Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Post Foki #bookhenge

I remember my first foray into the world of young adult literature as if it was yesterday. After a full year of begging my mother to let me read Judy Blume’s Are you There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, she finally caved. It was the summer before I was to enter junior high, and I suppose my mother knew I would not spend the summer lounging with the likes of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, so in what might have been an effort to either foster my love of reading or to give her some peace, Mom agreed to take me to the library to check out the book. I read it voraciously, savoring every word. This was a novel to which I could connect. Nearly thirty years later, I find that this genre still appeals to me. Some of my favorite young adult novels include Star Girl and Speak, but I must admit I also love The Giver.
I had been an avid reader up until high school. I am not entirely sure why reading had less appeal to me in my high school years. It may have had something to do with the new found freedoms, friends, and boys, but I suspect that it had more to do with the reading selections offered in my high school English courses. I went to high school in the early eighties when education was uber-conservative, so naturally, the literature followed suit. I understand that teachers have to teach canonical literature, but interspersing it with novels that teens can relate to will help teach students how to be engaged, active readers.  Once students learn this skill, they will be able to engage with any text. Furthermore, incorporating modern pedagogical practices that enhance global learning through technology helps to engage students and broaden the connections they make to literature.
Now, after completing my ALP, I'm absolutely sure that incorporating YA Lit in the English classroom can help students understand and possibly even appreciate the classics.
Professional Self
I am very new to teaching; in fact, this is only my third semester teaching developmental English at Wake Technical Community College, although I am certified in secondary English education. Currently, I do not teach any literature at all. My courses focus on grammar and writing. My students do have to read an essay on each rhetorical mode they are about to compose in, so I try to use what I have learned in other reading and writing courses when choosing an appropriate essay. Once I have completed my MEd, and taken two additional English courses, my plan is to teach two freshman composition courses and two developmental courses. I am filing away my learning in the Med program to use in the future when I teach more literature-based courses.
Initially, I thought the material in ECI 521 would not benefit me until I began teaching more lit-centric courses; however, I have been able to share so much about YAL with my middle school-aged daughter. We have shared books and discussed them; of course, she still requires some serious prodding, but I knew she was interested in what I had to say when she came home one afternoon and shared news of Jordan Sonnenblick's visit to her school.
Literate Self
My literate self has had the opportunity to bloom over many years. I think the most interesting aspect of my literate self is the way I perceive and connect to literature that I read in high school and college and have read again as an adult. It’s fascinating to reflect on how I felt reading it as a young adult and how I feel reading it now. Because of my life experiences, I connect to literature differently now than I did then. Not a groundbreaking observation, of course, but something I enjoy. I love reading everything from Shakespeare and Swift to Walter Dean Meyers.
My literate self has grown so much through my exposure to YAL. I view the genre in a whole new way. When I began this course, I undervalued contemporary YAL, but now I see its importance and understand how it can fit quite nicely into traditional English curriculum.

 Virtual Self
My virtual self was a little slower to develop since I am not a digital native. I was definitely technologically challenged for quite some time. In my first career as a magazine editor, I witnessed profound changes in technology. For example, part of my job was directing beauty and fashion photo shoots, and for years, I resisted new technology—shooting digitally, that is. Sure, digital cameras existed, but initially their film quality was not as good as actual processed film. I spent so much time waiting for Polaroids (sixty seconds can seem like an eternity) and studying endless rolls of film through my Lupe on my light box that I can hardly believe it is now possible to shoot, edit, and send hi-res images without ever leaving the set. I was likely one of the last editors in the Tri-state area onboard with digital photography, but when I finally embraced the technology, I learned my reservations were unwarranted, and my job was a whole lot easier. This experience taught me never to be afraid of new technology.
I have learned a great deal about educational technology beginning in Dr. Chris Anson’s Literacy in the US class right here at NC State. Dr. Anson introduced me to wikis, blogs, and social networking. Again, at first I was hesitant, but I opened my mind to the possibilities these tools offered. Now, every time I learn a new technology, I am eager to employ it in own my classroom if it’s a good fit. I have already used wallwisher—thanks Dr. Crissman—to have my students share one thing they know about writing. Not only were students able to learn from their peers’ writing experiences, but they were able to enhance their digital literacy as well, always a bonus.   
Wow... I really thought I was pretty comfortable with technology, but I have learned so much this semester and used so many new tools that I now realize there is so much more to learn.
Goals:
1. Professional Self:  I want to teach my students to be critical thinkers. Although I do not have the opportunity to teach literature at this time, I want to learn how to best nurture the active readers in them. I want to teach them how to make connections to what they read on both personal and broader levels.
I have scaffolded the limited reading my students do as part of their coursework, mostly through reader response, schema, and critical literacy. Many of the essays I choose have a multicultural theme since my class is so diverse, and this type of essay tends to appeal to most students and gets them interested in the reading. I hope I have the opportunity in the future to develop my professional self further.
2. Literate Self: I hope to continue to develop my literate self through both classical and contemporary literature. I especially want to learn more about YA literature since I have not had a tremendous amount of exposure to the genre.  
Even though I know there is so much more to learn about YAL and the teaching of  it, I feel that I really accomplished my goal this semester. Meeting and interacting with members of the Eva Perry Book Club provided an eye-opening experience and taught me what young readers can become if teachers put in the time and effort to help students explore "book talk," positive or negative. The articles and text assigned in the course helped me develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of YAL, and sharing in my classmates' creative presentations and bookcasts encouraged me to think about responding to literature in new and unique ways that are just as valid (even moreso) than traditional question and answer assignments, book reports, and standard essays. Reading different genres of YAL helped me see beyond my original narrow-minded opinion of contemporary YAL as the equivalent of literary junk food. I was particularly impressed with the non-fiction genre. I had never heard of creative non-fiction before, and I really enjoyed reading Charles and Emma. Exposing students to creative non-fiction might change students' thinking about reading historical non-fiction. The author interview with Melina Marchetta was such a great experience--one that I'm sure students would enjoy. Virtual author interviews can certainly foster students' interest in reading and help them to become more active readers.  
3. Virtual Self: My goal, since I incorporate into my lessons most of the technology taught to me in my graduate classes and ongoing technology professional development at WTCC, is to stay abreast of the latest and greatest web 2.0 tools. This is a daunting task, so I am not sure how to go about it.
I still have two more classes to complete before I earn my MEd, so I know how I will continue to stay up to date on technology. Once I'm finished, however, is another story. I did come across the following website http://www.go2web20.net/, which I have not had the time to thoroughly explore, but I think sites like this and continuing to learn through participatory culture along with other educators will help me accomplish my goal.  

Synthesis:
After reading over my FOKI and reflecting on my present funds of knowledge, I believe that I need to increase my skill sets in the areas of professional and literate selves. I am quite comfortable with my virtual self and my inclusion of technology in the classroom, but I expect to learn a lot more in terms of technological pedagogy. I also anticipate learning more about the teaching of YA literature, and taking a closer look at how and why young adults connect to the literature.
I feel that I have increased the skill sets in my professional, literate and virutal selves, but this is not the end. In fact, it's just the beginning. Learning and fine-tuning is a lifelong endeavor, especially for educators.  

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