment. I most definitely have heard about it, but have never understood it. What I have gathered from this article is that social justice is about trying to make everyone feel included. Social justice tries steering clear away from inequality, unfairness, and tries to allow for equal possibilities for everyone. Although this was the general definition I gathered from this article, this article was mostly about how the definition of social justice is mobile, meaning that with every situation comes a new definition of social justice which I agree with and find very interesting.

However, just using the single definition I had gathered, social justice is most certainly is vital to the classroom. Allowing every student to feel as though they are just as important and equal to the other students is most certainly important. There have been many classes where it has been very apparent that the teacher has a favorite, and this just makes students feel somewhat bad. I know that it is nearly impossible to not have and pick favorites for teachers, but how you go about treating students is very important to creating a comfortable environment.

Although social justice can mean different things to different people, the ideas are always relatively similar. The ideas that the article talked about were race, gender, politics, etc. All things that by saying the wrong thing can make someone feel outcasted. This article talked about promoting social justice and being aware of the culture that is surrounding you. I think that this is essential especially in the classroom. So many students will come from all sorts of backgrounds and it is important to make all students feel included no matter what.

Book Talk - Perks of Being a Wallflower

Book Talk – The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

1.     Detailed Description of Text:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is about a fifteen-year-old boy named Charlie who has just begun his freshman year of high school. This book is written as a series of letters that Charlie writes to an unnamed “friend.” This “friend” never writes back and the readers never come to learn who they are which creates the sense of reading a diary rather than a book. Charlie is a very shy and quiet person who always keeps himself within his own head. He is anxious about having to start high school alone (his only friend from middle school died). Even though Charlie is nervous about beginning school by himself, he soon finds two sources of friendship. His English teacher and mentor, Bill Anderson, and Sam and Patrick who soon become his best friends and quickly introduce him to many other great friends and acquaintances. This books timeline takes place over the course of one year and during that year, Charlie goes on his first date, has his first kiss, deals with bullies, experiments with drugs and drinking, makes friends and loses them and eventually gains them back, deals with death and trauma, and learns to cope with depression. It is through Charlie’s relationships with the outside world that he begins to discover who he really is and begins to feel more at peace with himself.

2.     Why I Chose This Text and who Would Read it:

I chose this text because I think that it is one of the most relatable books that I have ever read. This book does not sugarcoat adolescence but rather, it embraces both the good and the bad sides of growing up in order to deliver a narrative that is easily relatable. The Perks of Being a Wallflower really emphasizes emotional and social issues that kids in high school face. Because of this, I would say that anyone who is a freshman or older would really be able to take in this book, however, I think that even those who are in middle school could easily read this as well, though it is pushing it. I think that those who are in high school would be an appropriate audience for this book because The Perks of Being a Wallflower is all about high school the confusing times that come with it. This book would allow students to become aware that they are not the only ones going through what they are going through and it could possibly make whatever they’re going through a little easier.

3.     Teaching Ideas:

I envision this book being used in the secondary classroom as a way to open students up to analyzing texts. Something that could be done to work on analyzing skills would be to show students how it is not only the plot and the characters that contribute to the story itself, but also the structure of the novel itself and its content. Some thing that could be asked of students to discuss and to analyze as a group or with partners is “How does the structure of this novel contribute to better understanding Charlie?” Something that could also be done to work on analyzing is to have students look at Charlie’s style of writing in each letter compared to his mental state. Another thing students could analyze would be to the poem in the book and how it changes from beginning to end in style and how it contributes thematically to book as a whole (70-73).

4.     Challenges:

Quite honestly there are many challenges that can arise from having this book in the classroom. This book has numerous controversial subjects including sexuality, abortion, drug and alcohol use, sexual abuse, and suicide. Some potential issues that may arise from using this book is that there are too many sensitive subjects or that some students may not be mature enough to handle this book. An administrator or parent may not be a fan of this text because of the controversial subjects that take place, and a student may not be a fan because of feeling embarrassed or perhaps the text may hit too close to home for some people making it a rather difficult read.

5.     Importance:

Although this text seems as though it has many downsides to it, there are a lot of upsides. There were so many moments within this text that I related to, and then as it continued it made me feel better about having gone through the same experiences. I think that opening students up to this text, though it is controversial, may be eye-opening and could possibly create more sensitivity to certain subjects. This book is full of worth-while messages that deal with real life scenarios and it could possibly help students not only understand themselves but others as well. 

6.     Some Quotes That Stood out to me:

“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be” (2).

“But because things change. And friends leave. And life doesn’t stop for anybody” (145).

“I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them” (211).

Popular Culture and Critical Media

I thought that this article was very interesting. I especially liked the section where it talked about students coming up with recommendations for teachers, administrators, and researchers. I think that getting the opinions of students and what they want from teachers is vital to creating a better environment for them. I also liked that after the article provided recommendations, it then provided suggestions of different ways to achieve what was recommended. I thought that including those suggestions was an important part of this article because it shows how this article truly wants to help teachers better the learning environment.

