It is kind of crazy how fast this semester is going, but at the same time, I feel that I am learning more than I thought I would--on multiple fronts. In Mr. S' class, we finished our novels and picked a new book from the dystopian genre. Before I was introduced to this set of book choices, I had an idea that the dystopian genre almost always included some sort of "governmental control" in the form of political leaders in some way. This, however, is not always the case. A utopian idea can turn dystopic and be rooted in power structures created by not only governmental control in the political sense, but also religious, humanistic/interpersonal, and science-based ideologies. This is important for me to note because many of us have an idea about what would be the "best" way to solve many of the issues we have in society. These novels present us with the idea that no matter what your approach is, to go about changing negativity in the world, there is bound to be a flaw in your way of thinking in one way or another. This kind of reminds me of Murphy's law--when something can go wrong, it will. I am kind of conflicted when I think about this because this understanding presents the idea that maybe there is no "right" way to do things... Does that mean that there is a "best" way, though? Should we give up on TRYING to make the world perfect--even though perfection is unachievable?
Each Friday begins with a question: what have I learned this week? And, it turns out, I have learned quite a bit. We learned about moves writers make to support an argument. They illustrate, authorize, and extend their ideas. Sounds pretty simple, really, but complexity - what professors look for - comes through these subtle moves. On Monday we took time to look at a piece of timed writing and highlighted those moves. I have to say, I never realized how much extending took place during the process of writing an argumentative piece - nearly 80% of the document was extending. The visual information tells me that readers really do care about what I have to say when it comes to an argument. Illustrating ideas are important only inasmuch as they guide the reader to the topic at hand. Authorizing (quoting other expert sources) is important too, but only to support my ideas. I used to use quotes as a way to say, "see, if you don't believe me, you surely cannot disagree with [insert expert here]." My approach was nothing more than surface level understanding and a mechanical structure doomed to bore my reader to death. In the end, I learned that everything in a piece of argumentative writing is really just a way to support my ideas and help my audience to fully see my perspective. If I do not really understand my perspective, then I cannot articulate it effectively. I will rely on illustrating and authorizing too much which will not result in my best work. Of course, this is easier said than done. Today, I taught my first lesson that asked the students to discuss and formulate an argument for or against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline using supporting evidence from articles. I was comfortable giving this lesson because environmental issues are something that I feel very passionate about. I chose this topic because I was interested in the different perspectives the students had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised by the responses I got, which pointed to both sides of the debate. As I reflect on my own practice, I thought that the lesson went well because the students were engaged throughout the lesson, and showed that they can think critically about current events. However, I would change a few things about my approach to teaching the lesson. I realize that I need to develop better time management, which will come with more teaching experience. While the discussions we had were productive, I need to be more cognizant of time in order to get to other aspects of the lesson. During second hour, I plan to connect my lesson more clearly to the concepts they are learning in AP Lit and Comp. During the research activity, I will explicitly say that students should consider illustrating, authorizing, and extending when they engage in formulating arguments. Using these concepts to inform the argument allows me to see that not only can they identify the argument, but they can also provide further explanation and reasoning for their claim. I appreciated all of the meaningful contributions from the students throughout the hour, and I hope that this lesson will be similar in that regard.
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January 2017
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