What’s required is a continual focus on creating a classroom that is about thinking rather than just absorbing information.
90% of the classrooms I've been a part of were all just about memorizing and retaining information and never actually thinking about it or applying it to our every day lives.
they’re open-ended.
open-ended questions I think are ones where we learn the most from.
Coleclampedhishandclosed.
he grew a lot in this chapter
ELAYthinkingaboutthesparrows,painsurgedbackandforththroughhisbody.Hefelthimselfslippingintodarknessandblinkedhard,doggedlyclingingtolife,willinghimselftonotletgo.Forhourshekeptblinking,butbydawn,stayingconsciousseemedlessimportant.Nowhehungontheedgeofexistence,detachedfromtherealworld,weightlessandmovedbythewind.Thoughtsofthesparrowsdisappeared.
how is he still alive after all this
Toenduponanislandwithastupidbearthatdidn’thavebrainsenoughtorunaway.
he blames everybody but himself for the things that happen to him
Noonewaswatching.Hecouldeasilybackawayfromthisbearandnotasinglehumanbeingontheplanetwouldeverknow.Colegrippedthespearsohardhisknuckleshurt.Alifetimeofhurt,alifetimeofprovinghimself,alifetimeofangercontrolledhismusclesnow.Againheinchedforward.
i feel like he's always putting up this front that he's to hard and brave that he never let's himself really be himself, even when he's alone
y.Therewasnobeauty.Fortwohourshismindroiledwithturbulentthoughtsbeforehefellintoarestles
i think that he's gotten so comfortable with being sad that he doesn't want to get better
“Youdrinkuntilyoucan’tstandup,andyou’regoneallthetime.Adevotedparentdoesn’twhiphiskiduntilashirtcan’thideallthebruises!”
he blames his parents for everything because he wants them to feel guilty for what they did
one,totallyalonewithhimself.Anditscaredhim.
is he scared of himself, maybe?
heretomakesurethatmysonnevercausesproblemsagain.”HeturnedandglaredatCole.“Thisisallgoingtoendnow.”
his dad seems really harsh on Cole; he probably doesn't care much about his mental heath or wellbeing
“IknowwhatIdidwaswrong,andIwantPetertoknowI’msorryforeverything.”Colesniffledpurposely,rubbingathisnoseforeffect.“IwanttoaskthisCircletohelpmegetovermyanger
I think even by lying and not really meaning it, him saying this outloud to himself is important
hat’sallthiswas,Colethoughtbitterly.Thiswasjustanothersocialevent.
he has really strong negativve feelings towards his parents, he can't even try to believe that his mother really does care about him
not all reading is the same, and it is important to develop awareness of how to be flexible as a reader, recognizing the particular conventions of a ‘genre’
this is really interesting I haven't thought of it that way, it's very true though you do have to read certain pieces differently.
the reader is not a robot or a passive bystander in the rhetorical situation below, but an active meaning-maker in conversation with the author of the text.
This mindset when writing makes your work a lot more engaging and interesting to read, the audience is one of the most important things to keep in mind when you're writing.
who you are as a reader matters: your experiences, your memories, your knowledge from other literature, other courses, and other texts – are all very important to bring to your reading process.
I never thought about this but it's very true; taking knowledge that I've taken from other pieces I've read and applying it to more present readings does help me understand things better!
When you are more active in your own reading process, you not only comprehend and retain the information better — reading becomes dynamic and interactive.
this is a big part of why I love and prefer reading out loud; something about hearing the words and having them come out of my mouth makes them make more sense to me
We have just established that there are multiple ways of thinking, learning, and expressing ourselves.
It's crazy how much of my life I spent in school not even considering the fact that everybody learns differently. If I was doing poorly in a class I would always relate it to me not being smart enough or something like that; never even consider the fact that I would need to try learning a different way.
