Additions to the Unit Plan Proposal

Theme of Unit Plan

After receiving comments on my unit plan and thinking more about what I would like to do, I realized I need to think of a theme to revolve this unit plan around. The unit plan will focus on fairy tales. The students will read the poem "The Beast" by Gwen Strauss, see clips from the movie Beauty and the Beast, read a Brother's Grimm fairy tale and compare that with a movie version of the story (right now, I am thinking of the Cinderella story,) watch clips of The Princess and the Frog, and read Mark Twain's satirical short stories, "The Story of the Bad Little Boy Who Didn't Come to Grief" and "The Story of the Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper." As you can probably tell from the titles of the Twain short stories, the "good" character does not have a successful ending, like all fairy tales end with, and the "bad" character thrives at the end of the story. I also am trying to think of another text or movie clip that contains this message that the good characters do not always have happy endings and the bad characters succeed in life, but I have not thought of the right medium yet, so more on that later.

During this lesson, I would like the students to think about why fairy tales are so popular in our culture and how they change over time depending on the era the story or the movie was made/written in. I wanted the students to see clips from one of the latest Disney films, Princess and the Frog, because this movie presents a different female character than was typically present in the previous Disney movies. The main character in that movie is African American and she works extremely hard and she does not need a man to "save her." She saves herself.

Pre-Reading

For a pre-reading activity, I want to ask the students a time in their life when they personally knew someone who succeeded even though they did something wrong, or a person in history or pop culture that underwent a similar experience. This answer could be as simple as knowing someone who cheated on a test, and they got an "A" on it, whereas they studied for hours and did not cheat on the test, and they received a "C" on the same test. The students will write a response to this question, and after they were given time to think and write about an experience they had, I will ask for a few volunteers to share their experience.

Another pre-reading activity will be to ask the students to think about what criteria traditional fairy tales have. They will work in pairs and write down the traditional plot of fairy tales, how the male and female characters act, the age demographics of the characters, etc.

Formative Assessments

For a formative assessment after the students have read "The Beast" and watched clips from Beauty and the Beast, will be to have the students create a poster in groups about how the poem and the movie are similar and dissimilar. The students can create a venn diagram, or a chart, however they want to organize the information. I also want the students to think about what they liked about each and which story they thought was more realistic in terms of how life really is.

After the students read the Grimm fairy tale, I want them to compare that version of the story with the movie Cinderella, the version with Brandy, Whitney Houston, and Whoppi Goldberg. The students will compare these two mediums by doing the Semantic Differential Scale with different characters. I also want them to compare the endings of the story and the movie and what they liked about each and what they disliked about the endings of both.

Summative Assessment

The summative assessment that the students will have to complete at the end of the unit will be to write their own fairy tale with a new twist to it that is different from the previous classic fairy tales. For example, the students could write a story where the boy is saved by the girl or the "good" character does not encounter a happy ending. Students will work on this project in groups and they will need to include colored pictures in the story as well. After they have written their story, I think it would also be fun to have a book making day so they can put a cover on their story and have a more "professional" look to their project.

Proposal for Unit Lesson Plan

After thinking about what standards I want to use for the Unit Plan, I decided that I will incorporate the following standards in my lesson plan:


8.4.6.6 Analyze how differences in the points of view of the
characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created
through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects
as suspense or humor.

7.5.7.7 Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video,
or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each
medium’s portrayal of the subject (e.g., how the
delivery of a speech affects the impact of the
words).

I will use the poem "The Beast" by Gwen Strauss to teach this unit. The poem is about the Beast from the classic story "Beauty and the Beast." The ending of the poem is vastly different from the ending of the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast. I want to include media literacy in this unit plan, so I will show certain clips from the Disney movie after the students have done pre-reading activities for the poem and after they have read the poem. I want the students to compare clips of the movie and the poem and talk about various reasons why there are differences. Did the author and the Disney filmmakers have different goals in mind or different audiences that they wanted to reach? I also want students to think about how they would feel if they were the Beast in both scenarios. For an after-reading activity, I think it would be fun for the students to question whether the story would be different if the Beast was a woman and Beauty was a man. Their final project will be to create a story with pictures having gender roles reversed from the poem "The Beast" and the movie Beauty and the Beast. The students will work on this project in groups.

