Justin+Holliday

My name is Justin Holliday, and I am a Secondary Education major at Clemson University with an emphasis in English. As a full-time student, I spend most of my time devoted to school. I have a profound passion not only for learning about literature, but also the idea of teaching it one day. Many teachers have inspired me over the years, and I want to be able to make my future students feel the same way. Teaching English extends beyond my personal fervency for reading. I want to encourage individuals to think for themselves, and English is the best subject to foment creativity. I spend much of my free time reading or writing, reflecting my unending adoration of the written word.

**Performance Expectations Guide (PEG)** **for Play Manuscript** **from //A Midsummer Night’s Dream// by William Shakespeare** Congratulations! Your final role is playwright. After reading //A Midsummer Night’ Dream//, you will write a short play (one scene) that explores your understanding of Shakespeare’s style. As with the essay, you will focus on how identity functions in your play. Do your characters assert their individuality, or is their individuality erased? Do they connect or disconnect with other people and/or nature? Like Shakespeare, you have been commissioned to create a manuscript of a play that will be performed at the Globe theatre, which will be reopened in time for the performance of your play. Your patron expects you to write a comedy but not just any comedy; you must write a short scene that parodies the style of Shakespeare. Therefore, you need to become familiar with Shakespeare’s comical conventions and diction. Week 6 Shakespeare Notes—Introduction to Comedy Pastiche Notes Read Act 1 Translating Shakespeare Activity Storyboard Activity Read Act 2 Translating Shakespeare Activity RAFT Week 7 Read Act 3 Email a Character Activity Read Act 4 Semantic Feature Analysis Brainstorming for Project Read Act 5 Drafting Project Week 8 Finish reading play if needed Turn in Project All readings will be completed in class. Please include the rubric inside your play. To earn an A+ you must __fulfill all required components (See rubric for details)__
 * Overview**
 * Game Plan**
 * English Course Standards That Will Be Addressed**
 * Evaluate the diction of texts and their impact on meaning (RSL-9.4)
 * Create a dramatic narrative (RSW-9.3)
 * Apply language in terms of meaning and style (LS-9.3)
 * Calendar**
 * Notes:

__**Rubric**__ __Length: two to three pages (**15 points**)__ __Parody of Shakespeare’s style (**40 points**)__ __Three comical conventions (30)__ __One Shakespearean character included in modern plot (5)__ __Pastiche (5)__ __Vocabulary (**25 points)**__ __Five words (5 points/word)__ __Circle your **five** Shakespearean vocabulary words__ __Creativity (**20 points**)__ __Title, artwork/visual design (10)__ __Characterization (10)__ __Opening paragraph that sets up scene (10)__ __Visual descriptions of characters and setting__ __ **Total** (out of 100)



**Performance Expectations Guide (PEG)** **Argumentative Essay** **for //Anthem// by Ayn Rand** Your new role is literary critic. After reading //Anthem,// you will write a short argumentative essay that analyzes how the topic of identity functions in the novel. You have had time to articulate your ideas during literature circles when you presented your informal arguments with your group members, and now, you will be able to express those astute ideas more formally. Although this assignment is challenging, you already have many of the significant points you will integrate into your essay as long as you have taken helpful notes about identity in your double-entry journals. Also, the prior knowledge you gained while discussing the novel in your literature circles will have increased your understanding of the text. You will compose more than one draft, but you will have time during class for writing. Additionally, class time will be spent peer reviewing. Since much class time will be devoted to the writing process, please staple all earlier drafts (including any brainstorming notes) to the final draft of your essay. The essay needs to be between about 500 to 700 words (approximately 2 to 2.5 typed pages). You may either type it or write in black ink; either way, please double space and follow MLA guidelines. Also, if you type your essay, please use Times New Roman 12 point font. If you would like to do so and fulfill all of the criteria, you have the opportunity to submit your essay to the //Anthem// Essay Contest and can win a monetary prize. Here are the two prompts from which you can choose to write your essay:
 * Overview**
 * Game Plan**

1. Equality understands that his invention will benefit mankind greatly; however, this was not his main motivation in conducting his experiments, and it is not the primary source of the great joy he experiences. Discuss. 2. Equality reaches the important realization that “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers.” Explain what Equality means by this, citing examples from //Anthem.// Students will be able to Week 4 Fears about Writing Handout Brainstorming: Free Writing, Webbing, Listing Pick a Prompt Thesis Writing Choose Three Quotes from Double-entry Journals Begin Composing a Rough Draft Week 5 Peer Reviews Conferencing Proofreading Week 6 Final Essay Due To earn an A+ you must __staple all brainstorming notes/doodles and rough drafts to final draft__ __Note: If you do not do so, you will lose 5 points on the essay.__ follow essay guidelines on rubric (See rubric for details)
 * English Course Standards That Will Be Addressed**
 * Understand how to cite textual evidence to support inferences about the text (RSL-9.1)
 * Analyze how character relates to the theme of a literary text (RSL-9.3)
 * Evaluate a text with formal, objective writing (RSW-9.1)
 * Apply language in terms of meaning and style in formal and informal contexts (LS-9.3)
 * Calendar**
 * Evaluation Standards**


