The four stages of “Celebrating Poetry” in Bridging English (Milner et al., 2012) are great reminders of how we should approach poetry instruction. The first stage, “Finding Poetry” might surprise students. They may not realize that poetry exists everywhere in the world around them (music, advertisements, bumper stickers, etc.) and once they do understand this, they might be more open to studying what we could consider “academic” poetry. These real-world mediums become accessible gateways to poetry. Additionally, the next stage of “Forging Poetry,” or inviting students to write poetry, engages them firsthand with the craft. Finding their own voices to write about endless topics builds connections between students and poets. It is one on which that the students might reflect as if to say, “Hey, this isn’t so bad. I can do this, too.”
This second stage connects to Chapter Six in Language and Reflection where Gere et al. (1992) explore the “Language-as-Expression” approach to teaching. This method eliminates the teacher’s cliché “sage on the stage” role and instead centers the class focus on the students and their own writing, speaking, and reading abilities (1992, p. 149). One of the main goals in this approach is for students to understand their own writing processes (and, the writing of others, as Milner et al. believe about writing poetry) which will propel them to write more.
The last two stages of “celebrating poetry” are “Discerning Poetry,” or analyzing, and “Probing Poetry,” or deepening student responses. These are more conventional approaches to poetry. However, I think Milner et al. make an important point when they caution that studying poetry should occur in conjunction with all units in the English curriculum, not just in a unit on its own (2012, pp. 202-204). It is easy to incorporate poems that relate to novels into such units and may even increase comprehension and exposure to themes.
Chapter Six of Classroom Assessment (Russell and Arasian, 2012) is a valuable resource for us as we begin our teaching careers. Structuring written assessment can be a tricky skill to master, but the outline of “Guidelines for Writing and Critiquing Test Items” is a great aid to use when writing and structuring tests (2012, p. 160). We don not want to make impossible tests for our students. Following strategies that help incorporate selection items, supply items, “higher-level questions” as well as skills-based testing items can help our students feel they have not been cheated by a test design, but that they have been tested fairly, objectively, and with purpose.
I’m glad you mentioned the inherent problems to the “sage on the stage” approach to teaching; Actively engaging students in their own learning process, and allowing them to take ownership of what happens in the classroom is so critical to understanding the sometimes elusive and/or obscure meanings found in many texts.
“Finding poetry” seems like a good way to start the year off and get to know your students. Found poetry can be so telling, where we travel, how we think. Although many teachers seem to have an aversion to poetry in the curriculum, like Milner, I feel that it should be interwoven throughout the year.
I also agree with your valuation of chapter 6 of “Classroom Assessment.” The chapter opened up with a question about how we will make and assess quizzes and I had this moment where I realized that I hadn’t thought about that aspect of teaching very much; I’ve been more focused on the daily activities. I always save the readings from this book for last, but each time I read I am reminded of how important these technical details of teaching really are. We can make connections, engage, and scaffold endlessly, but assessment, formative and summative, needs to be a critical part of that.
I liked that the chapter,”Celebrating Poetry” mentioned music as another entry into poetry. “Music can help students become aware that poetry is ‘not a thing far removed from the ordinary sphere of human experience, but a thing at the center of our lives.’” I also think it’s important to start students off with poems that are relevant to them, or at least written for young adults. Throwing them into the older poetry is probably not going to help them appreciate it. I liked the activity on page 177. I know when I was a high school student, writing poetry wasn’t as bad when there was an outline to follow. This activity gives students a guide to get them started, and it also makes them find relevant news. Templates make it easier for students to get started.
I was really interested in the language as study idea described in the chapter, “Language as Expression.” “The teacher concentrates on natural and honest expression in writing and in response to reading. Students are encouraged to develop their own “voices” rather than concern themselves with learning rules about language.”(151). I think it’s important to help students cut out the crap in their writing. I think a lot of students feel they have to include fluff to impress certain teachers. “One measure of effectiveness in the language-as-expression classroom is avoidance of pretentious, insincere, or flat language.” (151). This classroom helps students write in their own way, find their own voice, and say what is worth saying.
I was interested in looking into scoring essay items in Russell’s chapter, “Designing, Administering, and Scoring Achievement Tests” because I know this is going to be something I will struggle with. It was kind of nerve wracking reading the list of generally unrelated distractions that can affect the grade of the student, including fatigue, identity of the student, and location of one’s test paper in the pile of test papers (166). I enjoyed reading through how to remain objective while grading short essays responses, and I think they are all important. I particularly liked the idea of grading all answers to the first question before going on to the second. This helps step away from a particular students’ writing instead and allowing me to see how other students have responded in comparison (167-168).
