One of the biggest
points I noticed when reading the text by Rodriguez for this week was that
students tend to learn more and become more engaged when they feel some sort of
a connection to what they are reading. This is not a new idea for me. In fact,
we’ve gone over this very concept several times throughout this program
already. However, I think it is definitely worth noting in depth because it is essential
to success when teaching literature (or any topic, for that matter.)
In this chapter,
Rodriguez mentions that students feel empowered when they see themselves on the
page (Rodriguez 5). I completely agree with this notion. Throughout most of my
schooling, I convinced myself that I hated reading. I believed that books were
boring, and that reading was a chore. I tried to avoid reading in any case
possible. I hated when we had to read novels for classes. Then, one of my
teachers assigned a book report. We could report on any (school-appropriate)
book of our choosing. I had never really read for pleasure before, so I didn’t
know where to start. My friend Jessica, a reading enthusiast, suggested that I
read “The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan. As I began to read, I noticed a
feeling I had never felt before while reading a book; I was actually enjoying
myself. That book was the spark that ignited my love for reading.
Looking back, I realize that I probably enjoyed
that book so much because it pertained to my life in a couple of different
ways. First of all, when I read it I was relatively close in age to the main
characters. I also felt a deep connection to one of the characters and thought
the character was practically written for me. In addition, the book centered
around a theme of Greek mythology, something I had a deep interest in back then
and continue to read about on my own time now.
As I move closer and closer to becoming a
teacher, I find that it is important that I look back on my own experiences and
place that knowledge next to what I study in class. This practice gives my
studies more meaning and credibility, as I realize that a lot of it can be validated
by my own experiences. In this case, I can see the importance of teaching my
students about things that interest them and that they can connect to their own
lives.
As Rodriguez mentions, it is important to bring
in texts from multiple different cultures (5). For one, it gives students
several contrasting narratives and allows them to make up their own minds about
what they think. However, it also allows all of the students to be able to
connect with a text. It would be more difficult to connect with a text and to see
yourself on the page if every text you read is from a culture that isn’t your
own, a culture that repeatedly speaks to the idea that white people are somehow
more important.
In addition to bringing in texts from many
different cultures, Rodriguez explains that it is important to give students
some autonomy in choosing their own materials (9). If they can choose texts on
subjects that interest them – like my book on Greek mythology for me – they will
be much more likely to be willingly engaged in their own education.
As a future teacher, I intend to utilize all of
the above information in my classroom. I hope to incorporate a variety of
different texts from authors with a range of different backgrounds into my
teachings. I would like to build relationships with my students, discover what
is important to them, and make those things available to study throughout my class.
I want to make sure that each and every student feels as if their voice is
being heard and that people care about and are ready to support them.
As my resource link for this week, I am attaching The Danger of a Single Story, a TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This past story, I discovered Adichie when my professor for my African Literature class played this TED Talk, as well as her TED Talk, "We Should All be Feminists" for our class. Since then, she has become one of my personal heroes. This TED Talk works perfectly with this week's reading assignment and it is even mentioned in the assigned reading by Rodriguez. In this talk, Adichie explains, with the aid of fascinating anecdotes, the serious dangers and problems that arise when people only hear one version of a story. I would highly recommend that you watch both this TED Talk and her talk on feminism. They are both entertaining and cover topics that are essential to understand if you want to be a good teacher, or even just a good person.
“That students feel empowered when they see themselves on the page (Rodriguez 5).
ReplyDeleteWhat I took that to mean is similar to your ideals about seeing yourself in the story but goes a bit further. When I think about showing my students stories where they see themselves on a page, it makes me think that the story is a way to give them full personhood. Specifically, for black folks in the media, there is always the negative, dangerous, angry, low-class etc. stereotypes. So when they read a story about a little black girl dealing with little black girl things similar to them (hair, boys, parents) it gives them another light into themselves rather than what's in the media. As far as hating books, I’ve said this before in class but any kid who says they hate books simply hasn’t found a book they like yet (or they’ve been recommended a series of really crappy ones).
Story: I remember i worked with a 9th grade who has a 6th grade reading level. He was interested in stories about murder and mystery. The librarian recommended a non-fiction story about Latino gangs in LA (the student is Latino). It wasn’t very interesting or well written, so even though it was something that student said they wee interested in and it "represented them", in didn’t engage him. I knew a short story that was about murder and a love triangle that was super well written and a “page turner”. It didn’t involve any Latino characters but it has issues pertaining to race that i was able to explore with him. The reason i recommend the book to him was 1. Because it was a good story 2. It was short and slightly above his reading level (to push him). I remember a staff member telling me that it was super stupid of me to loan him this book because they had done the same and he lost it, but this kid kept track of my book and finished it in just a week and was excited to talk about it. Who knows if he had ever actually enjoyed reading a book before that moment. I say this to say that sometimes, good writing is just good writing no matter who it comes from and sometimes that can be a gateway into other forms of reading
You also mention “Rodriguez explains that it is important to give students some autonomy in choosing their own materials (9) “. This reminded me of a thread i saw on twitter where there is a teacher wo is trying something new this year with their ELA class. They aren’t using any all-class texts. They are instead giving the students their ability to choose what text they want and they will explore big concepts together as a class. I don’t know how to feel about that from a planning perspective (in terms of discussion-- how do you facilitate deep discussion about 30 different texts if no one is reading the same stuff?) but i understand the sentiment.
One push back I want to note is your linking of the video of Adichie talk on feminism. She is a trans exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) who believes that trans women aren’t real women which perpetuates the stigmatization and otherization of trans women. As a cis woman, she should make sure to note her privilege and not speak for trans women on trans women issues. So while she has some valid points, she definitely isn’t speaking for “all women” and that should be noted. Here’s the video where she talks about trans women, it starts around minute 2.
Jasmine,
DeleteThank you for your reply to my post! I really appreciate your personal anecdotes and your honest opinions and insights. I often feel as though I have barely scratched the surface when it comes to learning about certain issues, so I honestly do appreciate people who point out points I miss and issues I don't quite understand. Also, I wasn't aware of Adichie's viewpoint on transgender women, so thank you for bringing attention to this.
Courtney, I appreciate your personal story of finding the first "right" book for you and the connections you draw to Rodriguez. I sometimes get worried when we focus on "representation" and wonder how that commitment can essentialize students (as in Jasmine's comments about the 9th grader she worked with); choice is definitely one way around this. What other ways are there, I wonder?
ReplyDelete