Sam Hval - ENGL 493

The first thing I thought of when considering the question “Would I teach this book in the classroom?” was: good luck with that! I can’t see how this book would be able to slip past administrators without some pushback. It’s definitely not a book meant for young adults to read, as it feature mature and graphic language, violence, sexual conversations, and heavy psychological implications. I think all of these things, however, are what the novel so strong and profound to read. If I were given the opportunity to teach this to a class, I would definitely be up for the challenge. But I can imagine a lot of parent outrage and some student discomfort. But when I think about whether a young student should read this book, I begin to think back at whether I would enjoy or learn something from this book at that age. I think, without a doubt, this is a book I would have greatly enjoyed at thirteen. Even today, I found Joe a powerfully identifiable and relatable character. When I was twelve/t...

I Read It, But I Don’t Get It   by Cris Tovani was a brisk, though at times repetitive and droning, read about different strategies for reading better. These strategies are applicable for teachers, students, and casual readers. Tovani isn’t a necessarily a poor writer; the book was easy to read and understand and every strategy was laid out clearly and practically. However, I felt the portions in which she interacted with her students and provided anecdotes were stilted and awkward. The students’ dialogue felt forced, artificial, and inauthentic. The way she portrayed her students felt like stereotypes and a middle-aged woman’s crafted view of typical high school students. I’m not going to doubt the accuracy or truthfulness of some of the situations she presents, but the manner which she writes the students and her interactions with them just felt unrealistic to me. At times, it almost felt like she held a slightly negative view of her students as a whole, which put me off a li...

I have had very limited experience working with TPA format and the edTPA guidelines. I briefly discovered and used it last quarter, but there was little instruction or guidance with it so it was basically me and my group guessing what we had to do for each section. Also, the format was a little different than the template that’s provided for class. So this form of TPA and lesson planning is a new ballpark for me. It’s been a tough, tedious journey working out and understanding the lesson plan format and what exactly needs to be written out in each section. That, coupled with the difficult formatting, has created a challenging experience. In spite of that, I totally understand how crucial and vital it is to do these in pursuit of our education career. It’s important not just because we will have to do them; it’s important because it forces us to think deeply and critically about our lessons and pedagogical philosophy. Reading the rubrics and guidelines for the edTPA assessment wa...

A Monster Calls is a low fantasy novel written for children twelve and up. It’s set in England and follows a boy named Conor who’s dealing with the grief of his mother’s terminal illness. Helping him cope is giant, slightly terrifying tree monster that visits him every midnight and tells him stories. The monster asks for Conor to tell him a story as well – the story of his own truth. What is Conor really afraid of? Patrick Ness won the Carnegie Medal for this book in 2012. Jim Kay, the illustrator, won the Greenaway medal alongside Ness – making the only time where both an author and illustrator of a book have won medals. In 2016, the novel was adapted into a film directed by J.A. Bayona, starring Liam Neeson, Sigourney Weaver, and Felicity Jones. Rationale: I chose this text because its emotionally powerful and resonant story. It’s extremely well-written and a brisk read (only 200 pages), and I feel that students are likely to be engaged with this story and its themes compared...

In regard to social justice and its usage in the classroom, I had my own preconceived opinions and ideas about it. So I hoped that researching this topic would open up some perspectives for me and allow me to see different points of view. I also wanted to find a convincing argument for why it’s philosophically and politically sound to educate students as if they should be revolutionaries. Unfortunately, I did not. One of the first articles that pop up when you google the topic is by Edutopia.org and it’s called “Creating Classrooms for Social Justice”. From the header alone, I knew that there would be some holes to poke in this one. The subtitle reads: “ Teach your students about making positive change in the world by connecting with them, discussing real-world problems and multiple perspectives, creating classroom community, and including authentic assessment. ” Like with all complex subjects, some of these claims I believe are valid and agreeable – others I think are just wron...

I thought this article brought up some really interesting and important ideas regarding popular media in the classroom – specifically, how to incorporate it in a useful and engaging way for students. The text’s ultimate purpose seemed to evoke Freire’s ideas about students using their literacy as a voice to enact social change. In the context of the article, this relates to mass media (books, news, film, television, social media, etc.) because the text makes the point that it is not neutral, and that there are messages being conveyed to the consumers of mass media from all perspectives and points of view. Learning to navigate a world in which information is constantly being poured into us through mass media is difficult and confusing, even for an adult. It must be even harder for adolescents, who are growing up and being cultivated by this mass media. However, I don’t think this should be the main focus of incorporating popular culture into classroom. I would choose to teach pop...

I find “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” to be a fascinating document because of how widely read, shared, and discussed. That specifically, is fascinating because from my own personal experience (as well as observation from and of others), there many teachers who still follow this “banking” method of instruction. This material and philosophy has been around for a long time, yet some teachers don’t see the problem with the banking dichotomy. The idea of rejecting that notion is something that I’ve been very passionate about. So much so, in fact, that it’s one of the main reasons that I have decided to pursue teaching. I don’t believe for one second that my intellectual capability and intelligence is above any of my students. Nor do I believe that my knowledge is superior. I think where the superiority complex stems from improper cultivation of teachers is many of them were trained during a period of curriculum that was based on knowledge of the world and facts, as opposed to skills and un...