I, too, think relating poetry to music is a great idea to engage students in studying poetic craft. Not only can music provide both audio and textual accommodations, but it can also give students visual aids, like music videos, to understand poetry—if in appropriate contexts, of course. Students frequently listen to music, so why not take advantage of that and create teachable moments with song lyrics? If, like Atwell says, students can approach poetry in their real lives, they are more likely to want to tackle it academically.
To address your comments about the Classroom Assessment (Russell & Airasian), I believe you might be trying to say you are nervous about grading. Don’t worry, I think we all are! You refer to the list of factors that can influence grading and I am not sure if there is any “right” way to combat these. I think we just need to step back and reassure ourselves that we will do the best we can and if we make mistakes in grading (or in any other area of teaching), then these errors become our own little “teachable moments” from which we can learn and therefore improve.
This week’s chapter in Bridging English ties into the reading we had to complete for Teaching of Writing in Atwell’s text. Poetry is a topic that I cannot stop learning about because I do not think I know enough to be comfortable teaching it yet. This chapter made me much more comfortable though because it compares poetry to music and considers it poetry in itself. That was something I had given little thought to and was interested in. Also, like in Atwell, this chapter gave great guiding questions for poetry on page 189 when it talks about the definition of poetry and choosing between poets. This broke poetry down a little bit for me so that I could have an easier grasp on the idea of teaching it.
In chapter six of classroom assessment I really honed in on the section about cheating. Throughout my education and our pre-practicum I have witnessed cheating occur in the classroom and I was never sure exactly how to approach it. I was pleased to read that one of the top suggestions for deterring cheating is to “provide students with good instructions and information about the test” (Russell & Airasian, 2012, p. 162). If a teacher covers the material thoroughly and assesses that students are confident in the material and ready for formal assessment then the students shouldn’t have a need to cheat. It reminds me of our visit to Scarlett’s class when she took ownership of her students not understanding the homework.
In Gere’s (1992) text the section on writing instruction mentioned how “journal writing is another kind of writing that is useful in gathering raw materials for paper and strengthening connections between writing and thinking” (p. 155). I like the idea of teaching my students to use their own writing as a resource for future writing. Not all students take their work seriously and having the encouragement to use their work in the classroom is a great way to encourage students to have more belief in themselves and their work.
I appreciated the connection between music and poetry as well. It was something I had overlooked but I think is probably one of the best ways into teaching students to appreciate poetry. Sometimes I wonder if they even realize lyrics are poetry; it’s not something I ever thought about. Creating activities that are based around music can be easy and engaging, and could be a beneficial way to start the poetry unit.
I had never thought much about the cheating issue in my class. I guess it was something I just expected wouldn't happen; that whole ideal classroom thing. But cheating is a real issue and it goes back to students only wanting to pass the test or get a good grade. I didn't zone in on this part of the chapter as much, but I agree that it’s nice to know that if you’re doing your job right, there is less of a chance for cheating. Giving the students the confidence to take the test will help them relax and trust themselves in the moment.
I think poetry is a great topic for the classroom because writing it can be so freeing. No matter what your level or proficiency you can write a poem; it requires no specific form or grammatical conventions. It can be any length. All you do is start with an idea. I love the Heard quote on page 178 of Milner:
“As a teacher I’m aware that every time I choose to listen instead of control, every time I encourage, and every honest self-revelation I’m brave enough to make bring the classroom closer to being the kind of environment where good poetry can flourish”
For me, the main point of poetry is revealing those authentic situations and emotions that touch on the “human condition,” a much overused phrase, I know. Beginning with engaging examples poetry that students can use as templates is a good start, but as a teacher in my own classroom I hope to move to more open forms and “found poetry.” We also read about poetry in our Teaching of Writing class this week and on that blog someone mentioned feeling unsatisfied by the amount of advice Atwell actually gives… Milner really lays the process out well, whether it is a more traditional method or using advertising to get the point across.
Gere’s lesson plans always strike me as being very practical, although not always very inspired. I do like the approach on “language as expression” highlighted this week however, as opposed to the “language as artifact” approach we discussed earlier. We talked about the value of literary theory in the classroom last week, so I think the “four types of reader response” box on page 148 really highlights how students are already thinking critically about text through engagement, perception, interpretation, and evaluation. While I do believe that students should be primarily reading books that they find completely engaging, I would also like to think there is still a place for more “literature” in the classroom… by using those four methods of response, Gere suggests we can “stress the relationship between reader and text” (p. 152), which can really help breathe life into the more oldy moldy stuff people outside of English majors seem to have such an aversion to!
