Overall Reflection

What have you learned about yourself as a teacher (or future teacher) of adolescent literature (or English) in this class? What strategies will you take from this class to apply in either the Methods course next semester or your own English classrooms?

• During my semester in this class, I have learned to read books that I would never have thought about reading on my own. Yes, reading them was requirement, but I will think twice the next time I judge a book by its cover, such a cliche.
• I would like to use the different strategies we learned in this class. The one that I liked the most was the Fishbowl. I think it keeps the whole class involved in a different way that other strategies don't.
  

What books resonated the most with you? The least? Why? Which selections do you think should be kept/removed from the class?

• I really enjoyed American Born Chinese because of the format of the text. I was able to dissect the many stereotypes displayed throughout the text. I never would have read a text like this if it weren't presented to me in class.
  
• There was a tie for the books I liked least
• I didn't like Boy Meets Boy because of its unrealistic story line. I felt that half the stuff that went on in the text was so unbelievable that it shouldn't be taught in the classroom. I really didn't like that book.
• And then there was Twilight, I hated this book. It was so baaad. A boy should never have to read this cheezy story of a young girl falling in love with a vampire. It was awful.
  

Would it have been more helpful for you to read "classic" or traditional texts alongside the adolescent novel? For example, would reading To Kill A Mockingbird (a frequently taught text in the secondary schools) alongside Monster have yielded more realistic approaches for using adolescent literature in the classroom?

• I think it would have been beneficial to tie in a traditional text into this class because, as we all know, what is the likelihood that traditional texts will be removed from an English classroom? I think that if these traditional texts are taught with multiple strategies, students will like them more.
  

What are your perceived strengths as a teacher of literature at this point? What remaining weaknesses or anxieties do you have regarding teaching literature (or teaching students!) How might this class have better helped you to address these concerns?

• I am very passionate about what I teach and that is a definite strength that I have. I have a lot of fun in class and my students thrive off of my excitement

• My weakness' have to do with my lack of teaching experience. I am still not comfortable with the many teaching strategies and literacy lessons. However, I know that I will continue to gain knowledge and become proficient in this area.
  

Was the group-teach a valuable experience for you? What was beneficial? What was frustrating? What did you learn about yourself in this experience. Should this experience be included in future classes?

• I liked all of the components of the group teach. However, being a graduate student, and having other graduates in my group, we found it hard to meet as a group, away from the class. I learned a lot from the group teach and enjoyed teaching for the entire class period.
  

Skim through the blogs you wrote this semester. Was creating your own blog and responding to the literature in this blog each week a valuable activity for you? Why/why not? Would you consider using a blog with your own students?

• I really enjoyed blogging for this class. I feel that it was an effective tool to spark conversation before class started. Having this class only once a week, blogging allowed us to talk about the books throughout the week.
• I would definitely like to use a blog program in my classroom. I feel that it will give the "quiet" students an opportunity to share their thoughts.
  
• I like the way students can write back and forth and how anyone can see these conversations when they view the blog.
  

What recommendations or suggestions do you have for the content of this course. Was anything missing that you felt would have better prepared you? What was valuable to you overall? Feel free to address any other areas that may not have been raised here as well.

• Honestly saying that this was my most beneficial class this semester, I enjoyed everything we did this semester. Even though I didn't agree with some of the things that were talked about in class, it was a laid back atmosphere that allowed me to speak my own mind. By having lots of group talks and open discussions we were able to learn a lot about different techniques as an English teacher. I wouldn't change the format of the course, however I would like to have seen some good strategies to teaching a traditional text in the classroom. Knowing how I disliked traditional texts as a student I would like to know how to change this experience for future students.

• Thank you for a great semester!
  