 * Rubric**
 * **Introduction** || 15 || 10 || 5 || 0 ||
 * || Explains topic; thesis presents an argument || Thesis does is unclear, incomplete, or not contestable || No thesis; introduction presents some idea of topic || No introduction ||
 * **Textual Evidence** || 30 || 20 || 10 || 0 ||
 * || 3 quotes included || 2 quotes included || 1 quote included || No quotes included ||
 * **Organization** || 30 || 15 || 10 || N/A ||
 * || Always follows MLA format; quotes are included in context of argument/thesis; topic sentences are relevant to each paragraph; stays on topic consistently || Sometimes or rarely follows MLA format; quotes are either in context of argument some of the time; or topic sentences do not always relate to their paragraphs || Never follows MLA format; quotes never relate to argument; and never writes relevant topic sentences ||  ||
 * **Conclusion** || 5 || 3 || 0 || N/A ||
 * || Restates introductory material in a new way; presents no brand new information || Restates introductory material verbatim || No conclusion present ||  ||
 * **Mechanics** || 15 || 12 || 10 || 5 ||
 * || No more than one grammatical error || 1-3 different //types// of grammatical errors; if just one type of error, there are multiple examples of that error || 3-4 different //types// of grammatical errors || More than 4 different //types// of grammatical errors ||
 * **Style** || 5 || 3 || 0 || N/A ||
 * || Creative title; varying syntax || Either creative title //or// varying syntax present || Neither creative title nor varying syntax present ||  ||
 * **Total**
 * (out of 100)** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||



**Performance Expectations Guide (PEG)**

**Literature Circles**

**for //Anthem// by Ayn Rand**

You are members of the Ayn Rand book club! This assignment will allow you to articulate your own opinions about the book while also learning about the opinions of others, which will help you to defend your own insights.
 * Overview**

Each class you will join your discussion group in a literature circle in which you share quotes and new vocabulary from the novel with your group members. Everyone will bring his or her own vocabulary word to the discussion, and the literature circle will choose the word that is considered the most beneficial to vocabulary acquisition and share it with the class. Also, to be prepared for each discussion, you will compose a short double-entry journal. On the left side, you will list three quotes from the novel, cited in MLA format, and on the right side, you will write a one- or two-sentence interpretation of each quote that you have chosen. Look for quotes related to identity; these examples are prolific throughout the text.
 * Game Plan**

Students will be able to
 * English Course Standards that Will Be Addressed**
 * Understand how to cite textual evidence to support inferences about the text (RSL-9.1)
 * Analyze how character relates to the theme of a literary text (RSL-9.3)
 * Evaluate arguments about texts in dialogic contexts (SLS-9.1)
 * Evaluate the meanings of words using context and reference materials (LS-9.4)
 * Apply knowledge of how to develop vocabulary skills by independently acquiring and expanding vocabulary (LS-9.6)

Week 1 Introduction to Literature Circles (T, Th) Explanation of roles and daily expectations Students choose roles Hand out //Anthem// Ayn Rand Introduction (PowerPoint) Read Ch. 1 (pp.17-37) Discuss Ch. 1 in Literature Circles and as a class Week 2 Read Ch. 2-4 (pp. 38-58) (M,W, F) Discuss Ch. 2-4 in Literature Circles and as a Class Students will have the option to change roles if another member agrees Ch. 5-8 (pp. 59-80) Discuss in Literature Circles and as a Class Read Ch. 9-12 (pp. 81-105) Discuss in Literature Circles and as a Class
 * Calendar**

To earn an A+ you must
 * Evaluation Standards**

___ have a complete double-entry journal__ __(40 points/ 10 points per day)__

_ have brought in an independently sought vocabulary word from the novel (20 points/ 5 points per day)

___ contribute to group discussion, including the fulfillment of your role (40 points/ 10 points per day)

=

= =**EDSEC 424**=

http://edsec424-fall2012.wikispaces.com/Justin+Holliday
Justin Holliday October 19, 2012

I will teach this identity unit by incorporating both literary and informational texts that explore this topic in multiple ways. The two primary informational texts will be taught as an introduction to the unit will be “My Two Lives” by Jhumpa Lahiri, which analyzes her seemingly dichotomous identity as Indian-American, and an excerpt from //Hide Tide in Tuscon// by Barbara Kingsolver, which explores her relationship as a human being in nature. I will focus on short journal assignments and an introduction to literary analysis. Then, I will begin //Anthem// by Ayn Rand and prepare students to write an analytic essay about identity and will incorporate literature circles to promote thorough scaffolding. Students will find vocabulary through independent reading. The last major text will be //A Midsummer Night’s Dream// by William Shakespeare. Students will learn how to enact the play and have explicit linguistic instruction so that they will have scaffolding for them to write their own play, using literary devices from Shakespeare and modern language. I will assess vocabulary acquisition through three major lexical units: a) Lahiri and Kingsolver; b) Rand; and c) Shakespeare. This unit is concerned with the topic of identity. Identity is a complex term because it encompasses multiple explorations of self through various lenses, including an individual’s relationship to society, nature, and of course, oneself. The latter component is considered the conception of a personal identity, but other factors, such as society and nature, contribute to the presentation and understanding of oneself. Someone’s identity may be mediated through a dual sense of self, such as two distinct cultural identities, which the individual may endeavor to transform into an individuated whole. This multifarious creation of individual identity also extends to the natural realm, wherein human beings attempt to find their place in the world. Sometimes, the search for identity is arduous, such as when a collectivist mentality conflicts with individuation. The contemporary idea of individual identity is a modern phenomenon, but literature has addressed this topic for centuries. Sometimes, identity is reduced or effaced; at other times, the individual overcomes this restrictiveness and asserts a personal identity. Adolescents deal with the conflict of identity as they experience life through the lenses of society, nature, and internality; therefore, this unit will integrate these real-life concerns that students have and will help them address this fundamental question: “Who am I?” Students will develop an understanding of identity by creating an argumentative essay about the novella //Anthem// and by creating a play about identity in response to //​A Midsummer Night's Dream.//
 * Identity: Decoding Dualism**
 * Overview**