As an ELA teacher, I just don’t picture myself using a lot of traditional tests for assessment, but every school that I have visited in preprac has mentioned tests in their classes so I suppose they will be unavoidable. I am definitely concerned about how easy it is to make selection items on tests that are not somehow biased because I am too close to the material. I appreciate Russell’s discussion on the difficulty and discrimination indexes included on page 171. If the results show that maybe a question or two were unfair you can modify it. The points about objectivity and grading essays were well taken as well. I personally feel like in on the spot/test essays handwriting and grammar should be paid as much attention to as content. I’m not sure I could get another colleague to read through every essay to double check how I am grading… but maybe a random sampling of a few?
Trish, I agree with you that poetry can be freeing. I think more classes should not only teach poetry but also encourage writing poetry. I think units such as Romeo and Juliet or just Shakespeare can be a great way to not only introduce sonnets and poetry but also writing their own poetry. I think people underestimate how easy it is to incorporate poetry into daily routines. There are sites that have things like "poem of the day" or "prompt of the day." Using these sites every so often can help us as teachers. It reduce planning but increase the use of poetry in the classroom.
This week’s readings (from chapters six, six, six – rather appropriate for Halloween week) all stress student involvement and engagement. In Language and Reflection, we explore the pros and cons of the “language as expression” approach to learning and, in particular, reading. This seems like a valid and useful approach because it allows students to connect more readily and more immediately with their own lives. It “values student engagement” (Fairbanks, Howes, Roop, and SHaafsma, 1992, p. 151) and encourages them to provide direct, emotional responses to texts. I also like the four types of student responses explored in the chapter, from engagement, construct-perception, interpretation, and evaluation (Fairbanks, et al, pp. 147-149) for precisely the same reason: it allows students to think of text as something that relates to them.
In Bridging English, we see a similar approach used to the study of poetry. The “finding, forging, discerning, and probing” (Milner & Milner, 2007, pp. 168-169) is, in many ways, a mirror image of the engagement, construct-perception, interpretation, and evaluation discussed above, in that it encourages students to interact with text and to think of it as something relevant that can inform their perceptions and opinions. The activity involving students breaking down advertising slogans, for example (Milner, et al, p. 173) will help make text more immediate to the students; it will help them realize that text is everywhere, and that it will be up to them to wade through text to sort relevant from irrelevant, harmless from harmful, intelligent from mindless.
The reading from Classroom and Assessment is perhaps the most interesting of the week – certainly it will prove most useful. I had never before considered grading to this extent, nor did I ever stop to think about how much deliberate thought must be put into each and every question and how it will assess learning objectives and evaluate the lower and higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Figure 6.1, “Writing Test Items” (Russell & Airasian, 2012, pp. 157-158), will be extremely helpful when I create my own tests, as will the entire section on turning objectives into appropriate questions. The examples given that show “poor” and “better” test questions (Russell & Airasian, p. 155) are a wonderful guide to creating questions that assess more than rote memory.
I agree with your focus on student engagement and involvement. Reading becomes a chore when you can't engage, and even more so when you have a room full of people who can't connect with the text. The text as "something that relates" to the student is a great starting point.
I like your idea that the advertising project brings immediacy to the study of a text. I think words are constantly passing through our brains through commercials and billboards, and if you can get students to stop for a minute and really consider what kinds of texts are being thrown at them, that's a success. Like you say, "text is everywhere," which opens our future jobs up to a whole host of possibilities.
I also agree with your appraisal of the chapter about creating tests. Turning objectives into appropriate questions seems like an obvious correlation, but it's not one I've ever consciously thought about. This forces the teacher to figure out what he or she wants the students to get out of the topic and gives a clear, fair indication of whether the teacher was successful.
Russell’s chapter on designing different kinds of tests made me really consider all the different factors that go into evaluations, something I’d never really done before, even when I’ve made tests in the past. I was particularly struck by the steps to ensure objectivity (167), especially the first rule, which is to define what constitutes a good answer before administering an essay question. This helps the teacher prepare for the process of grading as much as it prepares the students to write appropriate responses. I believe the idea of FCAs, or focus correction areas, has been brought up in class before, and this rule seems to follow along that idea. The teacher identifies a few features of the essay which will be graded and assigns a certain number of points for each one. The second rule about deciding how grammar, spelling and punctuation will be graded could also tie into mini-lessons: a student will lose points if he continues to make mistakes on a grammatical idea already covered in a mini-lesson. The main ideas I took from this chapter that are we need to identify what skills we want to test, maintain fairness and still challenge the student at one or more levels.
