Journal Entry 7: A Happy Ending

I am almost a little saddened by the fact that this class is over. I really feel that it has been a fruitful and productive course, one that will surely aid me in my future endeavors concerning the adolescent populace. This course has forced me to think about the act of reading in a different light and from different angles. Wilhelm has been helpful up to a point, but I think that over the break I will have to invest in some further reading on the subject.

I was thinking about our synthesis project the other day during my observation, and how the teacher I am observing does a great job of fostering reading in her classroom. Many of the students in her class were reading Twilight and she decided to pick it up just so that she could converse with them about the series and see what they had to say. She takes a genuine interest in what her students are reading and tries to incorporate it into the classroom whenever she can. For reading projects she offers alternative assignments (like creating a Body Biography, which I thought looked like a lot of fun) that allows her students to explore their learning through creative venues. She attempts to value all types of texts in her classrooms (she uses the BOOK THIEF!) which I think is quite admirable. I don't ever want to be the type of teacher that will turn my nose up at certain types of books/genres. I think that as an English teacher, especially a high school teacher, that I need to be as open minded as possible when it comes to what my students are reading.

Lastly, I suppose I just want to reiterate that I enjoyed this course, and I think it has opened my mind to a lot of methods and techniques and questions that I didn't have before. I am still apprehensive about certain aspects of teaching, but I think that with a little effort I will (HOPEFULLY) have it under control... :) Thanks for a great semester and I wish everyone luck with all their future endeavors!!!!

Journal Entry 6: John Green is my hero! (Hank Green is not bad either!)

I have been waiting to do this particular post for several reasons. The first is that after reading Looking for Alaska I just felt really numb. I never ever could have predicted the book to end that way. So I felt like I needed some distance before I could talk about it objectively. Second, I really wanted to attend the lecture with John and Hank Green (who are now my idols) before writing this entry.

There were a couple of things that John Green said that really stood out to me, aside from Hank's many wonderful songs concerning Harry Potter. The first is that the ways in which we draw, or construct our world, affects the world as it exists. He said this in relation to his book Papertowns, but I was thinking about in the context of Looking for Alaska. Pudge goes off to this boarding school because he is not happy with his "world" at home, and he seeks out a new and more exciting one. When he arrives, Alaska largely informs his new reality through her own painted reality. She is such an interesting creature, and I can hardly blame dear Pudge for falling for her. But I have been thinking, I don't think that he just falls for Alaska, but he falls in love with the idea of Alaska, the illusion that is Alaska. As we come to find out, the cool veneer that usually adorns the surface of Alaska hides a lot of deeper and darker aspects of her personality. If the world we draw affects the world that exists, couldn't Alaska, and post-Alaska Pudge, have dealt with everything a little differently? I don't know. I guess Pudge really couldn't have because he bought into the facade, and regardless of the facade or not, he lost a good friend.

I really didn't see it coming, all along I thought this whole before and after thing was going to be about some prank that threatened to get them all expelled. The fact that it totally blindsided me was Alaska, though. It was just so like her to do something like that, and the fact that they don't know if it was an accident or intentional just kills me. I also know that when we talked about this novel in class some people were concerned about the teachability of the text. I can't say this enough: if a text evokes an emotion or a thought that is beneficial and generative, then why not read it? I know that as a teacher I will have to be cautious about what I have on my shelves, but I really think I could make an argument for this one.

John Green also spoke about his writing process. Apart from saying that he found the entire experience slightly traumatic (he reminded me of Pudge when he said that), he said something else that struck me as interesting. I have always said that if you read well, you write well, and vice versa. I know this is not necessarily true in all cases, but it can help. John Green said that for writers, reading is the only apprenticeship that we have. And I thought about how very true that statement is for myself, and how I could help others come to that realization as well. As a future high school English teacher I know that I will be bogged down with portfolios and core content standards, but I hope that I can find a way to promote and foster a love of literature in the classroom as well... because as Ron (from Wilhelm) says, school is supposed to help you live better, right?

