Krakauer's "Into the Wild"

          Growing up with a very outdoorsy family had made me a nature lover and wild child by association. "Into the Wild" had resonated with me on that level as I understood Chris's need to find himself by getting lost. I don't necessarily mean lost as in, no idea where his orientation is, but needed to lose all associations, ties, expectations that come along with being a human of society. I believe Chris felt a need to reinvent himself and all his past values in order to feel enlightened and morph into the best version of himself that he could find. 

          This story embodies people trying to reinvent themselves and grow by challenging themselves. This concept is perfect to work into the classroom as students are still learning and growing and trying to figure out who they are. "Into the Wild" attracts a different crowd of readers that thirst for adventure but fails to be captured by fiction. This book is a good in-between for concepts such as individualism, existentialism, naturalism and applying them to your student's real lives. It tells a tale of someone actually doing what they dream of and applying these concepts that we often drone on about in class. 

          Chris sparks a sleeping wanderlust in most of the readers of the novel but also stands to be a testament of what we can work on individually. Chris was a person and people are flawed. One thing the author continues to point out is the fact that Chris had struggled taking and applying feedback/advice. Someone can argue that that was his Hamartia which ultimately caused his death. Someone else can argue that this is what made Chris unique and thirst to learn more about life unquenchable. Teaching this story can show that there is more than simply learning in school. Learning also applies to taking risks and learning from your (and other's) mistakes. 

Edgar Allan Poe Isn't Always the "Bees Knees"

          I don't know of anyone that doesn't enjoy the thrilling and ghoulish stories from Edgar Allan Poe. They're suspenseful and enthralling which are important points to consider when trying to teach literature, and complex literature at that, to a young audience. As English Language Arts teachers, it is easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of the story and force that love of literature and all its elements on our students. However, I will discuss some downsides to teaching Poe to middle and high school students. It is important to keep in mind that I am not writing this with the intention to dissuade anyone from teaching Poe all together. My goal is for those that plan on teaching to be aware that there are limitations of Poe's text versatility, despite what we have been force fed over the years. 

          First, it is essential that we keep in mind of our audience. As exciting as many of us find the stories, there is a specific age group where teaching Poe's text is most effective. If you try to teach the literary aspects of the stories to too young of students then there is a strong possibility that you may lose their attention and drive for the story. Poe's diction is complex and difficult to understand for a lot of younger students (by younger, I mean middle school and possibly freshmen). As a former student who didn't have an expansive vocabulary at the time, I understand the struggle of having to look up a new word every other sentence just to try to understand what is going on in the plot. This doesn't even apply to the work I had to do to understand what is going on between the lines. I praise Poe's stories for being a challenge and it had made me a better student because of it, however it is important to keep in mind as a teacher that you need to give ample time to go over vocabulary and give an overview of the plot. 

          A final note I feel is worth mentioning is the versatility of Poe's text. Yes, they are engaging (if you do it correctly) and an easy go-to to teach components of a story such as diction, point of view, symbols, personification. But as it turns out, a lot of Poe's texts lack a moral or impactful themes that are worth using on an older audience (junior and seniors in my opinion). At this point in their education, the text would be best used as examples for other assignments such as a persuasive essay.

          Again, I want to say I am all on the Poe train! However, we as teachers often overlook the difficulties that students face if we do not tailor teaching curriculum for the correct age group and lessons. There are a lot of teaching material out there that makes learning 100 times more engaging for students because of the excitement in Edgar Allan Poe's text and to utilize that would show the actions of a resourceful teacher. Please, just keep in mind that not everyone is in love with English as we are.

"The Round House" by Louise Erdrich

          This amazing story covers many themes that are considered difficult to discuss in a classroom. It discusses sex, race, and religion extensively all of which are "taboo" subjects to bring up in a secondary level classroom. However, if you feel you can mediate the conversation well enough, these are vital subjects that students need to learn to confront, decide their stance, and actively listen to opposing views because these themes are ongoing throughout life. Knowing how to confront difficult situations like those that occur in the story and approach difficult conversations is how we prepare our students for the outside world. 

          The first theme that occurred to me while reading this story was the injustice to not only the Native Americans people, but specifically the Native American women. This is a subject that does not gain enough coverage and often overlooked even in today's culture. In the book, many men both white and Native, abused the Native women both mentally and physically. This repeating message to the reader makes us take notice to the injustice being done to those oppressed by their male counterparts.

          Another theme I had seen begin to take place in "The Round House" was that of religion. It is no secret that the Catholicism and different Native American tribe's religions have clashed since Americans had forced cultural assimilation on the latter. More often than not, Catholicism had forbidden usage of the Native's first language and practice of their religion. Although there are some references to this clash in cultures, there was nothing outright stating the wrongdoings of the Christian church. In fact, Erdrich had presented both religions as beneficial to the well being of the people. I am unsure if she had wrote the novel on purpose with this intent or if she chose to not embellish one religion over the other but this would be a good discussion point with a classroom and possibly her reasoning behind it.  

edTPA: Making Good Choices

        Being a WA state teacher candidate comes with it's fair share of anxieties. Apart from being prepared to teach a classroom, the precaution and planning it takes to fill out each lesson plan most effectively is an extensive process. There are a lot of components that make up the TPA format but the focus lies on how you teach your lesson plans. This article helps significantly with breaking down what is expected of you when turning in your edTPA and understanding how you are getting graded. This reflects what we should expect from our students when giving out rubrics so this way there are no surprises for them when they are finally graded on their products. 

