Reflections Regarding the Readings

We’re more than half way through our semester in ENGL 481 and we have done a substantial amount of reading to this point. The readings have ranged from practical to conceptual, but overall have one goal: to better inform us as upcoming student teachers on how to make learning as accessible as it can be for our students. And these readings have done just that, but there is only so much one can learn from simply reading theory and practices. I often find myself tearing into these texts with my annotating pen, crossing out generalizations and applications that seem too ideal or inapplicable to be used in an urban setting, and feeling distressed about the examples we receive in our method’s texts. Smagorinsky’s text is particularly frustrating for me as a teacher. I think the ideas, concepts, and activities found in this text are top-notch, offering many new ways to rethink worn-out teaching strategies, but where I challenge some of his teachings and methods is in their applicability outside a stereotypical white, middle-class, well-read and prepared classroom. His ideas for generating collaboration, offer alternates to boring and prescriptive homework, test, and project ideas, as well as the guidelines for executing many of these strategies are great, but they often assume a student body who is appropriately prepared to work, has given the work and the teacher their full attention, and bring good attitudes towards learning and behavior.

 In my observations as a whole, I have seen the flaws of these strategies when put into actual practice with students who do not stack up to the stereotype I established before. Many of the techniques and ideas that both Beach and Smagorinsky discuss involve this level of student, and without these conditions, the application process of these ideas falls apart. So while the readings have been extremely useful for self-reflection, generating new ideas, and designing curriculum, they often overlook the x-factor of student behavior.

The readings have however made me quite mindful of all the effort, thinking, resources, and most of all time it takes to create quality authentic assignments, assessments, and curricula. It is clearer to me now than ever that authenticity to the students and to the creation of materials is crucial to truly assess students. Reflection and differentiation are needed at all stages of the creation and instruction process so that the teacher is truly catering the material specifically for the class’s greatest benefit. I have liked the alternate readings as well (by this I mean the short stories, poems, Shakespeare, and other non-methods teaching related materials), since they challenge us to read in the lenses of ourselves as readers, teachers, and students. Having to constantly switch between reading and thinking like myself, the teacher in me, and the student I have always been has allowed me to see the importance of keeping this dynamic in mind when choosing texts to assign to students.

Overall, the experience with these texts has been a positive one, but there will always be the desire to test out the ideas and theories for their validity until we fully get that chance in our student teaching. Once I have this experience, then I feel like the validity and critical nature of what we have been reading will be established.