Colleague Response

I responded to the following blogs:

http://mmanleysmc.blogspot.com

http://karenvigna.blogspot.com

Blog #6: August 6th

1.)   The first, of five things to be done about education, I would say, is to communicate a wake up call about the reality of data. What I mean by that is, inform anyone who is anyone, parents, teachers, students, that data is not essentially everything, and sometimes cannot prove everything. Ravitch herself states, “Data are representations of reality, not reality itself” (281). Not just political figures, but many people in just our general population have bought into this idea that data, the hard numbers, the test scores truly show the reality of where education is. I would argue that most people do not discuss the implications of these tests, whether or not we can accept that they accurately assess our students’ abilities. I think it may be true, that many parents and children accept the standardized tests as if they have been created by some all foreseeing power that is so accurate, precise, and prestigious that one does not question its accuracy, I think to do so does not even come into play for a lot of people. However, when given this thought, and being told that it is okay to question the validity of the standardized tests, what they actually measure and the potentially negative implications they could have on the educational process throughout a school year, I think people would absolutely begin to see what Ravitch is seeing, what I’m seeing, and what other teachers have grown to see through our teaching. Therefore, what I would do would be to urge the president to make this known. To communicate the fact that humans make these tests, and humans are not without error. This wouldn’t be with the intension of creating a rift, audacity, or blame, but rather an awareness of reality that many people, I think, may not look into because the state, and the government are seen as above us. We question laws that we vote on, so we most certainly should question the tools that are given to assess our students’ learning. I think creating an awareness of this would be the first step in helping guide people away from this immense focus on data.

2.)   Along with this I would want to address with the public the idea of authentic assessments for teachers. Since NCLB was instated there has been full accountability and responsibility on teachers. NCLB makes it easy for those who don’t question, and don’t know the potential holes of NCLB to point the finger at the teacher. It seems to strip all accountability from students and factors that would potentially influence their performance, which could never be accurately assessed by NCLB. The reality is that a teacher can be an expert teacher, doing everything necessary to help a student achieve, but if a student is dealing with a number of home, family, personal issues that stem from poverty, abuse, whatever, then that teacher is going to be seen as fully accountable for the failure of that student, regardless. This is something people need to be aware of. So a main response from me, to the president, would be first and foremost to create awareness.

3.)   I think the next most important thing would be to get rid of assessing teachers based on student test scores. The standardized tests are completely subjective, and teachers are being regulated based on a one sided perception or understanding of success. What needs to be decided first, is who even has the right, the authority, and the specific professionalism to assess teachers. I would argue that this would absolutely have to be people with teaching experience, and reputability. A person without teaching experience, or who does not understand or know the world of education, cannot be the overseer determining what is success in this business. Education is a complex business and must take into account individuality on a multitude of different levels, therefore no number can ever provide an accurate representation of the reality, learning, progress, and growth that happens in a classroom, because some of these dimensions can not be measured by a multiple choice test, and many of the things we think are measurable by this test, can not always be accurately measured. The test is not 100 percent reliable for all facets of growth and intelligence which good education and good teachers foster. True growth and learning can only be assessed through continuous observation, and analysis of thinking that students produce, whether it is spoken or written. Students do not have the opportunity to explain their thinking on a multiple choice test, so how can we truly evaluate with a bubble test, the complex mental process and reasoning that a student is making? This all must be understood in order for the population and political sector to understand that teachers cannot be effectively and truly valuated by such a process as the one that is currently instated.

4.)   If we truly care about education and success, it can’t be a quick process. People want numbers and hard data from the test because then it is easy to see “who is learning, who isn’t learning,” and “who is teaching effectively, who isn’t.” When I’m thinking of the problem with standardized tests, I’m thinking of the issues specifically related to assessing students’ thinking skills in English. In an English class, the essay is the most powerful and most telling testing tool. Any English teacher, I think, would argue that we can evaluate true student learning by what they produce in writing (or out loud). The goal is to communicate clearly and effectively, yet STAR never requires them to articulate any thought whatsoever. I think effective testing for English would then have to incorporate writing, to be evaluated by professional English teachers. That being said, perhaps teacher education programs do need to be more rigorous as far content areas and grading. Every teacher should be able to be considered a true professional in his or her field and qualified to evaluate the assessments given to their students. Therefore, the people who I think should be evaluating student learning, are teachers. Not government officials who interpret a set of numbers and take them for fact and reality. I don’t know enough about other subject areas to confidently say that this same system could be implemented for those disciplines, however I think that it could. We need to see the evolution of thought that takes place in a students mind, and somehow assess every student individually, not according to a standard addressed for all students within a specific age group. That grouping creates numerous issues, due to the fact that all students are bringing to the classroom a wide variety of circumstances that can either positively or negatively affect their learning. The reality is that thee circumstances need to be accounted for and considered.

