Everything English

I attended the VATE conference and I learned a lot about teachers and what English teachers go through. The speakers at the VATE conference were pretty well received. On Friday, we arrived to Hampton fairly early, and we sat in on the panel for student teachers. It was interesting to learn how the teaching program differs at each college. The student representatives from colleges in Virginia told us about their teaching program. Each program differed slightly from the program at Longwood, as we seem to have the most hours required in the secondary classroom. The students explained how in their colleges they have hours attached to each Education class. However, each class only requires them to have less than 10 hours, so it seems like they would see a lot of different teaching styles, but its hard to imagine visiting that many schools in such a little amount of time. The students also mentioned that they do not have a specific class for classroom management, that they just learn about it in each class. I think that its smart of Longwood to have a three credit class dedicated to teaching classroom management and behavior management. I think that being able to control a classroom is such a big part of teaching that colleges should most definitely have a class specifically on controlling a class.

The rest of Friday was kind of unorganized, it seemed like VATE had done a lot of the conference last minute, and there was not a map of the speakers in certain rooms. We got lost looking for a session to attend and did not have one until later that night. However, there was another Longwood graduate with me, so we talked about life after undergrad and I learned a lot about the Reading and Language Learning program at Longwood.

One of the DOE members was the Keynote speaker on Saturday, and she was very informative. She talked about how the SOL for English is changing, but the changes are not that drastic. Its really more clarifying what exactly teachers should be teaching, and using language that parents want to see. I really liked her philosophy of the SOL because she does not think people should be teaching just for the test, she thinks we should be teaching certain content and helping students with real life skills. She also talked about how the Board of Education is about to change the Standards of Accreditation to require

“school divisions to provide policies on the use of sexually explicit instructional materials to parents or guardians with the copy of the syllabus for each high school course and to include a notice to parents identifying any sexually explicit materials that may be included in the course, the textbook, or any supplemental instructional materials”(SOA).

The speaker was really concerned that this will effect teachers, specifically making them scared to teach any material that has any questionable content.

I think that this is ridiculous and just moves the world of education backwards. Furthermore, the board needs to specifically state what exactly constitutes as “sexually explicit” because one parent’s view of sexual content could be totally different from another. Children who have very religious parents may only have access to certain texts during school, and if teachers have to explain what exactly is in the content, they may not let the student read it, even if the student wants to. Additionally, there are so many classic English books that have content that could be considered sexually explicit. I feel like giving the parents the opportunity to say “no my kid will not read this” will mean that they might do it just because they feel like they can. A lot of parents do not understand the need for their children to read diverse texts that may have mature content. However, if kids are not exposed to these texts, what will they do when they encounter them in the real world? If we shelter children from a whole world of text, we are doing them a huge disservice.

Courtney & Erika

The Importance of Shakespeare

Students often have trouble understanding the language of Shakespeare, the jokes, the innuendos. Many students dislike Shakespeare for the very fact that they can not understand it. However, Shakespeare is important for students to understand how flexible language can be as well as understanding a classic piece of literature which has withstood the test of time. In order to make it possible for students to understand Shakespeare, it is necessary to provide students with lesson plans that will lead them to a better understanding of Shakespeare.

Teaching Romeo and Juliet 

 Romeo and Juliet may be one of the easier plays to teach because students have most likely seen or heard a version of the story before. Another great way to get students into the reading is to include something that makes sense to them: technology.

1. After a brief reading of Romeo and Juliet, arrange students into pairs and get them talking about technology they use everyday. After students have talked in their pairs, have them share some of the technologies they use.
2. Next, ask students to imagine what the play would be like if modern technology was present in the play.
3. After the students have discussed technology and the play, assign each group a character from the play.  Next, students will create a technology profile for their characters.
4. Model a minor character for the students with the question profile and let them work in their groups creating the profiles. Students should have access to the text to get specific examples.
5. After students have created their profiles, have them present to the class.

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This lesson can be continued and students can use specific acts or scenes in the play and create text message responses or even a chat room for a bunch of characters. Bridging the language with technology can help relate what characters are saying in a way they students can understand. Furthermore, letting students change the language into modern text will give them a better understanding of not only the plot, but the language and hopefully give them a better appreciation for shakespeare.

Lesson Plan adopted from:

“Star-Crossed Lovers Online: Romeo and Juliet for a Digital Age – ReadWriteThink.” Readwritethink.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.

Hayley & Dylan

Why is diversity in the classroom important?

