Donnie+Wilson



I am a Secondary Education Major at Clemson University. I have decided on the teaching profession for numerous reasons. For one, I have been in school for most of my life, and I have had some teachers that cared greatly for their jobs and some that did not care too much for their job. For the ones that did care they provided me with the love of reading and writing, and for the ones that did not they made class boring. I want to be one of those that make students love this subject, and make them happy to learn this subject. Another reason I have decided on this profession is I love to read and write. Books can take you places and make you feel as though you are the characters in the book. Also, it lets off much stress of the "real" world. The last reason I chose the teaching profession is because I have always wanted a profession where I could help someone. While growing up, I had always thought about the profession of being a physician. The more I thought about it, I really did not want to deal with sick people all the time, and have the responsibility of if I made a mistake someone could die from my mistakes. So I picked the profession of where I could use the knowledge that I learn, and transport it into the minds of young people, and make it interesting for them to learn. Hopefully, I will be a great teacher in the future!

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//Donnie Wilson, November 2, 2012//

Rationale

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//Donnie Wilson, November 2, 2012// Shakespeare Unit Overview: “Belief Systems: Superstitions, Traditions and Etiquette” To begin this unit, I was planning on introducing the students to the time period by going over some important history aspects of the time period. Once the students were familiar with some of the important history scaffolding, I would move into introducing different traditions such as holidays, holy days, and other interesting things about the time period. Once that takes place we will move into the etiquette part of the unit, where I will make a day in which we will study what was thought to be polite in that time period. I would like to have a day where the students will come into the classroom and be able to form my classroom into that type of atmosphere where they will be able to simulate what they have learned about the etiquette of that time period. Most of this unit will be participation grades as assessment. Once that has taken place, I would like to move into the part of the unit where we start to investigate the types of superstitions that was prominent in this time period. Here I will introduce Shakespeare’s tragedy //Macbeth//. As a scaffolding sort of instruction I would like to bring up the idea of the superstitions of curses correlating the idea to other more contemporary texts to show the students how the idea of curses has survived even from the time of Shakespeare. By this I will explain how there is supposedly a curse attached to the play, and that many theatres would not perform it because they believed the curse, for every time it was performed something would always go wrong, or someone would die a horrible death. We may not read all of the play in class, so in order to make sure that the students read the play outside of class, I would probably come up with a little oral or written quiz for them (maybe). Once we were done with the play for their major assessment/research project, I would like to plan an activity where each class do a magazine, news bulletin, or newspaper in which they research the curse of the play; come up with advertisements; or research the type of weather that was supposedly there during that time or the types of sicknesses that was going around. I really want for there to be a variety for each class, so I was planning that one class do newspaper, one do magazine, and one do the news bulletin. I would like to have some sort of written component where a rubric can be involved, and for the students to work in groups [1]. By the end of this unit I am hoping to be able to have a finished product of a magazine, a newspaper, and a video taped news bulletin that can be shared in years to come.

[1] Note: The students I am working with have said they work better in groups

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//Donnie Wilson, November 2, 2012// Love and Wisdom of the Education of Literature and English As I journey into this amazing field of English education I have learned many ways of educating young minds, and ways in which not to be. As an educator, I believe that it is important to bring fun back into the classroom. Many educators feel that students should not have fun in order to learn, but it has been shown that fun is the major component that allows students to learn more effectively. The unit in which I will be teaching for my Practicum studies deals with the amazing, and complex, author William Shakespeare. In order to get the students to understand this important literary figure I must make him interesting. In order to do that, I have decided to call my unit “Investigations in the Shakespearean Beliefs: Traditions, Superstitions, and Etiquette.” It is important that the students have some background knowledge of what they are going to be investigating, so I was planning on making it like some sort of FBI investigation or CSI investigation, in a literary sense. We will start off like I am the one briefing them into the investigation. I plan to do this in a Socratic style where I ask the students questions and they answer my inquiries, then, I ask them follow up questions. The importance of this is that I want to build a rapport with the students in order for them to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas, making them aware that what they have to say is important. Once we get into the reading of Shakespeare’s //Macbeth//, I believe that it is important to have the students act out some scenes in order to get a feel of how people would speak in that time. It is important for the students to immerse themselves into the thoughts of that time, so it is important to not only give them activities in which they have to learn things, but again bring the fun back into it. It is also important as a teacher to think aloud to the students so that it teaches them how they should think about the text as we read it. In order for that to work, I would read a part out of the play, and have a conversation with myself so that the students can see how they should think about the text while they read. As a future educator, I find it really important in order to be able to teach this type of unit, I should be really organized in my thoughts, and be prepared. If I want my students to be able to understand this time period in literary history, then I need to have PowerPoints, worksheets, youtube videos, music, and other interesting activities planned in order for my students to be successful in what they do. Through this writing I have given my beliefs, and have come up with my philosophy of how to prepare a unit for my students’ success in becoming educated, and learning how to read for love and wisdom, just like I have learned how to teach literacy for love and wisdom.

