Overview of Lenses

So for this last blog I just wanted to discuss what I have taken away from this class that has had the greatest effect upon me. The main thing I have taken away from this class is the ideas of using all these different lenses in your classroom to try and help the students see the material from a variety of perspectives. I think this will be an incredible tool in my repertoire as an English teacher to be able to approach texts from many angles and it will help me challenge my students to think differently and view the texts in different ways. This is extremely important in helping the students shape their world views and become more aware of themselves and their community which is two of the curriculum goals in English. These lenses will help me personally connect with my students through the literature and if I am able to use them correctly will be a huge asset to my teaching.

You Gotta Be the Book :Jeffrey Wilhelm, Bruce Novak

"Reading is an intimate act, perhaps more intimate than any other human act. I say this because of the prolonged exposure of one mind to another." This quote begins to think of many of the great books I have read and how I believe it is true. Take for instance the book The Outsiders by SE Hinton, many boys relate very well to this book even though they are not usually to the extreme poverty level and struggle these boys experience in the book they still experience many similar struggles. If you are able to find books that the majority of your class is able to connect with personally then this in itself will help the readers engage in the materials. I also believe a big part of this as a teacher is helping students understand how these books can relate to their students lives. For example many students have negative views towards alot of Shakespeare's plays but this is because they do not understand how something like this can relate to them. If the teacher is able to help the students understand how Shakespeare can relate to them in their everyday lives the students will be able to find that connection to the literature and will likely become more engaged. As a teacher it is important to get an understanding of your students and realize what type of novels are going to engage them the most and use these novels to help students engage in the reading.

Multiple Perspectives: Critical Encounters: Deborah Appleman

The multiple perspective section of Chapter Nine really began to think about how I could personnally look at things through multiple perspectives. This is one of the key concepts that English teachers constantly try to get through to their students to help them understand literature better. When Proffessor Balzer read us the Three Little Pigs from the wolfs perspective it really made me begin to think how many texts are set up for us to sympathize with certain characters and because of this we forget about the multiple perspectives of each character and instead focus solely on what is usually the plight of the main character. We as readers usually don't begin to question why the antogonists are opposing the protagnists but mainly just focus on the side that is represented as right to us. I imagine these situations will also happen to us in are teaching careers when we run into a situation with students where there is a confrontation and  at first glance it will seem one student is right and one student is wrong for example lets use a situation where a grade nine boy punches another grade nine boy out of nowhere. If we were to take this circumstance without looking at the perspectives of each boy we would believe that the boy that sucker punches the other boy would be at fault. But after we talk to the boy that sucker punched the other boy we find out that he sucker punched him because that boy was bullying his younger sister and had made her cry. Then after this we find out further that it was the boys parent that told him to punch this boy because he was bullying his younger sister. This is just one example where as a teacher it is important to look at situations through multiple perspectives. When looking at novels if you are only looking at the novel from a single perspective this leaves many other perspectives unexplored and literally leaves a whole story unread on the paper. Multiple perspectives are important not only to help students become aware of all the aspects of the situation but to increase students ability to read and comprehend the material.

The Little Elephant in the Room

In this blog I want to discuss the issue of teaching racial material in class and why it may be tough but it is necessary. I believe the title is very appropriate because many teachers feel out of their comfort zones when discussing issues of race and therefore many teachers decide not to discuss the issues of race or feel uncomfortable because they do not want to make their students uncomfortable or feel like they are being put on the spot when they are a minority in the classroom. In Critical Encounters by Deborah Appleman a situation like this arises for a teacher Greg, who has only one black student in the classroom, Ayanna. Greg stuggles because he wants to go beneath the text but evertyime he looks at Ayanna's face in the crowd among the white faces he backs down because he does not want to put her on the spot or make her feel uncomfortable in any way. In this particular situation both  Greg and Ayanna are able to find a way around this by using the literary lenses especially those of social power, and gender because they provide a way to discuss the issues more comfortably. The lenses are used to not only move the focus away from her but also provide a way for her classmates to see what she has always seen. For Ayanna she feels less isolated because the lense finally enables her classmates to see what she has seen her whole life. I believe this idea is the one that we have to focus on as teachers to help us get over the barrier of teaching social lenses to students that bring up race. Ever since we were young we have been taught as a society to be politically correct perhaps even more then mainstream society as we are all English majors or minors. The problem with this in many ways mainstream society  by teaching us to be politically correct has also taught us to avoid situations that discuss race and in many ways have made us feel awkward to discuss issues of race with peers, teachers, and friends. Before I entered Education I personally felt very awkward about talking about issues of race with people from the race. My Education up to that point had never really made me feel comfortable about talking about race and it was the little elephant in the closet. I always knew it was a big issue but it was easier to just not discuss race because I believed that I would offend somebody because I really did not know what it was like and what they truly were experiencing, Now I finally realize that by hiding the issue and not speaking up about it instead of being part of the solution I was part of the problem, because by not discussing it makes it seem like it doesn't exist. Now that I begin to understand more about these issues I have began to realize how important it is to use these social lenses to portray these ideas to your students and help them realize how race is constructed. I now realize that by using these social lenses and discussing race it does not really single people out and instead helps them by helping people of the majority see the world through the eyes of the people that are of the minority. It empowers people instead of embarrassing them and really helps students begin to create their perspectives of their world and community. So in closing I strongly urge my peers as English teachers to not let the fear of discussing race keep from using these lenses and realize that if you don't use these social lenses and don't acknowledge the problem of race you are not helping the problem but adding to it.

