Winter 2018 493: Teaching Literature to Adolescents

“Convicted” by Jameel McGee and Andrew Collins is now one of my favorite novels. It discusses a relationship between an African American man who was put in jail on false drug convictions and the officer who put him there. Throughout the story, Jameel McGee tells his perceptions of an unfortunate event that caused him years of his life. As I read the piece I couldn’t help but feel bad for Mr. McGee because he is constantly battling this false conviction even when he is released from prison. Mr. Collins, the officer, also writes his story on about putting McGee and others away with false evidence. He discusses the philosophy and events that led him to create the false cases. The book switches back and forth between the two, reading about McGee then about Collins in the next chapter, giving the story an interesting dynamic. I chose this text because it was recommended by my girlfriend’s mom. Her mom sends me novels she reads in her book club because she knows I’m interested in read...

“Graphic Novels: An Alternative Approach to Teach English as a Foreign Language” Öz, Hüseyin; Efecioglu, and Emine challenges the effectiveness of graphic novels being used in English as a first language classrooms (EFL). Their findings revealed that using graphic novels in the classroom had many different benefits. These benefits were caused because graphic novels raised the confidence of students, they can understand the graphic novels because of the pictures. Giving students a visual representation of what is occurring within the story makes translating the English language much easier. Also, pictures often engaged students with the story. Similar to these EFL classrooms, normal classes will take interest in these novels because of the visuals. Additionally, the study discovered that “it was also seen that they play an important role in shaping one’s language” (87). Graphic novels can be used in English classrooms today to help shape a student’s language. When reading a more comp...

“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe is a great text to use in the classroom. My high school freshman just completed their poetry unit and they actually used Edgar Allan Poe in a worksheet. The worksheet asked students to annotate the poem “The Raven” and answer a few critical thinking questions on it. Then, students were expected to write their own 2 stanza poem mimicking Edgar Allan Poe’s style in “The Raven.” My mentor teacher told me her philosophy was that if students mimicked the hardstyle Poe had written in “The Raven” they would appreciate poetry a lot more. Also, it showed them how poets incorporate the various vocabulary and structures they have been studying over the unit into their works. “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe is a beautiful work that deserves its spot in the classroom. The complicated structure shows just how beautiful poetry can be. Writing stanzas mimicking the style of the poem can show how hard it is to write a piece of this poem. Also, students find the rhym...

“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie has become my favorite book. Not only did this novel have a really good overall story but it was relatable to me on so many different levels: being part Indian, being from around Spokane, not getting help from teachers, and having alcoholism deep embedded in a family. Being Native American I am familiar with all the issues Junior faces while trying to become something for himself. My mother actually attended an Indian boarding school and was one of six siblings to actually leave the reservation and the only sibling to ever leave our reservation, from our family. Also, recently I picked up a huge passion for basketball so this novel even clicked a lot more with me. Experiencing the cultural change that Junior faces allowing me to see some of the cultural changes I had to fix when going to public school. Hearing how terrible the reservation was also helped me connect with my own background. Repeatedly my parents rem...

“Readicide” by Kelly Gallagher is definitely a valuable tool for any teacher. While reading this novel I had asked my mentor teacher if she had ever read it. Turns out she owned the book and had plans to read it in the near future. Interestingly enough she agreed to read it before the end of my spring break so we could talk about the different points Gallagher makes throughout the novel. I hope to use Gallagher’s tips on creating your own classroom library. I had no idea how easy it is for students to lose the value in reading. Even I was a victim of “Readicide.” To this day I have no idea what I read in my high school classroom. For now, I hope to help my mentor teacher implement some of Gallagher’s technique in her classroom. Having the ability to tackle it as a team benefits her and helps me gauge whether or not I can use the material in the classroom. Furthermore, the tsunami effect was something I had never thought of occurring in the high school classroom. It’s true that t...

“edTPA: Making Good Choices” and “EWU’s TPA Guidelines” are both valuable reads for a becoming educator. Reading through the “Making Good Choices” article informed me in the areas of the edTPA that I wasn’t sure of. For instance, the section describing the video recording process that is involved with the edTPA was helpful. It clarified many points for me such as the video permission slips. Learning about these components now helps me prepare for my future student teaching quarter. Also, getting an in-depth view of the edTPA, based on sections of the edTPA, was extremely valuable. Understanding the purpose behind that information, the information required on an edTPA, gave me a new perspective on the requirement. Now I understand the importance of having an edTPA and the philosophy behind the information needed. Furthermore, the assessment task sections of the “Making Good Choices” article was very beneficial. It answered many questions of mine such as whether or not we can use in...