Students will be able to: Reading Literature Reading Informational Texts Writing Speaking and Listening Language
 * Objectives:**
 * Understand how to cite textual evidence to support inferences about the text (RSL-9.1)
 * Analyze how character relates to the theme of a literary text (RSL-9.3)
 * Evaluate the diction of texts and their impact on meaning (RSL-9.4)
 * Understand how textual evidence relates to explicit meanings found in the text and inferred meanings from the text (RSIT-9.1)
 * Understand the impact of diction in different contexts (RSIT-9.4)
 * Evaluate a text with formal, objective writing (RSW-9.1)
 * Create a dramatic narrative (RSW-9.3)
 * Evaluate arguments about texts in dialogic contexts (SLS-9.1)
 * Apply language in terms of meaning and style (LS-9.3)
 * Evaluate the meanings of words using context and reference materials (LS-9.4)
 * Analyze the significance of literary devices in texts (LS-9.5)
 * Apply knowledge of how to develop vocabulary skills by independently acquiring and expanding vocabulary (LS-9.6)

Engaging Literary Enterprises
 * 1) Create Argumentative Essay for //Anthem.//(RWS-9.1)
 * Pick a prompt from essay contest choices and relate it to identity. (RSW-9.3)
 * 1) Create a comical play in response to //A Midsummer Night's Dream//
 * Pick one character from //A Midsummer Night’s Dream//;
 * Parody Shakespeare's style and include a modern setting (pastiche);
 * use literary devices and vocabulary found in the play;
 * students must apply knowledge of a character to a new situation and relate it to the theme of identity (e.g. Titania is a network executive and wants to divorce her husband and wants full-custody of the stolen child)

=**EDSEC 424**=

http://edsec424-fall2012.wikispaces.com/Justin+Holliday
Justin Holliday October 19, 2012

** Resource Palette for ** ** Identity: ** ** Decoding Dualism ** York: Penguin, 2011. Print. //Love.// 2002. 53-63. //Review// 3.2 (1986): 1-13. Print. Objective from Intrinsic Value.” //Social Philosophy and Policy.// 25.1 (2008): 126-148.
 * Supplementary Literature**
 * Young Adult Literature
 * Beam, Cris. //I am J.// New York: Little, Brown, 2011. Print.
 * Condie, Ally. //Matched//. New York: Speak, 2010. Print.
 * Mulligan, Andy. //Trash//. New York: Random House, 2011. Print.
 * Santino, Charles, Rand, Ayn, and Joe Staton. //Anthem: The Graphic Novel.// New
 * Weber, Lori. //If You Live like Me//. Montreal: Lobster, 2009. Print.
 * Images**
 * Google Images
 * Ayn Rand
 * Objectivism Cartoon
 * Shakespeare
 * Music**
 * Branch, Michelle. “Are You Happy Now?” //Hotel Paper.// 2002.
 * Manson, Marilyn. “Dogma.” //Portrait of an American Family.// 1994.
 * My Chemical Romance. “Cubicles.” //I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your//
 * Nickelback. “Where Do I Hide.” //Silver Side Up.// 2001.
 * Paramore. “Playing God.” //Brand New Eyes.//2010.
 * DVDs / Videos**
 * A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999) Trailer
 * []
 * Resources for Teachers**
 * Critical Commentaries**
 * Articles**
 * Beauchamp, Gorman. “Technology in the Dystopian Novel.” //MFS// 32.1 (1996):
 * Hunt, Maurice. “Individuation in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” //South Central//
 * Smith, Tara. “The Importance of the Subject in Objective Reality: Distinguishing
 * Books**
 * Burke, Jim. //Tools for Thought.// Portsmouth, Heinemann: 2002. Print.
 * Smagorinsky, Peter. //Teaching English by Design.// Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2008. Print.
 * Teaching Shakespeare Institute. //Shakespeare Set Free.// New York: Washington Square P, 1993. Print.
 * Wilhelm, Jeffrey and Bruce Novak. //Teaching Literacy for Love and Wisdom.// New York: Teachers College. 2011. Print.

>> @http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/athens/ >> @http://www.ancient-greece.org/ >> @http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/ >> @http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/ >> @http://greece.mrdonn.org/ >> []
 * Websites for Teaching Language Arts**
 * Classroom Aid
 * http://classroom-aid.com/educational-resources/language-art/
 * This website is an online warehouse of links for diverse websites for the teaching of English Language Arts. Some websites are specifically for ELLs.
 * Teacher Vision
 * []
 * This website groups resources by overall grade group (i.e. the section for 9-12 grades is specifically for high school classrooms). Also, other sections can be used in both conventional ELA classrooms in addition to specialty subgenres of ELA, including creative writing and journalism.
 * Glencoe
 * http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/language.phtml
 * This website contains a variety of methods for teaching ELA topics. For example, methods for teaching grammar, multiculturalism, and vocabulary acquisition are explained in context of current educational models.
 * General Websites**
 * Athens
 * @http://www.athensguide.com/
 * Ayn Rand
 * []
 * []
 * Shakespeare
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * YouTube
 * Ayn Rand - Anthem - Part 1- Free Audiobook Audio Book
 * []

slides]. Retrieved from Clemson University Blackboard: https://bb. clemson.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp
 * Pedagogical Notes**
 * Bailey, Bea. (2011). //Best Bets for Transactional Responsiveness// [PowerPoint