5.)   My final suggestions would be to focus on curriculum, as Ravitch has stated a number of times that there is too heavy a focus on results and not enough on what we actually want our students to learn. Similarly important, we can’t ignore that poverty is a major issue and that much of what we see in the achievement gap can be attributed to poverty and the affects of poverty. I would suggest that we need an economic turn around, and, as idealistic as it may sound, some way to rescue our youth from poverty. And charter schools are not the way to do it. Charter schools promote selection, unintentionally perhaps, in the fact that its availability and promises couldn’t possibly be made known to everyone, especially those in intensive need. It seems that we, as people involved in education, and the government, need to take on a greater responsibility in providing what students need in order to learn, and quality of live and family support are those things. The bigger question I would propose, would be, can we tackle this? Is it within the realm of possibility to change every child’s circumstance? Are their factors that we have to accept, but just do our best to fight against? And if those are the questions, then one would see at the same time, that we certainly can not assess teacher ability by scores from tests that exclude individuality and personal factors from the scope of evaluation.

2.) One of the most meaningful things I learned from Ravitch, which would be something I would say to the president as well but I chose to save it for this question, would be her discussion and explanation of private investors and the Billionaire Boys’ Club. This was one of the most meaningful things I learned from her book because, unlike the problems with NCLB, and problems with skewed data, I had never before realized or understood what is taking place when people with a lot of money choose to donate to or fund education. Because it is their money, they are able to essentially dictate how that money will be spent, and if the schools want in on the money, they will essentially embrace the ideas of the donors in order to receive those funds. The problem is, again, we have people with a lot of money with their own, and often uninformed and biased, philosophies on education come in with in idealistic solution. There is no way a lot of the time, for that donor to know or understand the ramifications of reforms that they think are necessary. However, teachers usually, as the ones on the frontlines, are the first ones to be able to detect potential problems and successes of new reforms. However, they’re not the ones with the money and their voice is essentially lost. So we are left with this problem of people with money opening small schools, supporting charters, and doing all these things that they think will help education, but studies and when these ideas are put into action show failure, problems, and an overall undermining of the education system. At this point we have people who are not professionals making major decisions about education, and as Ravitch had said, with no one to hold them accountable for anything (201). This information was extremely valuable to me because it was something I was unaware of. I really dislike the idea that people who are not professionals in the teaching field can have such a huge weigh in on how to fix education just because they have the money with which to entice a school or a district.

3.) As a teacher, and as a citizen, considering the current state of American education, I have to do whatever it takes to help my students succeed. To me that success is attributed to personal and mental growth, pushing potential, sparking creativity, and, dare I say it, how to take a multiple-choice test. The reality is that there are going to be multiple-choice tests in many of these students’ futures. Whether they decide to take the SATs, go into the education field, medical field, law enforcement, fire fighting. All of these professions require testing like this. So, in my opinion, all I can do is support my students to the best of my ability so that they can achieve success now and in the future. It is tough, but I don’t think it is impossible to teach students organically, holistically, and allow room for creativity, while incorporating test taking strategies, and formative assessments that mirror STAR questions so that students get used to the format. A strategy that I’ve used in the past that I actually really loved was to present students with a multiple-choice quiz, only five questions. However, they had to explain in writing on the test why they chose each answer. We would then go over the quiz as a class and discuss everyone’s answers and rationales for choosing what they chose. We would examine how some answers were “more right” than others, but sometimes, I would get a student who made a brilliant case for an answer that was said to be incorrect by the test. In this case I would be honest with my students. I gave my students credit where credit was due, and let them know that humans make these tests, not God, not a computer that is perfect and above all flaw, but someone with a subjective viewpoint, and unfortunately, we as other people are subjected to those flaws, and we can only do the best we can. I would even tell my students that it is unfortunate they can’t express their rationale for a different answer, because their rationales are often brilliant. I think that what they learned in this lesson, beyond English, was a lesson on life and reality. Sometimes we are confined and limited momentarily, and we have to play the game until we can find a way to change it. But I don’t think that dealing with these circumstances of American education are all bad, we just have to teach our students to be aware, to be smart, and to always do their best. But I think letting giving them affirmation for a technically “incorrect” answer, lets them see and know that there are no limits to what they can do, and one day they could spark or create change. We have to let them know that there are flaws in the system and that they are subject to those flaws, we all are. But I think that is a really powerful lesson for students as far as knowledge, motivation, and empowerment.

