Blog #10 - My Final ECUR 498 Blog!

For my tenth and final blog(!) there are two things I want to cover. First of all, I wanted to comment on the last chapter of the Gallagher textbook. The part I was most pleased with was his section on the dangers of overteaching a novel. Thank god he finally added that! I spent a lot of time feeling overwhelmed with the amount of information he provided while reading the textbook. Sometimes I feel that overanalyzing text can lead to a complete loss of meaning, so I'm glad he acknowledged that overteaching can be a detrimental to the learning process. His mention of that aspect added the finishing touch to Deeper Reading. I also liked how he provided an example of an article at the end and went through it with the reader as though he was using it in a class. I'll definitely check out more of Gallagher's writing in the future.

Secondly, I wanted to post a list my uncle sent me last week. He's been a teacher for twenty-four years now and he's given me some useful advice since I began the Education program. Sometimes I worry about whether or not I chose the right path with teaching, but I try and focus on the positive experiences I've had thus far. Leanne, I share some of your feelings of doubt, but no matter what happens once we graduate, I know this will have been a wonderful experience. I'm not sure where this list came from, but I found it was helpful in reminding me that even though there will inevitably be those scary, nerve-wracking, difficult days, there will be many rewarding aspects of being a teacher. Enjoy!

Top Seven Reasons To Become A Teacher

Teaching is more than just a job. It's a calling. It's an ever-surprising mix of gruelling hard work and ecstatic successes, both big and small. The most effective teachers are in it for more than just a paycheck. They keep their energy levels up by focusing on why they got into teaching in the first place. Here are the top seven reasons you should join the ranks and find a classroom of your own.

1. The Energizing Environment
It's virtually impossible to be bored or stagnant with a job as challenging as teaching. Your brain is constantly engaged in creative ways as you work to solve a multitude of daily problems that you've never faced before. Teachers are lifelong learners who relish the chance to grow and evolve. Moreover, the innocent enthusiasm of your students will keep you young as they remind you to smile through even the most frustrating moments.
2. The Schedule
Anybody who enters teaching solely for a breezy schedule or carefree lifestyle will be immediately disappointed. Still, there are some benefits to working at a school. For one thing, if your children attend school in the same district, you will all have the same days off. Also, your will have approximately two months off per year for summer vacation. Or if you work in a year-round district, the vacation will spread throughout the year. Either way, it's more than the two weeks paid vacation given in most corporate jobs.
3. Your Personality And Humor
The greatest asset you bring to the classroom each day is your own unique personality. Sometimes in cubicle life, there's a need to blend in and tone down your personality. However teachers absolutely must use their individual gifts to inspire, lead, and motivate their students. And when the job gets tough, sometimes it's only your sense of humor that can keep you moving forward with any sanity.
4. Job Security
The world will always need teachers. If you are willing to work hard in any type of environment, you'll find that you can always get work - even as a brand new teacher. Learn your trade, earn your credential, become tenured, and you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you have a job you can count on for decades to come.
5. Intangible Rewards
Most teachers find themselves encouraged and uplifted by the little joys that accompany working with children. You'll cherish the funny things they say, the silly things they do, the questions they ask, and the stories they write. I have a box of keepsakes that students have given me through the years - birthday cards, drawings, and small tokens of their affection. The hugs, smiles, and laughter will keep you going and remind you of why you became a teacher in the first place.
6. Inspiring Students
Each day when you go in front of your students, you never know what you will say or do that will leave a lasting impression on your students. We can all remember something positive (or negative) that one of our elementary school teachers said to us or the class - something that stuck in our minds and informed our viewpoints for all these years. When your bring the full force of your personality and expertise to the classroom, you can't help but inspire your students and mold their young, impressionable minds. This is a sacred trust we are given as teachers, and definitely one of the benefits of the job.
7. Giving Back To The Community
The majority of teachers enter the education profession because they want to make a difference in the world and their communities. This is a noble and valiant purpose that you should always keep in the forefront of your mind. No matter the challenges you face in the classroom, your work truly does have positive ramifications for your students, their families, and the future. Give your best to each student and watch them grow. This is greatest gift of all.

