"Mind the Gap" Session 2

“Mind the Gap”

Blog for Session Two

1. “Free of direct government control, the schools would be innovative, hire only the best teachers, get rid of incompetent teachers, set their own pay scale, compete for students (customers), and be judged solely by their results (test scores and graduation rates)”(Ravitch, 2010, pp. 9-10). I am fascinated by this quote because it angers, confuses, and in some ways agrees with me. Teaching is not for everyone. Over the last 8 years I have seen amazing teachers that captivate their students and impart knowledge on a daily basis. I have also seen teachers that hide behind their desks and write lengthy assignments on the whiteboard so that students will not bother them. We need to help or fire the second type of teacher. This is not a part time job that you do because you want to leave at 2:45 each day. We need to get incompetent teachers out of the classroom. My confusion comes in to play when Ravitch writes “set their own pay scale.” I am not sure exactly what that would look like. I am angered by the concept that teacher success can only be seen in test scores. My honors students will do well on almost any standards based test they take. At this point in their education they know how to take a test like that. What I am truly proud of is when a student walks into my room at a 4^th grade reading level and leaves my class having read, and to some degree, understood Steinbeck and Shakespeare.                                                                                                                                                                                        “As I watched both movements gain momentum across the nation, I concluded that curriculum and instruction were far more important than choice and accountability” (Ravitch, 2010, p.12). I could not agree more. Nothing matters more to me as an educator than what I am teaching and what my students are learning. There will always be politics involved in education. There will always be new movements, philosophies, and ways of thinking but at the end of the day; nothing matters more than what the students are learning in each room.                                                                                           
2.      A well educated person has knowledge about the past, an active role in the present, and the ability to plan for the future. In today’s society a well-educated person must have a strong foundation in history and literature and the imagination to use that foundation to create a new path.                            
3.      I enjoyed our class discussion about the first few chapters of the book.  I love to talk in seminars so I don’t think there was anything that I personally didn’t get to say. I would have enjoyed looking closely at the radical school reforms that were taking place when A Nation at Risk was published. I laughed out loud when I read “Let the English teachers teach math” (Ravitch, 2010, p.23).  If our goal is student learning, no one wants me teaching Calculus. The idea of liberating students to learn only what they want is another frightening idea. School is not supposed to be free time. School should be where a child goes to get the educational foundation he/she will need to start adulthood. I have never loved the subject of math but I look back at the hours I spent pushing myself to understand and I am proud of my accomplishment. Although I do not use the math problems I struggled with back then, I do face difficult situations that I have to figure out on my own.
4.    Literary Response and Analysis 3.12. Analyze the way in which a work of literature is related to the themes and issues of its historical period. (Historical approach)

·         World War II History.com (for Lord of the Flies)

http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii

·         The Great Depression (for Of Mice and Men)

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/depression.htm

·         The Trial of the Scottsboro Boys (for To Kill a Mockingbird)

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm

I have always done an introduction unit with To Kill a Mockingbird that focuses on the Jim Crow Laws. That serves as my introduction to the time period that the novel was written about.  After finding this website, I am going to add another historical unit about the Scottsboro Boys trial. This website offers an introduction, photos, quotes from the trial, and additional links to other educational websites. This Scottsboro trial has a lot of similarities to the trail that takes place in the novel. I found an addition site for my students that will help them make the connections between the novel and some original sources from the Scottsboro trail. The National Endowment for the Humanities http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/kill-mockingbird-and-scottsboro-boys-trial-profiles-courage#sect-introduction.
 

 5. Anderson, Christopher. (2004, Autumn). Learning in “As-If” Worlds: Cognition in Drama in Education. Theory into Practice, 43, Number 4, 281-286).

                This article taught me about a theory that might work with my topic. The article looked at how powerful drama in education can be for students that take roles in a simulated experience. The article points out how drama techniques foster metacognition in the classroom learning. Although the article is not addressing teaching plays specifically, it is looking at bringing in drama techniques to all subjects and I feel like I can apply some of Anderson’s finding to my overall focus. The most useful parts in this article are the references. I now have over ten new sources that I can examine in regards to the connection between drama techniques and classroom learning. Here is an example that Anderson used: “The starting point for examining the link between psychology and drama in education is the work of Courtney” (p.282). Anderson also discusses the research of Brown, Collins, and Dugiud where they conducted “cognitive psychology studies of the nature of learning in authentic contexts under the umbrella of situated learning” (p.283).  His list of references has now become a part of my own.

Ackroyd-Pilkington, Judith. (2001). Acting, Representation and Role. Research in Drama Education, 6,1, 9-22.

     This article focuses on the teacher in the drama classroom. Ackroyd-Pilkington suggests that teachers should embrace the role of actor in the plays that are covered in class. She explains that the role of teacher and the role of actor have many similarities. She writes that both:

·         Have the job of creating a fiction; function in the ‘as if’;

·         Interact with those with whom they share the space; function as communicators employing external features in order to hint at internal concerns;

·         Function with consideration of the voice in delivering lines;

·         Must be in the moment, responding to whatever comes from those deemed audience of fellow actors.

 I agree with her reasons. I play a role every time I ask my students a question about the play or novel we are covering. I am not asking a question because I am confused. My questions are used to guide my student’s understanding of the text. I am asking them about the parts I want them to understand and focus on. In essence, I am not asking a question; I am giving directions. Although I try to avoid telling my students what to think about the story, I do want them to understand what is happening so that they can make their own educated decisions. Ackroyd-Pilkington rebuts a part in Morgan and Saxton’s Teaching Drama that states,“ The teacher must remember that the class is not her audience. It is not you as a performer or entertainer that is important (Morgan & Saxton, 1987, p.49). Ackroyd-Pilkington responds with “While the teacher may not be focusing on being an entertainer, it may be that she or he is performing a certain sequence of gestures and nuances in order to ensure maximized learning opportunities” (2001,p.15). I never really thought about myself as an actor in my classroom until I read this article.

  

6.       Question for Joan. Can I start looking at websites and books that get into actual drama techniques?  At this point I am reading about what people think about different techniques (articles) but I want to start looking at some for myself. Would the websites and books be considered primary sources being that my topic is about teaching drama in an English classroom? 

I responded to: Jocelyn Brodear, Sarah Uhler, and Karen Vigna.