=**EDSEC 424**=

http://edsec424-fall2012.wikispaces.com/Justin+Holliday
Justin Holliday October 19, 2012

Justin Holliday 19 October 2012 **Philosophy of Teaching English: Encouraging Love and Wisdom**

My philosophy as a future English teacher involves multiple facets that conjoin to exemplify the complexity of teaching this particular discipline. English, unlike other disciplines, has the greatest potential to foster a sense of humanity and both individual and societal place in the world by integrating the methods of writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and enacting. These diverse methods function together in order to provide a stalwart, interdependent way for students to communicate effectively because literature is not created or interpreted in a vacuum. Rather, literature encompasses the reading of literature and informational texts, writing, language, and speaking and listening. Traditionally, English is considered the primary subject area for reading and writing. These methods of learning are integral to teaching English, but these other methods are similarly important. Often, these two ways of learning about literature are interdependent. According to Frank Smith, students should have the opportunity to execute language arts enterprises, which encourage students to create something of personal or social worth. This point is relevant to me because I want my assignments to reflect the importance of literature, both in terms of the skills that the students develop and the actual product, whether it is a research paper or a dramatic narrative. These enterprises exhibit the highest level of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy—creating—and for me, this achievement surpasses multiple-choice tests, which can easily be called “multiple guess” since the required cognitive skills for such an assessment are not as rigorous. These writing skills work in tandem with reading because one will often follow the other. For example, students may be reading a play by Shakespeare, initially expecting not to find any relevant value in their personal lives. Prior to reading, the teacher can make a journal entry prompt for students to write about a personal experience, such as a concern about what it feels like to deal with constructing an individual identity, and then read a play that explores the same topic, such as //A Midsummer Night’s Dream//. This frontloading prepares students to forge a connection with a seemingly archaic text. Also, students often write about a text after reading it, and this type of writing can assess how students have gained knowledge about the text. Then, the teacher can discover what attributes of a text are important to the students and what concepts they understand. Viewing and enacting are distinct methods for teaching English, but these two methods interact well with one another. According to Bandura, a social cognitive psychologist, modeling initializes and reinforces behaviors. Therefore, students can view a teacher modeling a task, such as doing a “think-aloud” while reading a challenging text, and then, the students will have this process stored in their long-term memory and be able to repeat the same skill of reading analytically. This skill may be useful for either literary or informational texts and will help students grasp the specificities of language. Vygotsky also supports this pedagogical method, and he expands his observations about the power of modeling into the sphere of collaboration. Thus, students interact with one another to solidify knowledge; for instance, they can present a play in front of the class through the performance of authentic acting rather than silently reading. In this situation, students engage in reading, viewing, speaking, listening, and enacting to integrate these skills into a real-life application. This type of assignment focuses on all of the dimensions in order to promote optimal learning in the form of an enterprise that integrates the reading of literature, the focus of language, and speaking and listening skills. Finally, English teachers can challenge students by using these different learning methods to develop a transactional “third space,” wherein the students acquire a transformative relationship to literature. This “third space” transcends student detachment from texts by encouraging students not only to read texts, but also to engage with them on all of these levels, whether those texts are literary or informational. For example, I can have a “nature day” in which I teach an excerpt from //High Tide in Tuscon// by Barbara Kingsolver. Before reading the informational text, students will bring in their own observations of nature and then, with the text, they will develop a connection to nature through a short writing assignment. Students will read, speak, listen, view, and enact in connection with literary and informational texts so that they will develop a previously unexplored association with literature as a mimetic entity that will ultimately lead to a sense of love and wisdom for literature.

=EdSec 324=

//Justin Holliday August 30, 2011//
Can literacy be taught for love and wisdom? Why or why not?

Literacy can be taught for love and wisdom, but teachers must be engaged with their students to do so. If a teacher does not ever reveal the purpose of a text, students will not understand why it is important. Their interaction will be limited. Also, literacy is more than the taking of tests; it includes an acquisition of knowledge for its use in real life. Literature is a medium through which individuals can gain wisdom, questioning their beliefs and the beliefs of others and allowing the opportunity to discover new perspectives.

The attainment of wisdom in literature relies in part on a reconfiguration of the current style of teaching. Wisdom is not compacted in tests; students need to learn through experience. A transaction between students and teachers and students and students will permit individuals to think how literature affects them on a philosophical level. This transaction of knowledge between persons will not be mere interaction but rather the attempt to have almost revelatory insights into individuals’ lives. Teachers should foment this type of thinking by revealing the usefulness of literacy and literature, possibly through projects that relate to students’ personal interests or the community’s interests.

Additionally, literacy is something that can be loved. Once again, students must engage with themselves, other students, and their teachers to discover this love. This process should start with the teacher, who should express a genuine passion for reading. These teachers communicate a zeal that shows students that reading is not always an end in itself but can also relate to them personally. If teachers can connect reading to their students’ lives, the students will be more likely to comprehend the reason at least to develop even a small interest in literature. However, some students just hate reading. In these instances, teachers should still endeavor to help students find some meaningfulness although they will not always succeed. Not everyone will find love or wisdom in literacy, but a teacher should not thoughtlessly relinquish the responsibility of engaging with a student to make meaning.

=EdSec 324= http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Justin+Holliday

//Justin Holliday September 2, 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?