Journal Entry 5: Teaching with Drama AND "How I live now"

So clearly it has been awhile since we did this lesson, but I have been thinking about it recently and I thought it would worthwhile to write about. Wilhelm had nothing but good things to say in regards to using drama to teach literature. I will admit that some of it has come in handy for me in my tutoring for Everyone Reads, but I was left wondering about the long term implications of using drama to teach and how I could implement it successfully in my future high school classroom...



Our substitute (Dottie?) had us participate in some activities that really helped me gain some perspective on how drama could be used effectively in an upper level classroom. I loved the short story we read, and the fact that the end was really open to interpretation. The whole convince your best friend to use or not use the love potion was fun, and I think it would be great for a teenage audience because it would bring the story to their level. And of course the whole good angels versus bad angels was hysterical (although some of the things the bad angels came up with would certainly not be appropriate for any high school classroom... you know, the whole kill off the love slave when you're done with her thing could be construed as slightly inappropriate by some parents...).



I am truly looking forward to involving drama in my future classroom for several reasons. The first of which is that I really want to employ a variety of different teaching techniques in my classroom to cater to different types of learners. Second, I want to bring literature to life. So many times students see literature as something which is dead, set in stone, dormant. I want my students to experience literature and begin to see it as alive, thriving, changing, dynamic. I feel that involving drama in the classroom is an excellent means to achieving this goal. However, I also think that I will have to be very cautious about how I introduce the use of drama. Even from our short exercise in class it is obvious that things could get wildly out of control.



The day we did the exercise with drama in the classroom was also the day that I did my book talk, and I feel the need to write about that book as well. I decided to read a book called "How I live now," by Meg Rosoff. I truly did not expect to like this book nearly as much as I did. What initially drew me to the book was something on the back panel about living with terrorism in the modern age. However, once I actually began to read the book, I became hooked. The protagonist, Daisy, acts as narrator, and the way that she tells the story is difficult to understand at first, but I think it would be appealing to teens. It honestly reads like a conversation with a teenage girl, but once I fell into the rhythm of her speech I could appreciate the story a lot more.

Daisy travels to England to live with an aunt and some cousins who she has never met before. Shortly after her arrival war breaks out and her aunt, who works for the government, is sent away. The children are left to fend for themselves, and Daisy soon discovers that her cousins have some mysterious talents. Daisy also discovers an unnatural attraction to her cousin Edmund. As the story progresses this relationship becomes even more complicated, but in the end I couldn't help but want them to be together, even if it was more than a little incestuous.

The story is supposed to be about terrorism in the modern age, but I couldn't help thinking that the story was extremely reminiscent of WWII novels I have read... it was very different, but very interesting. I think this is something that I could safely recommend to my future students... and I think it would generate some very productive conversations. I want to say that the book was good, but that just doesn't seem to fit, even though I liked the book. I think it is something that I am going to have to read again to get the full gist of it.

Journal Entry 4: Where the heck have I been?!?!?!

I must first apologize- I have been totally absent from this blogger thing. I don't really have a very good excuse, though. Part of it is that I have been on baby watch 2008, and that was hectic. Another part of it is that this very class got me hooked on the TWILIGHT series, which I read and reread... because I am a nerd, and clearly I have no life. And I have been a little disappointed with some of the readings from Wilhelm...

It has been a little bit of a letdown for me, and I think that is also part of the reason that I have been neglecting these journal entries- I just didn't want to talk about it. Or write about it. In the beginning of the semester I was so excited about Wilhelm, and totally on board with what he was saying about reading. I suppose that I kept waiting for a moment that never came- like a EUREKA moment when it all comes together in a coherent fashion.... instead, though, it seemed to me as if Wilhelm was basically saying the same things over and over again. It is for this reason that I think this will be my last entry concerning Wilhelm... he has provided me with some interesting food for thought, but alas, I leave the company of Wilhelm not entirely content with the menu.

I did stumble upon some gems while reading Wilhelm. On page 52 Wilhelm describes Ron as a ludic reader, or someone who enters a trancelike state when reading. (Who knew there was a name for how I read???) I even sympathized with Ron when he stated that sometimes his fixation on a certain book truly interfered with his school work... but while this was all very intriguing, I couldn't help but wonder how this coould help me in my future classroom... not every child is going to be a ludic reader... certainly if they were I would be much less troubled about reaching out with literature because I would have voracious readers.

