Group Teach - The Bell Jar

I thought that our group teach went rather well. I felt we had prepared the materials correctly, and thoroughly, and that the entire presentation went very smoothly.

Lauren Hill's introduction to the book covered the main characters as well as the idea of what the bell jar represented, as well as covering the time period in which it was written.

Lauren Griffith's time line on the life of Sylvia Plath was a great way to connect the author to the text. Having the class read "Daddy" and listening to Plath read it was a great way to see the way a poem can work with reader response.

Tia's theory section was a great way to apply our lenses. It was interesting to see feminist and psychoanalytic theory applied to the text.

Sara's symbolism section allowed us to look more closely at the text for images and colors.

My multigenre/writing activities allowed the students to take the text and rework it into their own.

I thought we had a good amount of classroom interaction, good activities, and we managed to use our time wisely. I thought we prepared a good presentation, and hopefully the class got something out of it.

Found vs. PostSecret - Notes for Final Exam

On November 16th I drove to Ann Arbor to see Found vs. PostSecret at the Michigan Theater.

It was a great experience to hear Frank Warren talk about the project and how it has progressed since he started it 3 years ago.



Notes from Frank Warren's presentation:

• Frank Warren has received over 175,000 secrets over 3 years.
• Thinks we all have secrets. We can choose to keep them in a "box" and bury them, or open that "box" and share our secrets like gifts.
• Frank receives over 1,000 secrets a week from around the world. They come in bricks. He literally has a ton of mail.
• The secrets people share show a common humanity and a deeper wholeness that makes us feel connected.
• Frank created the blog to share the secrets with the world. He believes that the blog is a technology for new communication.
• When posted on the web, the secrets become "living secrets". Someone at that time is actually experiencing the secret.
• Frank arranged the books as an archive. The secrets are arranged in a way so as to be connected and tell a story.
• The internet is like the "wild west" it has an anything goes policy. He can post all of the secrets that come to his mailbox. The books on the other hand face copyright issues and not all secrets make it.

I had the opportunity to meet Frank Warren and get my book personalized.




I also taped a lot of the presentation. The part I want to post is 17 minutes long, too big for Blogger. I'll post it elsewhere and link it here.

Literature and Lives - Allen Webb - Debriefing

• Literature and Lives - Allen Webb

1) Is this a good text for ENGL 4800?

• Yes, when paired with Appleman's book it isgreat for enhancing the understanding of literary theories.

2) Would you use this text differently in ENGL 4800 than we did this semester? Are there chapters we shouldn't bother with?

• I think the book was used well, especially with a visit from Allen. It was great to hear his own views and opinions, and when put to the text it was very helpful.

3) Will you be able to use this text for resources or activities as a secondary teacher?

• Webb's resource lists are amazing. He provides so many texts for each of the theories, it will be an amazing resource within my classroom.

4) Anything else you want to say.

• I found the inset sections within chapters specifically devoted to the explanation of theory helpful. I could see using the sections within my classroom to help students understand theory. I also really like the teacher resources at the end of the chapter. I also appreciated his personal reflections with teaching theory in his classroom. I think I could use some of his experiences to my advantage and incorporate them into my own class. This will definitely be one book I'll keep on a bookshelf to use as a resource.

Critical Encounters in High School English - Deborah Appleman - Debriefing

Critical Encounter in High School English - Deborah Appleman

1) Is this a good text for ENGL 4800?

• Yes, it helps us as future educators explore the theories and it providing specific examplesfrom within in the classroom setting which is helpful to read about.

2) Would you use this text differently in ENGL 4800 than we did this semester? Are there chapters we shouldn't bother with?

• I think mini presentations using specific texts would have been helpful in better understanding the theories. especially deconstruction, I still struggle in understanding it.

3) Will you be able to use this text for resources or activities as a secondary teacher?

• It would be helpful in understanding theory, but I found that it could drag on. I would also use it to further help students understand multiple perspectives.

4) Anything else you want to say.

• Appleman writes in chapter two, "This book challenges current theoretical and pedagogical paradigms of the teaching of literature by incorporating the teaching of literary theory into high school literature classes. The guiding assumption of the book is that the direct teaching of literary theory in secondary English classes will better prepare adolescent readers to respond reflectively and analytically to literacy texts, both "canonical" and multicultural." I think Appleman achieves this goal by exploring the theories and providing specific examples in the classroom setting. Although I found the book helpful in understanding theory and multiple perspectives I did feel that it had a tendency to drag on, and when it comes to Deconstruction, I found it utterly confusing. Overall a good book, but maybe some sections deserve more explanation, and some less.

You Gotta BE the Book - Jeffrey D. Wilhelm - Debriefing

You Gotta BE the Book - Jeffrey D. Wilhelm1)

Is this a good text for ENGL 4800?

• I thought the text was very good for ENGL 4800. It provides resources, reflections from within the classroom, and poses questions for educators to consider.