For this unit plan, I will need copies of the poem "The Beast" and access to a DVD player to play clips of the movie Beauty and the Beast. Students will also need art supplies, such as crayons and colored pencils, and paper to write their story.

Obviously, this is a very rough draft. If anyone has any more ideas about what I could do for a pre-reading activity or any other suggestions, please let me know. I am aware that this information does not contain enough materials for a five-day lesson plan, so if anyone has suggestions for other texts, I would appreciate it.

The Magnificent Writing Process

While all of the different writing processes we discussed in class are important, I really liked Soven's approach to writing. Writing is a process, and usually it is never finished. Even after students turn their paper in and they have received their grade, there is always something that can be improved or added. On the day a paper is due, one of my college professors has the students get into groups and we discuss what we wrote about to our peers. Our peers give us feedback on our paper and then we write a one-page reflection on what we could have added to our paper and the ideas that fellow students had. As a student, it can be frusterating because you realize you could have added something that would have really enhanced your paper, but it is a good learning technique. I think this would be too advanced for a middle school classroom, but I think high-schoolers could do it.

One of the most important things about the writing process is to give students time. Students need time to think about what they are going to write about and time to actually write it. Usually, good ideas do not just pop into our head when the teacher gives the student a writing prompt. Sometimes it will take days to think of a topic to write about. Soven talks about freewriting, which I think is a wonderful idea, especially for students who are stuck and do not know what to write about. Peter Elbow, who is mentioned in Soven's chapter, Teaching the Writing Process, states that students should not stop for anything while freewriting and they should, "Never stop to look back, to cross something out, to wonder how to spell something, to wonder what word or thought to use...If you get stuck it's fine to write 'I can't think what to say, I can't think what to say' as many times as you want...The only requirement is that you never stop" (35). This pre-writing activity at least gets students to write something down on paper. Usually when students do not know what to write about, they just stare at a blank piece of paper. This usually will not help them come up with an idea. Teachers need to provide pre-writing activities for students who do not have an idea about what to write about.

Soven and Atwell also mention peer writing groups, which I think are an effective way for students to get feedback on their writing, as long as students are not only writing, "I liked your paper" and nothing else. As teachers, we need to provide students with the resources and tools so that students know how to be an effective editor. Talking about peer writing groups, Soven writes, "Students read their papers aloud twice while the other students in their group take notes. After the students reads, the group tells the author their reactions" (49). I also think it is important for students to write down their reactions and ideas to their peers' papers because some students may be too shy to tell the person what they thought of their paper to the rest of the group.

Writing is a long process and teachers need to provide activities for each stage of the writing process to help students generate ideas and revise their papers. Teachers also need to give students time to work on their paper. After students are used to the writing process, hopefully they will become more confident in their writing style and that they enjoy writing!

Using Film to Enhance ELA Classrooms

I am a huge proponent of using film in the classroom to help enhance a lesson, especially in an ELA classroom. I think students can relate to movies because they probably have grown up watching them. As future teachers, it is important for us to provide relevant clips from films and to show the students how to actively engage while watching a movie. In order to do this, I am going to provide a few tips that I think are necessary for teachers to use:

1. Show Short Clips
As Rachel said in class, generally showing an entire movie is not the most active activity for students to do. Teachers should show shorter clips or show two different film adaptations of the same scene. The students can compare and contrast the two clips. If teachers do show the entire movie, they should pause the movie and ask the students questions and have them reflect on what they just watched.

2. Have an Assessment
Students should have a worksheet while they are watching the movie, or they should have to write a paper on the film (whether that is comparing the movie to the book, comparing the two clips from different film adaptations, etc.) Students need to know that they will be assessed somehow on the information in the film. Also, let the students know that watching a movie does not mean that it is nap time. Make sure the students are paying attention to the movie.

3. Teach How to Critically Watch and Write about a Film
Teachers should teach the elements of film, such as the sound, lighting, camera angles, character's movement and expression, etc., along with the proper terminology. Teachers also need to teach students how to write about films. Here is a website that provides some examples, along with some sample papers on movies that the students had to watch: http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/pruter/film/literary.htm.