Blog #9 - Deeper Reading Ch. 9, Critical Encounters Ch. 9

Can it be November 13th already? When I looked at this week's readings I couldn't believe the textbooks were nearly finished. Just because the textbooks are finished, however, does not mean the legacy of Gallagher and Appleman will not live on in my head! Whereas Appleman's last chapter was more of a summary/conclusion, Gallagher's Chapter 9 gave me a lot to think about. Gallagher's emphasis on becoming familiar with current events reminded me of a story my dad has told me several times (he tends to repeat stories).
When he was in university in the 70s, he recalls a history class where the professor asked the class full of students names of Canadian Members of Parliament. My dad knew the answer to every position the professor named, and he was the only one - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defence, Minister of Finance, and so on. My dad has always emphasized the importance of being informed about the world around us, which is why the sound of CBC radio has never left our garage (the radio hasn't been turned off in 15 years, another one of my dad's favourite stories), the tables, endtables, and bathrooms are scattered with Time, MacLeans, The Economist, and the daily newspaper, and why the sound of Peter Mansbridge's voice feels like home. So how do I pass on my dad's influence to my own kids, and to future students?
Gallagher had many useful tips on how to incorporate real-life situations into a lesson. How many times have each of us gotten spam or junk mail? I'm not sure how I learned, but I'm sure when I was 11 or 12 I clicked on one of those messages with the subject: "Hey!" only to find it was an anonymous sender telling me I won a trip to the Caribbean, not one of my school friends. Teaching students to take what they have learned in an English class and apply it to real life is a lesson that will be invaluable to them in the future.
I especially liked the activity about statistics and lies. I'm not sure what made me this way, but I am naturally skeptical of almost everything around me. I read with caution, I hate reality television (do people really think it isn't staged?), I don't consider anything from an entertainment source to be true, and I usually know a tall tale when I hear one. In a world full of advertising, reality television, bloggers, government-regulated programs, and more, how will future students know how to separate reality and truth from lies and manipulation? Teaching students critical analytical skills is something they will take with them forever. Gallagher's most important line in Chapter 9 (and perhaps the whole book) was about how, ten years down the road, he wants students to remember critical thinking skills rather than the use of symbolism in Lord of the Flies (Gallagher 169).
I absolutely loved Gallagher's exercise on having students collect and analyze newspapers articles. If there is one activity I will take to my future classes, it is this one. I worry about future generations becoming disengaged with the world around them, and I think newspapers are the perfect place for students to begin developing a lifelong appreciation for reading and learning. Even to have students read an article on the internet on a news website would be useful. I often wonder about the future of newspapers with the rise of the internet. I wonder what Gallagher would have to say about the rise of social media and technology, given that Deeper Reading was written in 2004.