I think I prefer the “language as expression” style described in Gere to “language as artifact,” though some aspects give me pause. I love the idea that this style “encourages students to view their own writing as texts worthy of others’ attention” (148). I’m not sure I ever had a classroom where this was a reigning philosophy, and I imagine that it would work wonders on the confidence of student writers. The potentials of this approach, that it “celebrates individuality,” “promotes independence,” and “promotes creativity” (159), are all things I’d like to do in my classroom. However, the limitation that this style will “stall at the engagement stage” (161) is a concern of mine, especially if students will not engage with a text at all. The lesson plan ideas, such as the one about myth (162), seem to account for that possibility by reaching across a spectrum of texts and mixing up different activities, though.
Milner’s chapter on teaching poetry was full of things I’d like to try in my classroom, but two stood out in particular. The first is using music in the classroom (170), which is something we’ve explored in our own class. Music is a form of poetry that students might not recognize as such, and it can be a good bridge to poetry itself. I also really like the idea of “found poetry” (169). The example poem “Parents” really took me by surprise and I can imagine the reaction of students would be engaging. Employing the idea that poetry is all around us makes a dense topic much more accessible (and fun) to students.
As I mentioned in my post, I also had never considered all the different factors that go into evaluations. It never occurred to me how much care and deliberation goes into making an effective test. Short answer questions and essay questions, in particular, must be extremely well thought-out before given to students, especially considering the interpretive nature of so many texts; we must find ways to phrase questions that allow students to express themselves and their opinions freely but also ensure that they prove to us that they understand the key themes and concepts being taught.
I also agree with the focus correction area concept. It is, in my opinion, too much to expect middle or high school students to know and understand all grammar rules and correctly apply those rules in each paper. FCAs, though, allow us to grade (and take points off) for particular points that have been touched upon in class. Without this kind of direct guidance - if we took off points for every single grammatical, punctuation, or spelling mistake - I can’t help but think that the majority of adolescents would receive zeros on all their essays.
Poetry is a tough subject to learn. I imagine it is an equally tough subject to teach. As a student, I spent hours working on and writing poetry. At my first college I was a creative writing major and spent half my major credits in poetry classes. Before entering college, I did not like writing or reading poetry. It was intimidating and confusing. I felt like there was a wrong answer and if I didn’t get the right answer, I knew nothing about poetry. I think a lot students and teachers alike have this misconception about poetry. I think there is a stigma attached to poetry that prevents a majority of academics from approaching it. It is perceived as the highest test of academic skill and strength and a failure would indicate a person’s lack of skill. As ELA teachers, it is our responsibility to debunk this misconception not only for ourselves but for our students as well. A lot of emphasis is placed on reading and interpreting poetry but I also think it is important to at least attempt creating poetry. Some students may not be capable of producing a poem on their own. One possible activity would be to create a poem as a class using mad libs. Short poems like haikus are also a great way to get students started. Once started, some students may hit a writing stride that takes them down paths that they did not expect. As a teacher, this is what we want! We want to take our students on a journey with their reading.
Cheating is an equally tough topic to deal with. I never dealt with cheating when I was in school. I was approached several times as a student to write papers for other people but I never did it. As a teacher, I would like to create a classroom atmosphere where my students don’t feel like they have to cheat. I would use mostly formative and informal assessments to determine where the students are at with the material. I would try to only use tests when absolutely necessary and when I am confident my students will do well. I also realize this is an ideal scenario and I may not have control over this aspect of my classroom. I would like to think that I am capable of creating a comfortable atmosphere that encourages my students to do their best without cheating.
I really enjoyed the first piece of your post; the journal style was a nice touch to the point you are trying to make. We do need to let our students create in the classroom and break the idea that poetry only has one view. Everyone is entitled to define things the way they see it. Giving students a place where they can be creative and share their opinions is something that I want in my classroom. I wouldn’t want anyone to feel restricted and as if they cannot share their thoughts. Poetry was always something I had a hard time with and maybe if I had a teacher who eased me into the topic with haikus or with a class mad lib like you mentioned I would not feel so prickly towards the subject.
I agree with your ideas on cheating. I encountered it in high school and even college, but it is something that I do not condone in my own learning. I’m sure there were times in high school where I did share work with someone, not that I am proud of it, but some times the things we did in high school we didn’t even realize was wrong. Having as little tests as possible is one good way of taking away the desire to cheat in the classroom. I also liked your idea of using mostly formative and informal assessment. Like the book mentions, it is the teachers responsibility to make sure students are informed enough on the information that they do not feel the need to cheat.