4. Ask Questions
While watching a film, students should be asking themselves questions. Whose voice is missing in the film? Which age demographic, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, etc., is left out of the movie. Students need to critically think while watching a movie or clip during class and I believe asking questions is a good way for students to do this.

Using film in the classroom provides many benefits for students. Students enjoy watching films in class. They are able to compare and contrast the book to the movie. The students can see different elements that perhaps they could not visualize in the book. Teachers need to be sure that the students are actively engaged and not just passively watching the film, like they would when they sit in front of the television at home. As long as films are used in the classroom effectively and appropriately, I think they are a great tool that teachers should take advantage of.

The Importance of Young Adult Literature

When Terry Evans began her presentation last week by reading a children's book, I thought she was joking. We are college students, not elementary school children. After she finished reading, I thought, "What was the point of that?" Later in the presentation, when she began reading the first few pages of a young adult literature book, I was hooked. I immediately wrote the title and author of the book she read because I wanted to read it myself. I began to realize the power of reading aloud to people. I would argue that reading children's books aloud to people is not always effective, but when she read the young adult book aloud to us, I thought that was effective. I think it varies depending on the audience you are speaking to. Reading aloud to students was a powerful tool that I will implement in my classroom. I also think showing students the book trailer is a good tool for exciting students about a text.

I agreed with Terry that we, as educators, need to create a "community of readers." We need to pick literature that students can relate to so they see themselves reflected in the text. Students also need to have the choice to pick literature they read. At practicum, one of the my teachers gave the students a class period to pick a book they were going to read in the upcoming unit. They did not have total free reign. She had thirty books that the students previewed and then from those books, they wrote down their top five choices. I think this is better than forcing students to always read the same text that the teacher chose.

I really appreciated Terry's comment about not being a "literary snob." I admit that I can be a "literary snob" at times, but I am trying to break away from that. This summer, I found the book Twilight at a garage sale for a quarter. I had seen the first two movies, and I thought they were okay, but I did not understand what was so amazing about the series. I decided to buy the book because it was so cheap and I read it. I wanted to see what was so attractive about vampires to teenagers. The book is not amazing, but it was not the worst book I ever read either. As Terry said, if students get excited about reading, teachers should not discourage that, even if the text is not brilliantly written. At least students are excited about a book! I think it is important for teachers to read the young adult literature that students are reading. We can also give suggestions to students if we keep up with the most popular young adult literature too. Here is a link to the best young adult literature in 2010, according to the Young Adult Library Services Association. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestbooksya/bbya2010.cfm

I thoroughly enjoyed Terry's presentation last week and I will definetly try and keep up with the popular young adult literature because it is extremely important for teachers to provide titles for young adult readers who want to read current literature that relates to their lives.

Professionals

Here is my list of professional blogs that I follow:

1. Detention Slip
2. The Gradebook
3. Cool Cat Teacher Blog
4. Beyond School
5. Education State

Here is my list of professional "tweets" that I follow:

1. EduNut
2. @feministteacher
3. @DanNQTLondon
4. karlaolson
5. @teacherfriend

Blog Reflection

As some of you know, I am not technologically savvy. I have written blogs before for another class, but I became more familiar with blogs and the benefit they have through this class. I feel a little more comfortable with technology, although I have anxiety about using Twitter. I think it is important for me, as a future teacher, to become familiar with the aspects that encompass the Technology Age, because our students live and breathe technology and I am sure the amount of technology in the future will increase and new technological inventions will be made.

Pros

Blogs are a good way for teachers to read the ideas and thoughts of individual students. In class, some students might not have the desire or opportunity to share their ideas with the entire class and blogs are a way for these students’ voices to be heard. Blogs also bring a sense of comradorey with their peers and students can comment on each other’s blogs for new ideas and showing different perspectives that the person blogging might not have considered.

Cons

I think there are some negative aspects about using blogs for a classroom though. If someone in the group consistently does not post a blog or if they do not comment on their group's posts, the blog cannot effectively work the way it should. Blogging also takes away personal connections, in my opinion. I think it is important for students to be able to talk one-on-one with an actual human being, instead of writing their responses on a computer.