4.) The first website is: The National Council of Teachers of English. http://www.ncte.org/

On the website there is an email account you can sign up for to receive newsletters. There is also a free web seminar about speaking out to support teaching. There are links for professional development and the NCTE Annual Convention. There are links to resources, ways to get involved, a link to join, as well as a link to shop for books, journals, or various memberships. On this page there are also links to a multitude of English aspects such as poetry, and writing. There is a calendar on the home page, as well as a list of how to get involved, and specially featured items for teaching such as books and compilations of lesson plans.

The second website is: The English Teachers Association. http://www.englishteacher.com.au/

On this website there are a number of links to all different aspects of teaching English. These links appear to lead to lesson plans and books on each topic, but one must be a member in order to access those tools. The association also has a magazine called , “The Latest mETAphor.” It appears that this association is based in Australia. However, if one is willing to take the time to match up standards, or notice similarities between standards, then perhaps some of the tools and links offered on this website could be beneficial to any English teacher. The English basics are the same, so I like that it is really easy to search by English topic on this website. There seems to be easily accessible information on anything I would need to teach pertaining to English in general.

6.)   Over the next three years, if I could, I would…

a.)   still like to see in the Bay Area: how teachers are teaching and incorporating diversity in places such as San Francisco. I would also like to see as many cultural exhibits and museums as possible. In conjunction with that I would like to take my students on field trips to these museums and exhibits and help integrate understanding and appreciation for cultural diversity through that active experience. In class, Tanya referenced a theatre company that performs Shakespeare plays in Indian culture. I would love to see this and use one of these performances to enhance students understanding of a Shakespeare play, and how Shakespeare transcends time and cultures. The last thing I would like to do, and may still try to do this even though it would be challenging, would be to interview people who direct and/or work at the Latino Community Foundation in San Francisco. Their goal is to help create a better future for Latino families in general, and since supporting those families, and creating better situations for those families could help close the achievement gap (as I have gleaned in light of some of the empirical research I have done).

b.)   I would still like to read: The Chicanos (Paperback) by Gilberto Lopez y Rivas, Changing Patterns of Family and Ideology among Latino Cultures in the United States, The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, Essay Writing for High School Students: A Step-by-Step Guide by Newsweek Education, Writing Smarter: Over 100 Step-By-Step Lessons With Reproducible Activity Sheets To Build Writing Proficiency in Grades 7-12.

c.)   I would still like to investigate:

Nariman-Jahan, R., & Rahimpour, M. (2011). The Effects of Planning and Proficiency on Language Production of Writing Task Performance. Educational Research (2141-5161), 2(9), 1528-1537.

Danzak, R. L. (2011). The Interface of Language Proficiency and Identity: A Profile Analysis of Bilingual Adolescents and Their Writing. Language, Speech, And Hearing Services In Schools, 42(4), 506-519.

d.) I would still like to attend: A conference with the NCTE: March 13–16, 2013 CCCC Annual Convention, "The Public Work of Composition,” and Asilomar 61: Why Literature? What Literature? How? September 28-30, 2012 Pacific Grove, CA e.) I would still like to see Cambridge University, Oxford University, the closing of the achievement gap between white students and black and Latino students. I would like to see students taking more risks with their writing. Lastly, I would like to see libraries that contain the hard copies of the first newspapers and letters in American history. Perhaps copies of these would suffice. I think it would be really fascinating for students to be acquainted with and examine how our language has evolved since the birth of our country.

