Class Reflection

Dear Reader, 

Over the past three months, you have read many posts about education, English literature, being a college student and teaching methods. One huge teaching method is the method of continued reflection. As teachers, we are only as good as our worst day, and without reflection, our worst day will become multiple days and soon they will outnumber our best days. 

This course has taught me a lot about what I am capable of as students and an educator. The most important thing it has taught me is that I do not have to attempt this job alone. The huge project for this class was the Unit Plan, and I would not have finished it without my friends and colleagues. They gave me support, resources, ideas, encouragement and references I wouldn't have found on my own. I have also learned that I love reading and while I think reading in the classroom is important, students will not become lifelong readers in the classroom, they will fall in love with books outside of the classroom. I think my favorite project of the quarter was the mini-lessons because for the first time I got to see my fellow students teach in a "real" way, and I was able to collect even more valuable insight and resources from their lessons to use in my own classroom. 

In this class we also looked at a lot of theory and to be honest I didn't retain much of it, I think I'm just more of a hands-on person than a theory person. I am going to use what I know works in a classroom and that is all the research I will need to help my students, however, this class as taught me that not all theory is written y suits in offices who have never set foot in a real classroom. I think the biggest breakthrough for me was learning that CCSS is not out to get teachers or make our lives harder but to help us help students. While I think in some ways they value certain subjects over others I think at its core there is a good purpose. 

Finally a reflection of myself. Looking at the teacher I was at the begining of this course and the teacher I am now I know I am more confident in my ability to run a classroom on my own. As a student teacher its hard to think of the classroom as yours because at the end of the day it is, but I now feel 10x more confident in my ability to choose curriculum, create cohesive lessons, integrate standards and introduce students to new and different forms of reading. I can't wait to have my own class and be my own teacher. 

Sincerely, 

Meraki

Graphic Novels in the Classroom.

I have to admit I am not a big fan of graphic novels. I have many friends that read manga, comic books and graphic novels but I just haven't ever had the desire to pick up a graphic novel instead of a textual novel. However, for this class, I bought the graphic canon and while I haven't gotten a chance to read them in detail at first glance I am very excited to try and implement this into my classroom.
I specifically liked that they had some Shakespeare plays in the canon because I know it took me reading Shakespeare in junior high, high school and finally in college to really understand the language and action in this works. I think using a graphic novel version of a Shakespeare play as a supporting text to the original Old English script would really help students understand the whole story, without getting hung up on the unfamiliar language.
I also think graphic novels would be great to use with struggling readers or ELL students because they can use the images in the graphic novel to help understand the written text. I think this would be especially help for ELL because many time they are learning a second language and culture so a text that uses a lot of cultural references might be hard to understand if they are just reading the text but if they can see an image connected with the text this might help them become more confident in their reading comprehension.
Lastly, I would love to introduce graphic novels to my students because I think it is a great medium to get students interested in reading for fun. I have a very active imagination so I personally love stories that help me create an image in my head of the characters and storyline, but some students dont learn that way. I think some people dont like reading because their imagination doesn't create as vivid and exciting images so having some of the images provided might spark a love of reading they didn't have before.
After looking at the graphic canon for this class I will definitely be keeping an eye out for graphic novels I can integrate into my classroom.

Night Lesson Plan

Night Liberation Lesson

1. Teacher Candidate	Tess Morrison	Date Taught	11/20/2017
Cooperating Teacher		School/District
2. Subject	Social Studies	Field Supervisor
3. Lesson Title/Focus	Night Liberation Lesson	5. Length of Lesson	45 mins
4. Grade Level	10th Grade

6. Academic & Content Standards (Common Core/National)	CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.7 Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person's life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment.
7. Learning Objective(s)	Using Night, a letter from an American Solider and a short video, students will analyze three different accounts of the liberation of Nazi Concentration camps by completing a compare and contrast worksheet and a classroom discussion.
8. Academic Language demands (vocabulary, function, syntax, discourse)	Discourse:  Watch the video, and read both texts. Fill out comparison chart as you go. Share with partner and class what you wrote. Language Function: Students will explain how the video and text made them feel and the POV. Syntax: Students will fill in a teacher created chart and exit ticket. Vocab: Holocaust, Liberation, Buchenwald, Dachau, Concentration Camp, Pacific Theatre and T.B. (tuberculosis).