Although I will not be the kind of teacher who is the first person to implement these new technological aspects into my teaching, I will eventually learn how to use them effectively with my style of teaching and with the way I teach my ELA classroom. I realize I am an "old school" person, but I will try and remain as open-minded as I can about future technological gadgets and gizmos that can improve learning in the classroom. If the students can relate to literature better by using technology, I will use it. As a teacher, I want what is best for the students and for their learning abilities. I want them to be successful people in the future, and I will do whatever it takes.

The Wonder of Critical Literacy

When a student reads literature, should they read to merely understand the text, or should they read a work of literature to be empowered and to examine their own life and to reflect and question what the author writes? Deborah Appleman says critical literacy, "focuses on issues of power and promotes reflection, transformation, and action" (1). Critical literacy wants students to ask questions and to be active in the reading process. Of course students need to understand the text, but I believe reading is so much more than that. Books can contain radical realizations that can change a person's life! I think some people do not find literature interesting because they focus on the "technical" aspects of literature, but literature is meant to engage readers. Critical literacy is also used to question the author and what they are writing. Readers focus on who is not represented in the text. What gender, socio-economic status, race, religion, etc. is ignored? How does the author's life and their experience bias the work of literature? How might the story look if the main character's gender or race is switched? Critical literacy promotes students to be engaged in the text and to actively question what is being read. Edward Behrman says, "Critical literacy espouses that education can foster social justice by allowing students to recognize how language is affected by and affects social relations" (480). I have some concerns with this statement. I am not saying that literature cannot change a person, but especially in a classroom, I think this aspect of critical literacy would be harder to implement. I do not think this aspect of critical literacy is as achievable as the other ideas, but it is an option.

As a future English teacher, I know that I will implement aspects of critical literacy throughout the literature students have to read. I want to push my students to critically think about what they are reading. If they think the author misrepresents a group of people, I want them to say that and recognize that all writing has biases because everyone is biased. I want students to question what they read. In the article "Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy," there is a section that mentions reading supplementary texts which allows students, "to confront social issues glossed over or avoided by traditional texts" (482). I think this is a wonderful idea. Students should also read young adult novels, "to stimulate discussions of societal conflicts and teen problems" (482). Students need to be able to relate to what they are reading. It is important for teachers to make current connections with recent books, popular music, movies, etc. so students can relate to what they are reading. I love the example in the article where a teacher compared the movie The Godfather with The Odyssey. I am a movie buff and I know I will implement movies into the literature that students read.

I am concerned that critical literacy is a long process and there is never enough time. I do not think it is possible for students to read a piece of literature, discuss and analyze it, read other texts that relate to problems in the text, and do a research project that promotes social action. There is no way all of this can be done with every single text that is scheduled to be read in a semester. I think it would be possible to choose one aspect of critical literacy to integrate in the text when it is appropriate. Overall, I like the idea of critical literacy and it has the power to greatly impact how students read and hopefully, encourage them to read on their own when they find a specific topic or genre that interests them. In the article "Critical Literacy" by Heather Coffey, she states that critical literacy skills, "enables people to interpret messages in the modern world through a critical lens and challenge the power relations within those messages. Teachers who facilitate the development of critical literacy encourage students to interrogate societal issues and institutions like family, poverty, education, equity, and equality in order to critique the structures that serve as norms as well as to demonstrate how these norms are not experienced by all members of society" (http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4437). These aspects of critical literacy are vital for students to explore and understand, and it can change their perspective of their role as readers. If properly demonstrated, I think critical literacy can show students that they have power in the meaning of texts because they can question the author and focus on problems that are presented in the text.

Competing in an Age of Technology

Adolescents live in a world where they are bombarded with technology. They want information as soon as possible. Everything is available to them in a minute's time. If they want to know the capital of Hawaii, they can instantly google it on a computer and the answer will immediately appear. Some students even have the ability to access this information on their cell phone. They are used to having information given to them in an instant. One of the problems teachers will face when they assign students to read a text or a chapter from a book, will be that they are not interested in it. Many students will not care about Jane Eyre or about World War II. There are so many things that compete for their attention, like the Internet, Facebook, their friends, and after school activities. How do teachers motivate students to read? If teachers give their students a 200 page novel, what do they do to actually get the student to read it, instead of just reading the Spark Notes for the novel? I fear that it is common for students to seek instant gratification and if they do not understand the first ten pages of a book, they might give up and find the basic plot information about the book online.