Interdisciplinary Teaching

INTERDISCIPLINARY LESSONS 7/20/2012

As an English teacher, another subject area that I find incorporates well into curriculum I've taught in the past, is Health. Last year my freshman read Fast Food Nation. Not only were they able to practice the multiple skills necessary to compile an argumentative essay, but also acquired in depth knowledge of the food industry. Many students were very affected by their discoveries in the literature, and while this made an impact on them, as we as English teachers hope that literature will do, it also encouraged many of them to take action as far as educating their families and friends on the food industry, and how to make healthier choices in their own lives. The text served with a double purpose, which is what interdisciplinary teaching aims to do. I would definitely use this text for students to write argumentative or persuasive essays (I had seen my Master teacher use it with my Freshman classes that I eventually took over as Teacher of Record in January). It seems that because this "Health" issue has a direct connection to them, they are able to make a more personal connection with the literature, and therefore care about it, and ultimately put sincere effort into their work in order to effectively communicate their formed opinions. I think what the major challenges of doing this kind of interdisciplinary lesson is that, especially depending on your population, some students may feel ashamed, angry, or helpless, as they aren't necessarily in charge of the money in their home, or buying the food. Many of them get excited and want to influence their families to make a change, and really share what they know. However, some people could see this text to be offensive. I'm not sure if this is a case where I would take the risk of that, or if there is a way to offset the risk. Perhaps encouraging students to look at counter claims to the text would help maintain objectivity. I don't have a link for this, but I know you can find the text at Barns and Noble. Barnsandnoble.com

I found a great site for interdisciplinary lessons for English Teachers. The site is: http://www.webenglishteacher.com/interdis.html and the specific one I'm looking at here can be found at: http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/language/language_article1.html

I really like this lesson because I think part of helping students see the importance of English, and the class, is letting them see where language came from and how it has evolved. If students can see how language has evolved across multiple languages, where they all stem from and where they all branch off, then perhaps we can bring them to the idea of deconstruction (word from meaning) and how we use words to ascribe meaning to ideas (more of a Linguistics approach). I remember to have found this idea to be really fascinating myself when I was younger. This could essentially then integrate history, as we are discussing the history and evolution of language, and how specific moments and events in time have a role in that evolution. I think this lesson would be most helpful and applicable when dealing with specific key terms or academic language. It would obviously be impossible to cover every word, but certain words have roots and a history of evolution that can help students better apply meaning, and an understanding of meaning to new words. So vocabulary + linguistics+ history! As far as a challenge with teaching this, is as far as deconstruction or words and meaning, some students may find this to be an extremely abstract concept that they are not prepared to understand yet. For the history aspect, many words can sound and look similar across languages that all stem from one main language, and keeping track of the evolution may be a challenge. However, I think done with the proper organizers and examples, students can be successful. As far as incorporating history and linguistics into this type of English lesson, I think it will be critical for students to keep information in an organized layout. 

In response to Courtney Lyon's blog post on Interdisciplinary Lessons, she makes a great point that teaching American literature goes hand in hand with American History. The literature we provide students in English class in another window through which they can see varying, or multiple realities that took place at this point in history. They are able to string together multiple perspectives, through multiple texts in order to really construct their own understanding of American history, in conjunction with the facts the history text book provides them. Courtney found a video that sheds light on dealing with life post slavery. I think this is so important for students to see because we want them to make a real world connection to everything they've learned, so they need to be able to see the progression of our history, and how things have changed. Courtney wrote:

"The last link that is resourceful is “Three Generations- White and Black.”  This link interviews a white woman who was a kindergarten teacher in Georgia in the 1930’s.  She describes the relationship between her family and the employees who were descendants of slaves owned by her own ancestors.  This link provides interesting insight into the resulting relationships that form after slavery has ended and African Americans and whites interact under new circumstances.
The Library of Congress:
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/depwwii/race/"

This video could spur a really interesting writing project or critical essay. Students can link information from the past to the present in order to construct their understanding of the significance of historic events. I think this is a great example of the potential for these two disciplines' working together. With the chance that I may be teaching Junior English next year, which is American literature, I think I could definitely incorporate something like this (as well as Sasha's PPT from Tuesday). I'm thinking of Equianno, and many other slave narrative writers, as well as writings from the perspectives of whites during that time. For students to understand the past through literature, and then see how the past has evolved and now plays out in real life, would be extremely powerful in supporting them to construct their own opinions and understanding of our history.

Also looked at: Eghosa Obaiza's blog, and Allison Rayford's blog

Peer Response

Response to Hazem Kira: http://kiramait.blogspot.com/

Blog 5: July 27, 2012

1. The most relevant parts of Dr. Robert's presentation for me were the amount of time that is accumulated when people are using multiple forms of media at one time, and the part concerning how many students actually read books. It is quite startling to see the numbers and the pie graphs revealing where technology, in many senses, has lead our society. What resonated with me most however, was the discussion that took place after the presentation. There was a bit of a battle going on at the beginning between strong opinions against technology and some opinions in support of it, it took a while before people could reach a consensus that we need both. I feel strongly that a balance of both is our only option, if we want to preserve and transfer the value we know a text can provide, but also keep our students up to date with what is relevant and necessary for functioning in our society. We can not completely oust technology unless we want to do our students a huge disservice. We also can not leave behind the value in experiential learning, nature, and literature, but I feel for many of us as teachers we understand this already. As detrimental as technology appears to be, we have to teach our students how to use it responsibly and effectively, we can not pull the plug on technology unless we want our students to sink in the real world. In a way it's like we're throwing them into the fire, but we can't turn back time and technology is moving at a rapid rate that I think will be a losing battle for anyone who wants to fight it, regardless whether you think it's good or bad.

