Paulo Freire: Chapter 2 of Pedagogy of the Opressed

To put it in short, this article was hard to get through. I felt like at times, Freire was just wanting to hear himself talk in an extremely academic fashion. However, I did like how this article spoke of the banking concept which leads students to become passive. I agree with this. In high school, I had classes where I would simply memorize the information so I could pass the test. This would lead to all nighters and a build up of stress. How much of the information stuck after I took the test? Maybe one to two pieces. I would simply forget everything unless it was something we'd gone over relentlessly in class or if I could connect to it somehow. I think we as teachers need to keep this in mind when we go into the field. Students will not learn by simply giving them a study guide a week before the test and saying 'here, learn this'. That's not how it works. Students will become passive in a way. If students know this is how the tests are formatted, they may just become numb to the teaching around them. Teachers and students should have equal pull in the classroom. I wholeheartedly believe that the students' needs come first. No kid is going to learn vocabulary by memorizing 60 vocab words the night before. Freire suggests that students are simply empty vessels waiting to be filled. I do not think so. For example, if students are to write a summary, they are going to have background knowledge on how to do this. Teachers can help students along the way and guide them to show students how to write a successful summary. However, students are not empty vessels. I personally don't think that is a good way to look at kids.I feel that in today's society, kids have a lot more pull and are more active within the classroom. Kids should be engaged constantly within the classroom. I think if we go into the classroom thinking that kids are the lesser and that they are simply empty vessels, it dehumanizes them and us in a way.

Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School English Classroom

I felt that this article gave great insights on our education system. One part I really liked reading in particular was when teachers taught hip hop music coinciding with poetry. I think music is a great way to help kids understand bigger pictures. Music and poetry go hand in hand and a lot of students do not see that. By combining something that all students like and poetry together, students may begin to have a new sense of appreciation for poetry. I also like how the authors mentioned that this poetry unit was at the end of the year. By doing this, students were more likely to become more comfortable with the class which would lead to more personal and authentic poems. I would love to one day incorporate something like this into my future classroom. I think poetry is often forgotten or talked about poorly. I think by pairing poetry with something that students find enjoyable like music, poetry becomes more relatable and interesting.  This article also goes into depth about some things that English teachers may fear. For example, this article goes into depth about an incident with the film A Time to Kill. I feel like it is so important to show students films and books with controversial topics. I do not think there is any way to avoid this as an English teacher. However, if we reiterate that we are watching or reading this film or book in a safe space in which we are looking to analyze these issues, it becomes easier for both teachers and students. One of my favorite lines of this article was: "Teachers need to be prepared for the emotions that will be evoked by the visual text." As teachers, we need to be aware that students will have emotions about clips they say. Some will be good emotions and others will be bad. Regardless, we as teachers need to understand this and not push this under the rug. It's going to happen and we should be prepared for this. This article also mentions how we as teachers need to be ready to talk to other adults, teachers, and parents about what their students are watching. This article mentions how we should not shy away from these texts and films because they are an important part of our past and culture. I completely agree with this.  I loved reading this article and it gave me new insights on education.

A Teacher's Guide to Standards-Based Grading and Reporting

I enjoyed the two articles we were to read. I really liked A Teacher's Guide to Standards-Based Grading and Reporting. One part that stood out to me was in section 5 when the author's explored concepts of homework. I read an article several years ago and one quote has stuck with me: "We can't expect students to hit a target without shooting some practice arrows first". I wholeheartedly believe this. This article also mentioned how homework should not impact student's academic performance. I feel that students should be assigned homework but that it should not be graded. I feel that if students do not feel they need the practice, then they should not do it. However, if students feel completely lost, they can do the homework and learn how to do it without any consequences. I remember I was completely lost and overwhelmed with homework in an AP European History course I took in high school. The homework was simply busy work. It was hours of vocabulary and note taking in very specific ways. I can honestly say that I did not benefit from that at all. Because of the immense amount of work, I either did not do it or depended on trusty google. I am planning on not grading homework in my future classroom. Homework will be assigned and kids can do it if they feel they need more practice. However, when the summative assessment rolls around, if students get less than a 70% (or some percentage) they can retake the assessment if they complete all their homework I think by constantly shoving homework down students throats, we're doing nothing but making students dislike school. When high school students have up to 8 classes and an hour of homework per class each night, they aren't going to do it. I think that homework is always a topic that teachers will disagree on and continue to find the best way to hold students accountable for doing it. From the article Assessing and Evaluating Students' Learning, I really liked when the article mentioned using a portfolio to evaluate growth and reflection. I think by having a student compose a portfolio throughout the year that they will see their growth. I think portfolios are a great final project for students to really see what they've done this year and reflect back on. Sometimes I feel like final projects can be somewhat disingenuous. By creating a portfolio, students can truly see what they've done throughout the year and how much they've grown as a writer and as a student.

