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May 4, 2020

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Classroom Portrait

Blog 6:
Outside:
The Rockbridge County High School is primarily composed of students from both the Lylburn Downing Middle School (city) and the Maury River Middle School (county) due to how the Rockbridge County High School serves both Lexington and Rockbridge County areas. The school, according to the VDOE’s school quality profile, exhibits a satisfactory performance in all areas of assessment except when it comes to students with learning disabilities who are struggling with math. Moreover, the graduation rate rests at 91.5%, which is not far off from the state’s overall graduation rate of 92%. The school quality profile does, however, also reveal one of the biggest challenges that the school’s students face – economic issues. In the Rockbridge Community Profile, prepared by Jennifer Borman and Daniela Leon it states that “According to the 2013 U.S. Census, median household incomes in the Rockbridge area were significantly lower than the rest of Virginia… and the United States.” They assert that “the area is not immune from poverty” and that “poverty in Rockbridge is compounded by isolation and relative invisibility.” The Rockbridge County High School, however, as evidenced through me and my partner’s personal experience and through the statistics reviewed from the VDOE, does an excellent job at providing adequate assistance to students so as to create a conducive learning environment for everyone.

Inside:
Mr. Simms’s and Ms. Trombetta’s classroom most certainly exhibited the same uplifting energy that permeated throughout most of the school. Upon arrival to their classroom, the students were chatting excitedly with one another, Mr. Simms, and Ms. Trombetta. This particular class certainly maintained a positive classroom culture. Moreover, the classroom definitely reflected PBL and EL principles. This was evident to me as soon as I saw the students work on the walls and, moreover, when Mr. Simms remarked to me that he allowed and encouraged his students to assist him with curating the course’s content. This amplification of student choice and voice and Mr. Simms’s practice of identifying and discussing with his students “real-world issues and problems students want to address” certainly reflect the principles of PBL and EL education. Aside from the students holding discussions with Mr. Simms, Ms. Trombetta also heavily encouraged the students to participate in class discussion and collaboration. When I inquired about how she thought it would be best to conduct a class discussion, the first thing she wrote to me was that “it’s important to let students voice their opinions while also respecting their classmates.” Sometimes you could feel the energy of the classroom shift throughout the class. There was one moment where they did an activity on the board and everyone was excited for it, but once they sat back down it slightly turned into a lecture that the students didn’t necessarily feed into. All in all, the class could reap the benefits of PBL further down the line.

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May 4, 2020

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Cartoons in the Classroom

Blog 5:
In Ian K. Macgillivray’s article entitled, “Using Cartoons to Teach Students about Stereotypes and Discrimination: One Teacher’s Lessons from South Park,” Macgillivray goes into extensive detail about various instructors’ utilization of cartoons in their classrooms. Elaborating on how students connect to cartoons Macgillivray states that, “Categorizing people by using a group label, in effect, highlights their similarities to one another and their differences from other people, which also “link[s] social groups to a whole constellation of other types of information” (Ehrlich, 2–3). In essence, stereotyping “makes it easier to store knowledge and to recall it” (Mcgillivray, 138). He also goes on to describe the four different reasons that he uses cartoons in the classroom. He asserts that “animated cartoons are an important part of popular culture… because cartoons are based on humor, they are especially apt texts for examining culture” and that “there is evidence that humor helps students to better process and accept information that negates stereotyping.” Moreover, and most importantly, “allowing students to identify with a cartoon character who is coming to terms with his or her own prejudices, which the student viewer may also hold, is less threatening in that it gives the student an opportunity to first see someone else (the cartoon character) going through the process of examining his or her own stereotypes.” Macgillivray then goes on to explain how other teachers use cartoons in their classroom by citing research that he uncovered regarding cartoons in classrooms. These teachers discuss how the cartoons they used were effective, but they also gave warnings about how the overuse of cartoons can just perpetuate the negative stereotypes they portray as opposed to educating students. Macgillivray also explores in his article how analyzing the studies of cartoons over an expanse of time can help teachers tailor their lesson plans to their classes. Macgillivray dives into a number of studies including research regarding racial, gender, and LGBTQ+ stereotypes, as well as stereotypes regarding those with mental illnesses. This article is a great one to read, not only because it shows you how other teachers have used cartoons to teach kids about how to identify and engage with their biases, but because it also tells instructors how we relate to cartoons in such a way that allows us to project our biases onto the cartoon during class discussion and, in that projection, we feel safe from judgment because “it is what the illustrator is saying, not us.”

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April 24, 2020

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How Do Kids Connect To Cartoons and Why Is It Important?