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//Donnie Wilson, October 19, 2012//

Dr. Bailey Resource Pallete 18 October 2012

Resource Pallet for Investigations in the Shakespearean Beliefs: Traditions, Superstitions, and Etiquette

This tragedy is about Macbeth who is told that he will become king if he murders, fulfilling a prophecy. The power goes to his head, eventually leading to his death. This video is the entire play of what the students would be learning in class. This will allow the students to see how the actors portray William Shakespeare’s play onstage. This book is full of ways on how to take any type of literature and come up with ways to help students retain the knowledge of the literature. This book gives examples of how teachers come up with different types of tools that guide learning for the students, and also ways of learning from the students. This book gives teachers ideas on how to teach Shakespeare in an innovative type way. It is full of ideas that will help the students be able to understand what is being said in the plays, and giving teachers multiple handouts/ideas on how to assess the student progress This book can be useful in order in unit design. It gives teachers ideas on how to design and carry out a unit within a certain amount of time. It gives good information on some important guidelines in designing and implementing these units for optimal effect. This is an important book that gives teachers ideas on the kinds of handouts that can help students reach success. There are reproducible handouts that you have permission to copy for classroom use. There are also graphic organizers, character maps and many more found inside. This book is the story of critical arguments answering questions of who Shakespeare is, and why he wrote the way he did. By the book’s description, Shakespeare is a complex enigma that many critics are still trying to figure out. This book delves into who William Shakespeare was, and delves into the myths and realities of his life. It is a book with high literary merit.
 * Canonical Literature**
 * Shakespeare, W. (1603-1606?) //Macbeth.// New York: Dover
 * Videos**
 * Macbeth (1997). (Video File). Posted to http://[|www.youtube.com]/watch?v=8sUBYIUSkoA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 * Teacher Resources**
 * Wilhelm, J. & Novak, B. (2011). //Teaching literacy for love and wisdom.// New York: Teachers College.
 * O’Brien, Peggy. (1993) //Shakespeare set free.// Folger Shakespeare Library. Washington, D.C
 * Smagorinsky, Peter. (2008) //Teaching english by design//. Portsmouth: New Hampshire
 * Burke, Jim. (2002) //Tools for thought.// Portsmouth: New Hampshire
 * Nonfiction Texts**
 * Wilson, Ian. (1993). //Shakespeare the evidence: unlocking the mysteries of the man and his work//. London: England
 * Ogburn, Charlton. (1984). //The mysterious william shakespeare: the myth and the reality.// New York: Dodd
 * Websites**
 * Timeline of Shakespeare (1998). Retrieved at []
 * Facts of William Shakespeare. Retrieved at []
 * Shakespeare Quotes. Retrieved at []
 * Curse on Shakespeare’s Tomb. Retrieved at []
 * Curse of Macbeth (2007). Retrieved at []
 * Curse of Macbeth by alliemacb. Retrieved at []

slides]. Retrieved from Clemson University Blackboard: https://bb. clemson.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp
 * Pedagogical Notes**
 * Bailey, B. (2011). //Best bets for transactional responsiveness// [PowerPoint

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//Donnie Wilson, August 31, 2011//
Being able to teach literacy is a gift of knowledge, that we as future educators need to fully understand. As students through life we tend to want to learn more in subjects that deal with awesome experiments, and making things work, and dealing with things that we can do with our hands. Without literacy how can one learn how to make this happen? You cannot! Literacy is a part of language, language helps one to understand how to make things work. This in turn brings a person to wisdom and love of literacy. Without literacy there would be no school, and no knowledge. It is a cycle that can be helpful or hurtful.

Most people believe that one would have to love reading and writing in order to be literate. This is not true. But as stated above, if one was unable to read or write, then it would be much more difficult to make things work today in this world. Today's educators also make it very difficult to enjoy learning how to read and write. The examinations that we are forced to take makes it very difficult for the students to enjoy what they are reading. Also, the types of novels; novelas; and documents that students have to read are curriculum based, and not of the age group in which they are intended for.

As students go through school, they are introduced to novels that are censored, or missing some of the most key things that make the novel what it is supposed to be. Then, later on the student comes across the same novel again in a higher education institution, and realizes that it is more interesting than what it was when they learning this in lower education. Here their love and wisdom grows. The point is is that in order to foster the love and wisdom of literacy, the novels and other documents should be taught as is, without censor. With that being said, there should be a level installed on these types of books, which would be difficult seeing as the books young people read versus the age in which they are reading them is constantly changing like the world.

In summary, I really believe in order to instill love and wisdom in literacy parents, students and educators should collaborate ideas, and make choices in the learning environment.

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//Donnie Wilson, September 7, 2011//

What is English? Please share in your own words how the field of high school English has evolved over the years. What were the major conferences and/or leaders who have influenced the field. What is it today? Do you think we should change the title of our discipline to Personal Studies? Why or why not? What would you like to see the field of English become in the years ahead? (You will not need to relate this reflection to your field experience since we are still waiting for placements).

