Jimmy Fedor

This week in Daniels/ Zemelman/and Steineke, the chapter focused on what the authors call “Quick Writes, Easy writing to learn strategies. The authors presented 7 of these strategies. While reading the chapter, I found that I already knew or have had experience with all of the strategies presented. The strategy I like the best is the Exit Slip. This strategy has the student write down either a question about something they are unclear on or something they learned in today’s class on a slip of paper before they can leave. The slip is then turned in, and the students can move on to their next class. This is a great way for the teacher to assess student learning. There really is no downside to this strategy. The only thing that could be a challenge would be the timing of the day’s lesson. I could see myself easily forgetting to give the students that minute or so to complete their exit slip.
Another strategy I would like to comment on is mapping. I strongly dislike this strategy, however if it works for someone else they should use it. I feel that with mapping, the actual “map” is too jumbled up. I tried creating a concept map in another education class, and it was a waste of time for me because I could not even use the map when I was finished. When I looked at my concept map, it made me more confused then I was in the first place.
As far as my learning goes, I would like to share about another one of my history courses. In this history course, we are learning all about museums; how to run them, what to collect, and on and on. I like the way this course is run. Our professor assigns us about 50 pages of reading between classes. When we come to class, we circle up and talk about the readings. The aspect that makes this course so interesting is that our professor has a lot of experience in the museum field, and shares interesting real life stories with us. There are also no tests or quizzes which is also a bonus. However, towards the end of the semester we will have to design our own exhibit, complete with everything that an actual museum would need. This, I feel, is a great way to bring all the content we are covering together. The fact that we are actually going to use the content this way is exciting to me. I guess I’ll find out how much I am learning in this class when it comes time to create my exhibit.

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While reading the first two chapters of Daniels, Zemelman, and Steinke I stumbled upon a set of data that I found to be very interesting.  These statistics were reported by Edgar Dale over sixty years ago, and they hold true to this day.  The data states that people remember:

10% of what they read

20% of what they hear

30% of what they see

50% of what they hear and see

70% of what they say and write

90% of what they say as they do a thing

I think taking this data into consideration before doing any sort of classroom activity would be beneficial to both the students and the teacher.  Daniels and Zemelman take this data and use it to justify the importance of writing.  Thus, they want students to remember the 70% of what they say and write.  I do not agree with their stance.  I think Daniels and Zemelman should be advocating the combined use of projects and presentations.  With projects and presentations, students would remember 90% of what they say as they do their presentation.  Just a thought.

This past week as a learner has really strengthened my belief that movies are not always the best way to teach.  In my Chinese History through film course, we are watching Chinese movies that are supposed to teach us the history of China.  However, these films are very loosely based on actual historical events and if I am going to learn any Chinese history I will have to do read the text book very carefully.  I think these films would be better suited to appeal to the learners’ senses.  If our professor showed clips of the movies in order to give us a mental picture of how things might have looked, I believe I would be getting much more out of this course.     

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One goal I chose to examine through chapter ten of Daniels, Zemelman, and Steineke was; incorporating public speaking into the classroom.  When a teacher turns an ordinary essay into an oral presentation, it sort of raises the bar to the students.  They will not want to look foolish in front of their peers, and they will delve deeper into the topic then they may usually do.  I liked the idea to bring in community members to be part of the audience.  If engaged, these audience members will ask questions that will further their learning.

A very useful piece of the chapter dealt with rubrics.  Some advantages to rubrics are that they let students know in advance what is important for that particular essay, it can guide them to think appropriately, and it can focus students on a few aspects of their writing that needs improvement.  Disadvantages include, that it puts students in a “straitjacket”, it makes it hard to tell if students are copying, and you can be faced with the dilemma of whether or not to give credit for creative thinking that you did not anticipate.  Personally, I like rubrics when they allow for unanticipated situations.  I don’t care for when you go above and beyond on some aspects of the paper but do not receive credit for that effort.

One thing about my learning that I failed to mention in my last blog was my appreciation of the one and a half hour class.  For me, it seems that I have a hard time staying focused in any of my 3 hr classes.  I think I will gain even more this semester then I did last year because my attention span should last the length of the class.   I also like the fact that we are creating our own wikis.  They will be a great tool to use in our classrooms, and will be a great addition to our resume and interviewing experience. 

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It’s good to be back!  Over the past few weeks I had been taking it easy at home enjoying Christmas and the New Year.  Over break, I had the opportunity to substitute teach at my high school.   I enjoyed the experience greatly, and the kids all told me I was better then their regular teacher, which was nice to hear, but probably unlikely. 