3.) I think this article presents some true facts, but also some hype, and not all of the facts. I have been in online classes that I can say I learned absolutely nothing in. I can also say I've been in online classes that have driven my intrinsic motivation, challenged me, forced me to be more responsible, and where I actually learned more than in a regular class. I'm not necessarily for or against online courses, but the reality is that they do exist in college, and students need to learn how to navigate those sites; sometimes that's a really tough part of learning to take an online class. I think the effectiveness of online classes are also totally based on the teacher, and whether or not the teacher plans to hold the students accountable, grade the work in specific online programs and provide sufficient feedback, and hold students accountable for plagerism. Aren't those the basics? Shouldn't that be what teachers are doing anyway? The problem is the budget, and that is where we as teachers, myself, my school community and my teaching are affected. I need a job just as badly as the next person. I also believe that some classes need to be in person, and students need to experience being among a community of learners, participating in discussion and working with their peers. However, I don't think one to three online classes is/are going to jeopardize that learning. What I do think though, is that having a completely virtual learning experience would be completely insufficient and detrimental to one's education. I'm not so anti online classes because I understand why they're happening. Districts aren't in control of the budget cuts, so when it comes time to cut, what are their options? Lay off teachers and have larger class sizes, or lay off teachers and provide online courses?  As far as increasing graduation rates, why can't those students have another shot at learning the material a different way? Maybe they need the style of an online class, and for some reason that works for them. I don't think it's dumbing down the content if the teacher of that course is doing his or her job and holding students accountable. The scary thought, I think for many teachers, is that this may be the direction education is headed in, and will allow the private sectors one more area in which to invest their money that can definitely have the potential of taking away from public education. When it does come to student choice though, I think online classes are okay to have, depending on the situation. If the student has failed Algebra twice, why not let them try it online? I failed Geometry in high school, miserably. I took it a few years later through BYU and I aced it. I learned so much. I was completely held accountable though. I was mailed tests and had to go to University of Phoenix to take them with a proctor (the tests were actually mailed to University of Phoenix). I had to set up my appointments and stay on top of everything. I also had an English class where we submitted papers online, and the teacher graded really hard. She also had available office hours so we could visit her and get in-person help if necessary. I think it all depends, but I don't think online education is all bad, by any means. I think we could never switch to it, as I explained before. But as an option, or when districts are backed into a corner, I don't see why the article takes on a sort of blaming tone, (towards the Republicans it seems). I'm sure there are plenty of corrupt people in both parties with private agendas to score whatever it is they want to score, but I also don't believe that all advocates of some online education are a bunch of crooks either. Is it possible some people have the same philosophy behind it as I do? And I'm not looking to cut jobs/ ruin lives. I really think online classes can be effective, but that they also have their place.

I will definitely be registering on Donorschoose.org. I'm astounded, first of all, that this site exists! I'm so excited because I see so much potential for what I can do with my classes now. Last year I really wanted to order class sets of a certain book, but I couldn't. Now, ordering materials may be with in a new realm of possibility thanks to this website. I'm also really nervous that I may not have a Document Camera next year, so this totally lifts my spirits.

The next source I will definitely be recommending to my students is http://www.openoffice.org/. I've actually known about openoffice because I had to use it in college, because I couldn't afford microsoft word. I wish I would have thought to share this with my students last year! I had a number of students who did not have microsoft word, and could not buy it. This would have solved so many of my issues. One thing I would recommend, however, is to do an in-class tutorial on it, because students will need to save the document in whichever format they are trying to make the "office" compatible with. For instance, students would need to save a document as a ".doc" if they wanted their work to be compatible with microsoft word.

