I am still here!

As you can see, it has been quite some time since I have added anything to my blog. It has been a strange moment of my life since leaving Teacher's College. I had a rough time psychologically for some time. I found myself in tears often, acted more than strange towards friends and family members, and I nearly felt as though I was heading in the wrong direction for teaching. However, I triumphed despite the worry and the silliness of trying to perfect each lesson. After reflecting on my lessons, I recall my best ones were the most messy, randomly inspired, and included the most improvisation as the class unfolded. I thank the students, my lovely boyfriend and family for the encouragement and the enthusiasm that I have it in me to be potentially a great teacher some day!!! Let's hope it comes to fruition.
So where have I been, and what am I juggling now? Well, I was lucky enough to be hired by Columbia International College (CIC) this summer as a ESL summer camp teacher for just under two months. This job was a joy, and much more casual than your typical classroom. CIC asked the summer camp teachers to facilitate conversation in all of the activities and lessons which we prepared for our students. Unlike a typical class, we indulged in more games, did not have dreadful homework to assign, and we did not have any numerical assessment to correlate with our student's learning. Although we did have progress reports and observations to document on each student's oral communication and participation during their stint at CIC, our focus was speaking and listening in an environment which connoted learning English in a fun, yet practical landscape. During these classes, I met many brilliant little minds from Venezuela, China, Brazil, Russia, and Japan. Unlike my practice teaching for Western, I was with students much younger in age, and they held an "immediate" level of English language skills. Again, this was a wonderful experience, and brought back some sunshine in my teaching enthusiasm stride! Not only do I find (speaking from teaching in an international context, and instructing ESL students in a domestic context) that most international students are much more respectful of the learning space, their students, and myself as a teacher, they do not come to class with angst,

Craving This!! Wouldn't You?

Just as a response to my last post, I am thoroughly missing the time which I spent teaching ESL in Thailand. Perhaps my frustration could be eased by a good dose of the above and below... SIGH!

A Little Bit of Magic OR a Rip-off??

After having class yesterday, it made me think of the poetry we had read in my English class earlier on in the day. I chose a Tolkien poem to read, so Tolkien was still fresh in my brain when I was sitting in Multiliteracies class. As we were discussing the notion of a rip-off/remixes. it made me think of a Tolkien poem which he includes in his novel, The Hobbit. In this instance, Tolkien takes an older Mother Goose nursery rhyme and weaves it into a tale/song all in it's own. Is Tolkien ripping off a classic tale, ruining and soiling it to bits with Bilbo's pub shenanigans??? I think that if we are stimulated to create a whole new narrative out of one small phrase, character, or image which is ignited by a mind, we are simple just complimenting the original creation further by making such things become even more alive...Even if the Man in the Moon has a weakness for the drink!! This poem is similar to my post regarding "Once Upon A Time", in that it recreates a tale, but I takes themes and ideas and toys with them in a wayward, yet interesting fashion. Not only could students discuss the figurative language of the poem, but they could try to do a dramatic reenactment of the poem, since it quite vivid in imagery which isn't metaphorical.Also, they could just simply discuss why/how Tolkien fuses song within his narrative.
Ripoff, or simply a great way to cheers a beer??

THE POEM --> http://www.tolkien-archives.com/library/poetry/the-man-in-moon-came-down-too-soon.html

LESSON REDESIGN

Original Lesson Plan

Class: Grade 12, University
Subject: English
Topic: Frankenstein
Duration: 2 Classes, trickling into 3 if need be
Materials:
Magazines, Newspapers, Bristol Boards, Markers and Pencil Crayons, Construction Paper, Glue, Tape,


Curriculum Expectations Met:
(Ministry of Education: 12 University Guidelines, 2007)

Text Features: Identifying a variety of text features and demonstrating insight into ways they communicate ideas (2.2)
Identifying a variety of elements of style in texts and explaining how they help communicate meaning and enhance the effectiveness of text (2.3 Form and Style)
Extended understanding of the text, including complex and challenging text, by making insightful connections between the ideas in them and personal knowledge, experience, and insights; other texts and the world around them.

