This week we read about critical literacy learning. In “Writing: Common sense matters”, Linda Rief explains that in order to get students to write, we need to get them to think. She gives many tips to getting students to actually want to write. Students need choice when it comes to writing. Linda Rief states “We learn to write by writing. We need to give students ample opportunities to write on a continuous basis, with choices of topic and genres that engage their interest and/or to which they can connect” (2007, p. 192). As educators we need to find ways to incorporate writing without simply assigning essays for students to write. Writing can include creating a blog, movie review, newspaper article, etc. In this reading, Rief also gives examples of how she teaches students writing in her classroom. Something that stood out to me that I would use is providing students with many examples of writing that she critiques with the students as a class. By presenting models of both good writing and poor writing, she is showing students what her expectations are of them. I also like this because instead of students constantly being critiqued on their own work, they are assessing works themselves.
In chapter 15, Jeffrey Wilhelm and Michael Smith write about the power of inquiry and “the flow”. The flow experience is “when we are experiencing something so intensely that nothing else seems to matter” (2007, p. 231). Teachers need to find ways to create the flow experience in the classroom. Although we would like to be able to gear every lesson to every student’s interest, it is hard when teaching a large number of students. Teachers need to create something Wilhelm and Smith call “situational interest”. They suggest that we first need to start with an essential question that gets the students’ attention. This question should help focus the lessons so that students feel they are part of an investigation to find out how to answer the initial essential questions. This should involve using different texts and media in the classroom and promote a more social environment in the classroom.
Something that stood out to me in “Making it matter through the power of inquiry” was a statement that a student made during a study. He said “school teaches you how you are dumb, not how you are smart” (2007, p. 238). This statement is sad but unfortunately many students probably feel this way. Especially now with the focus in school being on standardized tests, students are constantly being told when they are wrong instead of being praised for when they do well. We need to find ways in our classroom to encourage students and build up their confidence in the classroom.
In “Effective teachers, effective instruction”, Richard Allington writes about best practices that good, effective teachers use. In the beginning of the chapter the author notes the differences between poor and minority students and rich, nonminority students. He writes that “both poor and minority students at twelfth grade read at the same level as eighth-grade nonpoor and nonminority students” (2007, p. 274). Like Robert Moses shows in his reading, “Algebra and civil rights?”, it seems that poor, diverse students are doing significantly worse in literacy than wealthy, white students. They are not getting the same opportunities in their education that is causing a gap in reading, writing, and math. Something that effective teachers use in their classroom according to Allington is literate conversation. This entails using discussion-based lessons. I think this could be used in teaching any subject. Instead of being talked to all the time by teachers, students can actually talk with their teacher and each other.
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