9. Assessment

Formal Assessment: Students will be graded on how complete their chart is filled out. This assignment will be worth 30 points. This will show they have an understanding of the different perspectives presented and how they are different or similar. Informal Assessment: Student participation in the discussion and completion of the exit ticket will show me who is mastering the concepts and who are struggling and might need further assistance. **Attach** all assessment tools for this lesson

10. Lesson Connections

Prior Knowledge: Students have been reading Night as a part of a Non-fiction Biography unit. They are assigned chapters each night and the assigned chapters are discussion each day in class. Students know what POV is, the historical background of Night, and how to compare and contrast different mediums. Future Knowledge: Students will use all prior knowledge to write a short biography of how learning about the Holocaust has impacted their lives and why it is important to learn about. This assignment will be their final assessment and will take a week to complete.  Research-Based Instruction: “Things that create an emotional reaction will be better remembered.” (Willingham, 2009) I chose this quote from Willingham’s book because I think the best way for students to remember any type of content is for them to interact with it in a personal and emotional way. For them to look beyond the words on a page to the real person behind those words and to understand the emotion behind it. It would be a disservice and extremely disrespectful to teach the subject of the Holocaust without talking about emotion, which is why I am spending an entire day having them look at how the events of the Holocaust specifically its liberation emotionally impact them. This will also play a key role in their biography because hopefully they have had something in the course of this unit that emotionally impacted them and they will write about that experience in their biography.

11. Instructional Strategies/Learning Tasks to Support Learning
Learning Tasks and Strategies Sequenced Instruction
Teacher’s Role 1) Write the Objective on the board in short form. “ Analyze three different accounts of the liberation of Nazi Concentrations”. 2) Have students share a short summary of the last three chapters of Elie Wiesel’s Night. 3) Let students know we are going to be watching a video and if they need to leave the room during it they can. Then play the Band of Brothers clip. 4) Have students quickly write down their first thoughts in the comparison chart. 5) Hand out a printed copy of Harold Porter’s letter to each student and have them read it individually. 6) Have students quickly write down their first thoughts in the comparison chart. 7) Have students next read the last chapter of Night pg. 113-115 8) Have students quickly write down their first thoughts in the comparison chart. 9) Have students share with their table partner what they thought of the different accounts 10) Facilitate a whole class discussion on the different accounts. Focusing on how they affect us differently and the POV. 11) Have students fill out a sticky-note exit ticket answering the three questions from the PowerPoint.	Students’ Role 1) Students should read the objective and write it in their own words in their classroom notebooks. 2) Students should have read the last three chapters of Night for homework and can volunteer to summarize what was read. 3) Students will be respectful and quiet during the video and can leave if it gets too graphic or upsetting. 4) Students should write their first thoughts on the video and how it made them feel on the chart. 5) Students should read the letter and think about how it compares to the video. 6) Students should write their first thoughts on the video and how it made them feel on the chart. 7) Students should read the last chapter and think about how it compares to the video and letter. 8) Students should write their first thoughts on the video and how it made them feel on the chart. 9) Students should share with their table partner what they thought of the different accounts and how they affected them emotionally. 10) Students can volunteer to share what they felt watching the video, and reading both the letter and Night 11) Students should answer the questions on their exit ticket and stick it to the door on their way out of class.
Student Voice to Gather Students will keep track of learning targets in classroom journal to help them keep track of prior learning and what skills they master over the unit. At the end of each week, students will reflect on their understanding of the concepts and turn it into me. This will help me to understand their mastery and if the pace needs to be slowed the next week or a concept needs to be reviewed.

12. Differentiated Instruction

Plan Gifted: Gifted students are encouraged to include more detail in their analysis and can analyze a longer soldier account of the liberation if requested. 504: Student A-B will receive extra time to complete the assignment and will be given priority seating. Student C has severe ADHD and can pace in the back if they need to move around. IEP:  Student D-E have a para-educator to help them write their responses and are given extra time on assignments. Struggling Readers/ ELL students: These students can have their table-partner help them analyze the text and if needed be given the Porter letter in English and their first language. Universal Design: The two texts used and the video allows this lesson to connect with many different learners and focuses on each student experience with the text so there isn’t a “right” answer.

13. Resources and Materials

Plan Teacher Materials- Teacher Computer, Copy of Night, whiteboard, copy of Porter Letter, parent permission slips, PowerPoint and Sticky-Notes.   Student Materials- Journals, Pencil/Pen, Copy of Night. Resources- Research: Willingham, Daniel T. (2009). Why Don't Students Like School? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.  Video: Ambrose. S and Orloff. J (Writers) & Frankel. D. (Director). (2001). Why We Fight [Television Series Episode]. In S. Spielberg (Producer), Band of Brothers. USA: HBO. Letter: Onion, R. (2014, May 02). “It Is Difficult to Know How to Begin”: A U.S. Soldier Writes Home From Dachau. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2014/05/02/holocaust_liberation_letter_from_american_soldier_at_dachau.html

14. Management and Safety Issues

Plan Emotional: This lesson could be very emotional for some students because of the sensitive content. While each student will need to read Night and the letter, they can leave the room for the video and if they need to step away for longer they can. All discussion topics and responses will be appropriate and respectful or the student will lose all points on the assignment. Behavioral: Students will be respectful during all part of this activity, because of the nature of this lesson students will receive one warning before they are removed from class and sent to the administration.