As it is a new semester, I feel it is necessary to set some goals that I hope to accomplish throughout this half of the school year.  First and foremost, I want to really learn the material I will be learning in my classes.  I find myself focusing less on grades, and more on actually learning the content, and I hope to continue in this direction.  I would also like to continue on improving my lesson plans.  This is an essential goal for me because I plan on student teaching in the fall.

One thing that really jumped out to me in the readings was written by Charlton.  She stressed the importance of understanding the flow of the students, and the importance of getting in tune with that flow.  To do this, effective listening and observation are required.  A really neat way to keep track of all the students is to use sticky notes.  Use these notes to create a profile for each of the students.  The teacher can arrange these notes as strengths and weaknesses. When this is accomplished, patterns can be seen.  Once you can understand you students well, you will be able to reach them more effectively with the lessons.   

I am looking forward to another great semester!

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            This past week I had the opportunity to attend several Four Freedoms Week events.  The first event I attended was about the issue of Native American mascots.  There was a panel at this discussion which argued that the use of Indian mascots by sports teams is demeaning and racist.  Two professional teams that use these mascots are the Washington Redskins, and the Cleveland Indians.  Along with these professional teams, countless high school teams have these types of mascots as well.  The main argument I gathered from this panel was that using Native Americans as mascots is demeaning to them.  Most teams use inanimate things like colors, animals, or mythical beings.  Having the Native Americans as mascots puts them down to that level.  Also, when being used as a mascot, only one element of the Natives is being portrayed; that being the warrior side.  The panel did not think this was right and that all aspects of their culture needs to be shown, not just the side that the dominate white society wants. I felt that the panel did a lousy job in conveying their arguments to the students and faculty that attended.      

     Another event I attended was about the Jena 6.  This presentation took an in depth look at the events that were and still are happening in Jena Louisiana.  This presentation cleared a lot of things up for me.  I had thought that Jena was just some backwoods town.  But it turns out that Jena is a small city with nearly sixteen thousand people.  It was also interesting to learn that the charges against the 6 black students went from assault and battery to second degree attempted murder.  That is a huge difference, and I hope that someday soon justice will be found.  It still amazes me that people can be so racist. 

            The third event I attended was a talk by Bruce Jacobs.  Mr. Jacobs is a best selling author that looks at problems facing our society today.  The central theme of his presentation rested on race, and that the different races are not so different after all.  Mr. Jacobs said that if we are to be a true democratic society, we have to feel comfortable with each other to ask why someone from a different race did what they did.  Now, everyone is too afraid they are going to offend the other person, and also worried that they will be looked down upon for asking such a question.  If we can understand on another, maybe we can get to a point where racism does not exist.  Another very interesting point Mr. Jacobs raised was change.  He said that everyone he has talked to wants a change in our society and politics.  However, we do not stick together across races to achieve the change that we all strive for.  If we want political change, we need to band together and vote for that change.

            The article I looked at this week was from watchingamerica.com.  This website is not American.  The people who run this site translate foreign newspapers into English.  From this, we can see what other nations think of America and our actions.  This is very interesting and gave me a very different perspective then what I am used to.  The article I read dealt with French President Sarkozy visiting the U.S.  It seemed to me that he was on a foreign relations mission and wants to patch up relations with the U.S.  Again, it was just neat to get a non-American perspective. The article can be found at:  http://www.watchingamerica.com/liberation000098.shtml

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            I was able to attend the discussion panel portion of “Frankenstein Lives”.  I found this to be very interesting.  I never thought there could be so many different aspects of our society that one can relate this fantastic story too.

            The discussion panel focused on relating the novel to our society.  The panel consisted of six students who were a part of the Frankenstein English 199 course over the last two years.  They each gave either a short speech or PowerPoint presentation on how they perceive Frankenstein to relate to society.  It was very interesting to see their ideas, and I feel that they argued their points quite well.

            The most enjoyable and convincing argument was the one that focused on technology.  The issue was whether or not technology can be considered good or bad.  The presenter, Nate, conveyed the idea that technology is no different then any other tool that we use.  What makes it good or evil is how it is used by us.  Therefore, it is us who are either good or evil, not the technology.  One phrase that I remember from this presentation went something along the lines of if my computer screws up, it isn’t because the computer is evil and that it is trying to be mean to me.  I have probably done something without knowing that caused the malfunction. 