Also, I thought it was interesting that Wilhelm draws a distinction between the ways in which girls and boys read. I am sure that he is not the first or the last to make such a distinction, but I just found it interesting. Wilhelm states that boys read with a landscape of action, and girls read with a landscape of consciousness. When I read that, I was like, "WOW, how profound!" But then I was hugely disappointed because I don't feel that Wilhelm did an adequate job of expanding upon this difference in terms of teaching strategies... It's like Wilhelm wets your appetite, but then leaves you hungry.

I will say that reading Wilhelm has not been a complete loss, because if nothing else it has forced me to think about some strategies that I need to think about for my future classroom, and has also inspired me to learn more about certain topics.

A Note of Disappointment

Was anyone else slightly dissatisfied with our discussion of The Book Thief? Just wondering......

Journal Entry 3: The Book Thief (which I read by candle light due to the psychotic windstorm)

So who knew that Death had such a good sense of humor, or such a sensitive outlook on life (and death)? I LOVED this book. The manner in which it was written, with a very witty Death as narrator, really allowed me to experience the story from a unique angle. It is something that I think students would thoroughly enjoy, too. The only bad thing about Death as a narrator is that the reader discovers the fates of several key characters in advance, causing me to have to put down the book for awhile. For instance, when I found out about Rudy's imminent death I was devastated even before it transpired, and while I thought I had braced myself and prepared myself for the event I was still deeply touched.

This is a book that really made me love the characters, and the deaths of many of them, namely Hans Huberman, really shook me up. When I first finished the book I was miserable- heartbroken, really- I hate books that leave me feeling so depressed. After a few days had passed I started thinking about the book more, though, and I have decided that life, like the book, is not always pretty, and this is a prime example of how literature can be used to generate some serious and productive discussion in the classroom. There is room for discussion about the historical aspect of the text, as well as the severely human experience in the text. I think it is critical to realize the extent to which Liesel Meminger was touched by the state of affairs in Germany, and also to think about how a nation can get to that point. There is a section in the book (and had I been able to see properly I am sure I would have highlighted it!) where Death is talking about how wars can bring out the best and the worst in people, and I think that is an interesting observation that has plenty of room for exploration. Wilhelm talks about storying as defining humanity, and this novel is a supreme example of that.

Also, I loved the way that Hans taught Leisel to read. The fact that her love of reading comes from a need to cope with some sort of trauma speaks volumes about the power of literature. Liesel learns to cope with her nightmares through reading. This is illustrated again when all of Himmel Street gathers in a basement during air raids, and Liesel reads to the group. Her reading has a cathartic and calming effect on the group, even while they seek shelter from the possible destruction above them, in fact from death itself. Love is also illustrated to Liesel through the act of reading in the form of Max Vandenburg and his book for Liesel (and how appropriate is it that his words and story of love is literally written over the words of Mein Kampf at a time when love and humanity are taking place despite the reign of Hitler?????).
Reading is an escape for Liesel, and reading literally saves her life in the end of the book, because she is only saved from the destruction by reading and writing in the basement where Max once sought refuge.And the idea of a book thief intrigues me, because Liesel isn't merely stealing a book or some words; rather, she is stealing happiness and refuge at a time when both were sparse, and I find that to be such a lovely notion.

Another, thought, and this may be entirely unrelated, are the colors that Death mentions in the very beginning. Each time that Death spies Liesel Meminger he sees a color. Spotting her three times he sees first white, then black, and finally red. This stood out to me for several reasons. First and most obvious could be the fact that those three colors come together to comprise the flag of Nazi Germany. And so perhaps this is not just the experience of Liesel Meminger in Nazi Germany, but the collective experience of Nazi Germany itself. The death and destruction, the love coupled with the hate: these are certainly found in Liesel's life, but could her experience be indicative of the country's experience, as well? Secondly, and this may be a little farther off the beaten path, those three colors are traditionally associated with death. I kept thinking about this one passage from the myth about Deirdre and the Sons of Usiliu (either Irish or Welsh mythology, I can't recall) when Deirdre sees a black bird eating a carcass on the snow and she talks about how she could love a man with those three colors; black, red, and white. Throughout the myths there are references about these colors in relation to death, so that was just something that was in the back of my mind when reading this book.