Two Families: Treaties and Government: Harold Johnson

This book is a discussion of many Aboriginal issues from Harold Johnson's perspective. Harold Johnson is an Aboriginal and his reserve is one of the reserves that signed treaty number six. In this book he speaks on behalf of himself and his words are endorsed by the Chief of Montreal Lake Cree Nation and he is speaking on behalf of the people on this reserve. Harold practices law in La Ronge Saskatchewan and holds a law degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a master's degree in law from Harvard. In his book Johnson discusses issues such as the Justice System, Reconcilation of Laws, political divisions, resources, taxation, assimilation, leadership, sovereignty, constitution, youth, next generations and Treaty number six. Johnson's book discusses all these issues from an Aboriginal perspective and gives solutions on how these issues could be dealt with to the benefit of Aboriginal people. One of the main ideas that Johnson introduces and tries to get the reader to realize is that even non Aboriginal people have treaty rights and these rights are the rights that allow them to occupy this land. Thats why treaties cannot be abolished because if you abolish treaties then you abolish the rights of Non Aboriginal people to this land. Johnson also discusses how Aboriginal and Non Aboriginal people have to work together for the common good of both parties and stresses the point that Aboriginals and Non Aboriginals are equal and neither group has power over the other through the treaties. This book is a great read if you want to introduce your students to a variety of Aboriginal issues from and Aboriginal perspective. I would recommend this book for grades 8-12 because of the background information that they must possess to realize the implications of some of these issues.

Working Against A Universalist Understanding of Literature: Deborah Appleman

I really enjoyed this particular section because it begins to contrast many ideas of universality that I personally believe have been held by the education system for to long. “If we claim that great literature has a timeless and universal significance,  we thereby demote or disregard, cultural, social, regional, and national differences in experience and outlook, preferring instead to judge all literature by a single, supposedly, Universal standard.” For example I believe this is like teaching someone in the city how to survive in the wilderness. Although this is an important lesson and these lessons can benefit everyone how many times is boy from the city going to find himself stranded in the wilderness with just the clothes he has on and a his every trusty swiss army knife, not very realistic but yes it could happen. This is why I  believe that we as future educators have to be really aware of the cultural backgrounds from which our students come from. While it is hard to try and pick books that relate to the majority of students we have to continuously be adapting our materials that we are teaching as to provide are students with books that they will be able to relate to on a more personal level so they can take a deeper meaning from the texts we will be teaching. This is why I believe for the major novels in the class Teachers should not even have it picked out before the year starts. I believe teachers should have in mind a couple texts they are planning on using but instead wait till they get to know their classes a little more before they make these decisions as they will begin to realize the needs of their students and can pick a text accordingly. If a teacher is able to do this correctly they should be able to capture the interest of most of the class and be able to pick a text which many of the students can relate. From this the students should be able to develop a connection to the text and it will help look at their lives and their own experiences. The other part of developing a connection with the text is to explain the texts in ways that would connect with your students so that being said I believe there are many texts available that if they are presented in various ways before being taught will help the students relate to the subject material.

Book Two: Breadwinner

The BreadWinner- Deborah Ellis

This novel is about a family in Afghanistan and the situations they faced with the Taliban in charge. At the beginning of the novel the main character Parvanna`s father is arrested and thrown in jail. Being that males were the only people allowed out in public alone this left the family, which was all females besides the father, with no one left to go to the market to get food and sell the few items they had to make money. Parvanna thus has to dress up as young boy and take on the role of a male selling her items and buying food for the family. Parvanna transforms herself into a male to help her family survive. Through this ordeal Parvanna meets one of her friends from school Shauzia another girl who is hiding her identity by posing as a male. They bond together and create a very strong friendship and begin to rely heavily on one another. Parvanna`s mother and sister along with Ms.Weera begin educating girls in the secrecy of their own homes because girls are also not allowed to be educated at this time. Parvanna deals with many struggles and experiences through her journeys in the market place and has to deal with the risk of being discovered by the Taliban soldiers for being a girl. One day Parvanna`s father arrives at home being carried by two men because he is unable to walk and thus ends the novel the Breadwinner.

