Brittani+Keene



My name is Brittani Keene and I am from Greenville, South Carolina. I __#|currently__ attend Clemson University and majoring in __#|Secondary Education__ English. I plan to teach high school English in the future. My goal is to show my __#|students__ that English can be fun, rather than boring. I am outgoing and enjoy meeting __#|new__ people. Some things I enjoy doing for fun are running in 5k races, and being out doors.

= =

=Julius Caesar Unit Rough Draft=

**Overview:**
=For //Julius Caesar// unit, I want my students to focus on the relationships in the play and the impact persuasion has on a friendship. I want my students to develop an understanding of the elements that make-up a friendship as well as an enemy, and connect these elements into a modern day society.=

**Objectives:**
=**RSIT**= =Students will be able to analyze historical documents and explain how these documents relate to major events that occur in the play.= =**RSSL**= = = =Students will be able to hold group discussions that focus on the theme of betrayal and present their findings to the class as a whole= =Students will be perform a mock trial based on the murder scene of Julius Caesar and must analyze the text to support their logic.= =**RSW**= =After reading the play //Julius Caesar//, students will create their own newspaper that focuses on major scenes or events in the play. Students will also create a daily horoscope using the major characters in the play.= =**RSL**= =Students will be able to analyze important themes in the play= =Students will be able to analyze major characters in the play, including the motives behind the actions of these characters= =Students will also become familiar with the language that is used in the play, including vocabulary words that are unfamiliar to them=

=**My Rational Rough Draft**=

==I **want to incorporate English Language Arts into the classroom by creating an environment that allows students to feel comfortable voicing their opinions about a particular text. I think students need to understand the power of the voice and the difference one voice can make in the world, I want my students to know that their opinions are meaningful. My goal is to help students learn how to analyze the texts they read effectively and to grow from the material. I plan to achieve this goal by ensuring my students make meaning out of the texts they read by making it relate to their own lives.**==

==In addition, I want my students to be excited about learning in the classroom. I plan to accomplish this by keeping my students motivated by encouraging them to work hard. Part of motivating students is to expect the best from them, for that reason, I plan to challenge my students through the texts they read. I want implement assessments that the students will enjoy in __#|order__ to have my students walk in to the classroom excited to learn.==

==**Along with motivating students, I want to help my students acquire skills that will aid them write professionally. I want my students to implement their life experiences into their writing so that they can learn from themselves. Students need to make mistakes in all elements of life so that they grow from their own mistakes. When my students are working on their newspapers based on //Julius Caesar//, I want them to take pride in their work. In order to accomplish this, students need to understand that writing is a difficult process; as a result the students will appreciate what they have created.**== = = ** Performance Expectations Guide (PEG) ** = = // Julius Caesar // by William Shakespeare: The Power of Persuasion = =

= Overview: = =Your goal is to work with one of your classmates to create a newspaper that highlights one of the most important events in t //Julius Caesar//, the death of Caesar. Youwill turn in you newspaper on the last day of the unit. You will also develop a 5 minute presentation about your newspaper to share with the class. This assignment will help you understand major events of the play, as well as developing a strong connection with the characters. In addition, you will also learn about the historical events that //Julius Caesar// was based off of.= = Game Plan: =

For this assignment you will work with a partner to create a Julius Caesar newspaper to demonstrate your understanding of the plot. Your task is to write a collection of original articles, advertisements, classified ads, advice columns, horoscopes, and obituaries that might appear in a newspaper. All of these items must refer to Julius Caesar in some way. You will be given a list of criteria of what must be included with in your newspaper, but how you design it is up to you. This is a major grade so make sure that you are using your time wisely.

= Criteria: = Your //Julius Caesar// newspaper must include the following:
 * Front page that captures most important story (one of the full-length articles), as well as a newspaper name
 * 2 full-length hard news stories, each with a headline (3 paragraphs each)
 * 2 short articles, each with a headline (1paragraph each)
 * 1 advice column with at least one letter
 * At least 2 daily horoscopes of a character (1 paragraph each)
 * 2 obituaries
 * 1 letter to the editor
 * 3 ads placed throughout, referencing things that people in the play would be interested in
 * 10 classified ads (placed in the same area)—for sale, help wanted, lost/found, etc.