I believe that it is important to be a teacher who supports diverse learners and who promotes social justice because our world is becoming more diverse everyday. Excluding diversity from the classroom would be unfair to not only students from diverse backgrounds, but also to any other student. Furthermore, it has been proven that “values in the workplace are influenced by culture” (Hofstede) which can equally be true in the classroom. If student’s values and cultures are understood, teachers will be better able to get students to accept the material. Creating a welcoming classroom environment for every student regardless of their background is one of my highest priorities in my classroom. Professor Geert Hofstede created a study of how differences in cultures affect the work place as featured below:

How does a teacher supportive of diverse learners behave?

A teacher supportive of diverse learning will make sure to include the cultures and beliefs of students inside of the classroom as well as teaching other cultures the students may have never otherwise encountered. I love the idea of having a poem or prompt at least once a week about diversity or focusing on other cultures. Many of the English objectives for the year can be focused on diversity and teachers can even plan these units in advance with the grade level’s history teacher to have the classes connected. English teachers, in particular, should be inclusive in the classroom because

“Through critical, self-reflexive practices embedded in our research and our teaching, we can work against racial, cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic inequalities by creating humane classrooms where students and teachers learn to use language and literacy in critical and empowering ways” (NCTE).

I plan to encourage my students to learn as much as they can about other cultures because I believe that is it a teacher’s responsibility to help students learn to be empathetic and to understand multiple perspectives. Furthermore, it is important for teachers who want to be seen as accepting and inclusive to behave in a respectful way to all  students and make sure to reflect on the way each student is treated. It is often difficult to step outside our own prejudices, however, constant reflection and student feedback will be essential to learning how to deal with our prejudices to create the best possible learning environment for students.

“Supporting Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Learners in English Education.” NCTE Comprehensive News. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.

Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede, Michael Minkov, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. Revised and Expanded 3rd Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill USA, 2010

Commented on Brittany and Danie’s Blogs. 

“Teachers Only Teach to SOL’s” 

Being a private school attendee, I have always heard from my mother the evils of the SOL’s.

“Teacher’s only teach to the SOL’S, and I want you to be able to think more broadly. I don’t want you to only know how to answer multiple choice questions”.

My mother has repeated statements like these for years, and now that I am entering the teaching profession her distaste for the SOL’s frequently pop-up in dinner table conversation.

“You don’t want to teach at a public school, you will hate it, you won’t be able to teach anything that interests you, or your students.”

Unfortunately, my mother is one of many who believe that the SOL’s are the reason for bad teaching.

I understand where parents–like my own– get the misconception that the standards of learning automatically equal a full school year of tedious multiple choice questions aimed at gauging little needed facts of information to score on a state test. I also understand first hand as a student the need for such tests.

Why use the SOL’s?

Since I attended a private school for the entirety of my education, I was never taught the SOL’s, and many of my teachers did not follow the curriculum framework (or any curriculum for that matter), and as a result, we were learning only what the teachers wanted to teach. Some of the teachers were wonderful, particularly in English, but other subjects such as Math and Science fell short. It did not seem like a big deal at the time and being a 10th and 11th grader I was excited that I could goof around all class and there was never a set goal of things we needed to do by the year’s end. However, as the SAT and ACT date approached, my approval of this teaching practice diminished. My ACT scores in Math and Science were way below average because these tests which decided my future were based on the standard knowledge everyone in public schools had learned. My parents paid for my education, expecting the standards to be higher, but with no standards to work with what were they actually paying for?

What Can We do To Change the Negativity Around the SOL’S? 

Even though many people view the SOL’s as negative, we as teachers can change this view for both parent and student. The idea of the SOL’s, particularly the framework is a wonderful idea. It allows teachers to know what other schools are teaching so everyone stays on track. Additionally, it means that students have a set amount of goals they need to complete before the end of the year, so teachers aren’t tempted to stray too far away from what needs to be covered in a school year.

English teachers in particular have the ability to cover several of the standards with one lesson. For example, the 8th Grade SOL 8.4 says students will:

a) Identify and analyze an author’s use of figurative language.

b) Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meaning and differentiate among multiple meanings of words and phrases. (VDOE).

There are poems, books, articles, plays, etc. that students could read to accomplish these standards. They are focused enough for the teacher to stay on track, while still allowing for movement within a particular classroom community. Additionally, there are many ways to make lessons for these standards which are engaging, thoughtful, and applicable to the students life outside of the SOL test.

The SOL’s, in my opinion, are not responsible for bad or lazy teaching–bad and lazy teachers are. Not every teacher who uses the SOL’s will spend the entire year using multiple choice tests, or spend countless hours teaching a 2005 version of the SOL. I certainly know I will not.

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