In Ian K. Macgillivray’s article entitled, “Using Cartoons to Teach Students about Stereotypes and Discrimination: One Teacher’s Lessons from South Park,” Macgillivray goes into extensive detail about various instructors’ utilization of cartoons in their classrooms. Elaborating on how students connect to cartoons Macgillivray states that, “Categorizing people by using a group label, in effect, highlights their similarities to one another and their differences from other people, which also “link[s] social groups to a whole constellation of other types of information” (Ehrlich, 2–3). In essence, stereotyping “makes it easier to store knowledge and to recall it” (Mcgillivray, 138). He also goes on to describe the four different reasons that he uses cartoons in the classroom. He asserts that “animated cartoons are an important part of popular culture… because cartoons are based on humor, they are especially apt texts for examining culture” and that “there is evidence that humor helps students to better process and accept information that negates stereotyping.” Moreover, and most importantly, “allowing students to identify with a cartoon character who is coming to terms with his or her own prejudices, which the student viewer may also hold, is less threatening in that it gives the student an opportunity to first see someone else (the cartoon character) going through the process of examining his or her own stereotypes.” Macgillivray then goes on to explain how other teachers use cartoons in their classroom by citing research that he uncovered regarding cartoons in classrooms.

These teachers discuss how the cartoons they used were effective, but they also gave warnings about how the overuse of cartoons can just perpetuate the negative stereotypes they portray as opposed to educating students. Macgillivray also explores in his article how analyzing the studies of cartoons over an expanse of time can help teachers tailor their lesson plans to their classes. Macgillivray dives into a number of studies including research regarding racial, gender, and LGBTQ+ stereotypes, as well as stereotypes regarding those with mental illnesses. This article is a great one to read, not only because it shows you how other teachers have used cartoons to teach kids about how to identify and engage with their biases, but because it also tells instructors how we relate to cartoons in such a way that allows us to project our biases onto the cartoon during class discussion and, in that projection, we feel safe from judgment because “it is what the illustrator is saying, not us.”

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March 9, 2020

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Emphasizing Student Collaboration

During my last visit to Mr. Simms’ and Ms. Trombetta’s classroom I had the opportunity to lead a class discussion about what the students thought of lawyers. Did they see lawyers as amoral, greedy, manipulators who were willing to do whatever it took to win their case and make their money? Or did they see lawyers as advocates who pioneered for the societal issues they believed in fighting for? To be honest, the discussion was pretty painful. I barely got any response from the students and, no matter what I said, it seemed as if they had no idea what I was talking about. I think that the biggest issue with me just jumping into the classroom in the way that I did was because it didn’t match up with the way the classroom is traditionally run. It very much felt as if I had disrupted the culture and the norms held within the classroom. Just from my speaking to the class I could tell that the class took a more insular approach to inquiry, discussion, and instruction. I knew from my previous experiences with the class that they had experience with reflection and discussion, but in my experience leading that reflection and discussion I really struggled with engaging student interest and curiosity (there didn’t really seem to be any, honestly). I came away from leading that discussion with more questions than confidence. I couldn’t help but wonder, how do you engage with a student, pique a student’s curiosity or interest, if they don’t realize that they could be interested in the subject?

My own learning activity that would support my team unit would definitely be geared towards really trying to discover what the students would like to be involved in or learn. Ms. Trombetta’s lesson plan appeared interesting to me, and maybe it would have been more interesting to the students if she would have led the discussion instead of me, but in regard to this particular unit I didn’t see any student contributions to the lesson plan. That is the main thing I would like to include in my learning activity – student contribution. Honestly, I would prefer to simply have a conversation with students and hear about what aspects of their learning experience they’ve enjoyed most far in Mr. Simms’s and Ms. Trombetta’s classroom. I would like to create a big poster board on the wall with different sections including favorite topics, favorite activities, favorite forms of media, etc. I want to hear directly from the students so that we can work on something together. Sure, I would be guiding the students, but I would want them to know that they are the driving force of their own education. This way the class and I can have a starting point from which we can begin putting ideas together about a larger activity culminating in a goal of their choosing. Ideally, I would create a big poster board that would keep track of all of the brainstorming activities we would do so that we could keep track of our progress.

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February 17, 2020

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Enriching Education with EL/PBL

While I was observing Mr. Simms’s students, I definitely noticed how EL education principles were present in the classroom. However, those principles didn’t appear to have been harnessed and put into practice through PBL or EL. The atmosphere of the classroom was certainly welcoming, and the students seemed comfortable with one another and Mr. Simms. However, that comfortability was not seen when it came to the classroom discussion that the TA was attempting to facilitate. I wish that the TA would have encouraged this exciting energy that the students entered into the classroom with. I feel as if, by giving them laptops, turning off the lights, and merely lecturing and showing the students videos, the vivacity that they came in with became lackluster. It seemed as if they immediately disconnected from their educational experience as soon as they realized their course content was just being spoken to them as opposed to partaking in an engaging educational experience. Moreover, when the TA allowed the students to choose a story from their packet, she didn’t actually have the students read, she simply read the story to them. I know that if she would have encouraged the students to read aloud by either picking someone, letting them do popcorn, or even by letting them volunteer, it would have shown to the students that the TA believes in their intellectual capabilities; it would have been much more self-empowering.