English is the subject that is the most difficult to define in a few words. It is important to someone like me, who values reading and writing as something vital to my existence, but the public often does not understand its relevance, unlike other subjects like math and science. Originally, English was added to the curriculum to foster democracy and national unity. Americans wanted to integrate immigrants who spoke different languages to spark a cohesion of these people with different backgrounds. At the Dartmouth Conference in 1966, English teachers posited a new idea of English as a means toward personal freedom. Then, at the Wye Conference in 1987, the supposedly radical “wholistic/Joy group” (p. 41) averred that teachers must feel joy in their material to communicate that freedom. No subject is like English insofar that it encourages freethinking and innovation because there is not always one set of answers.

Within the last two decades, English has undergone more changes. One of the most prominent new names is language arts, which, along with language arts strategies, I learned in middle school. When I went to high school, I learned “English,” not language arts. (Even “AP Literature” was always referred to as “AP English.”) I never really understand the difference between the terms, except that under the umbrella of “English” I learned much less grammar, but I think that was the result of a lacking statewide high school curriculum rather than the result of the nomenclature. I once read a short story by Lee Smith; the narrator was a retired English teacher who scoffed at the seemingly inferior teaching of language arts. While I do not feel antipathetically toward language arts, there just does not seem to be a big difference when the name is changed.

I do not think that we should change English to “Personal Studies.” I agree that English should provide the opportunity to “[make] deeper and more human connections to the flow of life itself” (p. 72), but the proposed title does not sound socially beneficial. People who already question the value of English in the curriculum will even more vehemently castigate its seeming lack of practical usefulness. Personal studies would be considered “touchy-feely” instead of academic because critics will claim that it focuses too much on the individual, which does not compute in our assessment-obsessed culture. Still, I want to see a holistic approach with teachers who feel joy from their careers because they cause students to think in new ways, and although “English” seems archaic, it still covers the literature and language we want to teach.

= EdSec 324 = http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Justin+Holliday

//Justin Holliday September 10, 2011//
What is meant by the evocative dimension of a literary transaction? Explain what this is and give examples. Then, begin to imagine at least two ways that you could encourage the evocative dimension within your future English classes. Do you see any evidence within the field that the evocative dimensions are being encouraged within literary transactions and instruction? Please share.

The evocative dimension of literary transaction is a way for individuals to connect to a text on a personal level. If students utilize preexisting knowledge, such as from previous experience, they can relate this knowledge to a text. This step will allow give them the opportunity to see their relevance of literature in their personal lives so that reading assignments do not remain segmented in an abstract form in the classroom. A teacher should encourage evocation in the classroom through the process of frontloading, which “accesses the prior experience, values and feelings of the reader so that these resources can be used to evoke the textual world and then converse with and learn from it” (p. 80). For example, one of the teachers in //Teaching Literacy for Love and Wisdom// begins a unit on //Romeo and Juliet// by asking students to present songs about relationships that they like. The teacher evokes the feelings of the students who bring in their songs, and he evokes the feelings of connectedness between the students so that they can compare and contrast how they feel about relationships, which will prepare them to deal with the complexity of //Romeo and Juliet//, which deals with the basic, relatable emotion of romantic love.

In my English class, I would ask students make a collage that describes their identity while reading //The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian// by Sherman Alexie, a //Bildungsroman// about an adolescent Native American boy who creates illustrations to express his feelings about both the Native Americans and white communities and how they relate to his heritage and burgeoning identity. Another way I could evoke students’ connection to an assigned text is to ask them to name their favorite fairytale and explain why it is their favorite. Then, we could begin reading //Haroun and the Sea of Stories// by Salman Rushdie, a novel about the basis of stories, storytelling, and language itself. This way I could get students to begin thinking about what makes a good story and the etiology of stories.

Note: I will not be able to write about my field experience by the time this entry is due.

=EdSec 324= http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Justin+Holliday

//Justin Holliday September 16, 2011//
Do you agree with the Harold Brodkey quote at the beginning of Chapter 5? Here it is again so that you can copy and paste it into your own wiki page: 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.

Reading is an intimate act although the reader may feel like the only person engaging in the act. The idea of an author behind a text remains essential to understanding the creation of the text. When someone reads, he or she undergoes an experience that will shape his or her perceptions. You are not the same person today as you were yesterday, whether the change was minute or grand. Entering the evocative dimension allows us immerse ourselves into a fictional world, but the connective dimension extends the reader’s relationship to the text so that it will influence him or her even after the book is over. In fact, this dimension to reading “promote[s] ‘real’ relationships with others: family members, friends, other readers, and teachers” (p. 93). Because of the connective dimension, we as readers can relate a theme in a text to our lives instead of viewing it abstractedly.

I would like to show students the importance of the authors because //Teaching for Love and Wisdom// asserts that they act as “alloparents,” providing a “secure environment…to enable [the] exploration” of the world that they have created (p. 104). For example, after reading //The Satanic Verses// by Salman Rushdie, I developed a keen perception to question what is “good” versus what is “evil.” I took these two abstract concepts and connected them to my life, trying to discern the relativity of terms that we human beings have constructed. In the classroom, I would ask students their definitions and perceptions of good and evil and whether these constructions are mutable and whether they are imposed by nature or society. Then, I would relate the implication of the author because this novel caused the Iranian ayatollah to issue a fatwah against Rushdie, who then went into exile—resulting in the real-life question: Who is good, and who is evil? Another method I would use to show students the connections between an implied author and the text would be to teach //The Color Purple// by Alice Walker. This way I could show how someone from in the 1980s could write a poignant portrayal of the subordination of black women in America during the former half of the twentieth century. I would briefly discuss Walker’s impoverished childhood, during which her family discouraged her writing, and then turn the discussion toward her feminist politics.