These strategies include various ways of annotating for different learning styles.
having a variety in your annotations I think helps me retain information better and causes me to think about things in different ways and see them from different points of views.
being your own worst critic does not actually improve the work,
my whole life i've been my own worst critic I'm more hard on myself than anyone else and I'm trying to work on that
ask people to offer specific suggestions for how to do things differently when offering criticism; realize
it's always difficult when you're trying to adjust your work to someone's criticism but you aren't even sure what they're looking for
develop a learning organization, where it is expected that everyone will make mistakes
this mentality is soo helpful; as a student I'm always trying to be perfect because it's what my teachers have always expected but as learners we're going to make mistakes!
ntify. The characteristics listed below are damaging because they are used as norms and standards without being pro-actively named or chosen by the group.
i think that we could qualify these as stereotypes
Take care of your homes, take care of your body. Connect with your spiritual House.
personally I've taken this time to better the relationship with myself; I spend more time with myself than I do with anybody else.
Allow yourself to take advantage of this time to perform your vision seeking rituals. What world do you want to build for you? For now, this is what you can do: serenity in the storm. Calm down, pray every day. Establish a routine to meet the sacred every day.
i think that quarantine is the perfect time to perfect yourself and become who you want to be; however, if someone can't bring themselves to be productive or to work on themselves that's okay too. I've found a lot of people being hard on themselves during quarantine because they "haven't done anything", but you don't have to be doing anything. The world is such a negative place right now I think simply being alive and healthy is impressive enough
ou do not help at all being sad and without energy.
I think that this is a really harmful thing to say to someone who's dealing with negative thoughts or emotions.Often when someone feels this way they already feel like a burden and are hard enough on themselves without having someone literally tell them that they aren't helping at all.
Race and racism are connected to language and writing because somebody who sounds inherently white is seemed as smarter and like they would know more about what they're talking about. In Jamila Lyiscott's ides she mentions that someone told her she was articulate when she was speaking without using any of the language that she would use at home or with her friends or family.
irst Tweet: “Pres Obama you got nerve while u sightseeing in Paris totell us ‘time to deliver’on healthcare.Westill onskedul/even workinWKEND.”Second Tweet: “Pres Obama while u sightseeing in Paris u said ‘time to delivr on healthcare’ When you are a ‘hammer’ u think evrything is NAIL I’m no NAIL.”
Another example of code meshing would be when advertisers use young or teen vocabulary to appeal to the younger audiences.
Code meshing is the new code switching; it’s mulitdialectalism and pluralingual-ism in one speech act, in one paper.
Code meshing is putting together a blend of different dialects from different geographical backgrounds and locations. As opposed to code switching, where you would switch between two different languages in different settings, in code meshing you would mesh the two together and use them in any setting.
Instead of prescribing how folks should write or speak, I say we teach language descriptively. This mean we should, for instance, teach how language functions within and
Teaching prescriptively would be forcing all students to learn the same way to get them all sound the same way; "academic and professional". In contrast to this, descriptive teaching would be taking the students different backgrounds and perspectives into account when it comes to learning and teaching.
he reason I speak a composite version of your languageIs because mines was raped away along with my history
this sentence is so powerful
the shell where my soul dwells
i love that she described her body this way
r rates of student success simply seem to have been trying harder for longer.
Schools that try harder for their students never go unnoticed, it feels good to feel cared about by your school and makes you feel more motivated.
Students tend to do better when they are following defined academic paths, rather than “aimlessly signing up for classes,”
It's a lot more helpful when you have a plan and a path laid out for you, as opposed to signing up to whatever classes you can find.
College matters so much because it isn’t just about book learning or the development of tangible skills. It’s one of the first obstacle courses of adult life.
Before starting college I really had to sit down with myself and realize that this is a choice; these classes and this next four years are because I want to learn. High school was never a choice and I think that's why a lot of students don't take it seriously.
Many lower-income and middle-class students excel in high school only to falter in college. They then struggle to get good jobs.
Standards in lower-income schools are a lot lower than standards that are held at Universities. A student that could be exceeding in their highschool could be seen as average, or even below average by college professors.
