Samantha+Hoffman



I am a full-time student at Clemson University, where I am studying Secondary Education with an emphasis in English. I am so excited and passionate about my subject matter, which is an attitude I hope to one day bring into my own classroom atmosphere for my students to flourish in. When I am not studying, I spend a lot of my free time reading, exploring the Internet, and window-shopping. My family is also extremely important to me because they have each helped to support me along my academic career, as well as to influence the driven young woman that I am today. In my professional career I hope to open my students’ eyes to not only the wonderful world of literature; but also, I hope to help my students realize the potential each of them have to succeed. A personal goal I have for myself is to always remember to never stop learning.

=EdSec 324=

//Samantha Hoffman - 8/31/2011//
I believe that it is possible to teach English literacy for love and wisdom because it is such characteristics that, in opinion, make up a truly great teacher. Upon beginning to read //Teaching Literacy for Love and Wisdom// by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm and Bruce Novak, I started to think about the ways in which I personally define love and wisdom and how I might teach using such figures. To me, the answer was clear immediately—teaching for love and wisdom in the English classroom is something that can most definitely be accomplished. I found that the authors of the book seemed to have similar ideas about what love and wisdom is (as it exists in the classroom) and why love and wisdom are components of teaching that could really help enhance the overall classroom experience in an English classroom. For example, the authors introduce the book by recollecting their personal teaching experiences that reveal connections to teaching for love and wisdom. Wilhelm relays his experience at North Junior High School and spends a lot of time talking about the obvious passion for teaching that the teachers display. He thinks, “How alive are they all” (5)! Jeff’s exclamation is one that I find particularly important when concerning teaching for love and wisdom in the English classroom because it underlines the importance of loving what you do and spreading that passion to the students.

In this way, when the authors refer to “love”, I do not believe they are referring to the fact that you must “love” your students. Yes, a teacher must obviously like his or her students, and for that matter, he or she must like children in general; however, I think the first chapter of //Teaching for Love and Wisdom// really begins to highlight that what a teacher must “love” is the subject matter so that one can rely the information to students in new and innovative ways. In effect, one can begin to truly love his or her job as a teacher more and more everyday.

It seems that one of the authors’ main goals is to help the readers to refocus his or her life as a whole and center it on concepts of love and wisdom. By doing this, one can begin to keep the fire going for his or her love of teaching and thus, become the best teacher he or she can be. If one can begin to teach for love and wisdom and instill the same values into his or her students, then the students will hopefully learn to apply love and wisdom to not only English literacy, but also, to everything else that the students aim to accomplish in their young lives.

= EdSec 324 =

//Samantha Hoffman - 9/7/2011//
What is English? Please share in your own words how the field of high school English has evolved over the years. What were the major conferences and/or leaders who have influenced the field? What is it today? Do you think we should change the title of our discipline to Personal Studies? Why or why not? What would you like to see the field of English become in the years ahead?

As the authors explain in the text //Teaching Literacy for Love and Wisdom//, it is an extremely difficult task to define English as a subject specifically. While each of us can provide a general description of what English is, it is no way limited to a single person’s idea of the subject. I do think that anyone who has gone through the school system is entitled to his or her own definition of English; however, the authors are suggesting that perhaps we should all move to a more specific, meaningful, and purposeful definition of English by starting with renaming the field.

The field of English is one in which is somewhat use to change. For example, high school English was originally part of the curriculum to promote democratic unity. As time went by and the needs of Americans changed, the field began to aim for democratic diversity. According to the text, “Old English was, in a way, a condescending “gift” from “cultured” to “uncultured” classes to “uplift” them, while the new English, in a way, was a conscious leveling of culture, in that it stated goals involved no more than the acknowledgement and appreciation of differing, supposedly inherently equal points of view” (page 32). Essentially, the field of English seems to have been adapted according to the changing needs of American society.

The major conferences that impacted the field that were included in the book were the Dartmouth Conference (1966) and the Wye Conference (1987). There are most definitely many individuals that influenced the field. The two that most stuck out to me within the text were Gardner and Rosenblatt. Gardner influenced the field in a major way, in fact, he influenced education in general by introducing the theory that there are various types of learners. The book talks about how his recent addition of the spiritual learner is important to English, although initially it was undermined. In addition, Rosenblatt contributed to how we now think about the “transactional response”—an idea that is vital to the way we now understand our field (69). Although all of the major contributors are so important to English as we know it today, I really admire the work that Rosenblatt did because she challenged others to think as she did thus, changing the field forever.