English has changed in subtle ways, but the core subject of it has basically stayed the same for many years. By subtle, I mean it has changed by being more technologically involve, by which now we do not have to go buy textbooks or novels anymore. Now we are able to pay with a credit card, and be able to upload them on tablets or phones, but the subject of English has not changed in the fact of how it is not one of, or if not, the most important subject we learn as students. As future teachers, we are required to be able to know the knowledge that it takes to put the important information into our students' heads, and to make sure that they walk away with something that they will be proud of in the future. For example, it is shown in our textbook "Teaching Literacy for Love and Wisdom", how English is not just a subject in school, but a way of being able to show what is in one's mind and in one's heart. If you are able to look at Laura's story on pages 37-39, we see that English is something that can spark emotion. Many teachers make it seem as though the subject is nothing more than just information on how to read and write, but that is what makes these classes so boring and hard to understand. Then, when the students get out of there they do not retain the information that they learned in there.

English was originally added to the schools' curriculum to bring forth national unity and democracy. The thought was that speaking proper English would get you a better job in politics, and also when people from foreign countries came it would make the 'coming together' of America, making it more diverse. English seems to have many leaders that foster the ideas that English is more of a "free" subject, where teachers are allowed to have their classes be able to think critically, but not necessarily have a correct answer. These were the Dartmouth Conference of 1966, believe in "discipline connecting 'language and personal growth'" (p.25); and Wye Plantation of 1987, that who seemed very radical in the belief that they should feel "joy" (p. 41) in order to teach the material effectively.

English should not be renamed as "Personal Studies", in my opinion, because there is really nothing that personal about English. We go through all those years in school, and learn many different names for the same subject, but grouping it in one subject known as "Personal Studies," would mean that we as future teachers would have to have a more confusing major than what we already have. Not only that, the title of this subject would make it difficult to teach because, even though we would have students that would love to tell their life stories, we would have some that would be uncomfortable sharing anything about themselves. Changing the subject name would in turn invade on the rights of students in a way that would cause more trouble than would be necessary to the learning experience. I do agree that students should be able to share ideas, and keep entries about anything that they would like to write in a diary. I myself keep a diary, writing things down when I am able to. Even though that this book is never seen by anyone, except me, it lets me keep my emotions in check. That part I would agree with, but forcing students to share things they are unwilling to would cause more issues in the classroom.

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//Donnie Wilson, September 14, 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 is being encouraged within literary transactions and instruction? Please share.

The evocative dimension of a literary transaction is when a teacher basically finds ways in order to bring fun to a piece of literature, and making it fun for the students to learn. Through my experiences in school as a student I have actually been in classes where the teacher mostly taught from Powerpoint slides, and we spent most of the class taking notes from the board. By the test I believe that half of the class failed, if not over half. With me being one of them, the teacher kept me after class and asked me what made the test so difficult. I told her that to be honest the questions did not follow her slides, and most of the students through her lecture fell asleep.

As a future teacher I would like to be able to teach my classes as my mentor, Mr. Dee, does. I have began to observe a class in a local high school. Mr. Dee teaches mostly freshman classes, but also teaches an 11th grade class and Drama classes. There is major evidence that Mr. Dee uses evocative dimensions to teach his classes. For example, while observing on the first day, he was teaching the play "The Crucible," he was discussing the acts of motivation in the text, and asked the students what motivated the characters to do what they did in this play. Then, while discussing notes on Aurthur Miller, the author of this play, he gave really interesting side notes on this author, allowing the students to make more connections to him. Mr. Dee also demonstrated how to keep the students' attention, making sure that they learned the material. He would then go back and asked questions to see how much information that they attained.

In the future I plan on trying to implement many ways in order to help my students gain the knowledge about the literature in which they will be reading over the year. One of the ways that I hope to be able to make it more interesting for them is come up with interesting activities for them to do that allows them to be able to correlate it to the text in which we are reading. Another way of keeping it interesting for my students coming to class dressed as a character of the story or coming up with some interesting notes and factoids about the author and possibly come up with other ways to keep them intrigued. Another thing that I would like to implement in my class is a reading log. My hope is that I will assign my students to read at least three books by the end of the year for fun, but have somewhat an incentive if one student does it, but have a big incentive if all students do it. My hope is that I hope that they will find joy in doing the reading, not thinking of the incentive at the end of the year, but seeing how much fun reading can be!

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//Donnie Wilson, September 22, 2011//

Do you agree with the Harold Brodkey quote at the beginning of Chapter 5? Here is 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

I strongly agree with this quote, and have seen it used in numerous classes that I have observed and attended in my years as a student of education. I also see this quote taking effect when people read for fun. For example, the other day I came across a friend reading a novel by Stephen King. While reading the novel, this person had a look of out right disgust on her face, and I asked her a question. There was no response from this person at all. I tried again, this time lightly placing my hand on her shoulder. By the feeling of my touch she suddenly let out a muffled scream, dropping her book! I asked her what was wrong, and she said that she was so enraptured by the novel that she did not notice me talking to her, and when I placed my hand on her shoulder a character in the book was grabbed from behind. She was putting herself in the character's place, and actually reacted to the what was happening in the novel, to what was happening in the "real world"! I asked how long she had been reading, and her reply was "since I woke up this morning!" At this point she had been reading for almost 6 hours!