Harry Potter

I'm not gonna lie.... I think I might be done bashing this Harry Potter character. I actually enjoyed reading this book so much that I am thinking about watching the movie. I was a big fan of the Quidditch chapter. I feel that they could probably write a book on the sport of quidditch and I would read it. What a great idea for a sport. Now only if we could have flying brooms... I would try out for sure. Anyway, my FanFic is going to be about the whole incident where Quirrel is trying to have Harry fall from his demented broom, which Quirrel has cursed, which we think Snape has put a spell on but it really turns out that Quirrel is the big jerk after it is all said and done. But This FanFic will follow the whole incident through the eyes of Quirrel, who is really the two faced, sneaky, bad guy at the end of the day.


As Harry was engulfed in the heat of battle, he decided to pounce on his opportunity to capture the Snitch. Knowing that this will gain Harry even more fame, Quirrel decided to foil Harry's attempt. Quirrel, sneaking around as his normal self, began casting a spell on Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand.

...With Hermione and Ron looking on, they knew something was fishy about the whole situation. Hermione, grabbing Hagrid's binoculars began looking in the crowd to see who the culprit was. There he was, Snape, staring Harry down while mumbling his curse, over and over. How silly could he be? To be in plain sight, chanting his curse. Hermione, furious sprung to action and started after Snape. She snuck up behind him and lit his cloak on fire. It was minutes before he had known about the fire...

"Stupid children. You thought the whole time that it was Snape casting the spell. However, if it wasn't for you, Harry would have fallen to his little death." stated Quirrel. "Professor Snape was trying to reverse the curse, which is what you saw from across the field."

Quirrel had been sneaking behind everyone, trying to get his hands on the Sorcerer's Stone. If it weren't for Fluffy gaurding the post, he would have stolen the stone very easily. The first night Harry showed up at Hogwarts, Quirrel snuck up to get his hands on the stone. Fluffy nearly tore him to shreads but he cast a spell sewing its mouth shut. He still couldn't get in so he went back and thought of a better plan to get by the three-headed creature. Which is why the harp played when the three kids showed up to see what the deal was near the end of the book. Quirrel thought his plan was so full proof but in the end my man Harry prevailed once again!!


The FanFic thing is kinda fun. If there is one thing I stink at it is definitely writing a story. I guess this could just be a sample of something I could try to get into more. I'm serious when I say that I loved the Quidditch portion of the story. Being the jock that I am, I really got into it....

Struggles of Young Males in an Eglish Classroom

1) How does the "troubled classroom" stereotype affect the teachers approach to teaching the class?

2) How does context play a role with boys and their achievement in school?

3) In what ways can we (teachers) promote literacy among young men in our classroom?

4) How will having a male teacher in class change the boys' demeanor in your class?

5) do males and females find the same literature appealing? What types of texts appeal to male readers?



I have just begun to scratch the surface in my research. However, I found an article that supports my subject, but I have yet to read the whole thing...

I hope that I am on the right track and plan on hammering away on this more this weekend. Please include any feedback that may help me. I apologize for not having more of it completed at this time however I will be back on track by next week.

Again, I hope my questions have the proper direction to drive my topic. I look forward to reading your feedback. Thank you!


The two articles that I plan on using are:


Reading Problems, Attentional Deficits, and Current Mental Health Status in Adjudicated Adolescent Males

Written by: Natalie O'Brien
Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling
John Shelley-Tremblay


Psychosocial factors and reading difficulties: Students with reading difficulties drawn from a representative population sample

witten by: Anne Mari Undheim and Anne Mari Sund

Persepolis

Once again we are following around a young kid, girl, as we read about life through her eyes. It becomes more meaningful to know that this is an actual experience from this author's eyes. It is neat to see how this character grows up before the readers eyes. I feel that the reader becomes more empathetic and drawn into a story when reading from a child's perspective.