One of the strategies for getting students interested and passionate about reading is to relate the characters or a central theme in the book to their own lives. I know the humanist part of me is coming out, but I personally think this is an appropriate tool to use, at least in an English Language Arts classroom. I think another strategy that can be used is the Vote with your Feet activity that we used in class. Students start to think, "What would I do if I were in that situation?" Using pre-reading activities can enhance a student's motivation to read the text.

Reading needs to be an active activity for students. Beers writes, "Reading is a social process, an interactive activity" (38). Students should be able to talk about the novel and learn from their peers when they are confused about a passage. Teachers need to make time to read in the classroom and have a diverse set of literature. It is important for teachers to include various literary texts, such as poems, short stories, novels, etc. and have literature from a wide variety of authors who have different demographics. Giving students options about which text they read also gives the students some power and they can choose a text that appeals more to their own personal taste. Beers states,

"Teachers who encourage a wide range of reading, who give their students plenty of opportunity for sustained, silent reading, who read aloud to their students on a regular basis, who provide ongoing opportunities for students to discuss- in small and large-group settings- their understanding of a text, who encourage extensive rather than intensive reading, who encourage self-selection of some texts...increase students' opportunity for developing a positive attitude toward reading, for improving fluency, for improving vocabulary, and for improving comprehension" (38).

This was a lengthy quote, but it states vital information. Teachers need to include students interections and discussions of critical thinking in class. They need to provide reading time for the students to read individually and the teacher should also read aloud occassionally. Teachers should use active activities for all three stages of reading (pre-reading, during reading, and after reading). When the text is finished, that does not mean that the learning process is over. After reading activities should be used like Likert Scales and my personal favorite, Somebody Wanted But So (Beers, 140-147). Using these techniques and activities will peek students' interests and improve their comprehension, which is the ultimate goal of reading. Of course, these strategies will not be successful for everyone. There will, unfortunately, be one student who refuses to read the text or engage in the activities. When this occurs, teachers should try to understand why they do not do the work. The student might not be able to read or their comprehension skills could be extremely low. If this is the case, then at least teachers know there are techniques and tools that they can utilize to teach the student how to read and to understand the material.

Technology is prevalent throughout the United States. I am typing this on a computer, for heaven's sake! Adolescents have many other things competing for their time, but if teachers show students that reading is fun and engaging, I think these strategies will at least encourage them to read. They might not enjoy everything they read, but at least they are motivated enough to pick up the actual book and not go on the computer to find the summary plot.

Discussions for the Deep Thinkers

Vital Learning Components of Classroom Discussions

Classroom discussions in an English Language Arts classroom is a wonderful and effective way for middle school students to actively participate in class. Discussions improve students social skills. They are able to speak to one another about a book and if they have questions, peers are able to help them. Their cognitive skills are also enhanced. Students bring up different views of passages in a book and discussions provide other students with new perspectives of a character or a specific passage in a text. Talking about the book helps students express their own point of view and they also improve their listening skills. Even if some students do not say anything in a discussion, that does not mean that they are not learning. Many introverted students learn by listening to others and taking in their perspectives, which can enhance their learning experience. I think discussions are most important when discussing a literary text that the students are reading or for talking about their own writing.

Classroom Discussions Can Be Scary For Teachers

Discussions can be hard for teachers because discussions mean that students have control of what is being talked about. In Beers' book When Kids Can't Read, Kate is debriefing a discussion she had with her middle school classroom, and she says, "sometimes it got harder to...keep them in control...It's just easier to, you know, just tell them what the story is about. With this, (the discussion) I had to be thinking, and trying to put it all together" (55). Beers says that sometimes it is easier to tell the students what a story is about, but Kate says when teachers do this, "then they (the students) don't get any better at figuring out how to figure out a story" (55). If teachers merely stand in front of the classroom and tell the students what each piece of literature is about and the significance it has, then students do not have any time to think about it for themselves. Students need to be active in this process, even if it is harder to "control" where the discussion is going. In Atwell's book In the Middle, she discusses writing and reading workshops where the students are constantly responding to one another about their own writing and they discuss various texts and readings. I think peer discussions and peer feedback is vital for middle school students and they learn much more when they think for themselves and form their own opinions, than if the teacher tells them.