15. Parent & Community Connections

Plan Parent: Parents will need to approve the Band of Brothers clip a week prior to the showing of the video. If video approval is not given another video of camp liberation will be submitted for approval. Community: Invite any WWII veterans or Holocaust survivors in the community to come in and speak about their experience.

Name:                                                                                                              Date:

Complete the compare and contrast chart below in your own words. Use details and complete sentence.

	Describe what happened?	How did it make you feel?	What did is focus on and what did it leave out?
Why We Fight clip
Harold Porters Letter Home
Night by Elie Wisel

 Harold's Letter

7 May 1945

Dear Mother and Father,

You have, by this time, received a letter mentioning that I am quartered in the concentration camp at Dachau. It is still undecided whether we will be permitted to describe the conditions here, but I'm writing this now to tell you a little, and will mail it later when we are told we can. 

It is difficult to know how to begin. By this time I have recovered from my first emotional shock and am able to write without seeming like a hysterical gibbering idiot. Yet, I know you will hesitate to believe me no matter how objective and focused I try to be. I even find myself trying to deny what I am looking at with my own eyes. Certainly, what I have seen in the past few days will affect my personality for the rest of my life. 

We knew a day or two before we moved that we were going to operate in Dachau, and that it was the location of one of the most notorious concentration camps, but while we expected things to be grizzly [sic], I'm sure none of us knew what was coming. It is easy to read about atrocities, but they must be seen before they can be believed. To think that I once scoffed at Valtin's book Out of the Night as being preposterous! I've seen worse sights than he described. 

The trip south from Göttingen was pleasant enough. We passed through Donauworth and Aichach and as we entered Dachau, the country, with the cottages, rivers, country estates and Alps in the distance, was almost like a tourist resort. But as we came to the center of the city, we met a train with a wrecked engine - about fifty cars long. Every car was loaded with bodies. There must have been thousands of them - all obviously starved to death. This was a shock of the first order, and the odor can best be immagined [sic]. But neither the sight nor the odor were anything when compared with what we were still to see. 

Marc Coyle reached the camp two days before I did and was a guard so as soon as I got there I looked him up and he took me to the crematory. Dead SS troopers were scattered around the grounds, but when we reached the furnace house we came upon a huge stack of corpses piled up like kindling, all nude so that their clothes wouldn't be wasted by the burning. There were furnaces for burning six bodies at once, and on each side of them was a room twenty feet square crammed to the ceiling with more bodies - one big stinking rotten mess. Their faces purple, their eyes popping, and with a hideous grin on each one. They were nothing but bones & skins. Coyle had assisted at ten autopsies the day before (wearing a gas mask) on ten bodies selected at random. Eight of them had advanced T.B., all had typhus and extreme malnutrition symptoms. There were both women and children in the stack in addition to the men. 

While we were inspecting the place, freed prisoners drove up with wagon loads of corpses removed from the compound proper. Watching the unloading was horrible. The bodies squooshed and gurgled as they hit the pile and the odor could almost be seen. 

Behind the furnaces was the execution chamber, a windowless cell twenty feet square with gas nozzles every few feet across the ceiling. Outside, in addition to a huge mound of charred bone fragments, were the carefully sorted and stacked clothes of the victims - which obviously numbered in the thousands. Although I stood there looking at it, I couldn't believe it. The realness of the whole mess is just gradually dawning on me, and I doubt if it ever will on you. 

            There is a rumor circulating which says that the war is over. It probably is - as much as it will ever be. We've all been expecting the end for several days, but were not too excited about it because we know that it does not mean too much as far as our immediate situation is concerned. There was no celebration - it's difficult to celebrate anything with the morbid state we're in. 

The Pacific theater will not come immediately for this unit; we have around 36,000 potential and eventual patients here. The end of the work for everyone else is going to be just the beginning for us. 

Today was a scorching hot day after several raining cold ones. The result of the heat on the corpses is impossible to describe, and the situation will probably get worse because their disposal will certainly take time. 

My arm is sore from a typhus shot so I'm ending here for the present. More will follow later. I have lots to write about now. 

Love, Harold.