Anyway, the story starts by followng the a little girl, Satrapi, during the Islamic Revolution of the late 1970's early 1980's. During this period, she struggles with her beliefs, whether believe what she is taught in school, or believe her parents. Early in the book, she compares the revolution to a bicycle, if the protests stop moving the revolution will stop. She begins to read up on numerous revolutionaries to fit in. In the middle part of the book she meets her uncle who was just recently released from prison. After he shows up, all hell breaks loose. Cities are being bombed and people close to the family are showing up dead. On top of that, her mother is attacked by two men, who threaten rape upon her if she continues to not wear her veil.

Overall, this story would not do justice if it weren't for the pictures that accompanied the words. I feel that through most of the book words are not needed. Which brings me to the article that writes about picture walks through graphic novels. Yes, these two authors talk about a wordless novel, however, that doesn't mean a picture walk can't take place in Persepolis. I feel that this novel would be a fun one to picture walk. The pictures are very descriptive and involved. There were times when I found myself looking at the pictures to get the idea of what was being written.

All in all, this was a fun text and one that can definitely be used in the classroom. I remember reading boring autobiographies in middle and high school and would have loved to have a different autobiography text to supplement my studies. I would like to watch the movie. She kept me drawn in throughout the text and made me very interested in her story.

The Book Thief

I liked this book. I really liked the perspective from which the book was taken. The Book Thief was written, through the eyes of Death, about a German girl, during the Holocaust. Did you get all that? How many stories do you read that follow the German through the Holocaust? That's what I was thinking...Anyway it's not just about how that part of the story was different. Lets talk about Death. I read someone's blog earlier, maybe Paige? and she wrote about picturing death as the grim reaper from Family Guy. This wasn't the case, I pictured him as an angel, maybe the only thing dark or punk on him would be a lip ring with a chain wallet. He was soft!!! How many characters playing Death are actually sympathetic. I can think back to the Christmas Carol and the the three ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future... Depending on which version you watched (not the Muppet Christmas Carol or Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol), those dudes weren't pleasant people. I mean, if you think about it in depth, they really were worried about Scrooge's demeanor but weren't overly sympathetic. Along with the three ghosts... we can talk about Paige's grim reaper, what a scary dude!!!! All of these characters fail to parallel with the narrator of The Book Thief.

Talking about our German girl, Liesel, and how we are following her throughout this story and not some Jewish person is a different choice of perspective. Growing up, the two supplemental materials that were offered with the Holocaust were The Diary of Anne Frank and Night. Each of these novels were from a Jewish persons perspective. With The Book Thief being published in 2005 and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas having been published in 2006, these texts lend a different perspective to the reading audience.

So the question is... Do I use this book in my classroom????? It will take a lot of coaxing to get a middle school, heck even high school student to read a book over 500 pages that isn't leisure... However, even though it took me a solid 100 pages to get into the book and get through, what I thought was a drawn out way to set the story and all of its characters, I liked the book. I feel that it had plenty of teachable moments. This book can obviously be paired to a World War II Unit and possibly be split up into group projects to see the different perspectives of the four books I mentioned earlier. But again, the book is long, I read more pages in this book than I read in all of my classes combined in high school. Not saying that every high school student is going to be like me, in fact I hope they are not, but this is asking a lot from students at their age to read and analyze, especially with all of the other work high school students do.

So I will leave you with this... I am going to relate this book to a movie, not one that anyone else might have picked up on... I related Death to the movie "The Sixth Sense." Bruce Willis is the main character throughout who follows this poor young boy, "Who see's dead people." It takes Bruce until the end of the film to realize that he is dead!!! I see Death hovering over Leisel like Bruce did over the little man in the Sixth Sense. I also thought of this because, while most of us probably picked up on the whole narrator being Death, I for one missed that for a good part of the beginning part of the story. With that being said, who's to say that our high school students might miss that concept. I dunno, it's a stretch, but a thought.

American Born Chinese

I knew I would like this book from the minute I picked it up. Once I read the inside cover and found that this novel would be a culmination of three main characters, three different point of views, that would lead us to a common connection at the end.