= ** Grading Rubric for Julius Caesar Newspaper: ** =

_(20 points) newspaper includes 2 full-length articles

_(20 points) 2 short articles

_(10 points) advice column

_(10 points) obituaries

_(10 points) letter to the editor

_(10 points) 10 classified ads in the same location within the newspaper

_(4 points) front page includes a newspaper name & other details

_(3 points) overall neatness, visual appeal, and readability

_(3 points) grammar and mechanical errors

Final Grade: ___ (out of 100) = = = = = **Julius Caesar Resource Pallet** =


 * Non-Fiction Literature
 * // Shakespeare’s Theater //
 * This non-fiction text is a great reference when exploring Shakespeare’s theatre within the classroom.


 * Websites
 * http://www.shakespeare-online.com/
 * This site contains all kind of information you may want to learn about Shakespeare
 * []
 * This site provides information about historical sites of Julius Caesar, including photographs of these sites.


 * DVD’s
 * // Julius Caesar // (2003)
 * This will allow students to have a more modern interpretation of the play. However, I would not show the entire movie in class just a few clips.
 * Maps
 * []
 * This is a virtual map that shows the murder site of Julius Caesar

= Common Core State Standards That Are Addressed in This Project: = = Students will be able to analyze historical documents and explain how these documents relate to major events that occur in the play. = = Students will be able to hold group discussions that focus on the theme of betrayal and present their findings to the class as a whole = = Students will be perform a mock trial based on the murder scene of Julius Caesar and must analyze the text to support their logic. =
 * RSIT **
 * RSSL **

= After reading the play //Julius Caesar//, students will create their own newspaper that focuses on major scenes or events in the play. Students will also create a daily horoscope using the major characters in the play. = =** RSL **= = Students will be able to analyze important themes in the play = = Students will be able to analyze major characters in the play, including the motives behind the actions of these characters = = Students will also become familiar with the language that is used in the play, including vocabulary words that are unfamiliar to them =
 * RSW **

= Calendar: = =Monday: Introduction to //Julius Caesar// and an overview of major assignments, partners are chosen. Background information of Julius Caesar is introduced.= =Wednesday: Begin Act 1 of //Julius Caesar// and have a Class Discussion on major themes in the play= =Friday: Review the significance of Act One, read a historical document about Julius Caesar. Allow time for students to work on their newspapers.= =Tuesday: Read Act 2 of the play and hold a class discussion about character motives. Students will meet with me to discuss their projects.= =Thursday: Virtual tour of Rome and a map of the battle, begin reading Act 3= =Monday: Begin reading Act 4 discuss the elements of betrayal in friendships; discuss reasons why Brutus assassinated Caesar.= =Wednesday: Students will have a mock trial on the murder of Julius Caesar, Begin reading Act 4. Students will be given the rest of the class period to work on their projects.= =Friday: Finish reading Act 5. Class discussion about the play and Act 5.= =Monday: Students will present their newspapers to the class.=

=Reflections on Professional Readings=

**Baily EdSec 324**
http://brittanikeene.wikispaces.com/brittani+keene

Brittani Keene 9/1/11
I think that teachers can teach for love and wisdom because many teachers already do so. I think it is possible if teachers are willing to stop focusing on what the __#|students__ need to know and focus more on making literature fun. Many students dislike English because they see it as a boring subject. I think if teachers explain how the literature the students are reading relates to issues in the real world, literature would become meaningful to them. Students will be interested in the literature they are reading if they can find meaning behind it. I think the most important thing a __#|teacher__ can do in the classroom is come to __#|class__ everyday excited about the subject they teach.

http://brittanikeene.wikispaces.com/brittani+keene =EdSec 324= ====English is much more than grammer and literacy. English has evolved over the years in high school into a subject we use to help students learn more about themselves and life in general. English is the study of culture, psychology, and communication because we use all of these subjects to express our ideas, as well as understanding the ideas of others. English helps students cope with real life situations through the events that occur in the stories they read in class.==== ====I don't think we shoIuld change the title of "English" because it would be too difficult to find one title that describes all the ideas English includes. English is a subject that we are familar with and understand. If we changed the name many people would be confused which would lead to the new title being rejected by the public. I would like to see English in the future become a subject that students enjoy and learn from. I would like English to become a subject that helps students prepare for their future by teaching them about reality and life in general.====
 * Brittani Keene 9/8/11**

http://brittanikeene.wikispaces.com/brittani+keene Edsec 324 9/15/11 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 is being encouraged within literary transactions and instruction? Please share.