Edgar Allan Poe

As an English teacher, what I am about to say might be considered sacrilege but I promised to always be truthful in these post. I have never gotten the works of Edgar Allan Poe; hear me out. I appreciate his utterly unique darker perspective on the human experience, his ability to terrify and awe his audience in so few pages is remarkable and I was always jealous of his ability to create such vivid and detailed settings and characters in a few lines, but I just dont get his stories.
I tried ridiculously hard in high school and then in college to fall in love with the brilliant mind behind The Fall of the House of Usher and Ligeia but when I read these stories I would just get confused by the poetry of his words and then after the fifth time through I would get sad realizing that Roderick buried his sister alive and that Ligeia comes back from the dead to kill the narrators wife. I always left the story feeling like the sun had been sucked out of the sky. Everything about Poe made me feel for this man who had such a dark and depressing look on life. In every picture I have seen of him he looks like he has no reason to live and I just want to give the poor guy a hug.
I wish my stubborn optimism didn't get in the way of me enjoying the great works of this brilliant poet. I wish I could just sit in a chair reading Poe until the sunset and the stars came out, I wish I could understand the deeper message without googling it, and I wish I could marvel at his stories without getting depressed but I think I am cursed to never be able to blindly fall in love with the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

The Absolutely True Dairy of a Part-Time Indian

I was really excited to finally read this book because I had heard so much praise about the story and the unique narrative style. I was not disappointed in the slightest! Sherman Alexie does an incredible job of portraying the life of a young boy living on a Washington Indian Reservation with a realism that I have yet to experience in a book that wasn't completely biographical. I think the reason why this story has gotten so much praise from the literary community and beyond is that of the narrative style. Alexie doesn't hold back in the slightest! He talks about real issues faced by Native Americans on reservations across the country, poverty, alcoholism, eating disorders, abuse. Yet he also talks about the joys of childhood, sports, friends, family. There is no sugarcoating, censoring or beating around the metaphorical bush which is refreshing and entertaining. The addition of the artwork makes you feel like your reading Junior's own words and not that of a grown man.

As a teacher, I would love to bring this book into a classroom because you can do so much with it. You can talk about the history of Native treatment in America, racism, abuse of all kinds (substance, physical). The story is so relatable to people all across the country but especially for students from Washington, and even more for the students who are growing up on or around the Spokane Reservation.

I admit I skimmed most of this book for time sake and will definitely be returning to it to read deeper because I know I have a lot to learn about Native American culture and struggles. I also admit I haven't explored many diverse authors and I think I could learn a lot from reading from authors of all different races, religions, backgrounds, and experiences.

I will also be looking into some of Alexie's other works because I really enjoy his unfiltered style.

Readicide- How schools are killing reading.

As a lover of books and an English education minor, it breaks my heart that today's students are not falling in love with reading, instead they are becoming students that avoid reading at all cost but it also doesn’t surprise me. Sadly my college experience is slowly choking my love of reading while teaching me how to save reading in our schools.  

In my English class alone this week I have two reading responses due, on top of reading for a mini-lesson presentation due in two weeks, reading so I can plan for a unit I have to create and reading for a book talk I have to present in a week. I also have to read 2-3 chapters a week for my education class. All this reading is supposed to be done in between classes, student teaching, work, sleep; other non-reading based homework, a social life, and daily life (eating, driving, exercise). I am a moderately fast reading but even I can’t fit all that into the day and still maintain a healthy balance. 

I think the biggest contributor to readicide is time. We either spend too much time reading for analysis and meaning or not enough time because of test preparation. 

I absolutely love getting “caught in the flow” of reading. I could be so absorbed in a book that I forget to eat or move for hours at a time. Yet I think the last time I read a book for pleasure was summer before I came to college, over four years ago! Between all the reading I have to do for school, work, and student teaching the last thing I want to do is pick up a book, which is really sad because I am missing out on a lot of amazing stories. 

As a teacher, I know I need to teach my students how to analyze text, how to annotate a document and how to discern meaning from an author. However, I don’t think J.K Rowling wrote Harry Potter wanting it to be analyzed for purpose and meaning. I don’t think she made Harry’s eyes green like his moms because of some deep philosophical purpose, I think they are green because J.K Rowling liked the color over brown or blue eyes. I think authors write because they want to tell a story, and in our over-teaching of analysis and obsession with standardized tests, we no longer let students read for the simple joy of reading a good story. 

However, in order for that to happen, we need to give students time to read. I could watch all 8 Harry Potter movies in less time then it would take to read one of the books. Knowing that how can I expect a student to read the book over watching the movie if I and my fellow teachers give so much homework a night that they have less than 30 minutes every day to relax? I have to remember that reading is only enjoyable when it can be done stress-free and peacefully. 

We need to bring back silent reading and encourage kids to just read with no assignment, paper or sticky-note required.