Journal Entry 2: Because school is supposed to help you live better, right?

My sentiments precisely, Ron. While reading this book (which I think is slowly becoming my new Bible of teaching) I have been highlighting and writing in my own comments, which is my usual habit. However, I am finding that my pen and highlighter work in overdrive when scouring the pages of You Gotta BE the Book. Everything that Wilhelm asserts about teaching adolescents is typically accompanied by a few strokes my trusty highlighter along with a few hastily scrawled exclamation points from my pen. I know that these journal entries are supposed to be objective, and while I am attempting to focus on the text, my attempt may look much more like gushing approval than anything remotely resembling objective... but I will try.

I love so much of what Wilhelm says about the importance of teaching adolescents the importance of reading, but also the importance of reading for pleasure. So though I admit that what follows may indeed sound like 'gushing,' I do realize that theory alone is not enough... I think it is a good jumping off point and a good way for me to being thinking about how I will handle this situation in my future classroom, but I also recognize the importance of thinking about real life applications of theory. A theory with great internal validity means absolutely nothing to me if there is little or no external validity. Perhaps practice is nothing without theory and theory is nothing with practice... just a theory, of course...

The first phrase that is highlighted in a lovely shade of neon green can be found on page 33. It reads, "We must remember that the ways in which we mediate literature with students will have a profound effect on the kinds of readers they will become." This can only be too true. While working the other day (at Feeder's) I listened as one of my coworkers (a high school student in Jefferson County) whined about doing her portfolio requirement. When I asked her why she was having so much difficulty, she blamed the teacher. Now, most teens, when asked about a problem (particularly in the academic realm), will tend to blame someone else. But this is a girl who allowed me to read her papers last year, a girl who wrote beautifully and effectively, and who typically enjoyed the process. So how did an activity, that she is usually intrinsically motivated to perform, become such a chip on her shoulder? I delved a little deeper into the situation and discovered that the teacher insists on practices which include, but are not limited to: endless grammar work sheets, round robin reading (GASP!), and an array of other mind numbing exercises which are doing absolutely nil to help the students grow into good readers and writers.

Which leads me to my next point, which is actually an utterance from the lips of Ron, a student whom Wilhelm has identified as an engaged reader. (A small side note: I like the fact that the term engaged reader is used as opposed to gifted reader. I think sometimes students who are struggling with reading and self-esteem can be intimidated and turned off by the term gifted. When we value the level of engagement instead of how gifted the reader is, the obstacle or burden of reading can seem much less.... again, just some food for thought...) Ron states that the purpose of school is to help students live better lives, in and out of the classroom. So if I, as an educator, am supposed to help my students live fulfilled and enriched lives, literature seems to me the most appropriate tool to do this. Literature has the unique ability to allow us to leave our own lives, if only for awhile, and walk around in someone else's skin. My prospective students (high school age) will be using formal operational thinking, and hypothetical deductive reasoning. If I can encourage and foster this line of thinking through the use of literature, not only am I exercising my student intellectual capacities, but I am valuing the human experience as well. Literature can allow us to see the world from a different perspective, and to learn about past and present events. Wilhelm identifies this quality in engaged readers as, "imaginative rehearsal for living."

Perhaps, and it is my greatest hope that I can help my students see this, Wilhelm best expresses the power of literature on page 38: "Storying defines humanity, makes us human, empowers us in being who we are, and makes it possible for us to conceive of being more than we are."

Journal Entry 1: Part II

So I didn't quite speeze everything that I wanted to say into my first blog, hence the Part II. Now that I am off that particular soapbox, perhaps it is time to start in on a new one. One of my biggest fears about teaching is that the way in which I teach will irrevocably traumatize my students learning experience. It is as if this fear has become my mantra- I find myself constantly questioning how something (a theory, a technique, a philosophy) will effect my students. This fear has consumed me, in a good way... I think...