        In order to get the most out of your time, it is vital that you do not procrastinate. It is important that your students get your best effort when planning your lesson plans. The mechanics of a sentence isn't graded (grammar, spelling, etc.) but rather the depth of your content. However, to be taken seriously as a teacher, and ELA teacher no less, I think that it is vital to double check your grammar and spelling before submitting your final product of your TPA. 

       One of my main questions that was answered through the article was what to include along with the TPA? I knew that you have to include videos of you teaching, student work, and proof of assessments, but I was unclear of how in depth each should be. Now knowing the intricacies of what to add and how to best display my learning along with a wide variety of my students learning, I feel confident that I can succeed at the edTPA. 

Social Justice in the Classroom

What I read to get acquainted with Social Justice
How to implement Social Justice in the classroom
        In my eyes, Social Justice is incorporating the real world with your classroom. It is promoting real interaction with people and discussions in order to help a problem. Before this happens, they need to learn how to have an argument which is a statement of facts to solve a problem. There are not many other opportunities where students are able to discuss and persuade in a safe environment outside of the ELA classroom; As an English teacher, it is important that we realize the important task that we are dealt to teach these students. 
        To begin with, students need to be able to discern fact from fiction. This incorporates a lot of research which adds to their skills. Aside from persuasion, it is also vital that we teach student how to listen to one another. This may be purely to notice a mistake in the other person's facts or to notice fault in their conclusion. One step above this, in my opinion, would be actively listening to see if their stance changes. This creates the environment of being co-learners rather than adversaries. You need to foster an environment that is conscience so students will be able to step back and look at a single problem many different ways. Once this community is established, bringing in real life issues that affect the students now would be the next best step. 
         It is vital to remember that the goal is to solve and issue and irradiate any inequality that may exist. By implementing Social Justice, you're not only challenging students to build their arguments and see from multiple points of views, but you're preparing them for a future outside of school. You're teaching them academic and critical skills that are necessary to resolve real differences in the world. 

Popular Culture and Critical Media Pedagogy in Secondary Literacy Classrooms

         As a future teacher, a fear that I have is not being able to help all my students. Or, even worse, is to look as some student as “unteachable” and not know how to help them. This article had helped point out to me that if it comes down to that situation, it is not the student who needs help, but myself. If a student is failing to learn, it is because the material doesn’t resonate with them and/or I am not teaching it in a way that best suits them. The fact that the Hip-Hop Project was made up of students that struggled academically speaks volumes to how far troubled students can go with the right curriculum tailored to their needs and a willing teacher to take extra time with them. Some of the biggest points that the students had pointed out was the lack of student voice when it comes to schoolwork. If the curriculum doesn’t reflect student experiences, they aren’t going to relate to it and I won’t get the results I was hoping for as a teacher. For tougher kids that come from a difficult background, this is essential. As secondary education advances, so should the curriculum. 

         Yes, I think it is important to teach classic literature but finding a way to incorporate that into the student’s daily life is far more important. Thinking outside the box for teaching reading and writing may fall under analyzing pop culture lyrics and how themes in certain songs reflect similar themes in literature. This allows students to bring knowledge that they already know ahead of time to the table and be able to apply it and contribute to the class. On top of this, they will enjoy being engaged with something they enjoy as it touches their daily life. 

Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”

The role of a teacher is to prepare students for the real world outside of school. These include other skills rather than just reading, writing, math, and fact about the solar system or how many bones are in the body. With this methodology of teaching, students come with a “helpless” mentality and expect the teacher to simply teach them a new “school skill.” And because of this, many teachers teach to this school skill rather than to life skills. In life we don’t encounter having to write a persuasive essay daily but we do have to face difficult decisions. These decisions might come in the form moral dilemma, facing racism, or interpersonal skills to help someone other than yourself.

The more teachers set up this illusion of “this ‘school skill’ will help you later in life,” it not only discredits the school system we have in place but destroys the creativity that comes with real life problem solving. This leaves us with a conditioned next generation that expects the answers to land in their laps just like the information did in the previous 18 years of their life. This isn’t only a disservice to the next generation of adults but to ourselves as we helped raise a nation of people that do not find beauty in math or original thoughts that can cause a revolution. These authentic thoughts are what gives life meaning. Who are we to deny that right to students?

As English teachers, we have the ability to enter endless amounts of worlds, problems, and solutions. We have to use this gift as a tool to teach students to simply think for themselves and as daunting as that might be at times, that is the only way we can come up with new solutions to our ever-changing world.