====The evocative dimension of a literary transaction is this idea of loosing ourselves in the literature we ready by evoking feelings and thoughts from the text. The author defines the evocative dimension of a literary transaction as "losing oneself in the experience of immersion and refinding oneself in the new reflection that this enables (96).This basically means that the readers should become connected with the author and characters in the texts they read. This connection becomes a loving relationship with the author and the reader starts to care about the characters. The book uses examples such as having an author chair in the classroom where students can sit in the chair and share what they have written. This helps students learn to connect with the author because the students will give positive feedback about what the student has written, including discussions on how to improve thier work. This helps the class connect with each other because they have shared the same experience. One way that you could use this in your classroom is by having the students act as the characters in the book if it is a play. This would help the student learn to think like the characters in the play, so they would learn what the characters are really feeling which will help them connect with the characters. Another way to bring this into the classroom is to have the students write a "where are they now" response to the book they have just read. For instance, the students would pick a character and write a paper about what the characters are doing now since the book was written. This helps the students get inside the minds of the characters as well as the author. Students have to really understand the author in order to do this activity because you have to think about what the author would want for the characters.====

I have not been able to observe in the field yet.
http://brittanikeene.wikispaces.com/brittani+keene

Edsec 324 9/20/11 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?

====I agree with Brodkey quote because reading is really intimate, you get to connect with the author on a real personal level. Reading is like having an intense conversation with a complete stranger. In the beginning of the book we hardly know the author and the characters, but at the end we feel extremely connected to them. The Connective Dimension of the Aesthetic, Transactional Response relates to this quote in many ways. The Connective Dimension of the Aesthetic, Transactional Response is connecting with the author in a deep way in order to develop our own opinions, then we often share our feelings about the novel to other students which allows us to grow closer to one another. This process is intense because the reader is constantly experiencing the situations that both the author and characters experience. The reader is able to hear the inner thoughts of the characters as well as the author, which makes this experience intimate.==== ====There are many different ways teachers can encourage students to connect to the implied authors of texts and make them fun. First, you could have your students write an essay where the students pick a character and explain where the characters are ten years in the future. This allows the students to connect with the characters because they have to know them very well in order to complete this. Also, the students will be able to connect with the implied author in order to know what the author would write about the characters' life ten years in the future. I think that the students would really enjoy this assignment because they get to take charge of the characters' future. Secondly, you could assign a project to your students that is based on the main issues the book is about and have them work in groups. However, the students would have to experience some of these issues on a personal level. For example, if the book is about poverty the students would have to go to a soup kitchen for a day and then find a way to record how they felt and what the experience was like. This allows the students to connect to the implied author because they are able to understand the seriousness of this issue. They are also able to connect with the characters because they are able to feel the pain the characters and the author faced in the book. This project benefits the students by making this issue a reality to them and they are able to become a better person from this. Also, working in groups will help the students grow closer to each other by being able to share their thoughts and feelings about this issue. I still have no yet been able to attend a feild experience yet.====

http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Brittani+Keene

‍9/28/11
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 would begin to devleop a unit that would help students connect their personal experiences to the text by showing a movie called FernGully to start the unit off. FernGully is about magical creatures that live in a rainforest and try to protect the rainforest from being destroyed by humans. This will give the students an understanding of what the text is about. I would help them make connections with the author by showing a slide show of the Appalachian Trail and Hanover, New Hampshire, in order to show the students the area that Professor Griggs is from. I would help them use the wisdom they have accured to transform their worlds by having the students discuss the different ways that humans impact the earth. After our discussion, I would have students write an essay describing different ways we could improve our environment and prevent the destruction of forests. I would help them live more "artfully and meaningfully in the real world" by asking them to start demonstrating some of the solutions the students have come up with in their essays in their daily lives, such as recycling. I do not have any feild experiences to share just yet, however I am going to the high school tomorrow morning for my first experience.====

