Interdigitating Smagorinsky and Beach for my Students

Interdigitating Smagorinsky and Beach for my Students

In his chapter, "Alternatives to Teacher-Led Discussions," Peter Smagorinsky is concerned with fully engaging students in the classroom. His chapter requires his readers to challenge the too-often utilized IRE classroom format, where the teacher initiates conversation, the student responds, and the teacher then explains the “preferred” answer (32). He states “while teachers often state they seek to have free-flowing “jam sessions” in which students riff and improvise in harmonious interaction, in actual practice the teachers more typically control the floor in ways that limit students’ contributions” (32). Certainly we all know from our educational psychology and methods classes that this scenario is not optimum. We want students to fully interact with our texts, language, and work, while we certainly do not wish as teachers to “control the floor” and “limit students’ contributions” (32). Most importantly, we want our students to take materials presented in our classes and to make it their own, and as Smagorinsky writes, “to encourage students to work at the level of synthesis rather than recall” (33). Smagorinsky offers up various methods which teachers can utilize to shake up the traditional IRE classroom format and to increase students’ contributions in the classroom.

Richard Beach, Amanda Thein, and Allen Webb, in their chapter, “Formulating Your Beliefs about Teaching ELA,” discuss literary practices in classrooms as events. Beach, et al, write, “…one of the critical tasks of the English…teacher is the creation of meaningful events that foster rich, complex literacy practices” (36). It is my task as an English teacher to create activities and events in my classroom that encourage my students to dive into their work, to be active learners, to synthesize information and to make it personally meaningful. I clearly have a choice – I can create curriculum utilizing the tired IRE pattern described by Smagorinsky, or I can utilize the myriad methods and ideas and events suggested by Smagorinsky in order to foster the constructivist classroom environment envisioned by Smagorinsky, Beach, et al, which will help my students not only achieve the Common Core Standards but to exceed them, according to Beach. 

Of particular interest to me in this week's readings is the suggestion by Beach, et al, which suggests that teachers require students to define their own goals, which will increase the students' "buy in" to the work and potentially increase students' motivation. Motivating students is still somewhat of a mystery to me as a pre-service teacher. I am looking for any and all tools which will assist me to motivate my students to do great things in their classroom. 

Beach, et al, also discuss teachers teaching their students to frame events, particularly in response to literature. Teaching students to frame events not only assists them in interpreting literature, but also to begin seeing the world as less black and white, to see varying perspectives and possibilities in characters, plot development, and in their own lives (Beach et al 48). Teaching students to frame events encountered in class, whether they be activities suggested by Smagorinsky or actual textual readings, helps students to think more deeply about their experiences and to become more critical thinkers. 

Beach and his colleagues contend that their text will help me help my students surpass the Common Core Standards. Smagorinsky contends that his activities will allow me to stay away from tired, old teaching techniques, such as IRE, and to fully engage my students. Utilized in tandem, I am beginning to see the possibilities, particularly after the discussion of teaching students to frame events, to see beyond a "dual perspective," and to see literature and their lives through a much wider lens than previously experienced.