Thoughts on TE 348 from an Urban Educator

Overall, I really enjoyed all of the material covered in this class. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the books we covered for role responses and would love to try to include some of them in my future classroom. As a member of the Urban Ed Cohort, a majority of my education has been geared towards teaching diverse student populations, or teaching in under resourced communities, and while Bud, not Buddy was an excellent book containing a diverse range of characters, a majority of the other books did not include minority characters, and none of the books contained characters who had disabilities. I personally wish that there had been more books focusing on diverse characters rather than all white, non-disability characters, simply because of my major and specialized degree program, but I also think it would be valuable for future teachers who aren't going to be teaching in a diverse area to be introduced to books that will ensure their students have access to literature about different cultures or lifestyles. This might be something instructors might consider in the coming years. Many students going through the education program have a global or urban focus, and many others are devoting their teaching careers to students with special needs. It might be valuable to include more children's literature that focuses on these aspects to ensure students have been introduced to topics of diversity and social justice.

Commercializing Literature

After discussing Daniel Hade's article "Storyselling: Are Publishers Changing the Way Children Read?", during discussion section this past week, I was reminded of my Communications class on Mass Communication. The class, which focuses on mass media's effects on society, touched breifly on a similar topic a few weeks ago. While reading Hade's article, I was reminded of lecture material that stated, media created for the mass consumption is low quality, because it is intended for sale rather than how aids in the self actualization of the individual. I feel that according to Hade's article, the same is true for a majority of children's literature being published. Publishers should be concerned about the content of the book, but instead are publishing books that they know will be marketable, and while this strategy is a good money-maker, it benefits youth very little.
The market's effect on what books make it to the shelve was rather noticeable when I was searching for books for the application assignment. It became obvious that I was not going to be able to find the books I needed at any large bookstore, and instead had to search through private bookshops, websites, and libraries to find the books I needed. I think the marketability of books has much to do with content. Books which do not represent dominant culture may not be published because they are considered "unmarketable" to general audiences.

As a future teacher, I understand that corporate marketing will effect the types of books available to me and my students, but I am determined that this will not effect my selection of intellectual classroom material

According to Hade, when

Maus

Before TE 348, I had heard a lot about Art Spiegleman and Maus from many of my previous courses, and although I knew the story and the medium it was portrayed in, I was relatively unprepared for how much I would really enjoy it. Vladek's story is one that many people of my generation have heard, but Spiegleman's telling of the story through comics is really what sets the tale apart and made it such a success. I recall at one point in the story, Mala, Vladek's wife, expresses how important the story will be, saying "people who don’t usually read such stories will be interested, " in reference Spiegleman's comic book audience. Spiegleman's presentation of the story in a comic book format makes it relatable and enjoyable for younger readers or readers who may not be as inclined to read a novel written in prose. I feel that in order to express the depth and multifacted aspects of characters could not be told in a way other than comic format. By expressing Maus through a visual format, Spiegleman gives audience members an opportunity to connect with his father's story by presenting emotions visually to readers.

As a future special education teacher, many of my students may have reading difficulties or even a dislike for reading by the time they reach my classroom. The comic format of Maus may serve as a reading aid for many students who may be uninterested or may have difficulty reading a novel written in prose.
I feel that Maus would be a great addition to a literature or history lesson in middle school or highschool, and it is a book I plan on incorporating into my own classroom if it is applicable and appropriate for the age group.

Violence and The Hunger Games in the classroom

After our in-class discussion of Susan Collins' The Hunger Games, and our ongoing discussion about classroom censorship and banned content and books, I found myself considering reasons why books similar to The Hunger Games are often banned for classroom use. As a education major with a specialization in language arts, I am also taking a communications class on mass media this semester as an option for one of my language arts credits. In my communications class, we recently touched on the topic of child exposure to violent media content, and I found it very applicable to our conversations in TE348. According to my class, violence in the media can have interesting effects on children. Because children are believed to be more malleable than adults, they are shielded from various potential causes of harm or anxiety. Contrary to popular belief, there are actually some potential benefits to exposing children to violence in the media. Some exposure to violent media may help some children reduce their fears of violence. Although The Hunger Games contains some violence and dark content, I would argue that this type of literature can be used in upper elementary or middle school settings to talk about various subject matter ranging from literary elements to social or economic structure.

The Wrong Time to be a Progressive Educator?

For the past few weeks we have been on the topic of banned literature, appropriateness of literature, and the intention of use in a classroom setting. After discussion of The Book Thief during last weeks class, Todd made an interesting statement about educators censoring the books they choose to use in their own classrooms, stating something along the lines of, 'what is the difference between banned books and teachers censoring their book choices?' This question really got me, and I found myself considering ways in which to include books I otherwise would have not considered for classroom use.

After today's discussion and reading of And Tango Makes Three, Laura mentioned that it was the #1 banned book in the US. I love this book and have read it many times, but I had not considered the problems that might come with using the book in a classroom setting until recently. My thoughts on using controversial books in the classroom are mixed and often go unresolved. As a future educator valuing diversity and multiculturalism in literature and curriculum, I think using books like And Tango Makes Three are a great addition to classroom literature and help students understand diversity within their communities, but in a time when the field of education is experiencing so much negative attention and teacher's rights are being decimated left an right, I have to wonder if more teachers are not willing to teach controversial topics and books because of this.

I wonder how curriculum has been affected by new policies, and wonder if my colleagues are experiencing similar fears about their future classrooms and job sustainability. My question is, how do my fellow future educators feel about using controversial topics and teaching progressively in a time when their jobs might be at risk because of it? In what ways can progressive education empower students and why might many people fear its use in a classroom setting?

Dockside Project and Leanring to Read

This past May, I was fortunate enough to be one of 13 students studying urban education at MSU to be selected to participate in a study tour in London, England. London's Specialist Schools and Academy Trust program placed us in schools all over the city, provided us with lectures, guest speakers, and resources they thought would be valuable to future teachers. The Dockside Reading Project was one of these resources. The Dockside project is a series of short graphic books aimed at older students,living in the inner city, who are also English language learners. The project was created to encourage children who were learning English as a second language to read books at their own reading level without becoming self conscious or feeling uncomfortable. The books feature older looking characters of various cultural backgrounds in an urban setting. The illustrations in the books are similar to that of a comic book or graphic novel, and the books themselves are actually similar in size to comics, as well.

Each page features only one line of text, many words are repeated and underlined throughout the text, and in the front of each book there is a glossary for students.

Overall, I really loved the idea, and came away from the experience with four new resources for my students. About a month after coming home from London, I started work in a camp with students with developmental disabilities. Many of our students, up to middle school, were still in the process of mastering reading and reading comprehension, and it did not take long for me to think about the Dockside books and whether or not they would be beneficial to helping my students learn to read.

I am curious to see if anyone has come across a similar reading tool, or whether or not they think this would be valuable to their own classrooms. As a future educator pursuing both special education as well as TESOL, I feel that these could be extremely beneficial to my future students.

Here is an online resource from SSAT about the project!

https://www.ssatrust.org.uk/teachingandlearning/literacy/Pages/Dockside.aspx