Learning Letter

Dear Sean,

This was such a great class. I learned so much about myself as both a teacher and a student.
The work that we did in this class was really great. The book talks were one of the most beneficial things to me. I loved hearing about other's books and reading a book of my own. This gave me a chance to hear about new books that I will definitely be recommending to my students. I have so many new books to read and I could not be more excited. I also loved the mini lessons. These were really cool because they gave me a chance to see how different lessons could be taught. I absolutely loved Kylee and Jessica's mini lesson on Maus with the holocaust victims. I feel like this was such an essential lesson. I hope to use this lesson as well as others in my classroom someday. By seeing all these lessons and teaching my own, it really shows me how teaching can be extremely creative and personable. I think that coming into this class, I was in a weird mindset with teaching and I'd been almost trained to follow the common core to a tee.  However, after this class, I feel much more prepared and relaxed about teaching. Yes, there are still hoops to jump through and clamber over, but I feel like I am much more prepared.
I loved the blog posts. I feel like these are such a great use in the classroom. I would love to incorporate something like this in my classroom someday. All the reading we did was great. I think my favorite would have to be Readicide by Kelly Gallagher. This book opened up my eyes so much. Gallagher really hits it spot on when he talks about over teaching books and not encouraging enough reading in the classroom. This really hit home with me and I have a completely different viewpoint on how to teach novels now. I also loved reading Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School Classroom. This article really opened my eyes to different ways of approaching education. This article gave great insight on how to help your students be successful. I loved all the reading in this class and I do not think that I would read anything different.
From this class, I definitely feel more prepared to become a teacher. The unit plan definitely helped me see teaching more clearly. I feel like because of that and the discussions in this classroom, I will be a better teacher now. Hearing what my peers have had to say about teaching and participating in discussions both in small and large group has really changed my way about teaching in some aspects. I can honestly say, that because of this class, I will be a better teacher. I learned how to be a better teacher because of this class and that's something that I rarely say. Thank you again for all the time that you've put into this class. I can truly see myself as a teacher because of this class. Thank you again.

-Hannah Kersey

In the Name of God Mini Lesson

This is an amazing read. Man alive. Paula Jolin is an absolutely wonderful author who truly captures audiences with her stunning story. I think there are a lot of teaching ideas that could go along with this book. This would be a book that I am interested in teaching. I think one idea would be to have a full on group discussion about defending one's belief. In this novel, we see that Nadia would just about go to the extreme of killing herself to defend religion. I think this opens a lot of doors with students. I think teachers could either discuss or have students respond to the following question in a journal type fashion: "what are some of your most valued beliefs, can you relate to Nadia at all, how far would you go to defend something you care about?" I think this text is one that students can read and be able to see the world a little differently. I think by writing a letter to the author on how this book changed them would be interesting to see students tackle. I think writing letters to authors is a great way to reach the community and give a writing piece meaning. By having students write to Jolin about what they thought about the book and how it changed them, would be a great tool of assessment. I also think that students would have a lot to say to the author after they finished reading this book. This easily could be a book that would cause some controversy in the classroom. However, I think if teachers preface the book by explaining that, yes the Middle East does have a very negative connotation attached to it right now. However, my hope is that this book will change your mind about some issues that you've heard of recently. I think this book would need a lot of preparation done before hand in order to teach it. However, I think this would be a book that students would remember, and I also think that we as teachers should be comfortable with teaching the uncomfortable.

Romeo and Juliet Mini Lesson

Good old Romeo and Juliet. I personally do not like this play. This is not quite my taste. I am very curious to see how the mini lesson is done on this play. However, this play is required for most ninth graders and I could very possibly teach this play in a future classroom someday. What I would do to make this play a little easier on students is to first introduce William Shakespeare. I think it's important for students to know that he wrote mostly comedies which means that Romeo and Juliet was a little bit different for him. Shakespeare has many more comedies than dramatic plays. I think to do this play, I would have students draw some scenes out from the book. I would give my students certain scenes to work with and draw out as a group. I feel like if 9th graders create a visual of what's going on in this play, they will more likely remember the scene and understand the difficult language. I think another interesting idea would be to ask the essay question: 'Who's fault is it?' I think there are so many different responses I would get to this question which would make Romeo and Juliet more enjoyable for myself. I think if students had this in mind from the first page, they could possibly enjoy this text more. I think the obvious choices are it's either Romeo's fault that they both died or it's Juliet's fault. Students would also need to consider Friar Laurence and the mother and father as well as any other characters they think. This would be written in an argumentative type style as to why their choice is correct. I think students would have a little bit of fun with this and it would be enjoyable to grade. I also think another teaching idea is to rewrite scenes of the play in texting language. I think 9th graders would enjoy being able to make texts out of Romeo and Juliet. This way, students would be tricked into analyzing the play only in a semi fun way. I think there's a lot that goes into Romeo and Juliet. I feel like this can be one of the trickiest plays to teach because there is so much hate out there. I think in a way, teachers can embrace the student hate and almost agree with them. I guarantee at least one student is going to think that these two young-ins are stupid. As a teacher, I would agree with them. Yes, they're stupid, why do you think William Shakespeare wrote them this way? Was this on purpose? Or was he actually trying to convince everyone that they were madly in love? I think by embracing the hate that this play gets, teaching it will become much easier.

Poe Mini Lessons

I loved reading all of Poe's stories and poems. Most of these stories and poems, I have read before. I think there are a ton of great teaching ideas that you can do with Poe. I do believe that full class discussions are hugely beneficial when it comes to Poe. Students could also draw out some of Poe's themes. If students are confused with what they have read, they could take the poem or story, line by line and draw out what they think is happening. This would be an interesting way to see Poe portrayed. If students are struggling with themes, they can draw those out as well. It'd also be another interesting teaching idea to have students discuss or draw out the settings within Poe's poems or stories. The setting usually proves to be fairly important in Poe's works. He usually uses the setting to add to the story and I think students should understand this element. They could either talk about or write about how the settings adds to the overall theme of the poem or story. They could also draw out the setting and this would show how it adds to the story. Students could also watch animated cartoons of Poe's works. If students are struggling to understand Poe, they could watch the the cartoons to help develop understanding. I do not think there are many obstacles with Poe. I do think that he can be overdone in schools. I think that with Poe, you just have to be careful to not overdo it. Some of the themes could be scary to some students but if teachers reiterate that he's one of the best writers of all time, and that his works can be somewhat comical if read correctly. All in all, I love Poe and his works, and I think that he should be taught in extremely creative ways.