As readers and writers we tend to read and write differently than other people around us, and tend to interpret things more differently than everyone else around us. We tend to focus on what the author is trying to say, but we do so in ways that focus on the main character. The other characters seem to be more on the sidelines. As a future teacher, I will encourage my students to try read a work of literature. Once they are done with that work, one of my assignments for them will be to go back and take a look from a different angle. How would the story be different from the other characters' points of view? This in turn would allow students to be able to look at the work from different points of view, and be able to accept or reject other students' views on how they interpret what they read. Another interesting way that I plan on my students to think about things more "outside of the box," I would have the students take a look at a work, say "The Crucible," and prepare an activity that would test how the characters in the play react to the idea of something unknown and scary to them. For example, I would make out some note cards, and put them in envelopes. I would then hand them out to the students, telling them that one of the cards was different from all the rest, but in reality all of the cards will have the same thing on them. I would then tell them that it is their job to find out who has the different card, but the trick is not let them see the card until the activity is over, proving to them that with a thought implanted in their heads, that they create the differences and interpret things differently than everyone else!

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//Donnie Wilson, September 29, 2011//

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

To start out this lesson would be excellent for an American Literature course. After all of the different types of literature that my students would have focused on throughout the year would lead up to the 20th Century literature. I would ask my students if they remembered some of the authors' works that we had read over our time together, and ask them to name literature that we have read that deals with nature. I would make sure that they would mention Thorseu's works. Another way to get them ready, I would get them to make a journal of at least five or six of their favorite animals, and do a free write about them. This would include habits, sounds they make, when they can be seen, etc. Then, after taking notes on the Thorseau, I would introduce this professor, and have them read the story that was given to us in class.Once we were done, I would have them pull their desks around into the socratic circle, and put forth this question, "How is Professor Griggs' thoughts and words similar to yours? How are they different? Does his status as a professor make a difference on how his words affect you more as a student, or could he have used different words to make it more interesting to you if you found it boring?" Once the students had discussed this among themselves, I would then bring them all together, and we would discuss this as a class, asking them to go through the book and call out words that are unknown to them.

As a teacher it would be my job for them to be able to understand things that they read. This would be an excellent opportunity for them to in turn make up their own assessment/vocabulary quiz. Once we have gone through and discovered what words the students have problems understanding, I would then tell them that for homework, they were to define each one of these words by the next class period. I would then let them know that these words could possibly be seen again in quiz form, and would definitely be in the unit test for the completion of the unit.

Once they have completed the Unit my hope is for them to remember the words of the story. In order to do this I plan on once they have learned the material for this part of the unit, I would give them a writing assignment by using at least five words from the list in which we came up with. They would be able to choose any of the five vocabulary words that they would like from the list. My hope would be able to have them use more words so there would be an incentive attached to the assignment. If the student used more than the five vocabulary words of their choice on the assignment correctly, I would possibly give them some (keyword: SOME) extra credit on their paper. My major hope is to have their vocabulary expand more as a student, and less use of slang terms in academic papers. This would help them more in their college career, making it easier to write more academic based papers

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//Donnie Wilson, October 6, 2011//

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

The qualities I admired by each of the teachers in this chapter the most would be how each one of them had a different teaching style, and was able to make that into their own lesson for their students. Another thing that I admired by each one of them is that they are all different in each of their own ways. For example, Jeff's unit on "who will survive" (page 157) allowed the students to observe the plants and animals around them. They started out by reading about different animals that have become extinct, are endangered, and animals that evolved to survive. Then, they were given the task of keeping a log of all of the animals that they had studied. What made it interesting is that all of the students came to the same conclusion, and as one student had put it in the reading, "we are all going down!" (page 157).

Like Jeff, all of the other teachers that were mentioned in this chapter had come up with more creative ways of getting the students involved with their work, and was actually making it fun for them to explore and learn on their own. The teacher that I am observing at a local high school has actually incorporated some of these teaching methods into his career. For example, he is teaching a introductory level drama class. Right now they are getting ready for a school-wide performance sometime in spring. In order to get them ready for the auditions this teacher has them study on different ways of acting such as improv, pantomime, projection of the voice, and numerous other things to bring the production to life. He gives students situations, allowing them to come up with their own scenes.

He also teaches English and Literature classes. I have noticed that with these classes he always starts out with some sort of interesting story that the students may have heard about on the news or tells them a personal story that seems not to have any relevance to the lesson of the day. When he begins the lesson the students quickly find out that there was a reason for what he had spoken about earlier in class. He also uses humor and jokes to make the lessons more interactive for the students. He makes the atmosphere laid back and conversational, but if the students begin to get off topic he quickly turns authoritative, bringing them back into focus. I have so many people to look up to, and possibly be able to make my lessons as fun and interesting as they have made them. I have some work to do to reach that level, but that leaves huge shoes to fill in the future!