Blog #8 - Lest We Forget

In light of Remembrance Day weekend and the current discussion around Remembrance Day in schools, I've decided to blog about my thoughts on the topic. I started thinking a lot about it after our discussion in class last week. I then learned that in some schools (in Alberta, I believe) Remembrance Day services are becoming optional for the students. I felt as though a part of me died when I heard this information, for several reasons.
First of all, my initial response was anger, but I decided to think critically about it. However, after having given the topic several days thought and after spending a weekend full of Remembrance Day activities, my opinion has stayed the same. Remembrance Day absolutely needs to be celebrated or made note of in schools, because if schools don't include these services, how will future generations know about what happened in the First and Second World Wars? I realize that the beginning of the First World War was nearly 100 years ago and the beginning of the Second World War was 73 years ago, but there are still veterans alive in our communities. Even if veterans are not alive, many of us have family members who either served and died, or who may have died after the war. My grandfather, three great uncles, and a great auntie served in the Second World War. I didn't know some of them, but my parents and their families did. However, even if I didn't have relatives in either of the World Wars, as the case may be for immigrants, I believe that over one-hundred-million casualties (not to mention the millions of grieving families) deserve half an hour of our time at a service that takes place once a year.
Secondly, Remembrance Day is what we make of it. If those who were not immediately connected to the First or Second World War do not find meaning in commemorating those who died, perhaps they can connect with another conflict that may have affected them. Remembrance Day includes but is not limited to the First and Second World War. If younger generations find more meaning in remembering a war they feel is more relevant to their lives, it is our job as educators to remind students that Rememberance Day is about showing respect for those who have been affected by conflict (which includes every human being, by the way).
I realize that the issue with students attending Remembrance Day services may have to do with religion, and there are a few things I have to say about that. Last year I attended the Remembrance Day service at the U of S, which included prayers from Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, and Aboriginal speakers. This year, I attended the Remembrance Day service at Credit Union Centre, which was mainly Catholic. One one side, I wonder why all services can't include speakers from various religious backgrounds. On the other side, if a service is mainly Catholic, can't those who are not Catholic focus on the larger meaning of the service for one day a year? The purpose of services is to prompt us to reflect, whether we are reflecting on soldiers, sacrifice, the meaning of war, civilian victims, families of victims, or current conflicts. If we cannot attend a service that does not include our personal religion, how will conflict ever end? Weren't some of these wars fought for the purpose of religious tolerance?
Lastly, and what prompted me to write this blog, was an article I read in this week's Sunday Phoenix. The writer urged us to keep the meaning of remembrance alive and raised the question: who will become responsible for making Remembrance Day meaningful for future generations? Near the end, the writer talks about how History is becoming an optional subject in many Canadian schools because Math and Science are more applicable to life after high school. I almost fell off my chair after reading these words. History is, and always has been, my favourite area of study. Learning about history has made me a better person. History makes people more tolerant, it teaches us not to repeat mistakes, and it helps us to consider the future and why society functions the way it does. For instance, if we stopped teaching students about colonization and the history of Aboriginal people in Canada (topics that are heavily pressed in the College of Education, I might add) how would future generations ever understand why Aboriginal populations are oppressed? Why racism exists? What residential schools were? Why many resort to drugs to deal with the hardships of their pasts? Why are there reserves?
I could literally write forever about how angry and upset I was after reading about History becoming a dying subject in high schools, but I'll stop here. I've almost never been so angry after reading something. This weekend has taught me a lot and it has certainly made me think a lot about what I plan to teach my students in the future. I refuse to let future generations forget about what the people of not only our country but of the entire world have gone through to get us where we are today. The writer emphasizes the responsibility that will be placed on future History teachers, because it is ultimately up to them to make History interesting, applicable, and exciting for students to learn. Challenge accepted.

Blog #7 - Deeper Reading 6, 8, Critical Encounters Ch. 8

First of all, I just realized that last week I blogged about Chapter 7 in both texts, when actually, I was supposed to blog about Chapter 6 in Deeper Reading, not Chapter 7. Since I've already blogged a bit about Chapter 7 in the Gallagher text, I will touch on Chapters 6 and 8 this week, and, of course, Chapter 8 in Appleman's.
I wanted to start by mentioning a few thoughts about Gallagher's chapter on collaboration. I was pleased that he acknowledged the fact that group work does not always work successfully, and his analysis of group work with five students was accurate in my high school memory. If a group is too large, some students will hide and may not even mention a word during a collaboration activity. Gallagher's thoughts on three people per group were helpful. With three people, there is no chance for one student not to participate. I think many of us in the Gamma cohort would agree that five to a group is too many! ;)
One group collaboration idea I thought was helpful came from another one of our classes: the 1-3-6 approach. For this approach, students must first come up with two major points individually. Then, students get into groups of three to discuss their individual ideas and decide on two points from the collaboration. After that is complete, students go into groups of six to decide on two main points. I'm a fan of this approach because it forces students to work with people they may not have worked with before, and together students must share and decide.
Another point that I wanted to make about collaboration was that I believe class discussion and group activities are very separate from each other. During class discussions students are listening to many different ideas, whereas in groups, students may be less inclined to work because the teacher is not always supervising, or else there is one student who inevitably leads the activity. I realize that in class discussions there will be students who are reluctant to speak and may be more likely to speak in a small group. However, teachers have the responsibility of controlling class discussion so that the same students are not always speaking. Class discussions are essential, especially in diverse classrooms. Diverse backgrounds within a classroom should be seen as an excellent resource, which is something Appleman discusses in Chapter 8. Imagine the potential of different perspectives! Instead of being intimidated by differences, we should embrace the ways in which diversity can benefit everyone within a classroom. (By the way, I absolutely loved the poem "Oranges," I had never read it before.)
This blog is already getting long, so I wanted to briefly touch on Chapter 8 in the Gallagher text as well. I will try to focus more on Appleman next week! Gallagher's Chapter on leading students to meaningful reflection was extremely beneficial for me. It answered many questions I have always wondered about. Recently I was in a class where students were not pleased with a novel study, and I found myself asking why that was. Making the connection from a novel to real life is the focus students need to appreciate a novel. If students can't find meaningful connections, novels will inevitably mean nothing to them. Another interesting concept I was glad to be reminded of was the fact that young adults may not share the level of appreciation for reading as we do as older adults. Developing a passion or interest for reading is not embedded in all people. As teachers, it will be our responsibility to instill that passion in our students. Once again, Gallagher has provided me with useful concepts to consider before going into teaching. I have to say, though, that sometimes with all of the information we receive in Education through classes and textbooks on "What to do" and "What not to do," I get a little overwhelmed. There have been some approaches I thought were okay in a classroom, only to find out that they are not! Does anyone else ever feel overwhelmed about this?

