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.  

Revised ALP

Romeo and Juliet, Beowulf, Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, these are what high school English classes are made of. Most English teachers force feed the classics to their students in an effort to create young connoisseurs of classical literature. Perhaps that is why it is not unusual to find so many high school students who despise reading. Instead of providing students with texts that engage, we serve up traditional adult fare that does not appeal to young adolescent appetites. By offering a more palatable assortment of novels, such as those found in the young adult literature genre, we can entice both experienced and inexperienced readers to become more enthusiastic about reading. Including young adult novels in the English literature repertoire will result in a more immersed, receptive reader. 

Gibbons, Dali, and Stallworth (2006) point out that among the research that supports

 this notion is Reed's (1994) conclusion that the young adult novel specifically:

·         helps improve the reading skills of adolescents and allows all readers to read good books;

·         allows adolescents to interact with books as equals, thereby developing both reading skills and critical and creative thinking abilities;

·         encourages adolescents to read more books, thereby improving their abilities to read;

·         allows teachers to incorporate more books of interest to adolescents into the curriculum, thereby avoiding the non-reading curriculum or workbooks and lectures;

·         allows teachers to organize classrooms into reading workshops in which students respond to, experience, and share books; and

·         facilitates the development of an inclusive curriculum in which a variety of books on a variety of themes and in a variety of genres introduce students to themselves, their world, and the worlds of other cultures. (p. 53)

Developing Critical Literacy Skills

With Reed’s observations in mind, it is easy to imagine how far we can stretch our students’ willingness to read, interpret, question, and connect to not only young adult literature but canonical literature as well. Young adult novels can help develop critical literacy skills, which allow students to view critically and evaluate modern societal issues and institutions (Coffee, n.d.).  King (2000) supports Coffee’s theory noting that “if the goal is to teach critical thinking skills in the language arts classroom, research shows it is more effective to begin with young adult literature (YAL) and use it as a bridge into the classics. Furthermore, experienced and inexperienced readers many times disengage when presented with classic literature, further alienating them from the reading experience” (p. 6). I am guilty of disengaging my students with classical literature. For example, while teaching Lord of the Flies as a student teacher in a tenth grade World Literature class, I dutifully stopped at significant points in the novel to point out symbols, themes, motifs, Biblical references—you name it. I covered every base. While most of my students were able to discern the literary conventions, they were unable to truly contextualize them. They had no frame of reference for understanding them; furthermore, students had no interest in understanding them. However, had I paired a young adult novel containing similar ideas with Lord of the Flies, students may have been better equipped to comprehend the novel.

Building on Critical Literacy—the Snowball Effect

Once students have mastered critical literacy through young adult novels, they can build on those skills by empathizing with the characters and circumstances in classical literature. Daniel Pink (2005) maintains that empathy is important because it:

·         Builds strong working relationships.

·         Develops leadership skills.

·         Can be used persuasively.

·         Increases intuition by perpetuating one’s ability to “see” inside the mind of another.

·         Helps us develop interpersonal relationships.

·         Allows us to learn from others by understanding an alternate point of view.

At the same time teachers are constructing critical literacy and empathy, they are also creating prior

knowledge, or schemata, a foundation that can be drawn on later to solve relational problems in

classical literature. R.C. Anderson (1977) describes his schema theory as a way in which one

 understands the world through an organized yet abstract mental structure of concepts. The concepts,

 or schemata, are continuously changing as new knowledge is attained. Some features of schema are

 as follows:

• Schemata are always organized meaningfully, can be added to, and, as an individual gains experience, develop to include more variables and more specificity.
• Each schema is embedded in other schemata and itself contains subschema.
• Schemata change moment by moment as information is received.
• They may also be reorganized when incoming data reveals a need to restructure the concept.
• The mental representations used during perception and comprehension, and which evolve as a result of these processes, combine to form a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts. (n.p.)

 Young adult literature can deepen readers’ understanding and build their schema; thus it has the ability to act as a transition to the classics. When students have the opportunity to read and comprehend a novel, they are better able to both synthesize and question its messages. The synthesis of the reading culminates in a reader response. Louise Rosenblatt’s (1938) theory of reader response relies on engagement and fosters text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text connections. Using YA lit as a bridge to understanding the classics relies heavily on these connections. All are important, but text-to-text is the starting point. Students should be able to make specific text-to-text connections, and then broaden their understanding by making text-to-self and text-to-world connections between both the classical and YAL selections.   

Why YA Lit?