So then when we read about round robin reading and some of the negative effects that oral reading can have on students IF not instituted correctly, it got me thinking even more about the ways in which teachers choose to involve their students in their learning, and how sometimes the methods can be more of a hindrance to a childs learning than we think. Also, and maybe this is something that only makes sense in the recesses of my own psychotic head, but I think sometimes teachers get so hung up on educating students that they forget about the importance of learning. Not that teachers are entirely to blame for this epidemic- the entire school system is set up on the premise that students need to meet certain standards, attain certain scores. And of course this influences and informs not only the cirriculum, but also the method(s) of teaching the cirriculum. So sometimes teachers are forced to focus on the product of education instead of the process of education.

Naturally, following that train of thought, I connected with Wilhelm and what he was saying in chapter 1. On page 20 he states, "Texts themselves are not intrinsically literary or nonliterary; the stance taken toward a text makes the reading aesthetic or efferent." The ways in which teachers choose to assess a given subject, in this case reading, can truly inform the manner by which students go about completing the task, but it can have even bigger repercussions: it can inform their learning. Hence my fear about screwing up my students. Wilhelm mentioned many other things that I liked as well... I like what he says about a book being a promise, and the experience for the reader is the fulfilment of that promise. I just thought that was so beautiful because that's exactly how I feel about reading. However, it's not good enough for me to feel that way about reading- I want to know how I can get my students to that threshold as well. This is something that I do not have the answer to now, and though I hope to be much better informed and equipped upon graduation, I know that whatever I think I know about teaching will be challenged time and time again once I actually begin to teach. I still want to be as prepared as possible though, which is why I am looking forward to reading more of what Wilhelm has to say.

Journal Entry 1: Excitement about reading- reservations about technology

First and foremost, I must admit that this whole blogger thing has me a little confused... well, confused is not the best word for how I am feeling because I have indeed seemingly conquered this technology thing for the moment... I am not so much confused as I am hesitant, I suppose. Nonetheless, the technology has been properly harnessed (for the time being!) and I am ready to begin my very first blogging experience. Although I am slightly hesitant about keeping a journal online (I am an avid writer and have mounds of journals at home, some of which I am sure I must burn at some point due to their incriminating content, lest the men in little white coats come looking for me) I think it is an experience which I will thoroughly enjoy.

I would like to begin by writing about the first book that I selected to share with the class. Sloppy Firsts was SUCH an enjoyable read. I am the type of person that reads the same book over and over, always finding something new, and I am sure that this is a book which I will one day pick up, dust off, and enjoy it as much the second time around as I did the first. Though I enjoyed the book immensely and found myself chuckling on more than one occasion, I am attempting to think with my teacher hat on, so to speak. I need to make an effort to think about things beyond the here and now and truly examine the possible implications of my learning and teaching style in my future classroom. So while this is a book that I obviously liked, is it something that I could keep in my classroom and recommend to my students?

Though this does not seem like a complex question (surely it could be answered with a simple yes or no....?) the answer is indeed much more obscure. As someone planning on teaching at a middle or high school level, my hypothetical students will hypothetically be dealing with some of the same issues as the protagonist in the novel... the question of whether or not this novel would be appropriate for them to read would depend upon how the novel resolves some of the issues, such as drugs and sex and peer pressure, and how I as an educator present the novel. I feel that while the novel does present the reader with some sticky situations and graphic language, perhaps it can reach out more effectively to the students. The story isn't watered down at all, instead it presents a world that (whether we like it or not) our students are familiar with... and I think that this novel would be a great conversation starter- it would be a wonderful jumping off place for some generative discussion and thought. And while it may make some people uncomfortable, perhaps it is necessary. Take a look at sex education: abstinence only programs don't educate teens about the dangers of unsafe sex, and what good is that when we know that they're GOING TO DO IT ANYWAY? Because they're teens, and that's just what teens do. So to me, it makes much more sense to be open about these issues and talk with our students and educate them, because at the end of the day that is what is most important. I want my students to feel like my classroom is open for discussion, and I am not going to live in lala land and pretend that my students are little angels who don't have the tiniest inkling about "real world" problems.