Blog #6 - Deeper Reading Ch. 7, Critical Encounters Ch. 7

 

When I started reading Chapter 7 in the Critical Encounters text I was reminded of this pin I saw on Pinterest a long time ago. As someone who has taken several English classes over the years, I can relate to the frustration and dread the word "deconstruction" is capable of evoking. I recall long, painful English classes where passages within texts have been mutilated and twisted until every last drop of possible meaning has been squeezed out (cough* cough* notice the use of metaphor! cough*). There have also been times (and I'm sure everyone can relate) where I've wanted to blurt out something along the lines of whoever created the above image had in mind: "Maybe the curtains were just fucking blue!"
Jokes aside, I realize that deconstruction is an important aspect of reading. Gallagher's previous chapter on "Second Draft Reading" falls under the same category of deconstruction. When we deconstruct text, we realize things we may not have realized before. Everyone enjoys watching movies a second time and discovering hints that lead to an epic ending, so why is deconstructing text in a classroom sometimes like pulling teeth? Sometimes we are surprised at what we learn, and in the end we are left with richer understandings.
Teachers need to make sure that students understand the importance of deconstruction. Text is never literal, and sometimes books and novels can be interepreted differently depending on what is happening within a global context when the text is read. A text written fifty years ago may have relevance in 2012 if the contect can be compared or related to something that is happening in current society. Deconstruction can be fun, and many times individuals become aware of meanings they never would have considered had they not attempted to deconstruct the text. However, there is a fine line between thoughtful analysis and disrespectful manipulation of the author's intentions. We've all had an English class where that one student tries to analyze a segment of text while everyone is rolling their eyes and the professor must politely reply with "I've never heard that before, but that's an interesting idea." (I'm pretty sure that most of the time these students are just fishing for bonus points - "Look how deep I am!")
On the reverse side, it is extremely important to let students know that text may have several interpretations and that there is never one correct meaning. There were times in my high school career where teachers brushed aside a student's analysis because it wasn't what the teacher had written on his/her paper as being correct. Deconstruction is an important lesson in encouraging students to explore their creative sides, and they should be taught that whatever interpretation came to their mind cannot be wrong, because it is what first came to their minds. (Unless, of course, the analysis is merely an attempt to impress the teacher and his or her peers!)
Deconstruction is a tricky topic, and I think that one of the greatest challenges teachers face is finding a balance between leaving some aspects to the imagination and having students understand that there is always more than one meaning to everything. Lastly, I believe that teaching the metaphor is also one of the most useful, important lessons a student can learn. Metaphors make life richer, and will make deconstruction a whole lot easier. This week's readings go hand in hand.