I think dropbox would be great to use for sharing teaching tools among departments or grade levels. Teachers could add lessons, edit lessons, or share worksheets this way and they're accessible from anywhere, which is so convenient. At Pittsburg we had the T-drive where we kept all our shared files, but we couldn't access it from home. I think having a separate dropbox which could be shared with students would work well too. I could upload assignments and students could find them in the dropbox if they lose an assignment or need to make up a missing assignment, or were absent that day. It was always difficult keeping organized the multitude of extra worksheets, rubrics, and graphic organizers I kept laying around for students who needed an extra copy for whatever reason.

I definitely want to convert a lot of my power point lessons to prezi, for the pure fact that students will think they are cool. If students are interested in what is happening in front of them, I think they may be more likely to stay engaged. As we discussed in class, it also organizes information in a really visually affective and logical way that I think will help students to better see connections between certain information.  

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Response to Colleagues 7/1/12

Tanya Shah:

smcshah.blogspot.com

Josie Kirkland

josiekirkland.blogspot.com

Courtney Lyon

courtneylyonsmc.blogspot.com

Friday 6/29/12

1.) The most memorable outside-school experience I've had that has expanded and deepened my subject area content knowledge, or at least understanding of its relevance, was when my best friend, who is mexican, told me that it is sometimes awkward learning about literature that comes primarily from white males. We had a discussion about how everyone perceives his or her own reality differently in a certain way based on a variety of experiences. We discussed what is important, and how schools and teachers determine one piece of literature, or one author to be more valuable than another. As someone who does not identify with any specific diverse culture, this conversation completely opened my eyes to the reservations, perceptions, and feelings people may have when confronted with the literature most commonly taught in schools. I began to wonder what kind of message it sends when the curriculum does not contain enough diversity and the impact that could have on very brilliant students. Would they pull away out of an inability to identify? Or out of defiance of assimilation? Her very real experience called into question critical aspects of my subject area, and the importance of well rounded content knowledge. The phrase playing over in my mind right now is, British literature isn't everything, although I love it. Latino literature, Chinese literature, and a variety of other cultures all have an influence on American literature and have very current and primary relevance in our world today. When it comes to student buy-in and engagement, I think of my friend's experience, and remember the critical importance of incorporating diversity when teaching literature.

2.) The class discussion on Ball seemed to gravitate heavily towards everyone's individual experiences in high school. Though we wondered if we were off topic a bit, I find it extremely interesting how interested and thoughtful everyone became when we began to reflect on our high school teachers and high school classes. Ball makes a claim that much of our content knowledge in subjects other than what we majored in in college comes from what we learned in high school. I initially disagreed with this claim because I felt that the first two years of college, the lower division courses are all focused in different subjects similar to high school. Although I still think my opinion can be seen as valid, I was fascinated to see how many people in our class truly felt that their high school classes and high school teachers had a strong influence on the content knowledge in various areas that they possess today.

3.) I think I have officially nailed down a specific line of inquiry. My question is: Who are prominent Hispanic/Latino authors in California and how does their community and culture influence their writing? I may want to take this a step further as far as looking at what this influence has on the American Literature cannon. I am extremely satisfied with my question, I just want to figure out a more articulate way to tie in the second part of it. I am very excited to pursue this line of inquiry as I have found a significant amount of potential experiential sources. With those experiential sources I think I will find many primary sources, so right now I'm a little concerned about finding more secondary sources. As far as experiential sources, I have corresponded with professor Leon over the past couple days and she had sent me an incredible list of authors from Northern California, Bay Area, Southern California, and all over the country, with whom I am going to be able to come in contact with. She also shared with me some upcoming literary events that I can attend. For the one experiential source I need to have by Tuesday, I think I will be trying to visit La Pena, which is a cultural center in Berkeley with programming focused on Hispanic and Latino authors.

4.) I don't have any pictures or art work to add here, however I love art work and perhaps could incorporate that into my research so that I can learn more about it, and have acquire better access to it. My favorite quote is from Aristotle: "It is the mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it." I love this quote because I feel like it articulates the beauty of a good argument, or being able to write a good paper, or understand someone else's position. To have educated conversations we need to be able to entertain a thought, that, we may not necessarily adopt as our own or believe in. But in order to understand our belief, we have to understand the counter. I can't put it in much better words than Aristotle! I think this indirectly connects to my focus question because in English, we write essays on literature, and regardless if you share the opinion with the author or with another classmate, you have to be able to understand all those opinions in order to accurately and effectively articulate your own. Incorporating diversity within the literature we present in our classrooms could spark controversy based on cultural beliefs put forth in the literature, if we keep in mind Aristotle's quote, we can keep an open mind, grow and learn something new and quite possibly even change our opinion.

