Running Head: EDR 625: Final Exam

EDR 625: Final Exam Andrea Tomaszewski Grand Valley State University

EDR 625 Final Exam

1.) How has your learning in this course prepared you to both assist yourself and other classroom teachers in selecting materials that match reading levels, interests, and cultural and linguistic backgrounds of students? This course has prepared me to better select materials for my classroom and for others in several ways. During the course of my library improvement plan, I came to realize that the material I make available in my classroom for independent reading is largely for a female audience. I also came to realize that I only have books written in narrative form, and I only have three books that are non-fiction. In short, my classroom library is not reaching the interests of all of my students. I have started to note what kinds of books my students read when given the choice. I have students who love reading graphic novels, especially Manga; I also have several students who enjoy reading non-fiction. I need to make changes to help my library suit their interests. Another issue I became aware of is that my classroom library is not very differentiated in the reading levels made available. I have literature that is written for high schoolers at a reasonable reading level for high schoolers; however, I have very few books for my struggling readers. The books that I do have available for them tend to be books for females, but more of my male students are struggling than my female students. I need to work to have materials that make all of my readers feel successful. Similarly, in the next few weeks, I will be welcoming eleven middle school students to my room twice a week for enrichment work with a reading program. I would like to coordinate with their English teacher more to make sure that between the two of us, we have plenty of material to interest and challenge them. I think the best lesson this class has taught me about choosing material for my students is that I shouldnt do all the choosing. Our last online class had a great impact

EDR 625 Final Exam

on my thoughts about in-class and out-of-class reading. The availability of choice is so important for students to truly become readers. In order to allow them the power of choice, I need to make as many materials available as possible, give a little guidance when necessary, and most importantly give my students time to read for pleasure, not for assignments. In the YouTube video, the differences in the numbers of books the students held up when they were assigned for class versus the numbers they read when given the choice of material and time to read were moving. I dont think that will leave me anytime soon. Although I have focused a large amount of my thought this semester on my own classroom, the lessons I have learned through my own faults will easily translate to my fellow classroom teachers. I have already had some discussions on the topic with the other high school English teacher, and the middle school teacher and I will be sitting down in the next few weeks. One thing that I will need to work on in the future is introducing the idea of literature in non-ELA classrooms. I have noticed that none of the other high school teachers have classroom libraries available. Sharing this information, along with the importance of making books available will be my first step to making important changes within my building.

2.) How has your learning in this course prepared you to both assist yourself and other classroom teachers to abundant books, technology-based information, and non-print materials representing multiple levels, broad interests, and cultural and linguistic backgrounds? In her article The Candle and the Mirror: One Authors Journey as an Outsider, Judi Moreillon (1999) stated that all children deserve literature that reflects the cultural diversity of our society and world (p. 75). This is something that I have truly taken to

EDR 625 Final Exam

heart. My students do not have much literature available to them that allows them to experience different cultures or beliefs. Moreillon (1999) discusses the idea that multicultural literature can be both a candle and a mirror for students. For the majority of my students, multicultural and international literature is a much-needed candle to introduce them to a world outside the safety of their middle-class, Catholic, and mostly Caucasian school. As their teacher, I need to work to introduce and interest them in literature that allows them to peek into the world of people different than themselves. Another class discussion that has been very important to me was our discussion and reading on literature circles. I have attempted to use literature circles in the past with some success but a lot of disorganization. I appreciated the discussion about online literature circles; in Joy Bowers-Campbells (2011) article, she argues that online literature discussions still allow participants to be engaged, have meaningful discussions, and receive support from other group members. Online sessions also allow for absent students to continue to participate and give students the ability to think about a topic and come back to it at a later time to add to the discussion. I have already begun to put these ideas to use, and although my classes are still working through the process, I think that we will continue to use them in the future. I also liked the idea, presented in Wilfongs (2009) article, of using literature circles in content courses. This is something I can pass on to my fellow content teachers to help them when they are assigning difficult reading in their classes. I think that sharing Wilfongs article and ideas will help my fellow teachers to see different ways to use literature circles in their classes to increase understanding and discussion.

EDR 625 Final Exam

One other piece of information that I have found really helpful is learning about all the different forms of literacy already available online. I had no idea that I could find a book trailer for just about any book available online. I have also found that I can find some childrens books available in a digital storytelling format on YouTube, so if I do not access to the book through a local library, I may have access online. The discussions about including technology and using it to have students create something have been very useful to me this year. I hope to continue to put this information to use in my own classroom in the future and share this information so others can use it as well.

3.) How has your learning in this course prepared you to demonstrate reading and writing for real purposes in daily interactions with students and education professionals and to assist teachers toward promoting reading and writing as a valued lifelong activity? The need to help students to read and write for a real purpose has been one I have been working to share for the last few years. So much of what textbooks and curriculum materials guide teachers to have their students read and write lacks purpose other than to teach a skill. I believe that this class has given me some ideas in how to help my students find real reasons for what they are doing and better ways to reach their audiences. Using the YA Lit 2.0 (2010) idea list, I have updated my literature circles project to include having my students create a blog that includes a summary of their reading along with major points of their discussion during their literature circles. In the end, they have been told that their blog should provide support for another student or class who is interested in reading their text. The implementation of technology into our classes gives the students many more options for real audiences; we just have to know how to use these options.