Blog #5 - Critical Encounters Ch. 6

Chapter 6 in Critical Encounters this week instantly had me thinking about an ELA 20 class I attended this week at Nutana. Chapter 6 has to do with choosing literature that accommodates to the diversity of students within classrooms. The ELA 20 class had just completed reading Keeper'n Me, a novel written by an Aborignal author about the many challenges during the life of an Aboriginal boy. I haven't read the book myself, but from the class dicussion and from the information on the back of the novel I gathered that the plot begins with the main character at a young age after he is sent to a residential school. The boy was then sent to live with a White foster family, and as he got older he began to lead a dangerous lifestyle and eventually landed himself in jail. While in jail, his original Aboriginal family contacted him and the rest of the novel has to do with the main character's struggle to find his identity after everything he had been through.
The classroom I sat in on had eleven students, seven of whom were Aboriginal and four of whom were White. They had just completed the novel and were going over questions with a substitute teacher when I found out that their reaction to the novel was mostly negative. When asked if the book impacted them, many replied with "No." When the teacher tried to squeeze an answer out of them, they hardly gave in, and at least four of them replied with "It was so boring," "It put me to sleep," or "It was a waste of time." Two Aborignal girls, however, said they enjoyed the novel and felt a connection with it because they were Aboriginal themselves and could relate to what the author went through. When the teaher asked the White students if they thought they would feel differently about the novel if they were Aboriginal, two of them replied with "No. It would still be boring."
As I was sitting there, I was wondering why on earth they had no reaction to the novel, because it was clear they had read it. Another one of the Aboriginal students said he enjoyed the novel because he could really relate to certain parts of it. In general, I would say the White students had a more negative reaction to the book.
As I was sitting there taking all of this in, I was trying to think of reasons some of the students may not have liked the book. Was it because they had no background information or framing beforehand? Or was it because they truly couldn't relate to it? A person is allowed to dislike a book, but I feel as though a lot of the students didn't even try to identify with it. It was evident that the theme of "identity" was strong throughout the book, and I thought perhaps if more work had been done around the theme, students would have been able to relate to the novel more effectively.
Another example of when I realized the importance of framing, not only for text but for any activity, was when a treaty educator spoke to the Grade 9 class at Nutana about the history of treaties. I spoke with the speaker after the presentation, and he told me about an experience with one of his previous groups at another high school that week. He said he spent the hour talking about treaties, and at the end of the hour, a Black African student put up his hand and said, "Who is an Aboriginal person?" The treaty educator said he was embarrassed that he had taken for granted that everyone had previous knowledge of the subject.
What, then, can we do to make every student feel comfortable in a classroom? I feel as though the proper amount of framing combined with a variety post-colonial texts that supplement each other are extremely important to include when teaching an English class. Once students are given more than one perspective they seem to start to understand concepts more effectively.

Blog #4 - Deeper Reading Ch. 5, Critical Encounters Ch. 5

I've decided to start this week's blog with the Appleman text because my last three have started with discussing Gallager. The issue of gender equality has always been of interest and importance to me, and that interest and importance has only been made stronger by taking university classes that have enhanced my knowledge of the subject. Appleman raises important points on why gender should be one of the lenses through which students interpet text, especially because the term "feminism" has come to be seen as something negative by current generations. It is important for students to learn that "feminism" isn't about masculine female activists who don't shave their armpits. Both males and females need to understand that feminist attitudes can be as simple as supporting equal work place rights and paid maternity leaves. And after all, don't men (and women) want this for their partners, sisters, mothers, and daughters? The term "feminism" needs to be revamped in a way that doesn't make today's teenagers think of bra burners in the 1960s and has them questioning things like why music videos so often include images of only beautiful, scantily-clad women.
My only problem with Appleman's text was the exercise on rewriting lines from novels such as The Great Gatsby from a feminist's point of view. I think an exercise like this may be too strong, and may reinforce the attitude about stereotypical feminism. If feminism is portrayed too strongly, students will start having an adverse attitude towards it - males may become defensive, and females are reluctant to express their feelings.
That being said, I do think Appleman suggests some positive activities, such as naming cultural artifacts and female figures and having students write contrasting statements about traditional and feminist perspectives. I think with the proper framing, feminism can be constructed in a way that can relate to everyone, both male and female. I also think that using terms like "gender equality," "gender perspectives," "gender construction," etc. may elicit more positive reactions from students. Sometimes I wish Appleman would provide some more concrete classroom examples of lesson ideas like Gallagher does, because I think she raises important points.
Gallagher was intruiging once again, and this week I particularly enjoyed the pie chart activity on responsibility when doing a novel study. My only problem, like I said in one of the last blogs, was that a lot of his concepts and ideas would work in an ideal classroom, something that none of us will likely ever experience in our 30-plus years of teaching. Sometimes I'm not sure if he remembers that classes are once a day, for an hour, and last half a year. Second draft reading is undoubtedly beneficial for understanding text, but in reality, time constraints and student attention span won't allow us to follow through. My pre-internship is at Nutana, and the school has a four quarter program instead of two terms. Four quarters allow for more intensive class time, so perhaps second draft reading would be more advantageous in some systems as opposed to others.