I do not think that we should change the title of our discipline to Personal Studies. While I respect and understand why the authors are suggesting the change, I do not feel that it would do any good. Instead, I feel that it would cause more confusion than anything else—even if it were integrated properly. I personally do not feel that a name holds that much importance. What difference does it make if we call English “Language Arts”, “Personal Studies”, or anything else? What really matters is what we are teaching our students, how we are doing it, and if we are inspiring other educators to teach in a similarly effective manner. Years from now, I would like to see the English classroom become a comfort zone for students where they always feel supported and willing to learn—even if they do not have a natural knack for the subject. This change needs to begin with teachers themselves, and I am confident that I can begin to be the change I hope to see.

= EdSec 324 =

//Samantha Hoffman - 9/15/2011//
The evocative dimension of a literary transaction is described as how a student starts the journey and enters the state of flow (page 91). For example, a student named Ron describes his experience with reading a new book as similar to diving into a pool and submerging himself in the water (87). Essentially, Ron feels that he has entered another world. It is important to note; however, that the evocative dimension of a literary transaction is different for everyone. Personally, when I am about to begin a journey with a new book, my mind enters a dimension that I can only think to describe as like having my own personal movie theatre right inside my mind. I withdrawal from the real world around me and I watch the words I read transform into mental pictures within my mind. In this way, reading for me always turns out to create a better movie and cinema experience than the real thing. In an attempt to encourage the evocative dimension in my own classroom, I would try various things. For instance, I think a great way to encourage this dimension of reading is to first //show// the students how to do it. I might select a very detailed first page or two of any given short story or novel and read aloud to the class. I would instruct the class to relax and listen to the reading, putting all other distractions temporarily out of their minds’. In doing so, the class would concentrate fully on the reading and thus, be able to visualize a vivid picture of the story being read. When I finish reading, I would ask the students to draw a quick sketch of how they pictured the scene and then to explain the picture they drew in about 3-4 short sentences. This small exercise would accomplish quite a bit because I would be demonstrating for the students the very way in which I want them to approach reading in my classroom. Another way of encouraging the evocative dimension in the classroom would be by simply helping the students to understand that “school” reading does not have to be all that different from the reading that they do on their own time. Instead of immediately throwing texts that the students think are “boring” or “too difficult”, I would first try to encourage them with a novel that they would possibly choose to read at home if they had been given the opportunity. This book would help to kick off a unit that asks larger questions. The book I chose would prove that the students can ask the same questions about a book that he or she might choose to read, in comparison to a book that one might typically read in school. The conclusion should ne that “school” texts can still be engaging and fun. Currently, within my classroom placement we are just starting to get into //Beowulf// but we have not yet engaged much with the actual text. We are still covering the necessary background information that will help the students to better understand //Beowulf.// I am confident that I will begin to note more evidence of the evocative dimension once we start engaging more with the text itself.

= EdSec 324 =

//Samantha Hoffman - 9/22/2011//
Do you agree with the Harold Brodkey quote at the beginning of Chapter 5? "Reading is an intimate act, perhaps more intimate than any other human act, I say this because of the prolonged (or intense) exposure of one mind to another."- Brodkey As you think about this quote, please reflect on how the Connective Dimension of the Aesthetic, Transactional Response relates to it if at all. Please share at least two ways that you might encourage your future students to connect to the implied authors of texts. Are you seeing examples of ways that English teachers help students connect to authors? Please share.