Graphic novels are fun because the text is accompanied with pictures! Yes, I am passed the point of picture books, but who doesn't like to have novels with pictures to switch it up every once in awhile. This is the first graphic novel that I have read and it was definitely enjoyable. I found myself speeding through this book as if I were watching a movie. Every picture was descriptive as was the subtitles and the dialogue throughout the text. After reading the inside cover, I spent the entire time reading the book trying to make connections between the three characters but found that I was wayyyyy off when we finally found out.

As I read the book, I marked pages where stereotypes were present in the text. Being part of the presenting group in the following class, I am working on the stereotype portion of the discussion. Many were blatantly obvious while reading... Like on page 103 when Jin is looking for Wei-Chen and he questions, "What's taking him so long? He couldn't've gone to Math Circles - It's Wednesday!" The one stereotype that comes to mind when talking about people of Asian descent, it's that they are good/enjoy math. So this builds to the stereotype I think. Like, why couldn't it be a creative writing class or soccer practice? I don't know, I just pulled that out.... among many others.

Which include:

• When Chin-Kee is answering all of the questions in the classes he is attending with is cousin "Daaa - neeeee." Fitting the stereotypes that the Chinese are smarter than Americans.
  
• Or when Steve, the jock, that has nothing to talk about but basketball and how he beats the snot out of kids. Typical meathead comments...
• Or on page 118 when Chin-Kee takes Steve's coke and "Me Chinese, me play joke! me go pee-pee in his coke! This was a phrase that was thrown around the school when I was younger... childish
  
• or when the kid on page 121 is pulling outward on his eyes to slant them (this is a common gesture from people making fun of Asians)
• Or when Jin speaks about his mother and father and how they started dating... His mom chose him because of the thickness of his glasses. Because, it has been said that the thicker the glasses the smarter someone is... This is false by the way for those of you who still believe.
• and then there is the comment on 164 that Jin is talking about regarding another Asian, his cousin Charlie
• "Charlie had breath that smelled of old rice, a Bruce Lee haircut, and parents even stricter than my own, so I always thought it was just sour grapes
• Asians are also tied to rice and compared to Bruce Lee, because he is Asian

Overall, I enjoyed the layout of this novel and how well it was illustrated. I liked how it brought all of the the characters together at the end. Negative stereotypes are throughout this story which would make for good teaching points. I look forward to sprinkling this into our presentation next Wednesday.


And for my real world connection:




South Park is a show that is watched by most teens and young adults. It is filled with negative stereotypes and racial slurs. I must admit it is comical, at times, but they are usually only making jokes at the expense of other groups. If the language was clean in this show, this would be a clip of how not to act in life....

Monster

Best novel we have read yet! I found this story very easy to read and very difficult to put down. I had a unique experience reading this book while travelling through New York City. It made me think of Steve's POV as he was travelling in the back of the van on the way to court. In fact, I put myself in his shoes and pretended that the bus I was riding in was actually the van that Steve rode in to court. But anyway, I enjoyed this story and it could definitely be used in a middle school/high school classroom.

I took a minority literature class in high school where the only story we read, that was teachable, were excerpts from the Autobiography of Malcolm X (which I loved). This story would be great to teach the many stereotypes that are present in today's society. Throughout this story Steve is trying to convince himself that he is not a monster but he is not getting much support from the people around him. His own lawyer doesn't trust him and she lets it be known throughout the text. I mean, Steve, who is 16, is trying to have a casual conversation about what O'Brien is going to be doing on the weekend. O'Brien pauses and gives a blank stare, then finally answers him. How is a client (especially a 16 year old) to feel confident when his own defense attorney shows signs of doubt? She talks with no confidence on page 24 when she says to Steve: "You have to believe in yourself if we're going to convince a jury that you're innocent." What kind of crap is that. How about rephrasing that and telling the boy that you believe he is innocent and that you are going to help him prove his innocence. Of course he believes he is innocent, maybe if you would just listen to him you would understand!!! Even after the trial is over, Steve leans in to give her a thank you hug... she turns her back. Yes she just helped this young boy win his trial, but she is just as prejudice as the rest of them. It makes you wonder that if he had a non-prejudice attorney he may have won the trial more handily.