In my field experience so far, I have not seen my teacher connect the text and the author because her senior class is currently reading //Beowulf.// Nevertheless, she has mentioned the anonymity of the text and reminded the students that the Christian references are the “two cents” of the monks who have translated the original text.

= EdSec 324 = http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Justin+Holliday

//Justin Holliday September 23, 2011//
After you have read and reflected on "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.

As a frontloading exercise, I would first tell my students to do a short informal writing (about a paragraph or two) that describes their personal experiences with nature. I realize that no everyone has immediate access to beatific outdoor surroundings, but I would tell all of the students that they should at least reflect on what it is like right outside where they live. If it is parking lot with a fence in the backyard at an apartment complex, I can find out how many of my students have developed a personal connection with nature and discover how unfamiliar it is with any of them on a personal level. Then, I would ask them to share their responses with the class so that everyone may get an idea how their experiences compare and contrast.

Because he makes so many allusions to Thoreau, I would possibly present an excerpt of //Walden// either concurrently or prior to //Posted! No Trespassing!// Then, the students could connect to Professor Griggs first through the writing exercise and second through the connection that they share with Professor Griggs about knowing of Thoreau’s experiences in nature. If they do not see a connection between the authors, I would ask them to explain why they are so different despite dealing with the same topic. This way, the students can attempt to connect to Professor Griggs by describing his dissimilarity to Thoreau in style, content, et cetera.

I would give the students two options: they either go online to watch videos of nature, or they go outside to actually spend time in nature. Since I know that most of the students would choose the former option, I would give a few extra points if they go outside. Then, they would write a brief essay, and in class, we could compare the latest writing to the frontloading activity. If there is not much difference, then the students have not appeared to have grown tremendously. However, I want them to compare their responses in nature to Professor Griggs and Thoreau and explain in a class discussion why or why not they feel the same respect or awe in nature. Finally, we would do an activity that relates to the end of Professor Griggs’s book to show the effects that human beings have on the planet. I would ask students to get into groups of two to four and research some of the dangers that we as a species pose to other species and then a short presentation about a week later.

Since the seniors are reading //Beowulf//, my cooperating teacher does her best to make the epic poem seem as relevant as possible to her students. Although this is a difficult undertaking, she reads the epic aloud to them and stops intermittently to explain the characters and plot in modern terms. For example, during a fight scene, she began speaking about her experiences as a teacher trying to break up a fight between two female students, comparing their fierceness to the brutality depicted in //Beowulf.// Actually, the students’ fight was comparable to the fictional violence, and the students were obviously paying attention because many of them were laughing and making comments with the teacher.

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//Justin Holliday October 1, 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.

With Sarah, I admired her ability to adapt to changes without being hypercritical of herself when something goes awry. I wish that I had the ability to make mistakes in public without feeling mortified. The book describes her as a “good-enough teacher” (p. 162). However, I disagree with the implication of this label. Her attitude as someone constantly learning from her experiences and her students makes me believe she is exemplary, not merely a sufficient. I want to be able to care about students’ individual needs and try to accommodate them when possible.

I appreciate Andrew as a “curricular artist” (p. 164), who even “becomes” a character so that students will learn how to think of literature analytically. Students need to make some sort of meaning on a basic level, and for some of them, analysis is a new and daunting. His strategies allow students to learn while not engaging in a boring, pedantic lecture. I want to be “silly,” as my cooperating teacher at the high puts it, when the time calls for it. Not every moment needs to be filled with seriousness for every text.

Debra acts as a philosopher within the classroom. I agree that “the meaning of all stories is…contingent upon personal and interpersonal interpretation” (p. 166). This idea goes back to students making meaning out of a text. A teacher can tell the students what to think about a text, or he/she can help lead them in the direction of one or multiple plausible interpretations. The more strains of interpretations, the more ways that students can think about a text and possibly connect the text to their lives, even if only subconsciously. I admire her patience in understanding that students are “struggling to become their best possible selves” (p. 167). I need to work on developing a more optimistic attitude like this because seeing apathetic students sometimes makes me want to give up on them. Still, I know that I must learn that all students deserve a chance to ameliorate themselves and that adolescence is a struggle for everyone, not just the students who appear insouciant toward education.

Rachel is a transactional teacher who uses controversial topics to instigate critical thinking so that students “[challenge] what [they] believe so [they] can deepen their understanding” (p. 170). This statement is one of the primary reasons that I am drawn to literature and English classes. English is the only class in which I feel like I can explore uncomfortable topics or ethical dilemmas. She also integrates various media, including online videos, showing that it is important to stay current with technology. I believe that it is useful to use technology when it may enhance a lesson, and students may actually learn the relevance of some “archaic” literature by relating it to something contemporary.


 * Unit Rationale: ** See Donnie Wilson's page.

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//Justin Holliday October 7, 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).

In high school, I believe the closest I came to being part of a community in a classroom was in my AP Spanish class because we were all serious about learning the language (most of us having skipped a course just so we could take this one). Also, the teacher fomented a sense of community inside and outside the classroom. During our class, there was a group of native Spanish speakers conducting their own class, and we would interact during some activities, I suppose, to gain “real-life experience.” Outside the classroom, our class would go to Mexican restaurants, reinforcing the cultural aspect of our class. However, I think the community was developed only because there were just about eight students, and we were all driven to learn Spanish seriously.

In most instances, this creation of a “third space” is highly unlikely. Many students are apathetic about English or even education in general. When a student does not care about education, he or she may be less open to creating a “third space” in the classroom because he or she may hold the belief that education must remain structured and boring.