Unit Rationale for Donnie Wilson and Justin Holliday: How much does society and nature influence us? How much free will do we have as humans? Are we driven by our own thoughts and feelings or are they already ingrained in us by outside forces? Do we make our own decisions or are we puppets on some higher power's string?

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//Donnie Wilson, October 12, 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).

As we go through school, we become involved in the school, and it becomes sort of our home away from home, at least for me it did. For me, school was a place where I could go to learn new and exciting material, hang out with people that I considered to be friends, and a place where new friendships could be made. The drama that went on in school, I looked at it as though we were siblings fighting for attention. As I go back into secondary schools, I tend to see the same things, but some students would prefer not to be there because they do not feel as if this is a place they should have to go for eight hours of their day. I do not know if it is just my perceptions or my lack of knowledge on who the students are as individuals, but i do get the impression at times that they do not consider this a community, so they act as if it is not. I believe that the school is a community because we go there, we get to know the people there, we basically grow up together, and we see each other on a daily basis. Is that not what a community is?

As for the classroom being a democracy, this is somewhat of a debatable topic. In my opinion, I think that this would deal with the maturity of the classroom and they way they are able to handle certain activities that the teacher lets them do. For example, in a class I was observing in a local high school, the teacher gave the students and assignment, the students made trouble for the teacher, so the teacher told them that she had tried to help them, but they chose to act out of line. She then proceeded to tell the what they assignment was, and told them that they were to have the assignment done for next class. Keep in mind this was a SENIOR class!

To make the "third space" come into being a teacher could do an interview of classmates to allow them to get to know one another better. When the year begins, a teacher can also implement an activity where the students get to know each other in the class. In the past, I have had one English teacher who started the year out by getting us to move our desks out of the way. We all stood at the center of the room in a circular formation. She gave us a list of questions that we had to answer. When it was our turn, we would walk to the center of the circle, and read the information to the class. After that, the next class we interviewed a fellow student, but we had to devise the questions. One of our first papers was a paper about the other person. This brought us all closer together as a class.

The "third space" can also be brought in with Literature as well. As a literature teacher in training, in order for the students to get a better feel of the material, one can implement a lesson opener sort of like our visitor did with the Dr. Seuss book. This will allow the students to better understand what is going on in the stories that the teacher gives them. For example, my cooperating teacher always begins the day out with some sort of story pertaining to his life in some way. Suddenly, he brings up the story that the class will be reading for the day, and somehow ties it into the story to get the students to see the relevance that this story has on him. Sometimes he asks the students open-ended questions to get their ideas. When they are finished doing that, they read the story, then he goes back and asks them if their answers have changed or if they are still the same as before reading the story. This allows the students to think critically, but also gives the a walk in another person's shoes for just a little bit. This can have a serious impact on our students, and allow us as teachers in training to Teach Literacy for Love and Wisdom.

Unit Project: See Justin Holliday's Wiki for Text Selections

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//Donnie Wilson, October 27, 2011//

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

I have really enjoyed this reading for our class this semester because it gave me insights on how English teachers made their classes more interesting, and they also found ways in which to make the material in which they were teaching to help students learn this material easier. The last chapter of this text basically summarizes everything that was mentioned through the entire book, but does so in a way like a classroom situation would be. It was mentioned that whatever the teacher was teaching, that teacher would come up with ways in order to compare something in the students' lives that would somehow correspond to what the teacher was explaining.

The activities too also made the readings more concrete in the students' minds. For example, it touched on some of the same topics that I have recently posted in previous wikis. For example, say for instance there was a class that was studying Ron Rash's novel "Saints of the River," and the class had just finished reading the novel. If I were teaching this, since he is a resident near where I live, I could see if he would come into the class in which I was teaching, and have him and my students have a discussion about the novel. Then, I would also use supplementary texts that would go along with my curriculum question in order to answer the main unit question. In my opinion I would also use this book in the future as a reference tool, and also the English ning that has been provided.

See Justin Holliday's Wiki for Resources

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//Donnie Wilson, November 2, 2011//

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

In the previous text that we have just completed, we was given details on teaching students how to read more effectively and ways to teach them more interesting ways to learn. In this text, we are given eight scenarios on how to be able to teach our students how to write more effectively. While observing with my cooperating school, I have noticed that teachers usually have problems out of students when trying to teach them how to construct sentences, and write formal essays. Many students do not enjoy this part of English because they find it boring and too technical. Teachers usually do not like to teach this because they find it boring because they already know how to do it for the most part. I believe that if the teachers use some of the tools from the previous text, and use different ways in order to teach this, the students will learn better and enjoy the lesson more.

For example, the teacher can give students a set of cards with different parts of the sentence on them, but have different types of errors. Have the students look at each of the sentences, and on the back have a list of errors, having the students discuss what the error is and choose the right one. Have them do this in groups of about 3 or 4, then as a class discuss the types of errors in each of the cards, then follow through with the lesson. By doing this the students are able to come to the conclusions on how the sentence works.