Hope for Classroom Discussions

When I shadowed a high school English classroom last year, the students were discussing the book Jane Eyre. Very rarely did the students get off task or talk about something other than the book. I think this would be different in a middle school classroom, but it gave me hope that learning can happen when students lead the discussions and I was extremely impressed at the connections they made by themselves. If they missed a significant point in the book, the teacher brought it up and the students immediately remembered the passage and began discussing it. In discussions, teachers are there to help guide the students and facilitate the discussion if they need to. When I was looking for resources that would help teachers with classroom management for discussions, I found a website that provided a workshop guide for teachers. There is a DVD available to watch and there was also information provided on how to teach specific workshops, like poetry workshops and teaching persuasive writing. I think these tools could be especially useful for English Language Arts teachers.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Overall, I do not think discussions will work for every single lesson or activity in an English Language Arts classroom, but I do think it is an important activity for students to actively participate in discussions when they are reading literature and discussing their own writing. Students are able to say what they think and teachers can get a better understanding of where the students are in their comprehension level of the texts. Students also learn from their peers, which is a necessary tool for them to possess. Although having classroom discussions may not be the easiest thing a teacher can do, with practice, I think it will become more natural for both the teacher and the students.

Being Reading Teachers

I have to be honest that I have never thought of being a reading teacher. I assumed that by the middle and high school levels, students should be able to read. I thought I would be working on comprehension and grammar with students, but not the basic concepts of reading. Students who do not know how to read by sixth grade is a travesty and it shows a failure in the educational system. I do not understand how an elementary school teacher did not realize that one of their students did not know how to read. And if they did realize that one of their student's could not read, I cannot imagine why they would not have helped the student or informed a reading specialist. Regardless, this is the reality that some middle school teachers face and we, as teachers, can only look forward and change some of the elementary processes and continue to work with students until they can read. Reading is vital for every person, regardless of what the student's future career is. In the article "Center Middle School students read across America", an eighth grade student named Christian Brown is interviewed, and he said, "If you aren’t strong in reading, you can’t be strong in science or social studies, and your writing might not be as good.” He is absolutely correct. Teachers need to help their students who are struggling with reading because their future is at stake. The following are important aspects of decoding and vocabulary instruction that teachers should know. I would like to mention that I obviously am not a teacher so I honestly cannot comprehend all the other responsibilities that they have, and I am certainly not an expert on decoding or vocabulary instruction.

Vocabulary Instruction:

1. Have no more than 10 words in a list.
In the book, When Kids Can't Read What Teachers Can Do, Beers says that students need to effectively know the words and this means, "that students learn the words, use the words, and remember the words" (179). I completely agree. Student's cannot be expected to effectively learn more than ten words, so keep the list short.
2. Use the words in class throughout the week.
If teachers do not use the words in everyday speech, how are the students supposed to?
3. Learning the words should be an active process.
In the blog "Vocabulogic", it states that "Teaching vocabulary primarily through dictionary or glossary study is not effective, especially for students with learning difficulties, at-risk readers and English language learners" (http://vocablog-plc.blogspot.com/p/vocabulary-brief.html). Students should not just be memorizing the words and forgetting them the next week. Instead of having the students simply copying the dictionary definition, they should have a more creative way of learning the definitions, like drawing pictures next to the words or as Beers suggests, creating a vocabulary tree (189).
4. The students should continue using the words after the test is over.
Exposing the students to the words will help them remember the words even after the test is taken. During our discussion today, the group I was in talked about teachers telling the students to use at least one of the words in a homework assignment or essay for future assignments.
5. Have relevant words on the lists.
If teachers have the option of which words are on the tests, they should pick words relevant to the book that the student's are currently reading or words related to English class, like synonym.