Teaching literary theory to middle and high school students is a daunting task for Language Arts teachers. And if teachers attempt to assume the challenge armed with little more than a dusty stack of classic novels, the end result will likely not yield the anticipated learning outcomes. The key to teaching literary theory is, first and foremost, to engage students. If students have no passion for what they read, how can they be expected to take their level of comprehension beyond the words on the pages? Being literate does not mean that one can simply read the words on a page. Being literate means that a one cannot only read the words on a page, but put them together to construct a meaningful message meant to be analyzed and questioned. So, how can YAL accomplish this? King (2010) believes that “students make a stronger connection with YAL in part because it addresses issues pertaining to their own lives; therefore they are better able to relate to the subject matter” (p. 8).  Of course, I am not advocating that Language Arts teachers abandon the classics. I am simply suggesting that they consider using young adult literature to strengthen comprehension and connections before introducing classical literature. King (2010) goes on to explain that, “research shows students are responding to young adult literature therefore a more effective approach when teaching critical literacy would be to introduce YAL first and then use it as a bridge into classic literature” (p. 4).

Taking it Digital

Henry Jenkins’ theory of participatory learning promotes an environment where students can pool their knowledge, collaborate on theories, and construct a common body of knowledge. Less than twenty years ago, this model of learning seemed improbable if not impossible. But, students today are experts in the participatory culture, so educators need to tap into their students’ capacity as digital creators and sharers of knowledge. Jenkins’ (2009) argues, “our students are already appropriating information from the Web and turning it into new knowledge. They are already learning from each other and participating in the learning of their peers. They already connect, create, collaborate, and circulate information through new media” (n.p.).  Based on Jenkins’ notion that students are hard-wired to share and create information on the web, taking class discussions digital seems a logical step in helping students identify with literature.

Implications for the ALP

Based on text-to-text connections, and built around three core theories, critical literacy, schema theory, and Pink's notion of empathy, my ALP project is designed as an inquiry into building connections and critical thinking through YAL as a vehicle for comprehension. Many proponents of YAL argue that the genre should be recognized for its own literary value, not just for the meaning it brings to a piece of canonical literature. My ALP does not discount the literary quality or relevance of YAL; in fact, it does just the opposite. My ALP utilizes literary theory in a more relatable, engaging environment—YAL—so that students get comfortable with literary analysis. The very same principals applied to the traditional teaching of classical literature are applied to the YA novel. So, while YAL is used as a bridge to the classics, this is not its sole purpose. Commencing with the novel Nothing by Jann Teller will not only help students to read through a more critical lens, but it will simultaneously build schema; more specifically, it will create prior knowledge of literary theory using a more relevant novel so that students will then have a frame of reference for applying literary theory to William Golding’s classic novel Lord of the Flies. To test my theory, I will survey students about their attitudes toward YA Lit and its relevancy in the English classroom. Then I will narrow the focus of my research and gear it specifically toward thematic and other connections between Teller's and Golding's novels. I expect that through building schema and empathy with the more relatable YA novel, students are constructing critical literacy skills. These skills will allow students to broaden their understanding of both texts, compare their similarities, question the issues raised in both, and examine the larger themes. This process, in turn, influences students to rationally evaluate modern sociological and political institutions while situating themselves within the context of these constructs. The end result is that students will be able to make thoughtful correlations between themselves, the novels, and the world around them.

References

Axiotis, V. M., & Harstad, J. R. “What young adult books have you used successfully to teach

the classics?” (1999). English Journal, 88(3), 27. Retrieved March 10. 2011from EBSCOhost.

Coffee, H. “Critical Literacy.” Retrieved March 12, 2011 from

 http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4437.

Crowe, C. (2000). Young adult literature: Using YA books to teach students to love what

we love. The English Journal, 89(6), 138-141. Retrieved March 5, 2011 from

http://www.jstor.org.www.lib.ncsu.edu:2048/stable/821289

Gibbons, L., Dali, J., & Stallworth, J. “Young adult literature in the English curriculum today:

classroom teachers speak out.” (2006). The Alan Review, 53-61. Retrieved March 12, 2011from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/v33n3/gibbons.pdf.

Jenkins, H. (2009).http://www.henryjenkins.org/2009/05/what_is_learning_in_a_particip_1.html

King, K. (2010). “Using young adult literature and literacy theory to teach middle school

students how to read through critical lenses.” Online Submission, Retrieved from EBSCOhost March 5, 2011.

Knickerbocker, J. & Rycik, J. (2002). “Growing into literature: adolescents' literary

interpretation and appreciation.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy
46 (3), 196-208. Retrieved March 14, 2011 from http://www.jstor.org.www.lib.ncsu.edu:2048/stable/40017127

Koss, M. & Teale, W.  (2009).”What's happening in YA literature? Trends in books for

adolescents.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52 (7 ), 563-572. Retrieved on March 12, 2011 from http://www.jstor.org.www.lib.ncsu.edu:2048/stable/20468410

Pink, D. (2005). A whole new mind: why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY:

 Penguin Publishing.

 “Schema theory of learning.” (1999). LinguaLinks Library. Retrieved  March 14, 2011 from

http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/literacy/implementaliteracyprogram/schematheoryoflearning.htm

Stallworth, B. (2006). “The relevance of young adult literature.” Educational Leadership, 63(7),

 59. Retrieved March 5, 2011 from EBSCOhost.