In our unit on Naturalism, we have many sorts of novels; music; and cononical texts that are full of different dialects. Some students have problems on understanding how some authors use the dialogue in their texts, and sometimes the way things are written is confusing. In order to help with this, the teacher can take a section from the novel or text, and have students rewrite that part in their own words. The teacher can help by allowing the students access to dictionaries and thesaurus. This will allow the students to come to the conclusion of what the author is trying to say themselves, allowing them to have control over what they are learning.

Naturalism: Individuals Succumbing to and Overcoming Societal Obstacles EdSec 324 Resource Palette Canonical Literature [|An-Occurrence-At-Owl-Creek-Bridge.html] This short story shows the harsh reality of Reconstruction and the high and low points of a purported escape. This novel satirizes racism and details interracial relationships during the antebellum period. edu/dept/history/lavender/wallpaper.html
 * Bierce, A. An occurrence at owl creek bridge. Retrieved from [|http://www.fullbooks.com/]
 * Twain, M. (1885). //Adventures of huckleberry finn.// New York: Dover.
 * Gillman, C. P. (1899). The yellow wallpaper. Retrieved from http://www.library.csi.cuny.

This short story advocates liberation from the feminist perspective. This story shows how a girl in an impoverished part of New York is rejected by her family because she falls in love, and eventually becomes what she is blamed of doing. Robert Funk (Eds.) //Literature and the Writing Process.// (pp. 227-28). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. This short story depicts the danger of not revealing the truth in order to protect someone. This novel reveals that social constructs hinder the individual from achieving individuation. //Literature and the Writing Process.// (pp. 1089-99). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. This one-act play challenges gender stereotypes and shows that everyone needs to possess an identity of self or else go insane. Day, & Robert Funk (Eds.) //Literature and the Writing Process.// (pp. 321-24). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. A short story where two married people is sitting in a train station speaking about a doctor’s visit in Africa. This short story raises questions about who is in charge. Great uses of symbolism.
 * Crane, S. (1893). //Maggie, girl of the streets.//
 * Chopin, K. (1894). The story of an hour. In Elizabeth MacMahan, Susan X. Day, &
 * Chopin, K. (1899). //The awakening.// New York: Dover Thrift.
 * Glaspell, S. Trifles//.// In Elizabeth MacMahan, Susan X. Day, & Robert Funk (Eds.)
 * Hemingway, E. (1927). Hills like white elephants. In Elizabeth MacMahan, Susan X.

Supplementary Texts § Young Adult Literature Little, Brown. This novel presents a teenage Native American who decides to break the racial stereotypes that society has imposed and risks his community turning against him while encountering the hostility of the local white community. This novel depicts a girl who is raped by a fellow adolescent the summer before she begins high school and decides not to tells anyone—a choice that causes her to lose her friends and social status. This novel’s protagonist makes the decision not to contribute to the school fundraiser and is hailed as a hero, but his radical action later leaves him a vulnerable social outcast. This novel features a mentally disturbed adolescent who questions the nature/nature debate on his path toward identity despite his friend’s attitude that society considers non-whites less important. This novel features three high school teens that live in three different types of homes, and each are homosexual. The novel follows how each one overcomes obstacles of societal discrimination, and eventually two find love. § Supplementary Literature This novel reveals a world in which books are illegal; the protagonist, a fireman whose job is to burn books, decides to defy the law and become a reader. Funk. (Eds.) //Literature and the Writing Process.// (pp. 118-23). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. A black girl whose father repeatedly molests her feels ugly, and her greatest wish is to have blue eyes like her doll, showing that she has given in to social norms of beauty. This novel is about a young Native American man who asks the question of “where do I fit in?” because he is rejected at home and by white people. § Nonfiction Texts //BBC News.// Retrieved from [] This news article shows the power that individuals have when they come together to overthrow a nefarious regime that restricts their personal rights. York: Norton. This adventure narrative presents America in a time long before independence; despite the overwhelming Eurocentric viewpoint that persisted for centuries, the author develops a greater kinship with the supposed “savages” than he does with his cruel European brethren. This semi-autobiographical work portrays the existence of a black man struggling against social limits during mid-twentieth century America.
 * Alexie, S. (2007). //The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian.// New York:
 * Anderson, L. H. (1999). //Speak.// New York: Penguin.
 * Cormier, R. (1974). //The chocolate war.// New York: Random House.
 * de la Peña, M. (2010). //I will save you.// New York: Random House.
 * Sanchez, A. (2003). //Rainbow Boys//. New York: Simon & Schuster.
 * Bradbury, R. (1953). //Fahrenheit 451.// New York: Random House.
 * Jackson, S. (1948). The lottery. In Elizabeth MacMahan, Susan X. Day, & Robert
 * Morrision, T. (1970). //The bluest eye.// New York: Knopf Doubleday.
 * Silko, L. M. (1977). //Ceremony.// New York: Penguin.
 * Asser, M. (2011, February 11). Q&A: Egyptian protests against hosni Mubarak.
 * Cabeza de Vaca, Á. N. (1542). //The relation of// //alvar nu////ñez cabeza de vaca//. New
 * Wright, R. (1945). //Black Boy.// New York: Harper Collins.