http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Brittani+Keene

**10/6/11**
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.

====I think there were many qualities in this chapter that I admired and would hope to someday use in my own classroom. The first quality I admired the most was that all of the teachers really cared about the students' personal opinions. For instance, almost all of the teachers said that they were big on student surveys and student interviews in order to learn more about there students. I think this is very important when choosing what kind of lesson plan to use in the classroom as far a doing activities that your students will enjoy. Teachers have to get the students' attention in order for students to have a personal connection with what they are learning about in class, and to ensure that students will change with the wisdom they have gained from these activities. The only way to achieve this is by getting to know your students and getting them interested in what they are learning about.==== ====Another quality I liked about the teachers is that most of them were still achieving a higher education themselves. Alot of the teachers were involved in a writing group in which they learned to improve their writing, as well as improving the writing of their students. I think this is also very important today in education. Today, there are too many teachers who use lesson plans that they have used for over twenty years and are outdated. Teachers need to be familiar with what is in style today in order to be successful in the classroom. If you stand there and lecture for the whole class period without having any student involvement, you are going to fail when it comes to reaching out to students and sharing your experiences with them.==== ====The final quality that I thought was interesting was the fact that the "good enough" teacher was very interested in her students as far as their extracurricula activities go. For instance, she got to know her students by surveys and also by going to alot of sporting events that they were involved in. I think this is great that a teacher would care so much about her students that she took the time to find out what their activites were outside of school and followed them. I think this also makes the students connect more with the teacher on a personal level because it shows the students that the teacher really does care about them. I think it encourages them to do succeed in the classroom because they want the teacher to know that they care as well.====

http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Brittani+Keene

**Edsec 324**

 * 10/12/11**

====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 can honestly say from my experience in the educational system that I have never experienced a class room that made me feel like we were a real community. I have experienced many classroom discussions about certain texts throughout my high school experience, however it seem that the teachers had to force answers out of the students. I felt like the discussions held in the classes were very short and the responses that my classmates gave to these discussions were very impersonal. I felt like we never really became a "real community" because we were just going through the motions, rather than connecting on a personal level. I believe the reason I never experienced such a community in my high school classes was due to my teachers' lack of enthusiasm for the subjects they teaching. We were never asked to share our personal experiences about life with one another, as a result we never got to know our classmates if we were not already friends with them. During my feild experience, my teacher had her students take a survey in order to understand her students better and can use what she has learned from these surveys in her daily activities.==== ====I think it would take alot of initiative from both the students and the teacher to be able to create a "third space" in the classroom. I think one way you could start off this "third space" is on the first day of school have the studenst write an essay about themselves, such as their hobbies, favorite moives, and books to turn in at the end of class. This will help the teacher get to know the students as far as their interests which will help the teacher incorporate these interests into the lesson plans. I also think the teacher should share the same information with the students in order to make them feel comfortable in the classroom. Another activity you could do is have the students pair up and interview one another by having the students create their own questions to ask one another which will allow the students to get to know each other on a personal level. You could also use the idea of the "author chair" and have students come in on Mondays and share with the class what the students did over their weekend.==== ====I think we can help students move the third space from the inward to the outward world by first getting students comfortable in their classroom environment by encouraging students to communicate with one another about their lives. Teachers could encourage this by working on a project together as a class, such as writing and putting together a book that contains the students' work over the school year. The teacher could get students to move to the outward world by assingning them projects in which they have to do some type of activity that helps out their community and then the students could create a power point presentation about their personal experiences while participating in this activity. This will help students relate to people in their community that are different from them and encourage students to explore the world with an open-mind.====

