I'm glad I was able to read Langer's article this week because in my field placement, my CT is beginning to teach the students how to make meaning out of text. They are beginning to do "think and shares" like we talked about in class: establishing partners that the students continuously turn to to discuss how the book is making them feel, if something like that ever happened to them, etc. While this works well for kindergartners who have never made meaning out of text before, it will probably not be a sufficient method for older students, which I may end up teaching. I think that using the "four major stances in the process of interpretation" will help my students constantly think about what the book is about, how it makes them feel, etc.
I also liked reading about the instructional strategies and what types of questions the teacher can specifically ask the students to guide their thinking. I'm always so afraid that I will be in front of my class and will completely blank on what to ask them in a situation like this. It will be helpful to learn these questions and practice them until they become natural in that particular situation.
I would like to teach in a school/community similar to what I experienced growing up: not only an area with seemingly unlimited resources, but a school that strived for exemplary grades and students that did the same. Everyone took their schoolwork seriously and did the best they could. The teachers practically never needed to get creative with how to motivate their students because they were motivated enough to please their parents.
The one main difference that I would change is that I would not want to teach in a private Catholic school. I feel that the content would have to be incredibly restricted; after reading articles about critical literacy I would love to expose my students to issues of poverty, homosexuality, various religions, etc. I know that this would be completely unacceptable in a Catholic school similar to the one that I went to. I want to have more freedom with the books that I use, so I hope I'm able to find a public school that will allow me to do so. I hope that this class helps me learn new ways of exposing children to topics that might be difficult.
I also really liked the Langer article. I have always heard that the curriculum is too tight and there is not enough time to get through it all, so making sure you get to the 'correct' answer when it comes to answering questions about literacy is really important. I know and have now experienced in the classroom just how rigid the curriculum is, but like you say here, Becky, I think using the four stances will help students really think about the text over a longer period than simply thinking about what the correct answer is to one specific question. The article did make me wonder though, how do you use these four stances to get to the 'right' answer that the students need for things such as standardized testing. Will this method using the four stances be beneficial for things like standardized tests, or should it be built in with the tradition, "what is the correct answer" style of teaching?
ReplyDeleteI find it incredibly interesting that you say you would not want to teach in a private Catholic school after you attended one. I have not given much thought to teaching in this school setting, but I also went to a private Catholic school for twelve years. I am only assuming, but I feel that each private school really varies in the type of issues they expose to students. I had a specific class that was called World Religions where I learned about every other major religion; I had a class focused on poverty, as well as moral issues such as homosexuality and abortion. While these classes had an obvious Catholic influence I was educated on all of these issues. I think my trouble would be how strong the Catholic opinion is when these subjects are being taught. You bring up a great point about the literature, though. I wonder if in elementary school I would be able to use books like Heather Has Two Mommies! I agree that we would probably not be allowed, and maybe even get the ruler on the knuckles from a nun or two if we tried that!
After reading your post I thought you brought up a great point about teaching in a private school! I never really thought about all the restrictions that the private schools might have on teaching about controversial issues. Although I still think that even in public schools bringing up the ideas of poverty and homosexuality would be challenging, you would have an easier time arguing your case to a principal at a public school than a private one on why these issues are important to address.
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