The four stages of “Celebrating Poetry” in Bridging English (Milner et al., 2012) are great reminders of how we should approach poetry instruction. The first stage, “Finding Poetry” might surprise students. They may not realize that poetry exists everywhere in the world around them (music, advertisements, bumper stickers, etc.) and once they do understand this, they might be more open to studying what we could consider “academic” poetry. These real-world mediums become accessible gateways to poetry. Additionally, the next stage of “Forging Poetry,” or inviting students to write poetry, engages them firsthand with the craft. Finding their own voices to write about endless topics builds connections between students and poets. It is one on which that the students might reflect as if to say, “Hey, this isn’t so bad. I can do this, too.”
ReplyDeleteThis second stage connects to Chapter Six in Language and Reflection where Gere et al. (1992) explore the “Language-as-Expression” approach to teaching. This method eliminates the teacher’s cliché “sage on the stage” role and instead centers the class focus on the students and their own writing, speaking, and reading abilities (1992, p. 149). One of the main goals in this approach is for students to understand their own writing processes (and, the writing of others, as Milner et al. believe about writing poetry) which will propel them to write more.
The last two stages of “celebrating poetry” are “Discerning Poetry,” or analyzing, and “Probing Poetry,” or deepening student responses. These are more conventional approaches to poetry. However, I think Milner et al. make an important point when they caution that studying poetry should occur in conjunction with all units in the English curriculum, not just in a unit on its own (2012, pp. 202-204). It is easy to incorporate poems that relate to novels into such units and may even increase comprehension and exposure to themes.
Chapter Six of Classroom Assessment (Russell and Arasian, 2012) is a valuable resource for us as we begin our teaching careers. Structuring written assessment can be a tricky skill to master, but the outline of “Guidelines for Writing and Critiquing Test Items” is a great aid to use when writing and structuring tests (2012, p. 160). We don not want to make impossible tests for our students. Following strategies that help incorporate selection items, supply items, “higher-level questions” as well as skills-based testing items can help our students feel they have not been cheated by a test design, but that they have been tested fairly, objectively, and with purpose.
Hi Kate,
DeleteI’m glad you mentioned the inherent problems to the “sage on the stage” approach to teaching; Actively engaging students in their own learning process, and allowing them to take ownership of what happens in the classroom is so critical to understanding the sometimes elusive and/or obscure meanings found in many texts.
“Finding poetry” seems like a good way to start the year off and get to know your students. Found poetry can be so telling, where we travel, how we think. Although many teachers seem to have an aversion to poetry in the curriculum, like Milner, I feel that it should be interwoven throughout the year.
I also agree with your valuation of chapter 6 of “Classroom Assessment.” The chapter opened up with a question about how we will make and assess quizzes and I had this moment where I realized that I hadn’t thought about that aspect of teaching very much; I’ve been more focused on the daily activities. I always save the readings from this book for last, but each time I read I am reminded of how important these technical details of teaching really are. We can make connections, engage, and scaffold endlessly, but assessment, formative and summative, needs to be a critical part of that.
~Trish
I liked that the chapter,”Celebrating Poetry” mentioned music as another entry into poetry. “Music can help students become aware that poetry is ‘not a thing far removed from the ordinary sphere of human experience, but a thing at the center of our lives.’” I also think it’s important to start students off with poems that are relevant to them, or at least written for young adults. Throwing them into the older poetry is probably not going to help them appreciate it. I liked the activity on page 177. I know when I was a high school student, writing poetry wasn’t as bad when there was an outline to follow. This activity gives students a guide to get them started, and it also makes them find relevant news. Templates make it easier for students to get started.
ReplyDeleteI was really interested in the language as study idea described in the chapter, “Language as Expression.” “The teacher concentrates on natural and honest expression in writing and in response to reading. Students are encouraged to develop their own “voices” rather than concern themselves with learning rules about language.”(151). I think it’s important to help students cut out the crap in their writing. I think a lot of students feel they have to include fluff to impress certain teachers. “One measure of effectiveness in the language-as-expression classroom is avoidance of pretentious, insincere, or flat language.” (151). This classroom helps students write in their own way, find their own voice, and say what is worth saying.
I was interested in looking into scoring essay items in Russell’s chapter, “Designing, Administering, and Scoring Achievement Tests” because I know this is going to be something I will struggle with. It was kind of nerve wracking reading the list of generally unrelated distractions that can affect the grade of the student, including fatigue, identity of the student, and location of one’s test paper in the pile of test papers (166). I enjoyed reading through how to remain objective while grading short essays responses, and I think they are all important. I particularly liked the idea of grading all answers to the first question before going on to the second. This helps step away from a particular students’ writing instead and allowing me to see how other students have responded in comparison (167-168).