California State Universities Expository Reading and Writing Course

I really liked reading this article. In the first half of this article, there are great questions to ask students while reading. I specifically liked the structure questions. I don't think that I've ever really thought about mapping out the structure of a text and I think this could be very useful to some students who are having trouble seeing the big picture. I think it's extremely important that we as teachers use reflection to aid students. In my high school career, there were only several times that I can remember reflecting on something we read. I think that by reflecting what was read that day, students will have a better chance of remembering. If students do a short writer after they have read and discussed, they are more likely to remember that information because they are forced to condense it down. I think that reflection can also apply when writing. By having students write a short one to two page reflection on what they took from the assignment, how they felt about it, and what they would do different, this can really help see students see why their writing matters. I personally feel like at times, that reflections are pointless. They've been a lot more beneficial to me in college where I can truly see what I need to work on. However, in high school, I think I found them a bit pointless because I felt like they were busy work. If we tell our students how reflections can benefit them, this may lead them to actually focusing in and doing the reflections fully. It can be extremely hard to show these students why writing matters and how it can make a difference in their life. However, with repeated practice, trial and error, and constant effort, I truly believe that students will eventually see how their writing can make a difference.

Team Teaching

I really like the idea of team teaching. I think there are pros and cons to each side of the situation. I am currently working in a classroom where I team teach with three other student teachers. We all have very different ways of looking at the curriculum and different methods of teaching. However, I have found this quite useful when working in the classroom. I think that this method of team teaching really comes in handy when working with students that think differently than I do. The other teachers in the room may have ways of getting through to that student that I do not possess. I really like bouncing ideas off of the other student teachers and seeing if they have noticed the same things as I have. Students can also benefit from team teaching. If students see two teachers working together to team teach a lesson, they will see how working together can really pay off. Team teaching can be a great model for younger students especially when showing the benefits of teamwork. I personally love team teaching. I think it's a great method to use in a classroom and I hope that I can incorporate it into my own one day. For the most part, I really enjoy team teaching. I think it's a great way to plan out lessons and also to bounce ideas off of other teachers. There definitely can be flaws if both teachers are not on the same page. This can lead to one teacher trying to overpower the other teacher. It can be extremely hard for both teachers to pre-plan and be on the exact same page. This can lead to teachers misunderstanding in the lesson which could lead to students becoming confused about the material on hand. I really like team teaching. I think both teachers definitely need to go into the team teaching lesson with very open minds. Both teachers should be flexible and willing to adapt when needed in the lesson. These articles both hit on great pros and cons of team teaching. I hope to see this method used more in the future.

Common Core Standards

I really did not expect to like this article. However, I ended up liking the ideas portrayed in this article. I feel like that there is such an emphasis on the Common Core Standards that some teachers almost get swept up with them. The article really helped me see how the CCSS were actually somewhat helpful. The article mentions that the Common Core State Standards are here to help enhance the teacher's curriculum. I also like how the article points out that we as teachers get to choose our material regardless of the CCSS. We are responsible for choosing our texts that we assign as well as assorted medias. I think it's vital that we as teachers choose texts we like and that our students can relate to. It's impossible for every single student in our class to like every book we assign. However, if we assign a variety of genres, students may find a liking to at least one. I think it's also important that we assign books that students can relate to pop culture today. As teachers, we can also assign projects that have students find connections between the book and pop culture today. This will promote understanding which could lead a student to like the book. We can easily incorporate the CCSS into books that are more recent in publication and heavy with information and issues that can be analyzed.  In the article, there is a line that says: "Sometimes as new or student teacher you face the challenge of operating in spaces and curricula over which you have little control". I think this is extremely true. However, this also gives us an opportunity to try out new things and see what does and does not work. If the school you are working at wants you to have a curriculum that is directly aligned with the CCSS, we as teachers can find creative ways to incorporate them into our classrooms. I really liked the story in this article about the teacher teaching her students how to write a five paragraph essay by using topics they found interesting. I think by doing things like this, the CCSS can become less of a burden and more of a help to us as teachers in the classroom.

Discussion in a Democratic Society

     I really enjoyed reading this article. I felt that the author hit on some really great points. One line that he said that really stood out to me was "To see a topic come alive as diverse and complex views multiply is one of the most powerful experiences we can have as learners and teachers" (3). I think this says a lot about the article. In order to fully understand a piece of literature or article, we as teachers and/or students need to hear and fully listen to the opinions around us. The idea of democracy within discussion is extremely smart. I like how this author compares discussion in a classroom to something such as mountain climbing. In classes, it can be intimidating for both teachers and students to go into a discussion. Students may feel extreme pressure to say the right thing or to simply not look stupid. Teachers are responsible for facilitating and keeping the class on the right track. In order for this to happen, teachers need to set good guidelines and make sure that students have respect for their peers opinions. 

     One of the most interesting parts in this article was when he mentions the participation among students. Even though this was a very small part of the article, I found it very interesting. From my experience in the classroom so far, it seems that many of the smartest students will not participate in discussion because they don't want to look "dumb". This article mentions how small groups can be a good stepping stone for these students. If these students become comfortable with a small group of students and receive positive feedback, they will be more likely to talk in front of the class. I have personally seen this happen time and time again in my classroom. I usually take on about 4-5 students who are having trouble understanding the material. After our small group, 1-2 students from that group usually will participate in a full on class discussion. Small groups are a great way to get kids used to the idea of discussion without added pressure. This article points out that critical discussion works best when a large group of students participate. I think this can be true in some scenarios. I think our goal as teachers should be to get the majority of the class talking.  If we as teachers are not providing a comfortable or safe environment, students will be less likely to speak their minds when it comes to discussion. We as teachers have to encourage our students thoughts and ideas, otherwise they may not be comfortable to speak up again.
     I really enjoyed reading this article. I thought the author had great ideas and summed up discussion in a way that I have not thought about it before until now.