 Before I even read the prompt for this week’s reading, I began reading Chapter 5 of the text and immediately was drawn to this opening quote. I do agree with Brodkey’s quote, especially after reading Chapter 5. I find that the quote is especially reflective of the Connective Dimension of the Aesthetic, as well as the Transactional Response. First, the authors spend a good amount of time discussing reflective reading. Reflective reading is caring reading because by reading reflectively, we learn to care about other different from ourselves (page 95). This internal feeling becomes possible when we are reading because, in some way, we begin to share our lives with others (may it be with the author, a teacher, another reader, etc.). Reflective reading seems to connect to both the Connective Dimension, as well as the Transactional Response.  Not unlike reflective reading, the Transactional Response highlights a similar mental connection between not only the author and reader, but also between multiple readers. The important thing about the Transactional Response is that it “brings us to experience flow” (120). Furthermore, the Connective Dimension is the part of reading that brings the Transactional response to the next level. I understand the Connective Dimension as how one comes to understand his or her personal feelings about a particular book or an author (101). As one might imagine, this is not always the easiest conclusion to come to. While the Connective Dimension is also concerned with flow, it specifically ties the flow of our individual experiences to experiences that our larger than our own.  In this way, one can begin to see the connection between both the Transactional Response and the Connective Dimension of reading as it relates to the above quote. Certainly, understand the Transactional Response and the Connective Dimension help one to understand that reading is an active and intimate process because it creates a connection between any minds that encounters the same text. While it may be true that no two people will understand a book in exactly the same way, the words on the page create a bond between not only the author and the reader, but also anyone who has had any kind of experience with the text in question.  One way that I might encourage the Transactional Response and the Connective Dimension of reading in my classroom is to let the my students complete an individual PEG that is composed to specifically narrow down their reading interests. Based on the results of the PEG I could recommend specific young adult novel that cater to their individual interests in hopes that they will make a personal connection to the author or with other students in the class who are equally intrigued with the recommended text. In addition, I could direct a classroom discussion that focuses on questioning the author’s motivations. This would also be great practice for getting my students use to active in-class discussions.  Currently, I have not had enough classroom experience to determine whether or not I have seen English teachers help students to connect to authors; however, I felt the book provided some interesting examples of how English teachers are doing just this.

= EdSec 324 =

//Samantha Hoffman - 9/28/2011//
After you have read and reflected up "The Reflective Dimension" of the literary transaction, please share how you would encourage the entire literary transactional approach (guiding students through the evocative, connective and reflective dimensions of the literary meaning-making process) for the book Posted! No Trespassing! that you were given in class. How could you begin to develop a unit that would help students connect their personal experiences to the text? How would you help them make connections with the author, the zoology professor at Dartmouth, Professor Griggs? Then, how would you help them use the wisdom they have accrued to transform their worlds? How will you help them "live more artfully and meaningfully in the real world?" Elaborate as fully as you desire. I'm eager to read what you have imagined! Also, don't forget to share ways that your cooperating teacher or other teachers are encouraging the reflective dimension in their literary studies.

I think it would be certainly applicable to apply the various dimensions of the literary meaning-making process to //Posted! No Trespassing//. From what I have learned thus far in both my 324 and 424 practicum, I would first consider the big picture. In other words, I would begin to image what I want my students to take away from a unit about the text. For example, I might consider using this book to emphasize and teach some sort of nature unit. My goal would be to create an assessment first so that I know what I want my students to learn from my unit. I would then proceed to guide my students through the evocative, connective, and reflective dimensions of reading.

To begin my students on this journey, I would start with the evocative dimension of the text. I almost feel like this would be one of the easier aspects of the transactional process to teach because I believe that as the teacher, I am the guide they need to help them learn how to relate their own experiences to ideas found within the book. I think //Posted! No Trespassing// has various relatable aspects to it. To illustrate, all students can relate to nature in one way or another and hopefully some will even have a deeper connection to it. Others might similarly understand how it feels to feel they own the rights to a specific place “because they were there first”. By guiding the students to begin to think about such questions, then they can begin to become one with the text.

The connective dimension of the text, again, seems to be taking the evocative dimension a step further, in that, students can continue to make connections with their own lives and the book—just on a more personal level. Likewise, the reflective dimension can be achieved when the students begin to develop that very wisdom that we are encouraging in our classrooms. It begins to develop when students can develop love and understanding for an author and a text.

If the students are able to being to actively use the new literary tools such as the above, I (as the teacher) can begin to encourage the students to connect to the author. I would consider using methods in my unit such as “put an author on trial” to get the flow going in the classroom that forces the students to question the author. In this way, I would hope the students would develop a different kind of love and understanding for the text in question that the author produced. This love and understanding is in itself, a form of wisdom that teaches the students how to apply such characteristics to their daily lives. By teaching students to interact with literature in such a meaningful way, the students will most likely begin to question not only texts they encounter, but the world around them in general, helping them to live more meaningful lives.

= EdSec 324 =

//Samantha Hoffman - 10/6/2011//
In the chapter on Aesthetic Education, what were the qualities of the four teachers who were striving to teach for love and wisdom that you most admired and would like to embody? Please explain.