Briana:
DeleteI, too, think relating poetry to music is a great idea to engage students in studying poetic craft. Not only can music provide both audio and textual accommodations, but it can also give students visual aids, like music videos, to understand poetry—if in appropriate contexts, of course. Students frequently listen to music, so why not take advantage of that and create teachable moments with song lyrics? If, like Atwell says, students can approach poetry in their real lives, they are more likely to want to tackle it academically.
To address your comments about the Classroom Assessment (Russell & Airasian), I believe you might be trying to say you are nervous about grading. Don’t worry, I think we all are! You refer to the list of factors that can influence grading and I am not sure if there is any “right” way to combat these. I think we just need to step back and reassure ourselves that we will do the best we can and if we make mistakes in grading (or in any other area of teaching), then these errors become our own little “teachable moments” from which we can learn and therefore improve.
This week’s chapter in Bridging English ties into the reading we had to complete for Teaching of Writing in Atwell’s text. Poetry is a topic that I cannot stop learning about because I do not think I know enough to be comfortable teaching it yet. This chapter made me much more comfortable though because it compares poetry to music and considers it poetry in itself. That was something I had given little thought to and was interested in. Also, like in Atwell, this chapter gave great guiding questions for poetry on page 189 when it talks about the definition of poetry and choosing between poets. This broke poetry down a little bit for me so that I could have an easier grasp on the idea of teaching it.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter six of classroom assessment I really honed in on the section about cheating. Throughout my education and our pre-practicum I have witnessed cheating occur in the classroom and I was never sure exactly how to approach it. I was pleased to read that one of the top suggestions for deterring cheating is to “provide students with good instructions and information about the test” (Russell & Airasian, 2012, p. 162). If a teacher covers the material thoroughly and assesses that students are confident in the material and ready for formal assessment then the students shouldn’t have a need to cheat. It reminds me of our visit to Scarlett’s class when she took ownership of her students not understanding the homework.
In Gere’s (1992) text the section on writing instruction mentioned how “journal writing is another kind of writing that is useful in gathering raw materials for paper and strengthening connections between writing and thinking” (p. 155). I like the idea of teaching my students to use their own writing as a resource for future writing. Not all students take their work seriously and having the encouragement to use their work in the classroom is a great way to encourage students to have more belief in themselves and their work.
Rae,
DeleteI appreciated the connection between music and poetry as well. It was something I had overlooked but I think is probably one of the best ways into teaching students to appreciate poetry. Sometimes I wonder if they even realize lyrics are poetry; it’s not something I ever thought about. Creating activities that are based around music can be easy and engaging, and could be a beneficial way to start the poetry unit.
I had never thought much about the cheating issue in my class. I guess it was something I just expected wouldn't happen; that whole ideal classroom thing. But cheating is a real issue and it goes back to students only wanting to pass the test or get a good grade. I didn't zone in on this part of the chapter as much, but I agree that it’s nice to know that if you’re doing your job right, there is less of a chance for cheating. Giving the students the confidence to take the test will help them relax and trust themselves in the moment.
I think poetry is a great topic for the classroom because writing it can be so freeing. No matter what your level or proficiency you can write a poem; it requires no specific form or grammatical conventions. It can be any length. All you do is start with an idea. I love the Heard quote on page 178 of Milner:
ReplyDelete“As a teacher I’m aware that every time I choose to listen instead of control, every time I encourage, and every honest self-revelation I’m brave enough to make bring the classroom closer to being the kind of environment where good poetry can flourish”
For me, the main point of poetry is revealing those authentic situations and emotions that touch on the “human condition,” a much overused phrase, I know. Beginning with engaging examples poetry that students can use as templates is a good start, but as a teacher in my own classroom I hope to move to more open forms and “found poetry.” We also read about poetry in our Teaching of Writing class this week and on that blog someone mentioned feeling unsatisfied by the amount of advice Atwell actually gives… Milner really lays the process out well, whether it is a more traditional method or using advertising to get the point across.
Gere’s lesson plans always strike me as being very practical, although not always very inspired. I do like the approach on “language as expression” highlighted this week however, as opposed to the “language as artifact” approach we discussed earlier. We talked about the value of literary theory in the classroom last week, so I think the “four types of reader response” box on page 148 really highlights how students are already thinking critically about text through engagement, perception, interpretation, and evaluation. While I do believe that students should be primarily reading books that they find completely engaging, I would also like to think there is still a place for more “literature” in the classroom… by using those four methods of response, Gere suggests we can “stress the relationship between reader and text” (p. 152), which can really help breathe life into the more oldy moldy stuff people outside of English majors seem to have such an aversion to!