Yet, even before the TA carried out her lesson plan with the students, I knew that PBL/EL principles were not in the forefront of her mind while she was working with the students. At the start of the class she simply handed the students a packet. There was no explanation as to what the packet was for, why it was important for the lesson, what the driving question, or purpose of the class was, or what it would “mean to know this.” These two insistences in the classroom – the TA’s neglect of outlining the lesson for the day and her lack of inclusion of the students – showed me that PBL is not a part of her teaching experience. Yet, I do think that the atmosphere of the classroom has potential for being a great PBL workspace. The students came in lively and excited, they all seemed comfortable with one another and the teacher, and they all seemed interested in the course content when they did get the chance to actively participate. With the introduction of the four strategies for building PBL culture, which are: focusing deliberately on beliefs and values, creating shared norms, implementing protocols and routines, and ensuring that the physical environment the students find themselves in is conducive to PBL, I really do think that these students would enjoy a tremendously enriching educational experience.

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February 11, 2020

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Making Mythology Exciting

Tomorrow morning Tyain and I will be meeting with Mr. Simms and his first period, 9th grade English class. I am so excited to get the chance to work with him and his students. This class is actually focused on one of my favorite subjects, mythology. When I was younger, I loved to read Rick Riordan’s books. I devoured the Percy Jackson series, the Heroes of Olympus, and Magnus Chase. My interest in mythology, although not cultivated or refined by any formal education, had continued to carry on into my adult life as I’ve read much of Robert Graves’ Greek Myths. This book outlines in quite explicit detail the entirety of the Greek mythological belief system as it developed over history. Over time I’ve also done some light digging into Egyptian, Norse, and Celtic mythology.

One of the reasons that I’m most excited for this fieldwork project is because I know that my interest for the subject area that these kids are studying will shine through. I hope that I can pass that excitement along as I work with the students. I’m also so excited to see what kind of things these students are doing in their classroom because I know mythology was always a subject that I wanted to study in a course, but never got the chance to. I do think, though, that there may be a chance that my inherent interest in mythology may work against me. This is not necessarily a subject area that everyone is already intrigued by so, I think it may be difficult for me to cultivate students’ interest in whatever project we do undertake in regard to the subject because it may be difficult for me to locate the source of their disinterest.

Moreover, I know that English isn’t necessarily everyone’s cup of tea and I know that there are people who really detest writing, but I hope that by creating a project that really sparks and encourages the imagination I can show the students that English is oftentimes a subject where we can sort of integrate our interests into the course content.

I will be honest, I don’t expect this experience to be easy for me. While I am relatively gregarious, I really do not enjoy public speaking. I most definitely anticipate for tomorrow’s class, the first class, with the students to be the most difficult for me. I am definitely aware of the importance of first impressions and, having been struck down by barracks plague and having to get up and speak in front of a group of people, is a pretty intimidating situation for me to be in – especially because I know how difficult it can be to please high school students. I keep thinking back on when I was a 9th grader. What would I have been responsive towards? What would my attitude have been if someone like this were walking into my classroom? I think these questions are definitely important to consider, but I also think it’s important not to make any assumptions before I walk into the classroom. It’s been a while since I’ve been in high school and this school is most likely nothing like mine was. These kids will most likely be a fair bit different from what I was used to years ago.

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January 23, 2020

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Learning Philosophies

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Importance of Education as a Process of Living

I believe one of the most important aspects of John Dewey’s ideals is his notion that “education… is a process of living and not a preparation for future living” because I feel as if it relates to a number of various principles that EL Education espouses. Throughout my education I have often found that the pressure placed on me to perform hinders my ability to properly enjoy and explore my education. Particularly in high school I was discouraged a number of times by faculty and administration to pursue my interests in school because they believed that, if I were to have challenged myself,  I would not have excelled. My sophomore year of high school I took the CP literature course and got a B, and while I was interested in taking the Honors course during my junior year, I knew that I would have needed to get an A in the CP course to move up to Honors. After discussing the dilemma with my teacher I discovered that I could get forms signed by members of the faculty, staff, and my parents to get into the course. My parents encouraged me to take the class and happily signed the forms I handed over to them, but when I gave the form to my CP literature teacher, the Vice Principal, and my the teacher who would was going to be teaching the Honors class, I was told multiple times by them that there was a strong chance I wouldn’t succeed in the class and they rather forcefully recommended that I remain in CP. When I got a B in the Honors course and wanted to take the AP literature course my senior year, I was made to go through the whole discouraging experience again, but lo and behold I got an A in the class and I passed my AP exam – I may have shown up late and without a pencil, but I passed.

Those teachers who discouraged me from challenging myself were preparing me for future living. They wanted to ensure that I had the best grades that I could have had on my high school transcript for when I applied to college. Yet, I truly believe that if a student’s’ interests aren’t cultivated and challenges aren’t put before them there is very little chance of that student succeeding. Not only is it important for the student to cultivate their passions, but it is also important that they realize their own capabilities and self-worth as a student. Moreover, I feel as if doing these empowering things for students is what best prepares them for their future – grades are not necessarily indicative of someone’s future success or lack thereof, but their confidence, passion, ambition, etc.