Another reason that the creation of a “third space” is arduous is that many classrooms are overcrowded. For instance, my cooperating teacher told me that although they were in a new school building, there were not enough desks for the students in some rooms. With some students sitting on the floor, there can be no sense of democracy, and the students will have a more difficult time discovering commonalities with their peers. Also, large classrooms may be unmanageable for a teacher because he or she cannot focus minutely on 25-30 students at any given time.

Therefore, a teacher should endeavor to engage the students by devising “dialogic, inquiry-oriented learning and projects” (p. 177). This type of curriculum will encourage students to participate in the transactional process so that they take what they learn in class and apply to their lives outside the classroom. A teacher can discuss a sensitive subject that the students can relate to such as the painful topic of teen rape. //Speak,// a young-adult novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, depicts this sensitive issue from the point of view of an adolescent girl who has been raped. Although some students may not think of this topic often, I am sure that others do. The class discussion could focus not only on the text, but also a pragmatic dialogue about why a victim may remain silent, how to help a victim, and how to prevent the rape This is only one example of many novels with young-adult literature that describe the problems that adolescents face.

Ambrose Bierce-"An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" Mark Twain-//Adventures of Huckleberry Finn// Charlotte Perkins Gilman-“The Yellow Wallpaper” Stephen Crane- //Maggie, Girl of the Streets// Kate Chopin- "The Story of an Hour" Susan Glaspell-//Trifles// Ernest Hemingway-"Hills like White Elephants"
 * Text Selections:**

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//Justin Holliday October 22, 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?

In the concluding chapter, all of the teachers reveal ways to forge connections between students and authors. According to Wilhelm and Novak, this is the first step of instituting a “transactional ‘gift economy.’” (p. 219). Sarah stresses to her students that a work of literature is an author’s effort to communicate with them as readers, enforcing the idea that the text is something special just for them, not merely a piece of didacticism on paper. Andrew and Rachel both integrate drama to foster a greater comprehension of literature. Debra assures that teaching must be real and relevant as possible because students will identify with a text more if those conditions are met; otherwise, they will be more likely to tune out the message if they consider it mendacious. Sharon relates to the idea of aesthetic, sagacious humanity by asserting that understanding of the “human condition” is contingent to understanding the path to making our living meaningful (p. 220).

I will help students learn how to relate to and love authors first by showing my passion for literature. I become exuberant about some authors, as does my cooperating teacher when teaching Edgar Allan Poe. If I care so much about certain works, students will at least wonder why I find some things so special and supposedly worthy of extensive affection. For example, I adore “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, so in my unit, I would reflect my enthusiasm if I were teaching it.

Additionally, when teaching “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gillman, I could ask students to make a sort of not-so-funny comic strip so that they can follow the plot. Of course, the focus would be the stain on the wallpaper. How do they envision it and why? The assignment would allow students to see how everyone’s perception is unique when thinking about a text or anything and how an author allows them to create their own mental images.

I would also show I brief documentaries, maybe even excerpts, of Mark Twain and the Civil War when teaching //Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.// Consequently, the students would gain a quick but not inundating historical perspective about the novel and learn why a man would write a novel about slavery just a few years after its abolition.

When doing //Trifles// by Glaspell, I would set the boys on one side of the room and the girls on the other to show how Glaspell conveys that there is a huge social divide between men and women. While reading the play aloud in class, the students would see how women are subjected and why Glaspell has written a play a wife trying to find peace and a modicum or control in a world ruled by men.

**Naturalism: Individuals Succumbing to and Overcoming Societal Obstacles** **EdSec 324 Resource Palette** Canonical Literature
 * "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
 * Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
 * “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Anna Perkins Gilman
 * Maggie, Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane
 * "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
 * Trifles by Susan Glaspell
 * "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway

Supplementary Texts 1) Young Adult Literature Little, Brown. 2) Supplementary Literature 3) Nonfiction Texts York: Norton.
 * Alexie, S. (2007). //The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian.// New York:
 * Anderson, L. H. (1999). //Speak.// New York: Penguin.
 * Sanchez, A. (2003). //Rainbow Boys//. New York: Simon & Schuster.
 * Chopin, K. (1899). //The awakening.// New York: Dover Thrift.
 * Morrision, T. (1970). //The bluest eye.// New York: Knopf Doubleday.
 * Silko, L. M. (1977). //Ceremony.// New York: Penguin.
 * Cabeza de Vaca, Á . N. (1542). //The relation of// // a ////lvar nu//// ñ ////ez cabeza de vaca//. New
 * Wright, R. (1945). //Black Boy.// New York: Harper Collins.

Music Interscope.
 * McEntire, R. (1990). Fancy. On //Rumor Has It.// [CD]. Nashville: MCA.
 * Manson, M. (1996). Wormboy. On //Antichrist Superstar.// [CD]. Los Angeles: Nothing/
 * Nightwish. (2004). Creek mary’s blood. On //Once.// New York: Roadrunner.

DVDs / Videos States: Disney. Resources for Teachers York: Teachers College. Websites 1. 2. Naturalism: musicagurlie. //TimeRime.// Retrieved from[|http://timerime.com/en/] [|/timeline/391162/Naturalism/]
 * Sommers, S. (Director). (1993). //The adventures of huckleberry finn// [DVD]. United
 * America and the Civil War. (2011). //The History Channel website//. Retrieved 6:59, October 23, 2011, from [|http://www.history.com/topics/reconstruction/videos#the-failure-of-reconstruction].
 * Critical Commentaries
 * 1) Morrison, T. (1993). //Playing in the dark.// New York: Knopf Doubleday.
 * 2) Wilhelm, J. & Novak, B. (2011). //Teaching literacy for love and wisdom.// New
 * Timelines
 * 1) Matterson, S. 1890s-1920s Naturalism. //PBS.// Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org /wnet/americannovel/timeline/naturalism.html.