Response to Colleagues 7/8/12

Emily Zettner:

 emymait.blogspot.com

Allison Rayford:

teacherrayford.blogspot.com

Heather Richey:

hrichey47.blogspot.com

Mind The Gap

1.) "It is the mark of a sentient human being to learn from experience, to pay close attention to how theories work out when put into practice [...] What should we think of someone who never admits error, never entertains doubt but adheres unflinchingly to the same ideas all his life, regardless of new evidence?" (2). 


In this quote, Ravitch is reflecting on her experience in educational research and the formation of her opinions and beliefs. Prior to making this statement she had explained how John Maynard Keynes was once "chastised" for changing his mind. She uses his response as an example to show that it makes sense to change one's mind when the facts change. In a rather provocative manner she is essentially indirectly criticizing those who are determined to hold on to their opinions, whether out of stubbornness or sheer ignorance. She seems to hold the opinion that refusal to acknowledge multiple aspects of a situation, or how a theory plays out into practice signifies ignorance. To learn from our experiences is what is natural, and to analyze those experiences, grow from them and even change would only make sense.


"In my writings, I have consistently warned that, in education, there are no shortcuts, no utopias, and no silver bullets. For certain, there are no magic feathers that enable elephants to fly" (3).


In this quote, Ravitch's attitude and opinion come off strongly. Her attitude here helps to communicate the simplicity that some have ascribed to educational reform. With this list of images we can clearly understand that she believes that the problems in education can not be solved quickly, or easily. We indirectly understand, through this description here, that to understand what is necessary for educational reform, means to understand that it will be difficult, challenging, and complex.


2.) Ravitch's description of a well educated person initially struck me because I felt like it was kind of simplistic, considering she is so anti-simple solutions. I do think the mind of an educated person is "well furnished" with all of the content areas she listed, but rather than to just "explain ideas" and listen respectfully, I think the well educated person does these things, but it should be pushed a bit further. I think the well educated person explains ideas, but explains them effectively. Not only should the well educated person explain any ideas, but relevant ideas and ideas with purpose, direction, and focus. The well educated person should not only be able to listen respectfully, but listen again with purpose, direction and focus. What is the point of listening? What does one try to gather? Once a person has listened, what does he do with that information? Effective communication should be included in this description, as communication encompasses the the transmission of knowledge back and forth, and effective deems it to have a purpose, something to be achieved, something new to be discovered, ends to be pushed or challenged.


3.) I had a tough time with the class discussion because I felt like people were discussing more based on their prior knowledge and understanding of school systems rather than the text. I don't have a wide bases of prior knowledge when it comes to the educational field, because I haven't been in it that long. I would have liked to actually analyze the text more, and speak more specifically about Ravitch's beliefs, and what she is trying to communicate, I think critiques would apply in discussion of her work as well. It was also difficult focusing on the first two chapters only, because we had read further. It was difficult for me to not want to discuss matters deeper because many questions are answered and arise in relation to the following chapters. I had initially wanted to bring up, in discussion, what I had said question 1 in this blog but someone beat me to it. I really loved what she had to say about experience and learning, I feel like much more could have been said about it in class now, but everyone was so eager to get their 4 times to speak that the conversation seemed to ping-pong all over the place. We would stay on one subject for a really long time, and another barely just touch on.


4.) I think I actually turned this paper in because I do not have it now. However, one gap I can think of is in the area of diversity. I do not know as much about diverse cultural texts as I should. I want to be fair and creative with the literature I incorporate, especially if teaching American literature. Therefore I am focusing on finding resources that will help me acquire more knowledge of culturally diverse, relevant and important texts.


Book: Hispanic American Literature by Nicolas Kanellos

Article: Trends in Hispanic American Literature

Manuel Pedro González

Books Abroad
Vol. 17, No. 1 (Winter, 1943), pp. 16-21
Published by: Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma
Article Stable URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/40083111

Website: http://usa.usembassy.de/classroom/chicanoliterature.htm


5.)


1.) SECONDARY SOURCE:

N.H. Nagayama Hall, G.C.M Gordon C. Maramba, G.G. Gloria Gia. (2001). In search of cultural diversity: Recent literature in cross cultural and ethnic minority psychology. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Vol 7(1), 12-26.