Personally, four qualities of the teachers who were striving to teach for love and wisdom that I most admired were: experimentation, personal attendance to students, realistic standards, and energy and passion. I actually found that the teacher, Sarah, embodied all these qualities. She is the teacher I most aspire to be like. First, I believe that being passionate about ones subject matter and teaching in general are some of the most important aspects of excelling in a teaching career. If I am not passionate about what I am teaching, then my students will most likely not be engaged in their studies. Likewise, experimentation is a very important part of innovative teaching. I really liked how Sarah was always going above and beyond to try new things in her classroom to make her teaching better. Next, I believe personal attendance to students is equally important. By doing this, students are better able to recognize a personal aspect within the classroom. This is important because the students need to feel like the teacher cares about him or her as an individual so that he or she will hopefully care about the class and put forth effort. Lastly, like Sarah, I think it is important to have realistic standards for the students. This also relates to developing a personal attendance with the students. If I am able to recognize that a particular student isn’t quite understanding English as easily as the other students but I can see that they are trying, then I am able to set realistic goals for that student to achieve rather than expecting he or she to always get an “A”. All of these qualities are important to me when striving to teach for love and wisdom.

= EdSec 324 =

//Samantha Hoffman - 10/6/2011//
In the chapter on Aesthetic Democracy, the opening quote is this, "I've never been in a classroom that was a real community before. Is this your situation? Why or why not? What would it take for the "third space" to come into being, a space "in which the students took in one another's life"? Be as detailed as you can be at this point in your career. How do we help students move the third space from the inward to the outward world? Explain (if you dare).

“I've never been in a classroom that was a real community before …” While I actually do feel that I have felt that I have been an active part of a classroom that felt like a community, I know that not all students have been fortunate enough to have the same experience. For me, just walking into an English classroom has always just made me feel at home. I’m confident that I can handle whatever the teacher throws at me. Perhaps this is a main reason why I feel so at ease in an English classroom. Although not every English teacher I have had has created a classroom sense of community—or the “third space” within the classroom, I have had at least two I can could that provided this comfortable space for learning. Notably, my first community classroom experience was probably when I began middle school, and that left an obvious affect on how I felt about English class. Likewise, senior year of high school I took an AP English class where I felt our teacher provided that third space within the classroom. Not only where these people my friends, I was learning new things from them and about myself everyday while at the same time, I was enjoying myself. These people who taught me so much about myself and others that year became a sort of in-school family to me. I feel that it is my responsibility as a teacher candidate to encourage the third space inside of my own classroom. Like my experiences in my senior AP English class, the sense of community should be so strong that the students begin to develop a sense of wisdom about their self, others and the world around them. Developing a sense of community in the classroom can help students gain the confidence and sense of security that is necessary to help students believe that they can conquer anything—no matter how big or small their goals. The third space within the classroom should be an encouraging environment that supports learning in a variety of different mediums. It should promote creativity and individuality. It should be—as I was fortunate enough to experience—a sense of home within the school.

Please see Brittney Whetzel's wiki for information about our unit question.

//The Odyssey// by Homer //Antigone// by Sophocles “A Mystery of Heroism” by Stephen Crane //Hedda Gabler// by Henrik Ibsen //To Kill a Mocking Bird// by Harper Lee “The Killers” by Ernest Hemingway //The Five People You Meet in Heaven// by Mitch Albom //Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close// by Jonathan Safran Foer //The Hunger Games// by Suzanne Collins //Watchmen// by Alan Moore
 * Text Selections:**

Group: Samantha Hoffman and Brittney Whetzel

= EdSec 324 =

//Samantha Hoffman - 10/27/2011//
How do the teachers cited within the chapter "What Can English Become?" try to help students relate to and love authors? How will you help students do this within the context of your proposed unit?

The teachers cited with the chapter “What Can English Become” try to help students relate to and love authors in many ways that our class has already proposed. For example, each of the teachers agreed that the “gift economy” is the first step in connected the author to the reader. Some specific examples that the teachers note are: teaching the students to look at the author as someone who has worked hard to communicate with the reader, use think-alouds and read-alouds, writing author and artist statements for individual student work and etc.

I can use a lot of these ideas within my proposed hero unit. I really love using the idea of read-alouds and think-alouds to make connections to the author. These activities also serve the purpose of getting students to hear what good reading sounds like so that they can begin to think and read as a good reader does. I also am fond of the idea of writing letters to the author of a given text. By doing this, the students are gaining a personal connection with the author—whether the letters are sent out or not. They are communicating with the author directly in a way that they may have otherwise done before.