2) Would you use this text differently in ENGL 4800 than we did this semester? Are there chapters we shouldn't bother with?

• I think it would have been helpful to use some of the resources from the activities list in chapter three. Or maybe make a binder combining the resources so we'll have them to use later.

3) Will you be able to use this text for resources or activities as a secondary teacher?

• Most definitely! All of the resources are great, and the reflections from the classroom could help me further understand my own students.

4) Anything else you want to say.

• I like that Wilhelm goes into detail about specific students and their attitudes towards reading; whether it be enjoyment, frustration, or boredom. I also appreciate all of the resources Wilhelm provides in the beginning of chapter three. The activities list; teacher journal, literary letters, think-aloud protocols, free-response protocols, cued-response protocols, two-column written protocols, and visual protocols. I like that he presents the activity with a description so that we can take the information and put it to use within our own classrooms. Wilhelm provides a lot of practical information that can be used in the classroom and to a future teacher that is very helpful. I really like the end of the book. Wilhem poses the question, "What is the role of the teacher? Are teachers simply people who deliver packaged curricula, who teach premade tests? Or are they individuals who create learning environments based on individual students' present needs, desires, interests, and abilities? Are we simply technicians painting by numbers, or are we educational adventurers guiding our students on their personal paths of learning?" (149). I think this is a great way to get teachers thinking about their role within the classroom.

ENGL 4800 Final

I'm doing my final project for my ENGL 480 Teaching Literature In Secondary Schools. It will be a multi-genre project including blogs, creative writing, and art. The project will be using PostSecret. What I need from you are secrets. If any of you are interested in helping me I need you to either send your secrets to me or if you see me in class casually drop your secret into my backpack. All secrets will be posted on a blog. I'll post the link when I am finished.

Guidelines (the same Frank Warren uses for the PostSecret Blog.)
You are invited to anonymously contribute your secrets to PostSecret. Each secret can be a regret, hope, funny experience, unseen kindness, fantasy, belief, fear, betrayal, erotic desire, feeling, confession, or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything - as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before."

"Create your own 4-by-6-inch postcards out of any mailable material. But please only put one secret on a card. If you want to share two or more secrets, use multiple postcards. (Please do not e-mail your secret.)"

"Please put your complete secret and image on one side of the postcard."

"Tips:
* Be brief - the fewer words used the better.
* Be legible - use big, clear and bold lettering.
* Be creative - let the postcard be your canvas."

You can mail it to me at

Rachel Trembley
2017 Elkerton Ave
Apt. 308
Kalamazoo MI, 49048

For those of you who don't know what PostSecret is... http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

"PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard."

"Since Frank Warren created the site on January 1, 2005, PostSecret has collected and displayed upwards of 75,000 original pieces of art from people across the United States and some parts of the world (international readers have also been known to send in postcards). The idea of the project is simple: completely anonymous people decorate a postcard and portray a secret that they have never before revealed. There is no restriction on what the content of the secret must be, only that it must be completely truthful and must never have been spoken before. Entries range from admissions of sexual misconduct and criminal activity to confessions of secret desires, embarrassing habits, and hopes and dreams."

There are now four books filled with postcards from the site. They are:

PostSecret : Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives
MySecret: A PostSecret Book
The Secret Lives of Men and Women: A PostSecret Book
A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book

Week 8 - Webb Ch. 7

Chapter Seven - Testimonial, Autoethnography, and the Future of English

"Poststructuralism begins with the assertion that "consciousness" as we experience it resides in language and that language is always a social phenomenon, created by an interactive community of speakers. (Webb 135)"

"Deconstruction asks us to look carefully into what is already there, ans, as well, to see behind, around, above, below and so on. If the poststructuralist insight is correct that our consciousness is determined by language and social discourses, then deconstruction means the English classroom, rather than being separated form the "real world," is a place where meaning and change take place as we examine, rethink, ands play with the texts and roles set up for us. (Webb 139)" This quote helps me understand deconstruction better. I had a hard time coming to a solid understanding of it from Appleman's book.

"A postmodern approach to teaching would freely examine the kaleidoscopic variety of contemporary life...Postmodern teaching would invite different voices; it would find the historical in the contemporary, and the contemporary in the historical. (Webb 143)"

"Like poststructuralists, traditional Marxists believe that they way people think and believe, their "ideology," is not something they freely choose. For Marxists, ideology is most basically the result of the economic structure of society, and changes in forms of thought derive from changes in fundamental and underlying economic realities. (Webb 150)"

There was a lot of theory discussion within this chapter. I felt like it was thrown at me, and I have a hard time working with texts like that. I still don't fully understand postmodern and Marxist theories. I think I may have to research them further. I really feel that by the end of the chapter I had been so overloaded with theory that I just wanted to be done with the chapter, which is unfortunate because it is the last chapter I have to read in Webb's book.

I think this chapter should have been broken up into smaller more digestible theory sections.