I actually had a professor at Eastern Spring quarter who actually did one of the recommendations. The recommendation that says, “Examining the messages that artists are trying to send through their songs to promote discussions among students.” Before class had started one day, a student asked the class if anyone had seen the new “This is America” music video by Childish Gambino and immediately we started talking about it while my professor appeared to not even be listening. However, he was. Once it was time for class to start he brought up the video and we actually watched it as a class and then afterwards had a discussion about the video and its message. This article just reminded me of that occasion, especially that one section. He took something that many of the students found interesting though some found it controversial and he turned it into a worthwhile discussion.

This article was a good read for multiple reasons. One being that it actually provided a lot of useful information that can help teachers become more aware of the different cultures that are bound to take place in the classroom. I think that it is important to do the things that were suggested for teachers to do. I think that it will not only help teachers better understand their students but also better understand what the students are listening to and watching outside of the classroom.

Chapter Two of Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Quite honestly, I was very confused about this text. At some points I had thought that I was beginning to understand what it was talking about, but then as I kept reading, I would just become lost all over again. Now I may be completely wrong, but I believe that the article was about finding other ways of teaching students other than just being there to merely fill the students heads with our own knowledge. The article goes on to say that banking education is the contradiction of what I had just stated but I am a little lost as to what banking education even is. From what I have gathered banking education could possibly be a form of education that does not care whether or not the students show their individuality. They do not care whether or not students are able to make an impact on the outside world.

Now I have no idea which stance this article is taking because, well simply, I did not understand it. Even though I did not fully understand the article, something that really stuck out to me was the section that talked about education as a practice of freedom rather than domination. This stood out to me because although I didn’t quite understand what followed, I think I can get the jist of it. I really like this because I have had teachers who did not allow for any creative thinking or any opinion that did not go along with their own and so just having the word freedom in there makes it seem as though teachers are allowing their students a chance to be free and willing to learn.

Unfortunately, I am not really sure how to feel about this article. Perhaps it was just a lot of information that I had no background knowledge of so therefore I just could not understand it. I really wish I could have. This is the only article that we have had to read that I just could not get into.

Assessing and Evaluating Students' Learning

I really enjoyed this reading. Not only did this reading talk about ways that could help a teacher teach their students, but it also talked about ways to further help the students. I especially liked that this article provided examples of ways to better evaluate students and gave the alternatives to multiple choice tests or as they called it, “Alternatives to ‘Correct Answer’ Tests.” This is important because I know that as a student I hated those. They always made me second guess myself and I never felt confident taking them unless I had studied like crazy. However, this article provides numerous ways to replace them and give students a chance to truly show their understanding.

Another thing that really stuck out to me in this reading was the section that provided numerous ways to grading students. I really liked the one that involved student self-assessment. I feel as though having students assess themselves can go a long way in helping them become better writers, or presenters, or whatever the activity/assignment is.Something that goes along the lines of self-assessment that was also mentioned in this reading was in the section “Determining Student Learning in Your Classroom.” This section talked about exit memos being a way for teachers to better understand what the students are learning. I completely agree with this. Personally, I hate asking questions in class in fear of sounding dumb to my peers, however with exit memos it can give students a chance to say what they understood or did not understand in confidence making them more likely to share.

I really enjoyed this reading. I must say, I have yet to come across a piece of reading in this class that I have not found the least bit informative and worth holding on to. I will for sure be using this in the future for when I become a teacher and need to begin assessing my own students.

Reading and Writing Course Assignment Template

I think that this article is full of useful information. I believe that as I progress into becoming a teacher, this article will be able to help me in numerous ways. Every single section had something to offer. Not only does this article provide useful tips on what to do for a lesson, but it also had some information on how to teach a lesson as well. The section on composing drafts was great because I know that I have struggled with drafts and want to be able to help my students and this section allows me to read about what is to be expected from students and ways to approach them.

    Another section I found to be useful was the section called, “Considering Stylistic Choices.” This section was especially useful because it provided questions for students to ask themselves when writing. I for one have never been told about these questions and I feel as though it could have greatly affected my writing in general. I would really like to provide these questions for my students and have them ask themselves these questions in the future. Something that really stuck out to me in this article was the section on overviews and key questions. I thought that this went into depth about questions teachers should ask themselves before giving out an assignment or what they should expect after handing out assignments.

    Overall I thought that every single one of these sections from this reading had something useful to offer. I really liked that it was mostly bullet points which made it very easy to read and understand, unlike the very long essay-styled readings that are just hard to keep track of while reading. I am very glad I got the chance to read through this and make this reading apparent in my life because I will definitely be referring back to it in the very near future.