As an ELA teacher, I just don’t picture myself using a lot of traditional tests for assessment, but every school that I have visited in preprac has mentioned tests in their classes so I suppose they will be unavoidable. I am definitely concerned about how easy it is to make selection items on tests that are not somehow biased because I am too close to the material. I appreciate Russell’s discussion on the difficulty and discrimination indexes included on page 171. If the results show that maybe a question or two were unfair you can modify it. The points about objectivity and grading essays were well taken as well. I personally feel like in on the spot/test essays handwriting and grammar should be paid as much attention to as content. I’m not sure I could get another colleague to read through every essay to double check how I am grading… but maybe a random sampling of a few?
Trish,
DeleteI agree with you that poetry can be freeing. I think more classes should not only teach poetry but also encourage writing poetry. I think units such as Romeo and Juliet or just Shakespeare can be a great way to not only introduce sonnets and poetry but also writing their own poetry. I think people underestimate how easy it is to incorporate poetry into daily routines. There are sites that have things like "poem of the day" or "prompt of the day." Using these sites every so often can help us as teachers. It reduce planning but increase the use of poetry in the classroom.
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ReplyDeleteThis week’s readings (from chapters six, six, six – rather appropriate for Halloween week) all stress student involvement and engagement. In Language and Reflection, we explore the pros and cons of the “language as expression” approach to learning and, in particular, reading. This seems like a valid and useful approach because it allows students to connect more readily and more immediately with their own lives. It “values student engagement” (Fairbanks, Howes, Roop, and SHaafsma, 1992, p. 151) and encourages them to provide direct, emotional responses to texts. I also like the four types of student responses explored in the chapter, from engagement, construct-perception, interpretation, and evaluation (Fairbanks, et al, pp. 147-149) for precisely the same reason: it allows students to think of text as something that relates to them.
ReplyDeleteIn Bridging English, we see a similar approach used to the study of poetry. The “finding, forging, discerning, and probing” (Milner & Milner, 2007, pp. 168-169) is, in many ways, a mirror image of the engagement, construct-perception, interpretation, and evaluation discussed above, in that it encourages students to interact with text and to think of it as something relevant that can inform their perceptions and opinions. The activity involving students breaking down advertising slogans, for example (Milner, et al, p. 173) will help make text more immediate to the students; it will help them realize that text is everywhere, and that it will be up to them to wade through text to sort relevant from irrelevant, harmless from harmful, intelligent from mindless.
The reading from Classroom and Assessment is perhaps the most interesting of the week – certainly it will prove most useful. I had never before considered grading to this extent, nor did I ever stop to think about how much deliberate thought must be put into each and every question and how it will assess learning objectives and evaluate the lower and higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Figure 6.1, “Writing Test Items” (Russell & Airasian, 2012, pp. 157-158), will be extremely helpful when I create my own tests, as will the entire section on turning objectives into appropriate questions. The examples given that show “poor” and “better” test questions (Russell & Airasian, p. 155) are a wonderful guide to creating questions that assess more than rote memory.
Scott,
DeleteI agree with your focus on student engagement and involvement. Reading becomes a chore when you can't engage, and even more so when you have a room full of people who can't connect with the text. The text as "something that relates" to the student is a great starting point.
I like your idea that the advertising project brings immediacy to the study of a text. I think words are constantly passing through our brains through commercials and billboards, and if you can get students to stop for a minute and really consider what kinds of texts are being thrown at them, that's a success. Like you say, "text is everywhere," which opens our future jobs up to a whole host of possibilities.
I also agree with your appraisal of the chapter about creating tests. Turning objectives into appropriate questions seems like an obvious correlation, but it's not one I've ever consciously thought about. This forces the teacher to figure out what he or she wants the students to get out of the topic and gives a clear, fair indication of whether the teacher was successful.
HA! I also picked up on the same 666 theme for this week's Halloween class readings. Very clever!
DeleteRussell’s chapter on designing different kinds of tests made me really consider all the different factors that go into evaluations, something I’d never really done before, even when I’ve made tests in the past. I was particularly struck by the steps to ensure objectivity (167), especially the first rule, which is to define what constitutes a good answer before administering an essay question. This helps the teacher prepare for the process of grading as much as it prepares the students to write appropriate responses. I believe the idea of FCAs, or focus correction areas, has been brought up in class before, and this rule seems to follow along that idea. The teacher identifies a few features of the essay which will be graded and assigns a certain number of points for each one. The second rule about deciding how grammar, spelling and punctuation will be graded could also tie into mini-lessons: a student will lose points if he continues to make mistakes on a grammatical idea already covered in a mini-lesson. The main ideas I took from this chapter that are we need to identify what skills we want to test, maintain fairness and still challenge the student at one or more levels.