= EdSec 324 =

//Samantha Hoffman - 11/2/2011//
How could you use the //Dynamics of Writing// structured process approach to teach for love and wisdom? Please explain in rich detail. Also, explain how you might use this approach in your forthcoming unit? Begin to brainstorm. Finally, are you seeing bits and pieces of the structured process approach to writing within your field experience? Please explain.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I really enjoyed reading this first chapter of //Dynamics of Writing// because I think it begins in the best way possible. That is, it opens by giving the reader the chance to do some self-reflecting on his or her teaching. I believe that this is a vital step in starting to design any plan for teaching because how can one design something that accomplishes his or her teaching goals if he or she doesn’t first know what they believe as a teacher, or better yet, what kind of teacher they want to become. I’ll admit, even I had to think about a lot of the questions that the authors posed throughout the text. The fact that the authors take the time to pose these types of questions to the readers is an effort to inadvertently encourage teaching for love and wisdom in itself. By thoroughly thinking about one’s teaching, it shows that the teacher in question seriously cares and is concerned about their students learning. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I gained some great ideas just in the first chapter of this text that I can begin to think about using in my upcoming unit(s). For example, my favorite way to get students writing was “Scenario 6: Beginning with an Activity”. I can see myself using this in my upcoming unit design because it is so interactive! The teacher is taking writing that can get to be mundane for the students and spicing it up to something much more. She is calling on the students’ imaginations and asking them to put themselves in the scene that she projects. Even better, she makes time for the students to revise and edit with partners so that they can get feedback. I think that this is a great cooperative learning technique. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I would just adapt this slightly for my hero unit. I could find a picture of a chaotic situation and even read and project a children’s book (such as the one about the sneeches by Dr. Seuss) that demonstrates a situation where a hero could come into play and turn the situation around. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Finally, I am seeing the structured writing process within my field experience. In fact, for my lesson for my EDSEC 424 class, I based my tools for thought lesson on a well-thought out and developed pre-writing lesson that I think falls into what we are calling the structured process approach to writing.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5 Tools from the powerpoint that I can use in my upcoming unit are: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. Guest Speaker <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A hero unit is the perfect opportunity to bring real, life communal heros into the classroom to share their experiences. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Brainstorming/Webbing <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a great way to get the students thinking about how they individually define a hero <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. Audio Books <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Always a great way to help the students read a text. Lets them hear what a "good reader" sounds like. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. Autobiography <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It would be simple yet extremely effective to let the students write an autobiography about a rich character within a text. They might write on their life before the story begins or after the story ends. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. Newspaper Connection The newspaper is a great source to read about local heros. I could even have the students take a few minutes to find an article about a local hero (in a big or small way) and free write on why that person can be considered a hero. They would get credit just for finding the article and completing the free write.

= EdSec 324 =

//Samantha Hoffman - 11/10/2011//
As a first year teacher, I imagine that I will most likely be teaching high school freshman. If I choose to teach near the surrounding area of my hometown in northeastern Pennsylvania, then my students will most likely be a very mixed bag (to say the least). Most students will probably be of the middle class, while only a handful will come from affluent families. In addition, even more students will struggle not only from poverty, but also with using English as a second language.

The teacher that I //currently// am will struggle to not micro-correct grammar within my students writing as soon as I see it; however, this is not the teacher I hope to become. I want to become the kind of teacher that helps all of my students find something about writing that they like and possibly one day will consider pursuing just because they can and know how to do so. For example, one student may find that the pre-writing methods that I taught in class really help them to become mentally stimulated and ready to write. In turn, this student will hopefully continue to use these methods even when he or she leaves my classroom. In any case, I want writing to become something that students can look forward to—even students who think they are not good writers, spellers, etc.

The type of writing assignments that I imagine myself assigning are writing that the students can really become engaged with—writing that each one of them has the opportunity to feel like they are the one and only expert of the topic. I want to help my students develop a sense of competency. For example, I might chose to assign a memoir writing, since the students are the expert on the memory that he or she chooses to write about.

To effectively implement this assignment, I would provide one on one conferencing to my students over time throughout the assignment. I would conduct student to teacher conferences, as well as peer sharing times. I hope that the time and care that my students put forth into the craft will help the students to develop pride in what they write and produce.

Finally, the teacher that I hope to become will conduct student-teacher conferences will care. I will not micro-correct the students drafts on the spot because I want to aim to help my students develop the confidence and competency he or she needs to keep writing and crafting their piece. By doing this, the students should be more likely to be encouraged to keep working on his or her writing and generate new ideas. Likewise, this will help them learn and make revision decisions on their own first. In the last conference, I will help the students correct the grammar and mechanics that still exist within their papers. Mistakes that I find reoccurring in my students’ work will be an indication on what I need to take the time to review will my students so that next time, some might eliminate similar mistakes.