Blog #3 - Deeper Reading Ch. 4, Critical Encounters Ch. 4

First of all, I wanted to say that I'm enjoying Gallagher's use of metaphors at the beginning of each chapter. The metaphors are a great way to engage a reader right off the bat. He sure knows his reading!
The metaphor where Gallagher compares driving to work and not remembering the trip fit perfectly with how I feel with reading at times (along with probably everyone else). I've experienced both, and both scenarios are very comparable. As a History Major, there have been many times where I've read a 30-page article and, when asked to summarize the article the following day in class, my mind has gone completely blank and I think to myself, "I did read that article, right?" I found Gallagher's tips on how to concentrate on reading helpful, especially the tip about scheduling a block of time that is dedicated to reading. Concentrating on reading isn't always an easy task, especially when life's stresses have a way of creeping into one's mind.
My favourite part about Chapter 4 in the Deeper Reading text was the segment on how it's perfectly acceptable to be confused with a text. If only someone had told me that while we read Shakespeare in high school! English was my best subject all throughout high school, but when we hit Shakespeare I felt like there was something wrong with me. Our class would read a passage together, one of my classmates or the teacher would summarize the passage and we would move on, often leaving me panicked, confused, and feeling like a complete idiot. I think it's important to let students know that everyone, even the brightest students and teachers themselves, have trouble comprehending parts of texts at time. I liked Gallagher's strategies to break down confusion and help students comprehend text, but I feel as though confusion is so common that a course would suffer major content loss if the class always went over the parts that were not understood. What may have been helpful was if Gallagher's provided some insight on how long to take with students, or how to deal with different reading levels in a classroom.
Appleman's text was much more interesting this week. I felt as though it was an extension of the segments on providing background information before reading. Sometimes, when doing the readings, I wonder how much emphasis should be placed on which areas. Students are not supposed to spend too much time relating text to themselves in order to avoid too much introspection and not enough critical thinking about the text. However, I gathered that Appleman meant by examining one's social class, an individual will better relate to a text. I suppose self-reflection and reading require a certain kind of balance.