http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Brittani+Keene

**Edsec 324**

 * 10/12/11**

Is killing justified if the killer believes they are killing for the greater good and what is race and how does it effect our society?
====This new approach to teaching for love and wisdom is an approach to which teachers reach out to students through common experiences in order to help students make a personal connection with both the texts and the authors. Through this connection students will learn to accept one another and work together to bring a positive change into the world.==== ====The approach I am going to take during my nine week unit is to educate my students about genocide and racial differences. The main topics I will address during this unit are the Holocaust and Slavery. I will embrace this by doing activities in the class that are fun in order to get the message across to the students. The concerns I have about this unit are to get my students to focus on how it feels to be portrayed as different from what society considers “normal.”==== ====I believe this unit can be incorporated into the common core curricular approach in many ways. I will begin by introducing the Holocaust first by doing an activity with the class that is engaging to ensure that my students understand the importance of discussing this issue. Then I will explain the history of the Holocaust and how it impacted the lives of millions of people. Next, I will introduce the book that I have selected for the students to read for the first part of this unit. After I have finished the first part of the unit, I will introduce the main topic we will be focusing on for the second half of the unit, which is this issue of slavery.==== ====Discussions can be incorporated for the first half of the unit by having the students discuss with one another how they felt while reading the text through Socratic Seminars. Another way to introduce classroom discussions about this topic is by having an in-class debate. For example, one side of the classroom could be assigned the role of the victim while the other side plays the role of the perpetrator. Each side of the classroom would have to justify their side of the situation during the debate and end the class with a discussion about the different viewpoints of each side. For issue of slavery, students could interview one another in pairs. For instance, one student would play the role of the “slave” and the other student would play the role of the “free” white man. The student that is “free” would interview the student that is the “slave” by asking questions about what slavery was like during this time.==== ====I would include narratives into this unit by having students keep a journal while reading the texts on the Holocaust. At the beginning of each class the students will be given time to reflect on what they have read the following night and explain what they experienced while reading this text. For slavery, I would have the students read slave narratives and assign them to write their own slave narratives after we have finished reading the ones in class. For a research project I would divide the class up into groups of four and assign each group a country where genocide has occurred throughout history. I would have the students create a power point to educate the class about genocide in their country and how they, as individuals, could prevent genocide from occurring in the future.==== ====The existential sub-question I have chosen is “is killing justified if the killer believes they are killing for the greater good and what is race and how does it affect our society?” I have chosen this question because I believe that it is important for students to understand that the world is a diverse place and just because a person appears different of has different beliefs does not mean they should be punished. This sub-question is related to the course question because it allows students to develop wisdom about diversity by learning about different cultures and races other than their own. This is necessary in order for the students to change the world and having an open mind to others in their community. My students are going to meet people that are different from them, rather it be based on race or personal beliefs. By doing this unit this will encourage students to “be the change” by accepting others in a world that is so diverse. This will bring students to bond with one another because they will open up to one another as they discuss these important issues in the world. As a result, the classroom will feel more like a community as the students become more comfortable. The criticism I could face while teaching this unit may be offending one of my students. However, I will have to explain to my students that we are to focus on the issue alone instead of the particular individuals involved. I will have to make sure that I keep students focused on the topic because it is not what the person believes as an individual that is important.====

http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Brittani+Keene

**Edsec 324**
**Racism and It’s Meaning in Society** A study of Literature about the different racial issues that have occurred throughout __#|History__, and how to prevent these issues from reoccurring in the future.
 * 10/27/11**

**Resource Palate** Canonical Literature In this novel the characters explore Civil Rights and racism in the segregated South of the 1930s.
 * //The Diary of Anne Frank// by Anne Frank
 * Personal story of the writings of a young girl’s diary while she and her family were hiding for two years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
 * //Beloved// by Toni Morrison
 * A story about a woman born into slavery but manages to escape, however she continues to be haunted by the past.
 * //The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Written by Himself// by Olaudah Equiano.
 * This is a slave narrative that tells Equiano’s life as an African slave and his journey towards freedom.
 * //To Kill a Mockingbird// by Harper Lee