That example sheds light on the hidden discrimination throughout the story. While reading this in your class of teenagers, see if they can pick up on the bigotry that is sprinkled throughout.

On another note I really enjoyed how the story was written. When I first looked at the text, I had a bad feeling. I hate hate hate reading plays and anything that resembles Shakespeare. However, this story was not at all what I thought it would be. I liked how it switched from scripted writing to journal writing. So that led me to think about my prejudices. Hear I am preaching about this attorney "reading a book by its cover," while I am judging this book on how it is written.

All in all, you can pull so many things from this book on identifying prejudices as well as reading a multifaceted genre. Like I said before, this would be a great book to go with a minority literature class or it could go with any English class for that matter.

Speak

This book could easily be paired with Boy Meets Boy. Many thoughts went through my head while reading speak, like: Would Melinda be accepted in Paul's school? Would Melinda be able to speak out if she were in the environment that Paul grew up in?

As uncommon as Paul's high school was, Melinda's school seemed more realistic to me. I mean, going through high school, kids get ostracized if they wear the wrong clothes to school (which is referenced in the book when Melinda talks about what she is wearing to school on the first day and all of her thoughts on this). That stuff is realistic. You didn't hear about motorcycle cheerleaders or transvestite quarterback/homecoming queen, this stuff hits more at home for most of America's youth. I feel that this is how a gay individual would feel in a high school as well, not like Paul was in Boy Meets Boy. These two characters would be ostracized similarly for two totally different things.

I love how the book was written, it made you feel that you were suffering through this whole experience with her. The book was broken down in short spurts... maybe symbolizing her struggles to speak? She doesn't come out and say what is wrong with her, you eventually find out through the clues early on in the text....which also would parallel a rape victims inability to let others know of the problem.

I Maya Angelou symbolism is great too. Melinda is the caged bird, she even paints the prison, which is the tree, in art class. She is the one with the wings clipped reliving the nightmare which was that dreadful night of the party.

What?

I want to say that I am really excited about next weeks novel because this one made no sense to me. Going back to last week's discussion, I would like to talk about the credibility of this book. How many students reading this book are going to relate to this story? Chances are not many at all. To have a transvestite in a high school is one thing, for it to be the starting quarterback/captain is another. I like how the author tries to shatter the stereotype, but how many of these students reading the book, will take it seriously?

But maybe, the authors intent was to make everything, outside of Paul and Noah's relationship, seem unrealistic. If everyone and everything outside of this relationship seems silly and fake maybe people will realize how real this relationship could be. I don't know, I couldn't find a clear message to present. I apologize for this lack-luster blog but this is the best I can do.

To relate this book to something in the students life I decided to talk about the MTV show: The Real World. This was the first time I "saw" a homosexual. It seems that every show they have has a male or female who is attracted to the same sex. The show is outlandish and crazy but it is a way for teenagers to view how different people can be.

On a side note, I did try out for the Real World in 2006. That was a fun experience.

Forever

Wow judy! Never thought you had this sort of thing in you. Well being the only male in this class I am sure to have a completely different view on this book. How did I ever read this book? I am not sure.... I felt like one of those old ladies that love to read the smutty "adult" novels or the women who Tivo every soap opera, every day. I just felt dirty reading page to page.

With that being said, I do not think this novel should be read in any school district. I can picture the boys in high school having to read this book... The jokes that would arise and gestures that would be made. The book is completely from the Kath's standpoint. What young man would want to read a book about a girl and her sexual feelings? I am 6 years removed from highs school and I could only read one chapter at a time. It is uninteresting for a male to read this book. I am certain that high school students will not receive the right message from the book.