Pre-existing Knowledge:

The students have read up to Chapter 5 of the text, in which a crucial episode of the plot is exposed—Frankenstein first looks upon the creature to which has created. Students understand the genre, historical context, and biographical nature of the text. As a class however, we have not high-lighted the underlying moral/thematic aspects of the text. The students were required to have Chapter 5 read for the class in question. The narrative was halted at this point to later consider the implications of such a turn in the narrative, the metaphorical representation of the creature, to facilitate discussion surrounding themes which resonate in the socio-cultural context of today, and to recognize nuances of visual language to represent ideas.

Activity
Student’s must create a visual of their choice (storyboard, poster, video, reenactment, etc) to flesh out a particular theme, or conflicting ideas which has resonated throughout the text. Such themes as immortality, science vs. religion, abandonment, power of knowledge, man’s power over nature, monstrosity, evolution, pursuit of knowledge etc.
Students would be given two periods to complete their assignment. They would be given the choice of working in partners, or alone.



REDESIGN

http://storybird.com/

Although, I was given inventive visuals which discussed stem cell research, the notion of immortality in the Harry Potter films, and a presentation on vegetarians and factory farming, I found that the student seemed limited with the materials which I provided for the class. Rather than assuming that all of them were artistically inclined. I would rework my lesson to incorporate computer lab time to allow them to use the Internet as a resource. However, I would encourage the use of a website “Storybird”, as a creative and imaginative tool to flesh out the themes they are striving to highlight. Instead of simply incorporating fragmented images and explanations of how Frankenstein links to their theme, they will be given the opportunity to create a narrative which can be used to see how the theme can be read in the context of their own story, or an alternative story. “Storybird”, is a website which has hundreds of templates and images which a student can use to create their own slideshow story, incorporating text and sound, to design and save a story which they have created online. Not only does Storybird give the students a lot of different options to play around with and manipulate, but it allows those students who struggle with artistic elements, but excel in written assignments, to weave their tales with ready-made images. The website also give autonomy to the individual to create a story at any length they wish to, not limiting or restricting their creative process. In the process of this assignment, I would like to see how the students respond to the use of Storybird; Was creating an original hard copy with class materials more fun, or was the landscape of Storybird a better tool for fleshing out their themes.

The above is an example of how the Storybird template works for each page you wish to create. As you can see, along the sides are a plethora of images which the students can choose from to stylize their stories/presentations.

Once Upon An English Class Idea

Okay, so I really enjoy the corny, yet imaginative show, "Once Upon A Time."

Here's a link for a trailer of the show --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rga4rp4j5TY

While it is simply my Sunday night viewing vice, it is something I think that could be used in the classroom to have students read episodes as texts, or as a reconfiguration of the fairytale texts. Students could look at characterization, positions of power, how the fairytale outcomes and actions have a dual nature to influence the contemporary world, and simply if they enjoy how the classic tales most of us know have been manipulated for the purpose of entertainment. I would be curious to see if given the chance to spend half the class each Friday to watch an episode, how it could influence discussion or highlight themes which arise for their more formal lessons throughout the week. This may be an idealistic notion, but I think it could be entertaining, while also be a great way to stimulate critical literacy skills and viewing.

Rationale For Survey Redesign

Upon reconstructing Danika's survey for my classroom/blog, I decided I wanted to begin the survey with the student's perceptions of English, and the English classroom. Although I am someone who has always enjoyed the literary journey, and the English classroom, others do not share my passion for the faculty of study. However, I am not simply looking for a yes or no response, I want to know my students' reasonings, and I want to know if it lies in a struggle with the subject of English, simply disinterest, or if the student's find the English classroom to have value. Another aspect I chose to consider for my survey, was whether or not student felt they had confidence in their abilities to read and write, and if this was a correlation between their responses for liking or disliking the discipline. If so, than such findings could suggest that some students may wish to enjoy English class, but their learning curves or misunderstandings overshadows their intrigue. Lastly, I think this survey is a good opportunity to set the demographic stage of my classroom-- what are they reading, what do they enjoy? Knowing their favoured literary genre or form of induglence, allows me to reconsider my lessons, and to simply get to know who my students' are right from the get go. For example, if I have a classroom of 30 students, and 23 of them are boys who tend to dislike poetry, but enjoy graphic novels and science fiction novels, I am going to use this to my advantage when I am struggling late Sunday night to get my lessons prepared.

Literacy Survey