This suggests that the problem isn’t the students — it’s the schools.
I'm actually not very surprised; there's a lot of things wrong with the education system.
About one in three students who enroll in college never earn a degree.
I've heard and seen low graduation rates but I didn't know that it was this common for a student to drop out.
Here is a visual representation of the textual evidence sandwich, to accompany some TEA:
Quote sandwiches I think are a simple and effective way of describing how to include textual evidence into our writings.
MLA style calls for verbs in the present tense or present perfect tense (“argues” or “has argued”) to introduce source material unless you include a date that specifies the time of the original author’s writing or are citing literature which you may keep in the original verb tense if it makes sense with your sentence.
I didn't know this until now.
We can summarize any amount of text and when we do, our summary is always shorter than the original piece of writing.
When summarizing and putting things into our own words helps better understand what we're reading.
n we directly quote
What is the most important idea your audience should understand from reading this paragraph or evidence?How does each piece of evidence you state in your paragraph relate to your opinion in your topic sentence?Why did you choose this specific piece textual evidence? How does it support, illustrate, or extend your opinion in your topic sentence?How might you explain the example or connect it to textual evidence further to show the connection between the topic and your opinion in the topic sentence and/or thesis statement?What are some consequences/results/implications/ramifications of the evidence you share with your audience?Why is this evidence important? What does it suggest to you? To your audience?How does this evidence relate to your overall opinion in this paragraph?Is the idea in the topic sentence fully explained? Do you need another sentence or two to elaborate on why you have the opinion you state in the topic sentence?How does this evidence relate to your overall thesis, or other points you make in the paper? Why is this connection worth noting?
sets of questions like these help me write and help my writing more clear and cohesive.
30% evidence and 70% analysis. K
Without analysis you can't connect the evidence to your topic and your thesis; I would argue that the analysis is the most important about of the TEA paragraph.
T–to the E-to the A
I think TEA paragraphs are so helpful and easy to follow.
pg. 262 P. 1 "I never will forget how shocked I was when I began reading about slavery's total horror." It wasn't until this year when I really learned about how horrible slavery was. It was so much deeper than just using people for labor or treating them like property. It's truly horrific and terrifying how uncommon it still is for people to be unaware of what really happened.
259 p.2 "I suppose...understand what the book was saying" To finally understand what he was reading must have been such a good feeling; to finally be reaping the rewards of what he's been practicing for so long
Pg. 260 "The teachings of Mr. Muhammad stressed how history had been "whitened" --whenwhite men had written history books, the black man simply had been left out." It's really disappointing how late I learned about the white washing of American history. We don't credit people of color enough for what they've done for the country. There's so many statues and memorials for these slave-owning white men but there's almost none for the black men and women that fought for our rights to vote.
Pg. 258 "I copied into my tablet everything printed on that first page.." He was very excited to be learning and to start his journey of becoming more educated.
Pg. 259 "In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life." Reading is one of the easiest ways to escape reality and I think that during one of the most difficult times to a black american, reading was important because of this reason.
crafted sentences, sentences that would finallyprove I had mastery over the English language
I've found myself trying to use bigger words to describe something that could be done in a couple words to try and impress teachers or peers.
Yet some of my friends tell methey understand fifty percent of whatmy mother says. Some say theyunderstand eighty to ninety percent.Some say they understand none of it,as if she were speaking pure Chinese,But to me, my mother's English isperfectly clear, perfectly natural.
Hearing stories like this always makes me admire my mother a little more; being fluent in english and spanish is really impressive considering how difficult it must have been to teach herself.
I again found myself conscious of theEnglish I was using, the English 1
I've found myself simplifying the english that I use with my mother and other family members. It's more often than not to make them more comfortable or to help them understand something better.
someone's intelligence by her English
English, in my opinion, is really to learn so I'm always impressed when someone who's native language isn't english can understand it, let alone speak it. I'd never judge someone on their accents or grammar.
to get rid of our accents.
