“It is necessary ... for a man to go away by himself ... to sit on a rock ... and ask, 'Who am I, where have I been, and where am I going?” ― Carl Sandburg The standard outcomes for ECI 521, Teaching Literature for Young Adults are impressive, both in quality and sheer amount. The outcomes are spread out in a table, organized into the areas of professional, personal, and virtual goals and can be found here if you want to take a gander. I spent a good amount of time reading over these standards to both reflect on my current teaching practices and to anticipate how ECI 521 will encourage and equip me to master these standards.
While skimming the spreadsheet, I made some connections to what I’m doing in my classroom. As a professional, I feel that I am a strong leader in the classroom and my school community. I serve as the LA department chair, contribute to my PLT, and lead my 6th grade team. After reading the professional outcomes of this class, I’m eager to learn more about how I can contribute to professional development at my school. I want to improve in “modeling collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.” As for my literate self, I love to read and I often read what my students are reading. (Yay YA Lit!) The National Council of Teachers of English goal number three is that I experience a wide range of literature consistent with my own and my students’ motivations, interests and intellects. I help coach Battle of the Books at my school and I try to read as many books off the list as I can. I read with my 6th graders during SSR and I’m attempting the 40 Book Challenge at my school. Reading is a catharsis for me, so it’s not something that I ever really had to force myself into. I love it. As far as the “wide range of literature” goes, I definitely can improve there. I don’t read many graphic novels and I usually avoid nonfiction. It’s definitely important that I branch out with what I read so I can reach all of my students. My virtual self is probably what has grown the most in the few years since I became a teacher. I love technology and love finding ways to use it to increase student engagement, provide authentic writing opportunities, and make the learning and assessment process more efficient. I use Twitter to stay connected with other educators and to network. I use Edmodo to collaborate with colleagues and as a collaborative workspace for my students. This year my students used Animoto to create book trailers, used Google docs for writing groups, and had my students blog through the eyes of a character using Weebly. I know there’s so much more out there for me to discover! Rather than getting bogged down by the desire to learn about each and every new technology, I want to figure out ways to use these technologies efficiently to encourage collaboration and to improve my students’ skills, not just to use technology for technology’s sake. Thinking about my current practices and comparing them to the course outcomes helped me pinpoint some things that I’d like to focus on during ECI 521. I’d really love to discuss the role of technology in teaching literature. As I mentioned before, my students blogged this year through the perspective of a character; I would love to expand on that practice. How can I use student blogging in my classroom? How can I work in the community and my school to usher in change so that students have access to computers that we would need to make this possible? Is a BYOD policy practical or possible? I also know that I want to use more diverse literature in my classroom, both in terms of cultural diversity and by introducing the students to multiple genres. I especially hope to find a graphic novel (or three!) to use in a lit circle unit next year. Additionally, I would love to discuss the role of social media in story telling (i.e. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries) and see how this practice could be pulled into a 6th grade classroom. Overall, I’m excited for changes that this class will bring to my own classroom next year and am ready to start the journey!
2 Comments
5/21/2014 10:14:00 am
Love the pix of you on your rock, Jill. I tried to find a photo of Carl Sandburg on his rock -- surely someone thought to take such a photo during his lifetime -- but this is the best I've done so far http://catherinecastle1.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/carl-sandburgs-ten-definitions-of-poetry/ Connemara is a beautiful, spiritual place to visit!
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Jill
5/21/2014 12:25:09 pm
Thanks, Cris! I really enjoyed putting this blog together and look forward to what it will become.
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