Music

New York: Equal Vision. This song explores the subjects and themes depicted in the Hemingway story that has the same name as the band does; topics include regret, responsibility, and hurting the people you know. This ballad is about a young girl whose mother wants her daughter to overcome her impoverished, uneducated background. Interscope. This song encourages the individual to challenge prescribed notions of heaven, hell, and morality. This song is based on the Trail of Tears, and invokes the feeling of how prejudice makes one feel, but in the middle of the song the tempo changes to a faster beat, making one feel as though they are overcoming adversity. This song is basically telling you that you cannot overcome where you are placed in life.
 * Hills Like White Elephants. (2010). Isles and Glaciers. On //The hearts of lonely people.// [CD].
 * 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.
 * Nickelback. (2001). Too bad. On //Silverside up.// [CD]. New York: Roadrunner.

DVDs / Videos This video depicts Reconstruction as a failure to revamp the South after the Civil War and reflects directly with Bierce’s story and indirectly with Twain’s novel. to [] This short film adapts Hemingway’s story in a way that would be easier for students to understand by adding the visual medium. States: Disney. This full-length film will allow students to compare the grim reality and the novel and the sugar-coated Disney version in an attempt to raise questions over censorship. This film is an adaptation of a play that will allow students to actually see what gender discrimination looks like.
 * 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].
 * Daniels, A., & Hunter, B. (2009). Hills like White Elephants [Video file]. Video posted
 * Sommers, S. (Director). (1993). //The adventures of huckleberry finn// [DVD]. United
 * Walker, P. W. (2009). //Trifles.// [DVD]. United States: Ghost Ranch.

Resources for Teachers o Morrison, T. (1993). //Playing in the dark.// New York: Knopf Doubleday. This book of literacy criticism contests the issues of racial otherness and racism in American literature, including Naturalist authors like Wharton and Hemingway, to show how racial minorities are often relegated to second-class status in American society. o Smagorinsky, P., Johannessen, L. R., Kahn, Elizabeth, E. A., & McCann, T. M. (2010). //The dynamics of writing instruction.// Portsmouth: Heinemann. This book on how to teach writing allows the teacher to come up with ways to have students effectively write. It also gives the teachers cues on how to help the students be better writers, and on how to critique each other’s writings more effectively. o Wilhelm, J. & Novak, B. (2011). //Teaching literacy for love and wisdom.// New York: Teachers College. This book is full of ways on how to take any type of literature and come up with ways to help students retain the knowledge of the literature. This book gives examples of how teachers come up with different types of tools that guide learning for the students, and also ways of learning from the students.
 * Critical Commentaries

o Timelines o This timeline will allow students to be able to choose a period of Literature and be able to choose the author. This will allow students be able to get a feel of what time period and how the story came into being. § Matterson, S. 1890s-1920s Naturalism. //PBS.// Retrieved from  o Audio Readings o The following recordings of stories will allow me to control how students receive the material in the classroom. This method will encourage them to listen carefully and help them if they have difficulty reading a text themselves. § Ordover, H. (2010). “The story of an hour by kate chopin.” //YouTube.// [] § (2010). “The yellow wallpaper.” //YouTube// [|http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v= YpdCXGSMh_A&feature=related] o Bailey, B. (2011). //Best Bets for Transactional Responsiveness// [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Clemson University Blackboard: 
 * Websites
 * Pedagogical Notes

Best Bets for Transactional Responsiveness List 1. Essay: This is a more traditional way for students to put ideas down on paper to see if they understand how the story plays out. Also incorporates critical thinking skills. This can be used in any part of the unit. 2. Cyberguides: To understand the time periods and how things were in say, for example, New York around the time of Maggie: the Girl from the Streets, this can be used to tour the time and place where this story was written in order to give students the idea of how the story came about. 3. Brainstorming/Webbing: This can be used in addition to the essay and can be used during any part of the unit. It is designed to have students start with one idea and helps them organize thoughts to come up with an essay. 4. Literature Circles: This allows students to interpret what they have read to a group. Have chapters for each group, then have them do a questionnaire of some kind to keep them focused on what they are trying to find, or have them do an activity to basically teach the class about that chapter. This can be used in any part of the unit, but works best before a test of some sort. 5. Time Machine: in order to keep the class's attention the teacher can create a "time machine" and have the characters come from the books in order to teach the students. This can be used for the authors of the stories as well. The teacher becomes the character or the author, but have students come up with questions to ask the character or author, and incorporate and interview. This would be an interesting way for the teacher to teach his or her students.

