Learning Outcome 2: Possess an in-depth knowledge of the subject area taught
In order to be an effective teacher, one needs to be a master learner. In my career as a student I have been asked to study various genres of literature spanning across history. In my undergraduate classes I was challenged to develop an understanding of how literature has developed and changed as well as reflected and influenced the society and culture it was created in. In my time as an undergraduate I have been able to mark a change in my relationship with literature. I entered college as an avid reader of all types of literature, but my understanding was virtually all on the surface of the text. As I began in depth study of literature, I developed a strong foundation of skills to aid my ability to dig deeper into texts. As I continued to develop my skills of analysis and recognition, I was expanding my funds of knowledge about literature. I interacted with literature from all different time periods, reaching back to Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales written in Middle English to the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe to Young Adult Literature. This wide range of texts helped me to hone my skills of analysis as well as deepen my funds of knowledge.
As my career continued, I was introduced to the methods of analysis that brought in society and culture through the use discourses and history. To me, discourses are a lens through which a reader can narrow the field of analysis, while also opening up the meaning of a text. Literature is not created in a vacuum. These works often are influenced and reflect the culture and society that they were created in, while at the same time influencing and changing that same culture and society. It is necessary to understand the history that surrounds that text. By developing an understanding of these things, and how language has developed because of the history, society, and discourse readers can begin in depth analysis and inquiry.
As I completed my Student Teaching experience I found that the same tools of inquiry and analysis can be used in the high school and middle school setting. When entering a new unit with my 11th graders, I would front load the text with information about the history of the time period that the text or texts we would be reading were written in or about. This front loading was helpful for students to gain a foundation of information about the piece so that the inquiry work could be even more focused. Students were also able to make connections to other subject that they were learning about, furthering the education process leading to more transferable skills.
After developing a base for students to access prior learning, create connections to information already found in their funds of knowledge, and scaffold expectations to build off of while we are reading, the next step is to determine how language is used within the text. While this may seem like a simple, self explanatory aspect to reading, but this often where the most challenging and interesting work happens. All students come from different cultural backgrounds, much like the texts. The language that the author uses can reflect how they see the society, and how the society has an effect on the author, the text and the reader. By asking students to look deeper into what the text has to offer, they can begin to develop and strengthen their understanding of language.
I have learned to utilize what students bring to the classroom to help further my understanding of their needs and their understanding of the world. The way they interact with language is completely different from how I interact and how their peers interact. By asking students to constantly share their development with language through writing and discussions, both in large groups and small, they demonstrate how they are interacting with the texts and worlds around them. One of the simplest and effective ways I found to assess students development with language was through discussion. Often students’ can be overpowered by the thought of writing because of fear, something that should never be in the classroom. When you first approach them with questions about language and how they understand it, I find that having them talk it out is best. Adolescents have the gift to gab- so why not let them use it in your classroom? I often found that when I showed images or video clips, students’ first reaction was to verbally respond. I wanted to know what they were thinking, and I was able to very quickly. It was after I understood how they were interacting with language that I could take their responses to the next step of writing. By asking them first to respond how they naturally would students developed a pathway to analyzing texts. By channeling that pathway into writing, I was able to see how they interacted with language. From there, as a class we were able to bolster skills and understandings that developed into transferable skills.
Roaring 20's image Power Point This power point was coupled with readings about the clothing, music, and cultural atmosphere that was found in the classroom at that placement. We were focused on how students were able to become experts in their passage and then teach their peers. Discussions flourished through the aid of images and video.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malclom X links and Lesson plan These videos were coupled with background information and passages that were included in the textbook we were working from. Students were able to see how these men were more than public figures in history. They were able to see how both men were aware of each other and use many of the same presentation tactics to their advantage.