Blog #2 - Deeper Reading Ch. 2 &3, Critical Encounters Ch. 3

For me, the readings for this week had the opposite effect of the readings from last week. Last week I found chapter one in Deeper Reading to be interesting but simple, and the readings in Critical Encounters to be intriguing. This week, however, I was FAR more captivated by chapters two and three in Deeper Reading than I was with chapter three of Critical Encounters. In fact, I found the Critical Encounters reading to be almost cryptic, to a point where it was hard to continue reading. Therefore, I will spend most of my time talking about Deeper Reading. The texts supplemented each other, but Gallagher made the subject matter entertaining while Appleman put me to sleep (literally, I fell asleep and woke up with the book beside me the other night).
By the way, is Kelly Gallagher a genius or what? After reading almost every section a lightbulb went off in my head. The fact that some individuals aren't engaged with certain books because their background knowledge of the content is minimal seems simple and obvious, yet this concept is something I've never before considered. I can recall times in my high school English classes where I was told to read a book with no explanation and, admittedly, the book was hard to get through. When Gallagher talked about how his daughter was uninterested in The Grapes of Wrath, I (shamefully) had the same experience. Actually, I am ashamed to say that to this day I've never read it. I would absolutely love to read it now, especially because I have more background knowledge on the subject matter. The assignment was an independent novel study and I chose The Grapes of Wrath but changed my book after reading up to the second chapter. I had no prior knowledge of the content of the book and had trouble becoming immersed.
There were a few points of Gallagher's that I really enjoyed. First was the point that collaboration helps students to understand text on more levels than if a student were to read a text on their own. Even the brightest students may miss something other students have found, which is why input from several people is beneficial for everyone.
Secondly, I like how Gallagher emphasized the importance of "warming up" before getting into a lesson. Teenagers have a lot of things on their minds, and I recognize that diving into silent reading or discussing the next chapter in a novel is not the most effective way to encourage people to participate right off the bat.
Another valuable point Gallagher made was that teachers must change their class structure from time to time, otherwise classes become predictable and in turn they are not stimulating for the students. His suggestions for different strategies to start classes were useful.
I also really enjoyed the layout of Gallagher's concepts. His points were easy to understand, and I especially liked the way he started out by including a short story in the textbook to work with. I found  his suggestions for teaching extremely helpful and I'm sure they will benefit me if I am ever to teach literature in the future (fingers crossed)!
The only two complaints I have are that:
1. Many of Gallagher's suggestions are terrific, but for them to be executed successfully, a classroom would have to be full of highly stimulated, highly engaged students. In a perfect world, his concepts are just that - perfect, but students are not always as willing to participate as Gallagher makes them sound. Which leads me to my second point...
2. He makes the point that reading a text twice is highly beneficial, but I also find this highly unlikely. Class time is limited, and although reading a text twice is ideal, it is not realistic. Students' attention spans only go so far.

Blog #1 - Deeper Reading Ch. 1, Critical Encounters Ch. 1 & 2

For my first ever ECUR 498 blog, I am going to discuss my thoughts about Chapter 1 in the Deeper Reading Text and Chapters 1 and 2 in the Critical Encounters text.
First I read "Why Reading is like Baseball" in Deeper Reading. Kelly Gallagher certainly had some interesting thoughts about learning baseball strategy as a metaphor for learning deeper meanings in literature. On the surface, the game of baseball is easy to understand, similar to reading. Any person can watch baseball or read a book. However, not everyone understands the intricate strategies used in baseball or the metaphorical language used in literature. Using a metaphor was a clever way to start off a textbook that will ultimately deal with teaching students to think metaphorically about the literature they are exposed to. Deeper Reading provided a clean-cut introduction to why it is important for students to dig deep into text to discover the layers of meaning. Students will be more enriched by literature if they understand that interpretations can vary.
In Critical Encounters, the other textbook written by Deborah Appleman, she essentially discussed the same thing as Kelly Gallagher but in more depth. Although I believe that both Appleman and Gallagher raise important points about why it is important for youth to be able to deconstruct literature, I do not think this is as "radical" a thought as they believe it to be. At my high school, our ELA teachers strongly encouraged my classmates and I to look at literature through different lenses. We microscopically examined readings until there was nothing left to pick apart. There were few (if any) sections of literature assignments where we did not discuss race, class, gender, or other social issues. In fact, it was heavily reinforced that looking at literature through different lenses was the proper way to read literature. Perhaps my school was fortunate to have progressive ELA teachers.
After I completed the readings I checked to see what year these textbooks were from, and found that Critical Encounters was published in 2009 and Deeper Reading in 2004. I graduated from high school in 2007 and teaching literary theory was already in full force. I actually had to read over the section about literary theory in Critical Encounters more than once to make sure that I wasn't missing some kind of other meaning of the term because it was a concept I was already so familiar with coming out of high school. My classmates and I were encouraged to develop our own interpretations of text.
Although I don't necessarily agree that literary theory is as revolutionary as the textbooks would have us believe, I absolutely agree that teaching literary theory is important. Where I really found importance in Chapter 1 of Deeper Reading was the section where Gallagher discussed the fact that he noticed students having more trouble understanding simple texts such as newspaper and magazine articles, speeches and textbook passages. Anyone can read a few paragraphs in a newspaper or textbook, but few people truly grasp what they are reading. This is a trend I can see happening among younger people, although I'm not sure why. Perhaps I'll find out if I am ever hired as an ELA teacher! I fully intend on continuing the legacy of my high school ELA teachers by teaching students that literature, not unlike art, music, and other facets of life can have endless interpretations and there is often more than one truth.