EDR 625 Final Exam

Although using blogs, Glogster, and YouTube in an English class may seem like an obvious connection, there are many different uses that will work in other content courses. Creating a blog over a novel is not all that different than creating a blog space that discusses a period of time in history, a scientific experiment, or even a blog dedicated to helping others to understand how to solve a certain kind of math problem. All of these ideas connect to content area courses while still involving writing for a real audience. The more teachers give students real purpose for their reading and writing activities, the more students will connect to and care about their assignments.

4.) How has your learning in this course helped you to understand how to effectively revise instructional plans to motivate all students and assist classroom teachers to design reading programs that will intrinsically and extrinsically motivate students? During the course, we have discussed bringing literature into both our own classroom and other content classrooms in the form of read alouds. During my experience finding lists of read alouds as well as sharing our read alouds in class, I became very aware of how many great childrens texts there are for other content courses as well as for my English/language arts classes. Reading childrens books in a secondary class is a great way to introduce difficult topics to begin a discussion or to allow students to connect with their prior knowledge. Because childrens books are non-threatening, students enjoy the experience and dont feel as overwhelmed by the material as they may if teachers bring in newspaper articles or scholarly material. Plus, the pictures in the childrens books help to engage the students. Another way to help to motivate students is by giving them choice. The YouTube video that was shared during our last online lesson made the point very clear: give students the choice in what to read without attaching any kind of assignment, and they

EDR 625 Final Exam

will learn to read for enjoyment and will truly become readers; tell students what to read, and they will go to lengths to find a way not to read. Although we cannot always allow our students choice in what to read, we need to give them the choice whenever possible. Students will be more motivated when they are allowed to pursue their interests. Finally, if we truly wish to design a reading program that motivates students to participate, we need to make sure they have access to material that meets their preferences and time to read that material. Our students need access to works of fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, and even magazines. They need to be able to read science fiction, realistic fiction, and memoirs. In order to truly motivate our students, we have to know them. We must take the time to learn what it is our students like and make that available for them while gently suggesting other material we believe they may enjoy. In doing this, we will find our students much more motivated to read than we will by offering them pizza, prizes, or grades.

5.) What was your most valuable learning point this semester? Why is this learning significant? How did you learn this learning point? How will you use this learning in the classroom? My most valuable learning point this semester has been to consider what kinds of material I make available to my students and how I do that. We have discussed this idea in many different formats over the course of the semester. We have discussed being aware of our own literacy identities and how we tend to be more comfortable reading about people who are like us, and how the same is true of our students. With this lesson, I had to consider what material I give my students and why they may find it more difficult to connect with literature where the character is not similar to themselves and the situations they find themselves in. In the classroom, this means that I need to provide

EDR 625 Final Exam

materials for my students that allow them to see themselves within the literature. However, students also need to access other cultures and countries through literature, so when the literature we are discussing includes cultures, settings, or beliefs my students are unfamiliar with, I need to provide extra support to help them create background knowledge and access prior knowledge. Another way we discussed the material we present to our students was through our discussions of censorship. We discussed how teachers may fear repercussions of sharing some material with their students. During our discussion, we talked about the quality of the text along with the impact on education. Although I am in a different position than teachers in a public school, I should still work to make educationallyimportant material available to my students. I have used our discussion to help support my case for several texts already this year. Although my principal often requires that I take the extra step of contacting parents and informing them about the material and how it will be used, at least it is a step. We have also discussed the importance of bringing in literature for read alouds. Although the intended audience for childrens books tends to be below our average age group in the secondary classroom, the content of the texts is often relatable to the content of our classroom discussions. Read alouds can be used to begin discussions, access prior knowledge, and teach different strategies. Our discussions in class have led me to try to incorporate this strategy more often in my classes. I have use read alouds several times through the semester and have more ideas for the rest of the year thanks to our literacy plan. I also have begun conversations with several co-workers about using read alouds in their classes.

EDR 625 Final Exam

Everything we have discussed this semester has made me question the material I use within my classroom. I truly believe that this is valuable both to me as a teacher and to my students. I intend to use this knowledge to continue my quest to move my classroom away from the traditional follow-the-textbook lesson plans in order to create interest and long-term, meaningful learning for my students. I will continue my pursuit of increasing multicultural and international literature in my classes and on my shelves. I will continue to argue for the right to use materials of worth within my classroom, and I will continue my use of read alouds for multiple purposes.

EDR 625 Final Exam

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References Bowers-Campbell, J. (2011, May). Take it out of class: Exploring virtual literature circles. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(8), 557-567. Hayes, S. (Ed.) (2010, May). Makeing the shift: YA lit 2.0. Voices from the Middle, 17(4), 50-52. Moreillon, J. (1999). The candle and the mirror: One author's journey as an ousider. The New Advocate, 12(2), 127-139. Wilfong, L. G. (2009, October). Textmasters: Bringing literature circles to texbook reading across the currciculum. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(2), 164-171.