=Edsec 324=

http://edsec324.wikispaces.com/Donnie+Wilson
//Donnie Wilson, November 9, 2011//

I am planning on teaching high school American Literature, so I would imagine that my students would have had enough English by the time they get to my class to be able to write and read on at least a tenth grade level. I know that sometimes this is not always the case, and that will make my job harder, but I am up for the challenge of getting them to the level that they need to be in order to pass my class. I imagine that my students will be coming from all walks of life, and I will try to base my class as an egalitarian place where it does not matter how much money one has or what sort of clothes they wear. I imagine that I will instill the class with tolerance, and equality as young adults. I also imagine that the dominant language used in my class will be English, unless we are studying some form of literature where there are some words in another language, but translated. It does matter who the learners are because if they do not learn, and disrupt the class, then that will cause problems with the learning environment that needs to be set up for the students who are there to learn and care about their education. It is my opinion that all students learn in different ways, and need different sorts of activities to learn the best. The only trick to that is to figure out what best way to teach them. I imagine that as a future teacher I will be able to implement different activities that influence different aspects of learning, such as activities for visual learners, hearing learners, and hands on learners. I plan on trying to do activities from all of these types of learning to give everyone an equal chance of learning the material. As you all can tell I am a huge advocate of an egalitarian classroom!

To me the nature of writing is taking some subject or situation, and expanding it into a piece of writing that flows easily showing how one can take something as small as a single idea, and transforming it into a masterpiece. In order to teach this to my students, I plan on giving them little writing activities that get students to come up with main ideas, or something they could write about. Then, I would have them to expand the ideas out more becoming more detailed in their approach. I would want to give my students an assignment at the beginning of the year, and have them pick something that they would write about. Then, as the year progressed and they learned more on how to write, I will get them to pull out the writing and write more. My goal for this project would be have them work on this single piece of writing for the entire year, to give them an idea of how authors usually write their novels for years and years.

I imagine that in order to teach the students how to write, I would start with a "wiped-to-a-clean-slate" approach, meaning I would start with lessons on different parts of the sentence, for example: a verb, a noun, a verb phrase and noun phrase. Then, as the students learn these parts, I would then give them activities that would firm these ideas in their heads. When it was time to begin writing, I would show them different techniques to get ideas down on paper, and how to organize thoughts, using different organizers such as webs, lists, etc. I imagine that students who have had major issues on writing through school would want to be able to understand how to write effectively. The way that I would approach this would, as I have stated before, would benefit the students more. In order to keep the students intrigued, I would also have my students keep journals. I would make sure that they were graded just on completion, but I tend to believe that journals are personal, and should not be read unless the students give permission for me to read them.

To me oral discourse is a useful tool for positive criticism, and can be very important to the writing process for students. I believe that students who are able to sit down and get feedback from their teachers and peers produce more interesting, and grammatically correct works that earn them better grades in courses. Peers tend to be brutally honest to one another at times. What is that saying, "True friends tell you the brutal truth, no matter how much it hurts"? This is one of the biggest things in writing. I firmly believe that peer reviews on the composing process will get students to think more critically about what they write, and how they write. This, in turn, will get them to write their best to intrigue their friends in sort of a competition. I imagine that peer groups should be small in order for everyone to be able to discuss every piece of writing. Large groups would be extremely difficult to control, and would take way more time necessary. These things are extremely important because it gives everyone ideas on how each person's writing styles, and help them learn many new ways on how to write.

The characteristics of a good learning environment is being somewhere that you feel safe, and secure. My plan on being an American Literature/English teacher would include writing in my class. In order to get the students to learn, I plan on integrating the instruction on writing in with the types of stories that I am teaching to my class. In my opinion this gives the class set topics that they are able to think about, and be able to discuss in some form of writing. Technology would be an important tool to use because it allows the students to be able to be in the world in which the stories are acted out. For example, there are websites that teachers use, where you can go into a virtual world, and visit where the characters lived, slept, etc. My goal is to keep the interest up, and bring in a love for the Literature, along with the writing.

I believe assessment is important to some degree on things that are knowledge-based. I do not think that assessment is that important when it comes to writing because there are so many writing styles out there, and it makes it more difficult to assess because of language barriers for foreign students. What may be correct in their language, may translate awkwardly in ours. This could end up making it more difficult for them to learn how to write correctly in our language. But as a teacher, I think that we are required to assess students on how they write, so in order to assess my students I would probably give them short answer questions or an essay on a test. I would then explain to them that they would have to write in clear, concise sentences, and that the grade would not only be derived from the question they were answering, but also on how grammar and spelling was. I am a believer that all people make mistakes. I am sure that once people read my Wiki, they will be able to find grammatical errors, and probably even some spelling errors. With that being said, I believe that I would tell my students that so many points will be deducted for so many errors they make. For example, two spelling errors is equivalent to minus one point. My goal here is to get them to look back over their work because in the future these point values will go up. I also, plan on changing these per test. For example, the first test be like the one that I mentioned above, then, as on the next test have two spelling errors be equivalent to minus three points. This will let them know that they should be learning how to write correctly because if they move on to higher education, the instructors at these institutions will deduct major points, determining a passing or failing score on papers. My goal for my classes is to be as fair as I can, but teaching my students to be the best that they can be.