            Other arguments were the classic nature vs. nurture debate and the question of moral and ethical dilemmas that are often encountered in science.  It was interesting how the students related Frankenstein to these arguments.  From attending this Frankenstein forum, I suddenly have the urge to read a book that I have not yet read.

            This week I read an article about Fred Taylor, a running back for the Jaguars.  This article shows that as we get older, some things become less important to us while others become more important. Taylor used to have the attitude that he would not be a successful football if he did not make a Pro-Bowl.  However, now with the help of his young sons, he realizes there is more to life. 
Taylor still has not been selected for a Pro-Bowl, but he is on the verge of becoming the 20^th player in NFL history to reach 10,000 yards rushing.  I always find it interesting when people realize that something that was so important to them for so long is no longer the center of their attention.  Even better is when the new focus of their lives has more meaning. Hopefully, teaching will never become one of these things to me or my peers.

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The central theme to this weeks’ reading was book clubs.  Book clubs can be a very effective teaching tool when used correctly.  With book clubs, the students are split into groups based on what book they wish to read.  They then read their book, and come together as a group to discuss what they have read, central themes, and how these themes relate to what they are doing in class. 

It is important for teachers to make sure the students understand how book clubs will be run.  An effective way to do this is to do a mini lesson which examines the clubs.  The teacher can also assign different jobs for individuals in the group to do.  These positions can include a questioner and a researcher.  Another thing that would be interesting to try, would be to have the groups do some sort of presentation or skit about their book after they have finished reading it.

One great thing about book clubs is that the students do not have to read books.  The same lesson format can be used for articles that relate to the topic at hand.  I think this would be a great alternative for the teacher who is concerned about the amount of time doing the book clubs will encompass when reading actual books.  One article I would bring into my class would be Immunity Deals Offered to Blackwater Guards. This article focuses on the alleged misconduct of this security company in
Iraq.  There have been reports that immunity has been offered to a group of these guards for exchange of testimony.  This would be a great way to focus attention on the war in
Iraq, and to injustices found in our society today.   With this article there is also a question if the
U.S. can prosecute this company if in fact they did commit horrible crimes.   This question exists because the events did not occur on American soil, and the fact that Americans are immune to Iraqi law because of the American occupation of
Iraq.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

The article can be found at: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/washington/30blackwater.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin 

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Bull Run, by Paul Fleischman, is a book that examines the battle of Bull Run through multiple perspectives.  Bull Run was the first major battle of the Civil War.  Soldiers on both sides went into the battle believing it would be an easy win.  It turns out that thousands ended up dying. 

This book would be good for 5th – 6th graders.  It is a very easy read which actually gives a good idea of what the people of the time were feeling.  Fleischman examines the battle, and events leading up to it, through the perspectives of a doctor, young boy, free black man, a slave, and other people of the time.  Looking through these different lenses paints a better picture then just looking through one lense like when using textbooks.  This book counters many criticisms that are usually leveled towards history.  It examines the event through multiple perspecitves and it engages the reader.  I would definitely use this book in my class.

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As Rousseau said, the best learning takes place when the student looses track of time.  This phenomenon has proven true for me this semester.  I can not believe that we are at the midpoint of the course.  It seems as if we only arrived at school a few weeks ago.  Looking back upon the semester thus far, I realize that I have indeed learned a lot.  I have a much deeper understanding of literacy as a whole and I am able to identify and understand multiple literacy strategies that can be used in the classroom.  Also, this semester I find myself to be a little more up to date on current events then I was during other semesters.   Having to find and blog about a news article every week has really helped me in this regard. 

This week I found an article from the New York Times that really grabbed my attention.  The article is titled Putin Warns U.S. Over Missile Shield.  This article addresses U.S. interests of establishing a missile defense system in the former Soviet Union territory of Czech Republic. The U.S. claims that this system would be used in order to detect, and destroy, missile attacks from countries such as Iran and
North Korea. 

The main issue Russia has with this system, is that if it was placed in the Czech Republic, we would be able to scan Russian territory, which would be a threat to Russian security.  A proposal made by the Russians which would allow the U.S. to jointly use a current Russian radar station located in Azerbaijan.  If the U.S. still decides to deploy a station in the Czech Republic, Russia has threatened some retaliatory action.  It will be interesting to follow the coming events.

This article would be great for a social studies unit covering the Cold War.  The article clearly shows the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Russia.  The use of this article would help facilitate discussion and students would be able to make connections between this event and Cold War events.  When covering this article, I would also be able to throw in some geography. 

This article can be found at: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-shield-russia-putin.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

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