Which leads me to another point... What is the books message? What I got out of this book was that if you keep trying you will eventually reach your goal. I mean how many times is this guy going to try and get in this girls pants before he succeeds? My man Michael is a scumbag. Or maybe judy is just portraying him to be in the beginning. How much of the story talks about everyday conversations between the two? I mean each meeting starts with a brief conversation and ends with him getting shut down when he tries to make a move.

As for Kath, you are just a tease! So many times you lead the "scumbag" on, into thinking he has a shot to "score" and then you shut him down.

Anyhow, the reason why I am talking about the two characters in this way is to show what kind of message is being portrayed to the readers. I do not want my students reading about a girl that doesn't stick to her "guns." She is constantly giving into Michael and he keeps putting her into more and more uncomfortable situations. But in his favor, how is he supposed to know what she wanted when she continued to lead him on.

This story doesn't promote strength by an individual in a relationship setting. Neither one of them put their foot down and stated what their intentions were in the relationship. I mean the occasional, "I love you" doesn't count. THEY ARE TEENAGERS!!! I am sorry, any high school relationship I saw ended in "disaster," or so in their eyes. The only high school relationships that worked out were the ones that weren't as serious at that time.

I am sorry but this book is not good for a younger crowd. It is teaching the wrong message for kids that age. You have the slutty girl that sleeps around with everyone and eventually gets pregnant, the other girl that has sex with a homosexual to make sure that he is really gay, and then there is the protagonist in the story who cannot make up her mind and, in my opinion, relies on her friends advice to make up her mind.

If this book were to teach anything in a classroom setting it would be how NOT to live your life. It could teach the negative influence of peer pressure and how it is not cool to fit in (Sybil getting pregnant).

In closing, don't teach this book!!!! Boys won't read it and girls will get the wrong message. I am not sure I can pick up: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, or, Fudge-a-Mania ever again!!

And to keep my text to self TV show comparison: While reading this book, I pictured Kath and the other characters as the cast of the OC/The Hills/Laguna Beach. I mean how many of the kids we teach are as well off as the characters in the book? Not many! That will be another difficulty in the attempt to have students relate to the story. I wish I could have gone up to Vermont to go skiing for the weekend at some awesome resort, but I can't and, most likely, neither will my students.

The Chocolate War

Working with this book has been a lot of fun. I will admit that I was late getting the book and I am only half way through it. I could relate to a lot of its writings, with the whole rebel kind of attitude. When I was growing up, even now, I tend to speak up and take charge for what I believe. As a teenager, we are still finding out what we are made of. This story should relate with a lot of readers in the middle school/high school setting.

I related parts of this story to a cartoon that used to air on Saturday mornings: "Recess." When it comes to the Vigils, they reminded me of a group of students that ruled the playground in the cartoon. They would have different servants to take care of different tasks (assignments) during recess. I used these visuals throughout my reading of this story. ----->Below are some pictures of the characters in the show. The second picture is the title of the movie that they made, it fits the "Disturbing the Universe" piece. Saving the World One Playground at a Time, suggests the overtaking of power from the teachers and putting it in the hand of the students. The students in The Vigils are trying to do the same thing.

As far as the assignments throughout this story, they remind me of another cartoon character, Bart Simpson. I appologize for using cartoon characters to convey my thoughts, but I couldn't help but think about these fictitious people while reading this story. In the cartoon The Simpsons, Bart is constantly getting into trouble by doing things to his principal, Seymour Skinner. I related The Vigils actions towards Brother Leon to how Bart treats Skinner.----> Below are pictures of Bart Simpson and Principal Skinner.

Once again I appologize for having to relate this book to cartoons but that is what immediately popped into my head. I plan on reading the remainder of this book in the next day or two and plan on adding to this blog when I am finished.

P.S. I hope this is what I was supposed to do

Websites used for this blog:

paceni.files.wordpress.com

grinningplanet.com

impawards.com

ca.geocities.com