I hate hearing people comment on a bilingual person's accent; speaking 2 languages is impressive enough an accent doesn't make someone any less competent.
I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess -that was good for three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler. I remember being sent to the comer of the classroom for "talking back" to the Anglo teacher when all I was trying to do was tell her how to pronounce my name. "If you want to be American, speak 'American.' If you don't like it, go back to Mexico where you belong."
Growing up I remember hearing elementary school teachers telling other latino students to speak english in the classroom and they'd get in trouble if that wouldn't.
I hear the anger rising in his voice. My tongue keeps pushing out the wads of cotton, pushing back the drills, the long thin needles. 'Tve never seen anything as strong or as stubborn,"
Starting school with a different language as your first, one of the first things teachers always do is try to erase and teach over your native language. It can be frustrating for them and as a child you pick that up.
train it to be quiet, how do you bridle and saddle it? How do you make it lie down?
she's comparing her tongue to a wild horse that can't be tamed
When she writes, "So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language"
I can relate to this I hold my native language really dear to my heart; listen to others speak it brings me comfort and one of my biggest fears is having somebody say something negative about it in public.
At age eleven. she began working in the fields as a migrant worker and then on her family's land after the death of her father
It's really common for immigrant families to start working really young in order to keep afloat.
It's really disappointing to think that a teacher wouldn't try as hard to teacher a particular student because of the way their english is spoken at home. I feel like this should make the teacher want to try harder.
This is why I prefer math and it's my favorite part about the subject.
Before reading the narratives above, why do you think individual experience is important? How can we start to connect experiences in academic settings?
I believe that individual experiences are important because everybody experiences things in different ways and that contributes to viewing things differently.
What do you believe your learning style is? If you were to place yourself on the Zone of Appropriate Challenge and Growth, where has the majority of your education taken place as a learner?
I believe my learning style is visually. Ever since I was younger I always learned better by seeing things laid out in front of me. I'd but my recent learning always closer to the "comfort zone". A lot of my classes in high school were simple and clean cut with simple lessons and worksheets we'd be able to complete within the period. My most engaging classrooms were always my math classes, which led me to love the subject as much as I do.
we also recommend writing notes by hand
Now more than ever students are starting to lose the traditional way of taking notes, but I've found that I retain knowledge better when writing my notes instead of typing on a computer
The reason is simple: because a single test cannot test everybody’s abilities,
I feel that standardized testing is a large reason of what's wrong with the american public school system. School isn't about truly learning anymore and instead focused a lot on getting high test scores.
why do you think your experience has been like that? What were pros and cons? What ideas from this chapter might have improved your experience
The public schooling system is based mostly on profits and money and test scores more that anything else. I haven't met very many teachers that truly cared about whether or not their students were learning but the one that I did meet helped me find the subjects and the topics I felt passionate about.
ell, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.I like to work, read, learn, and understand life
I think these 2 lines encompass some of the best parts of being human and being alive
You are white-- yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. That's American
I wonder what he means by adding that this is american? What specifically is American?
So will my page be colored that I write?
Growing up as a person of color, your race is always a really big part of you and from an early age you can see how different you can be and you wonder if that effects things like your work in your everyday life.
Meet my cat. That’s Bruce.
I've also found that cat lovers are better people in general. I have a cat named Oswald.
you will meet the guidelines for a B AND agree with Dan to completean additional independent project OR teach a lesson of your choice to the class
As a teacher you value genuinely learning above all else. Meeting the requirements of a B would only count as doing all the work assigned to us, but to earn an A you want us to go beyond just finishing assignments given to us.
, you will have the chance to negotiate your own grade.
Giving us the chance to negotiate our final grades with you shows us that you respect us and have enough faith in us to be honest with you and ourselves about our work habits this semester.
‘Co-teaching the class’ in various ways; breaking down power dynamics
By breaking down power dynamics, we can see that you as our Professor respect us, as students, just as much and value what we think just as much as we do you.