Supplementary Texts
 * Children’s Literature
 * [|//Survivors: True Stories of Children in the Holocaust//] by [|Allan Zullo]
 * This children’s book tells the real stories of children that suffered during the Holocaust.
 * //The Butterfly//by Pavel Friedman
 * This poem was written by a child victim of the Holocaust and gives readers the idea of how everything was taken away from the victims of the Holocaust.
 * Young Adult Literature
 * // No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War // by Anita Lobel
 * This novel is about Anita’s personal experience growing up during the Holocaust. This will help students relate to this topic because it will be very personal to them.
 * The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
 * This story is about a young boy named Huck who helps a slave named Jim escape down the Mississippi River. I think this novel will interest students because it is full of adventure as well as exciting.
 * Supplementary Literature
 * // Night // by Elie Wiesel
 * This is a story about a young boy who lives with his family in the ghettos and concentration camps during the Holocaust. This text will give students a sense of reality as far as the amount pain these victims experienced. This would be a book students would read independently
 * // The Color Purple // by Alice Walker
 * This novel is a more contemporary novel and focuses what it was like to be an African American women living in the South. This novel demonstrates the many struggles these women faced during this time. This would be a novel students read independently.

Music []
 * This website offers numerous slave songs to choose from and is broken down into three categories: Religious, Work, and Recreational. I think that playing these songs during class will help keep students focused because it is something different for them.

Art This website contains a photo library that has images of children of the Holocaust. This will help students understand the reality of the Holocaust and the horrors of it.
 * Children of the Holocaust Photo Library
 * []

[]
 * // At Freedom’s Door // by Arvie Smith
 * The art work displays how the slaves were treated based on the color of their skin. Showing paintings is useful in a classroom because it interests the students and they can clearly get an idea of the subject at hand.

I am still researching the DVDs, Maps, and Websites that I plan on using for my unit.

http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Brittani+Keene

**Edsec 324**

 * 10/27/11**

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 that are cited within this chapter help students relate to and love authors by making reading meaningful and filling their lives up with hope. Most of the teachers seem to not focus as much as the standards and what they are supposed to teach,but more on teaching for their students. Many of the teachers teach to what will benefit their students and use texts that are important or meaningful to the lives of their students. I think this is the best way to get students to enjoy reading. It is important in education that we answer the question which is "why am I reading this?" to our students. I will help students do this within the context of my unit by showing students the reality of the issues involved in the topic. I think one of the main ways to do this is by using other resources such as pictures and movies so students can get a visual of these issues. I also believe that it is important to listen to your students and ask them if they enjoy the activites and texts they are reading, or if they dislike certain activites. To me this is the key to getting students to love and connect with the authors. For instance, if they are doing an activity or reading a book they love, then they are more likely to get exctied about reading and doing these activities.

http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Brittani+Keene

**Edsec 324**

 * 11/3/11**

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.

I would use the //Dynamics of Writing// structured process approach to teach love and wisdom by doing something like the news and local concerns structure. I think it would be great to get my students involved in current events, plus they will want to do this activity because it is about their community. The class could put together an newspaper for the school about their local community. Each student would be assigned a section in which they have to submit an article. This will encourage students to write and they will also find it engaging because the article will be about people they know. This would also be a fun assignment because the students would get to interview people in their community as well as photograph them. I think this brings love and wisdom into the classroom because the class will come together as a community because they are building this newspaper together as a class.

I could use this approach in my upcoming unit when my students are writing their own slave narratives. I could use this approach by allowing the students to free-write which is similar to the approach the one teacher used with the picture of the alley. I might use one of the artworks I have choosen for the unit and put it on the overhead. First, I would have students look at this piece of artwork and explain a little bit about the artwork and ask the students to explain what they think the artwork means. Next, I would play the piece of music I have choosen for slavery and let students write about what they feel while they are listening to the music and looking at the artwork. Finally, I would have the students get into groups and discuss what they wrote about while the music was playing. Then I would tell the students to use what they have written to design their own slave narratives to turn in for the future.