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//Justin Holliday October 28, 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. The various methods on how to teach writing in the chapter provide different levels of structure for students. While they may not immediately seem like strategies, all of the methods nevertheless have the potential to encourage love and wisdom. Since many students dread writing assignments, the diverse approaches show teachers how to help students over that particular roadblock. The idea of learning from accomplished writers strikes me as an effective method to show students how to write for their audience. When they read a piece by someone writing to adolescents, such as in a young adult novel, they will understand that they are the intended audience. Also, this method can include selections from the teacher’s previous students so that the current students will see how to achieve the desired criteria while learning that an assignment that past students have done well on may not be as insurmountable as it may seem. Another strategy would be beginning with an activity as part of a frontloading exercise, thereby enabling students to experience something in the “real world” (i.e. the classroom) before delving into the abstract thinking skills that writing may entail.

In my forthcoming unit, I could show students how to write a fictional narrative related to one of the short stories in my unit by not only reading the canonical text, but also reading a text from young adult literature, such as a short story or an excerpt from a novel on about a teenager grappling with the question: Do I have free will? Thereafter, they would have a better idea on how to deal with writing for their intended audience, such as fellow adolescents. Also, I could find a young adult text that deal with irony and have a lesson on irony in conjunction with “The Story of an Hour” by Chopin.

Additionally, if I begin with an activity the idea of reading a classic novel like //Adventures of Huckleberry Finn// would not seem as daunting. One way I could prepare the students would be to take them on a cyber guide since I presume none of them would have intense familiarity of the antebellum South. When we begin the novel, the setting would not be quite as daunting. After we finish the novel, I would want them to write an analytical essay, which describes the novel as episodic and how the setting connects to the plot and social structure of that historical period.

My cooperating teacher integrates more than one of the scenarios depicted in the chapter. When the freshmen had to do a children’s book project, which included them reading a self-selected novel and then adapting it to a children’s book, she stressed that they needed to focus on the appropriateness of content for the intended audience. When the students read “The Most Dangerous Game” and “Harrison Bergeron,” they watched the respective films and made a comparison/contrast sheet between the two media to explore the differences between literature and film. She also has tweaked her version of the classic form of writing the five-sentence paragraph. Although she retains structure with the writing, she provides adequate freedom to let them get a sufficient expression of ideas on paper by telling them to write four to six sentences.

See Donnie's wiki page for the revised Resource Palette.

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//Justin Holliday November 4, 2011//
The learners I imagine teaching would be in eleventh grade in a middle-class, suburban area. Most, if not all, of them would be native English speakers or at least fluent in English as a secondary language. These socioeconomic characteristics matter because not all learners learn the same way due to differences in environment and genetics. In my proposed scenario, I could integrate lessons on grammar and syntax rather than abstractedly focusing on them, which would give me more time to teach students how to write analytically.

Writing is a form of expression; therefore, only a student’s vocabulary, organization skills, and knowledge of grammar and syntactic structures may pose limits on his or her writing. Some writing tasks are more formal, as evidenced in the difference between an analytical essay and a free-verse poem. My understanding of the nature of writing would guide my considerations on lessons about syntactic choices, clarity of purpose, and a delving into deeper meanings.

A variety of instructional activities would aim to prevent stagnation in student creativity. Sometimes, looking at examples of quality writing would permit students to see and internalize my performance standards. This process would not seem desultory because I would of course be teaching quality writing all the time—from the texts that I chose for them to read. Instead of the traditional journaling method, I would ask students to connect a text that we have read as a class or that they are reading independently to their personal lives. These responses would be one to three paragraphs and give students a chance to see the relevance of literature in their everyday lives. These strategies would allow both the students and me a certain level of freedom: I would have control over the prompt, and they would have the writing abilities to take it in any direction that is meaningful to them.

Oral discourse is important, but at the high-school level, it is difficult to find time to engage with students about their individual writings. Therefore, I envision myself asking students to submit proposals for a topic they want to write about, allowing me to quickly approve or disapprove of their topics of interest. This method would be particularly useful in the process of preparing them for a research paper. Although I value peer review, I will likely not set aside class time for students to review one another’s papers. Instead, I will tell them that they are free to review each other’s papers on their own time and emphasize that another set of eyes can be beneficial to one’s writing. I do not think students would be interested in group discussions on the preparation of writing unless I facilitated the discussion. The interactions would be important to show students that the opinions of others matter—that they are writing for an audience.

Writing would be complemented with other methods of instruction to show the connectivity of literature as pertinent to multiple senses. Film adaptations of novels are useful, especially for comparison and contrast. Even songs are appropriate to allow students to forge connections between literature and music. My dependence on technology would not be tremendous. I would use notes on a projector and music and film, either on CD, DVD, the Internet, or stored on my computer or a flash drive. However, I would need to still be prepared to go “old school” in case the technology fails. In my classroom, the tone would convey that I am willing to have fun, but that I am the one in control. Students must realize that they are there to learn and that learning is not always fun.

Assessment is essential for me to be able to record and charts the progress of my students. Short, informal assignments would be more of a participation grade, based on whether a student fully answers a question. Formal assignments, such as a research paper, would have a general rubric, such as page length, et cetera. Not all assignments should be graded equally. Some are arguably more important, at least on a scholarly level. Formal assignments should take more time and effort, and my process of assessment should reflect those conditions.

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