ReplyDeleteI think I prefer the “language as expression” style described in Gere to “language as artifact,” though some aspects give me pause. I love the idea that this style “encourages students to view their own writing as texts worthy of others’ attention” (148). I’m not sure I ever had a classroom where this was a reigning philosophy, and I imagine that it would work wonders on the confidence of student writers. The potentials of this approach, that it “celebrates individuality,” “promotes independence,” and “promotes creativity” (159), are all things I’d like to do in my classroom. However, the limitation that this style will “stall at the engagement stage” (161) is a concern of mine, especially if students will not engage with a text at all. The lesson plan ideas, such as the one about myth (162), seem to account for that possibility by reaching across a spectrum of texts and mixing up different activities, though.
Milner’s chapter on teaching poetry was full of things I’d like to try in my classroom, but two stood out in particular. The first is using music in the classroom (170), which is something we’ve explored in our own class. Music is a form of poetry that students might not recognize as such, and it can be a good bridge to poetry itself. I also really like the idea of “found poetry” (169). The example poem “Parents” really took me by surprise and I can imagine the reaction of students would be engaging. Employing the idea that poetry is all around us makes a dense topic much more accessible (and fun) to students.
Ian,
DeleteAs I mentioned in my post, I also had never considered all the different factors that go into evaluations. It never occurred to me how much care and deliberation goes into making an effective test. Short answer questions and essay questions, in particular, must be extremely well thought-out before given to students, especially considering the interpretive nature of so many texts; we must find ways to phrase questions that allow students to express themselves and their opinions freely but also ensure that they prove to us that they understand the key themes and concepts being taught.
I also agree with the focus correction area concept. It is, in my opinion, too much to expect middle or high school students to know and understand all grammar rules and correctly apply those rules in each paper. FCAs, though, allow us to grade (and take points off) for particular points that have been touched upon in class. Without this kind of direct guidance - if we took off points for every single grammatical, punctuation, or spelling mistake - I can’t help but think that the majority of adolescents would receive zeros on all their essays.
A Journal on Cheating Poetry
ReplyDeletePoetry is a tough subject to learn. I imagine it is an equally tough subject to teach. As a student, I spent hours working on and writing poetry. At my first college I was a creative writing major and spent half my major credits in poetry classes. Before entering college, I did not like writing or reading poetry. It was intimidating and confusing. I felt like there was a wrong answer and if I didn’t get the right answer, I knew nothing about poetry. I think a lot students and teachers alike have this misconception about poetry. I think there is a stigma attached to poetry that prevents a majority of academics from approaching it. It is perceived as the highest test of academic skill and strength and a failure would indicate a person’s lack of skill. As ELA teachers, it is our responsibility to debunk this misconception not only for ourselves but for our students as well. A lot of emphasis is placed on reading and interpreting poetry but I also think it is important to at least attempt creating poetry. Some students may not be capable of producing a poem on their own. One possible activity would be to create a poem as a class using mad libs. Short poems like haikus are also a great way to get students started. Once started, some students may hit a writing stride that takes them down paths that they did not expect. As a teacher, this is what we want! We want to take our students on a journey with their reading.
Cheating is an equally tough topic to deal with. I never dealt with cheating when I was in school. I was approached several times as a student to write papers for other people but I never did it. As a teacher, I would like to create a classroom atmosphere where my students don’t feel like they have to cheat. I would use mostly formative and informal assessments to determine where the students are at with the material. I would try to only use tests when absolutely necessary and when I am confident my students will do well. I also realize this is an ideal scenario and I may not have control over this aspect of my classroom. I would like to think that I am capable of creating a comfortable atmosphere that encourages my students to do their best without cheating.
I really enjoyed the first piece of your post; the journal style was a nice touch to the point you are trying to make. We do need to let our students create in the classroom and break the idea that poetry only has one view. Everyone is entitled to define things the way they see it. Giving students a place where they can be creative and share their opinions is something that I want in my classroom. I wouldn’t want anyone to feel restricted and as if they cannot share their thoughts. Poetry was always something I had a hard time with and maybe if I had a teacher who eased me into the topic with haikus or with a class mad lib like you mentioned I would not feel so prickly towards the subject.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your ideas on cheating. I encountered it in high school and even college, but it is something that I do not condone in my own learning. I’m sure there were times in high school where I did share work with someone, not that I am proud of it, but some times the things we did in high school we didn’t even realize was wrong. Having as little tests as possible is one good way of taking away the desire to cheat in the classroom. I also liked your idea of using mostly formative and informal assessment. Like the book mentions, it is the teachers responsibility to make sure students are informed enough on the information that they do not feel the need to cheat.
This is my comment to Olivia's post. Not really sure how it ended up here! Sorry guys!
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