I am seeing pieces of structured process approach to writing within my feild experience which is similar to the grammer book example. The teacher explains what the grammatical terms for writing are by using examples of certain paragraphs. Then the teacher pulls up another exaple of a paragraph and has the students tell her what grammatical terms are in each sentence. For example, the teacher has the students tell her what the adjectives, clauses, and proper nouns are in the following paragraphs. After the students have shown her that they understand the basics of writing she assigned them homework in the book which was just a review of the grammatical terms the students have done earlier in class. The teacher quizzes the students the next class meeting to make sure that the students have done their homework and to ensure that the students really understand the basics and can use these rules in their own writing.

http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Brittani+Keene

**Edsec 324**

 * 11/10/11**

I would like to be teaching eleventh or twelfth grade students and would be a mixture of students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. I would like to teach speakers of a dominant dialect of English. I think it matters who the learners are because some activities can be limited depending on the level of my students. I think that all think that all learners learn differently for example some students may learn better with visual aids while others may learn better through reading the text. The nature of writing I would implement would be creative and fun, while being educational at the same time. The goal is to teach my students to write well in order to prepare them for a higher level of education. However, I would like my students to enjoy writing as well. I want my students to write creatively and enjoy assignments that involve writing.

The instructional activities I would use to promote growth in writing are to first focus on studying the sentence by going over grammar in a text book. Then I would write complicated sentences on the board and ask the students to describe the sentence using grammatical terms. For homework I would assign students to complete the exercises at the end of the chapter. The reason for this instruction is because I believe that grammar is very important when writing successful papers, therefore I need to make sure my students understand how to use grammar properly. Another instructional activity I would use to promote student growth is to allow my students to learn from accomplished writers by using their work as models for my students to follow before they begin writing. I would use journals in my class because I think it is a good opportunity for the students to practice writing while freeing their minds at the same time. When writing essays I would select a general topic and allow my students to express their opinions about the topic through their writing. This allows me to have control while allowing the students to have the freedom to create their own beliefs and ideas about the topic.

I think that oral discourse is important when it comes to discussing important elements in writing because the students are able to get to know one another. I think that conferences between student and instructor are important because it keeps students on track with their assignments. For example, I would have the students turn in their abstracts at the beginning of the week so that I knew what each student was going to write about. I would then have my students met with me later in the week to discuss their papers and help them make improvements. This is effective because it doesn’t take up too much time because I already know the basics of their papers and it motivates students to work hard on the final drafts of their papers. I think it would be good to allow students to engage in small-group discussions before they write because it allows students to brainstorm about the topic. Small-group discussions allow students to get other’s perspectives on a particular topic. These interactions are important because students are able to exchange ideas with one another which bring them closer as a class.

I think that my instruction would need to first discuss important writing element in class to ensure that my students understand how to write properly. Then I would start with a fun activity to engage my students. I might do an activity concerning local issues because the students can relate to these issues because they occur in their own communities. I would use a lot of instructional technologies to support teaching and learning because it keeps things interesting and students are less likely to get board. Many instructional technologies provide games that allow the class to play the game at the same time. This would be a fun way to get students learn without them knowing it. The necessary feeling tone in the class would be fun and laid back. The classroom would be a place where my students feel comfortable with one another and want to have class discussions about the topics they read. This is a consideration because I believe that the only way to get students to really learn and remember what they have learned it by making my students feel comfortable in their environment.

I think that assessment is essential when it comes to teaching students how to write. If students are not graded on their writing assignments then their writing will never improve. I would have to design a grading system that was clear to all of my students. I would probably grade their work by having three main grades a student can score. For example, I would have a hundred for completing all the requirements for the assignment, an eighty for completing most of the requirements but not all of them, and a sixty for those who failed to complete most of the requirements. I would write comments on their papers so that the students know the things that they need to work on but I would not take off points. I would also check the grammar and write comments if a student uses grammar incorrectly but would not take off points for this either. After I have handed in the students their papers back I would schedule a time for each student to come meet with me to discuss their paper. During this meeting I would go over their paper with them and explain to them why I wrote the comments I did. I think meeting with the students after I have graded their papers is beneficial to them in many ways. There will be less confusion because the students will understand what I meant by my comments and the student will know what areas they need to improve on in their writing. Overall, the students will gradually improve in their writing throughout the year and it will keep them motivated because they will want to improve.

EDSEC 424