This novel I would also suggest to a younger audience of grades six to eight. This is a pretty easy read but brings up many issues that we as North Americans might not be aware of. There is theme of war that is explored from Parvanna`s perspective and shows the effects of war and the power the Taliban had over the Afghanistan people. Another theme is young people having to take charge of the family by masking her identity and pose as a boy in the market place.   

Book Report: My Name is Louis

My Name is Louis: Janet Craig James

This is the story about a young native man growing up on a reserve in Northern Ontario. Louis is a very artistic young man but is having troubles expressing this talent because he doesn`t feel like it would be valued within his social circle. This changes when Louis meets Matt, a retired engineer who moves across the road from Matt. Matt seems to share a passion for art and this sparks a friendship between Matt and Louis. After seeing some of Louis`s work Matt takes him to Toronto to meet a family member of his who is an art collector Pete. Pete offers Louis him a position to work for him in his art gallery and to keep working as a painter which is what Louis wants to do with his life but he is faced with the dilemma of leaving his family and friends back on the reserve and moving to Toronto. Louis quickly makes up his mind that he is going to follow his dream and become an artist but when he returns home he finds out that his father has been killed in a logging accident. This forces Louis to give up chasing his dream and stay on the reserve because he is now responsible for helping his mom and sister now that his dad is gone. But even though Louis has to stay on the reserve he is able to keep drawing and still is able to live his dream of being an artist.

This book is more appropriate for younger adults probably in grade six or seven. This is a good book to use in classes that don`t realize some of the issues on reserves. It also shows the responsibilities that some young individuals have to support their families and will help young readers realize that they all do not come from the same backgrounds. Overall it is an inspiring story about a young man trying to find his way and place in the world.

Pleasure or Pain: Chapter Four Novak and Wilhelm

"How is it that reading and literature have died? We would argue that it is due to a focus on skills and strategies away from the pleasures of reading, from a primary focus on critical reading and analysis instead of first emphasizing the evoking of the secondary worlds available to us from reading. The way we teach reading and literary texts takes us away from the enrapturing and immersive experiences that are prequisite to all other powers that follow from the act of reading. Given that a high expectation of enjoyment is prerequisite to reading, creating this expecatation and fulfilling it must be a first order of business for teachers."
Many of my high school years have been spent reading texts I really didn't enjoy and my beliefs have been that as a  teacher I would not make my students read these texts that I suffered through because I believe that students should read texts they enjoy. I have never really thought these texts could be enjoyed by a majority of students until I started to read "Teaching Literacy for Love and Wisdom" and realized that even though some texts are hard to get your students engaged most teachers are able to make most texts fun no matter what they are reading. I think for many students the focus on the skills and strategies they are expected to perform while reading a text really takes away from the material they are reading. Having to constantly focus on parts of a text because of the importance really takes away from the enjoyment of the reading experience because the student is focused so hard on finding the answers and taking away something from the text the student doesn't really get a chance to sit back and enjoy the text. Lots of times readers get so caught up in the assignments they have to do with the readings their only focus is to get the answers they need out of the readings then they move on. The problem with this is the readers aren't actually connecting with the material and instead of understanding books on a deeper more personal level the readers take what they need from the book to do their assignments then move on. One way of helping students engage in the material that is mentioned in the Chapter that I believe would work very well would be frontloading material. The example of the books where they posted humorous items on wiki and then rated the humorous items as a class and categorized what type of humour was used seemed to be a great lead up to the section they were discussing about humour in their classroom. I believe there are many ways teachers can frontload texts that will be enjoyable for the students and will help get the ball rolling for the text the teacher will be teaching. I believe frontloading should be done for almost every major book you will do in class and instead of looking into questions that they will be asked focus on help them look at the ideas the texts raises and try to relate it to situations they might be facing or have faced in their lives. I believe if the students can connect to the literature they will enjoy it much more then if they feel no connection to the literature. After reading this Chapter I have really begun to realize that there alot of texts that students can find enjoyment in and we as teachers can use front loading and other strategies to help are students develop a deeper understanding for the texts that we teach.