Decoding

If a student is struggling with decoding, I think it is important for teachers to help the student with "chunking". The teachers should ask the students if there is a part of the word that they recognize. A teacher can also read aloud to the student so they can have a better understanding of the inflections of the words, which might help them identify a word. Realistically though, I think a middle school teacher should inform a reading specialist when a student has trouble with decoding. If the reading specialist is already teaching several students, then they can at least give some advice to the teacher about what they can do, but I think it is important to inform and recieve help from a reading specialist because they are the expert in this field.

Overall, the most important thing to do with a student who is struggling with reading is to not give up on them and to continue to help them. This is easier said than done, but I truly believe that teachers have the obligation to make sure that every student knows how to read. Reading is crucial in our culture and everyone should know how to do it.

The Characters in the Middle School

When I was in 8th grade, I had a wonderful English teacher. She respected us and was knowledgeable in her subject area. She constantly challenged us and engaged us in whatever we were doing. My teacher constantly made references about current literature, movies, and music so that we were able to relate what we were reading in her class to our modern lives. She had the perfect balance between being our educator and disciplinarian, and at the same time being sympathetic and supportive. These are all qualities I believe middle school teachers need to have. They need to be passionate in what they are teaching to get the students excited. If the teacher does not like what they are teaching, then neither will the student! A middle school teacher needs to be a leader and a role model for their students. I believe that I already have respect for students. I am a sympathetic person and respecting others comes naturally to me. I do however need to work on being a figure of "authority" when it is necessary. I need to find the perfect balance that my middle school English teacher had. I believe this will come in time with experience and practice.

Middle school students need to acquire the knowledge they need to be prepared for high school. They need to learn how to be independent learners and to be active in whatever assignment they are doing. Specifically for English classrooms, mid-level students should learn how to participate in a discussion and to back up their point of view with evidence from a text. They should also learn how to be critical thinkers and to comprehend what they read. It would be ideal for middle schoolers to find a specific genre of literature that they like to read and learn how to read independently in their free time. Most importantly though, middle school students need to feel comfortable in the classroom. The teacher needs to create a safe environment. If the student is in a safe environment, they will be able to increase their self-esteem and be able to be successful in the classroom, and that is the most important aspect they can learn, if they hadn't already. Middle school can be a stressful and awkward time for students, but I believe that teachers have the power to influence students and to encourage them that they can succeed in life.

Blog Regulations

Here are some suggestions that I think we should adhere to when writing and commenting on blogs for this lovely class:

1. Be respectful towards the writer. Comment on the content that the author is writing and do not attack the actual person.
2. Do not write something that you wouldn’t say to the authors face. I think part of the thrill of writing blogs is that you aren’t standing in front of them, so some people write things that they would never say to the author in person.
3. Think before you write a blog. Use common sense. These blogs are for a college course, so they should contain pertinent information to the class and they should be professional.
4. Don’t post information that you’re not comfortable sharing with the entire world, including your grandma.
5. Remember the audience that you’re writing to in your blog.
6. Provide accurate and succinct information.

Obviously, these guidelines are self-explanatory and we are all adults, so I’m sure this is going to be a positive and exciting new adventure for all of us. I chose these specific regulations because I think a vital aspect of writing blogs is creating a safe environment and a professional one in this setting. These blogs are not meant to be personal, but for educational purposes. Let the blogging commence!

The Phenomenon of Blogs

Blogs can be an extremely helpful and useful tool in the age of technology, if it is used properly. The author of the blog should know what they are writing about and stick to a general thesis. Every blog should have a unique or catchy title so that people will actually want to read what the author is writing about. Regardless of the topic being discussed in the blog, it should be presented in an enthusiastic way, otherwise the reader's will get bored and move on to another, more stimulating blog. I personally believe that authors of blogs should use "correct" English grammar and punctuation, otherwise they will appear uneducated and less credible, even if that is not the case. I also do not think blogs should be extensively long. I prefer straight to the point and informative blogs.

I think blogs are a good way for teachers to excite their student's interest in a specific topic. Many young people today feel more comfortable writing on a blog, as opposed to expressing their ideas in class. Also, using blogs makes every student's voice heard, not only the one's who speak in class. Technology is the way of the world now, and in order to motivate student's, I think it must be used.