Chapters 5, 6, and 13 Response

Chapter 5 brought up ideas on how to create authentic discussion by having students say what they would do in certain situations. By asking the students to think about what they would do in the “Lost at Sea” scenario, they were able to put themselves into the mode of survival and it helped then become more understanding of characters in extreme situations even though they have never actually experiences these severe circumstances. This is not something that I have ever thought of as a way of introducing a piece of literature. I guess that I have been so trained on introducing literature with the literary devices that will be present in the piece as opposed to looking at and trying to relate to the experiences that the characters will have to face. The book says that this activity is a good way to get students involved in debating on differing ideas, which in turn causes them to become emotionally engaged. I would agree with this because I can tell just from reading about the scenarios that people would have differing opinions and they would want to voice these opinions.

I found chapter 6 to have a lot of good information, but it got a little extreme a couple of times. I like the way that it talked about different introductory activities you could do to get students thinking about the book they will be reading, and get them interested. The part that I found to be extreme was the opinionnaire/survey part. I think a survey would be a good way to start the lesson, but the book basically says that you should give the students the survey at least three times! It says that you should start off the lesson with the survey (which is a good idea), then once you get into the literature, you should take the survey from the point of view of the author (which would be pretty interesting, I guess). But then it wants you to take the survey again at the end and see how your own views have changed. I think that this is a little overboard, and I know that I, personally, would get really annoyed. It’s fine to take it once or twice, but three times is too repetitive for my taste.

One part I really liked in chapter 6 was the idea of role-playing/simulations. I like to be active in classrooms, and I will always be one of the first people to volunteer. I know not everyone will like to be a volunteer in acting out situations, but who doesn’t like to watch their classmates make fools of themselves? J This is a great way to get students thinking about what the characters will have to go through and help them be empathetic toward them.

I also liked the idea about writing in response the prompts because the prompts ask students questions about how they would react in certain situations. I really felt like thing part related to chapter 5 because it is meant to motivate students to have the desire to find out what the characters will do. They will get to compare their response with how the character handled the situation, which I found to be a good tool. I really agree with this too because in chapter 5 the question was posed as to what we would do in the soldier’s situation, and I was really wanting to know what choice he ended up making.

I didn’t really find chapter 13 to be very interesting. It talked about different ways to evaluate your teaching to make sure that you are allowing students enough time to respond and that you are responding to them in an appropriate and encouraging way. The only thing that really stood out to me in this chapter is that students should be talking more often than teachers when it comes to discussion. Also, I thought it was funny when the department chair who was observing a classroom told the teacher that he responded to students’ talking with “okay” over 30 times! While that sounds like a lot, I realize that when I give mini lessons, I probably respond with “okay” just as often. We need to be aware of how our reactions and gestures are taken by students. Do they encourage them to keep talking or do they discourage them and make them not want to say another word?

Chapter 10 Response

In this chapter, the authors talk about the use of discussion to improve writing due to the fact that it helps focus students and causes them to engage in higher level thinking. When they are able to collaborate and debate with their classmates, they are able to develop a broader understanding. Also, students can figure out exactly where they stand on the issue, which in turn helps them when it comes to writing their argument. They get to see what the counter-arguments are, and they can come up with a way to contradict it.

I feel that this is a great way to get students to form an opinion about something and then be able to argue that opinion. With each scenerio that I read, I formed an argument of my own. For the Max Burger story, I thought it was rediculous that he would be arrested for murder or even manslaughter. Like the students in the book pointed out, he was given ample warning about the security system, and he shouldn't have been breaking in to the restaurant anyway. This reminded me of the story about the guy who was robbing a house and in the process he broke his leg and SUED the family who lived in the house, and WON! The only thing Max Burger should have gotten in trouble for was violating building and city firecodes. Other than that, he was just trying to protect what was his.

In the scenerio about more students getting better grades, I felt as though the argument that teachers were giving out better grades to get better scores was silly. My position is that the teachers started teaching better, not to get better scores, but because they were able to see in what areas they were strong, and in what areas they were weak, and used the surveys to improve their teaching styles.

I have opinions about the other two scenerios as well: the one about the healthy food, and particularly about the John Q. Public one, but the point is that this method seems to be very useful. People are quick to form an opinion about things, and through discussion, they are able to voice these opinions. Once they voice their opinions, they are given the opportunity to see from the perspective of other people, and form a more developed/complete argument for when they sit down to write. Then they can come up with a better, more solid argument because they can hear what the counter-arguments are and then pick them apart. It also helps them to become more informed so they are not just spitting out and argument that has no basis of truth.