This article aims to examine the cultural diversity that exists in psychology. The research begins with the premise that acknowledging cultural diversity, and psychological study from a perspective of cultural diversity will help to illuminate more accurate and relevant realities, as one in every three Americans is part of an ethnic minority group. The article presents the notion that cultural implications are reflected in psychological study, and therefore there should be an awareness of cultural implications on the psychology of individuals. This article applies to my research focus, which is how culture and community influence the writing of Hispanic and Latino authors, because the psychological effects of culture and the community that emerges from that culture, I think would have a direct influence on the literature produced. In my mind, psychology is the underlying happenings of culture and community, and how the effects of those show up in writing must have something to do with psychology.

2.) SECONDARY SOURCE:

S.L.S. Sandra L. Shaull, J.H.G. James H. Gramann (1998). The Effect of Cultural Assimilation on the Importance of Family-Related and Nature Related Recreation among Hispanic Americans. Journal of Leisure Research, Vol. 30.

This article may be slightly distanced from my focus question, however, it deals with an aspect of cultural assimilation that affects Latino and Hispanic people. Although this is not dealing directly with how Latino and Hispanic authors are influenced by their community and culture, it focuses on how the general community of Hispanic and Latino people within the U.S. are pressured by the “host” culture to assimilate.  What seems to be perhaps a stretch about this article, in connection with my focus, is that the research examines how outdoor activity can affect, and in some ways help to preserve one’s home culture and values. The article takes a look at whom outdoor activities are participated with, as far as family or peer groups. Despite the initial seeming distance of this focus from mine, it does seem that outdoor activity could actually be categorized under the umbrella of community, which is part of my focus. This article helps me to beg the question, what is community? What does community mean? What does community do? When I speak of community influences, what kind of activities and interactions am I referring to? Therefore, this article helps to establish a question inherent with in my focus question, and determine how community affects the Hispanic Latino population in general. Because Hispanic and Latino authors are naturally part of this population, I would think that this article will shed some light on how culture influences community, how community influences culture, and in turn, how this affects a specific population who make up the broader scope of my focus.

3. PRIMARY SOURCE:

S.C. Cisneros. Woman Hollering Creek. (1991).

This text by Sandra Ciscneros is a compilation of a variety of types of poetry and tales from the multiple perspectives of Chicana women, Hispanic people living within the United States. The text encompasses many of the struggles that Chicana women face when it comes to diversity, cultural assimilation, and cultural resistance as well. Although this text is not technically representative of her experience, it stands as a collective experience for Chicana women. This text directly connects to my focus question of how community and culture influence Hispanic and Latino writers an America, because Sandra Ciscneros is one of these authors and does her best to illuminate how Chicana women and people in general are affected by the cultural differences between home and public. The public sector of this includes everything from relationships, the workforce, and schooling. As these aspects of life all deal with culture, the ways of perceiving and doing things, her literature, though fiction highlights truths of American cultural influences on the Chicano people that perhaps could not be communicated in as powerfully if they were not fiction.

4. EXPERIENTIAL:

B.R. Rojas is a Hispanic American writer influenced by his community and culture (Personal Communication March 14, 2012).

Bonafide Rojas is a respected poet from New York, who, in some of his poetry, successfully communicates the experience of students and teachers confronted with internal and external struggles that have negative affects on student motivation. Despite the relevance of this poetry to the educational field, not all of his poetry focuses on education. Much of his writing is influenced by experiences in his life, struggles, successes, devastations, and enlightenments. In the interview conducted by my subject area cohort in the credential program at Saint Mary’s College, Rojas expressed that much of his inspiration comes from music and the streets of New York City. As both music and the streets of New York City have to do with culture and community, Rojas is a prime candidate for demonstrating the influences culture and community has on his work as a writer. Because my primary focus is in culture and community influences on Hispanic and Latino authors, examining Rojas’ writing experience will provide relevant and enlightening information in regards to my focus question.

5 Guiding Questions

1.) What do writers say/believe/know about the writing process?
2.) What do writers say/believe/know about the process of learning and acquiring an understanding of the writing process?
3.) What does research show as the most effective modes for revision? How do we teach revision in a way that "sticks"?
4.) What does research show in regards to motivation stemming from effective implementation of standards-based grading in English Language Arts?
5.)What does research show in regards to effective modes of scaffolding students to expand their analysis and clearly articulate their thoughts?
6.) What techniques are available for teaching the author's political and philosophical assumptions within novels such as "The Great Gatsby"?
7.)Who are considered the primary authors within the American Literature cannon? What are the primary works within the American Literature cannon? Why were these works chosen?