I just finished reading chapter 1 for Teaching Lit and I thought it was a very good chapter. I found myself agreeing with everything that Jago said. For example, "while projects like watching films and painting murals may help engage students in their reading, they must be used sparingly and should always be accompanied by a writing assignment." I agree with this statement. I think that markers and coloring are a great way for students to express their feelings on what they are reading, but if most of what is done in the classroom consists of these projects, then students are not working at Zone of Proximal Development.
I found it sad when Jago said, "researchers found that at integrated schools in middle-class neighborhoods the content of instruction, grade by grade, was for the most part consistent with the content of the test. yet this was not the case in predominately minority and African American or high poverty schools." I feel like lower class students and the teachers that teach them are not supplied with the proper resources and materials needed to make the content of the classroom consistent with the content of the test.
I especially loved Vygotsky's quote, "The only good kind of instruction is that which marches ahead of development and leads it." I feel this is a very insightful quote because we as teachers are going to be looked at as leaders and we will be expected to lead our students through the path of knowledge. Kind of cheesy I know, but it really makes sense to me!
"While projects like watching films and painting murals may help engage students in their reading, they must be used sparingly and should always be accompanied by a writing assignment."
ReplyDeleteDoes that make anyone else question their high school experience? Not necessarily in my English classes, but in science and social studies there was a lot of coloring and a lot of movie watching! I agree with you, Jackie. I also think that painting, coloring and watching films can be useful to instruction, but when students work at Zone of Proximal Development, true learning takes place.
I think the statistic is sad about the minority students also Jackie! Teachers aren't supplied with the same materials, but our creativity can help them! The different activities that Kist and Pytash give us would be a great way to help get ALL students involved. These kinds of statistics make me want to be a teacher to help the minority students because they need more help and someone who cares about them. The urban school I observed last semester was not as bad as some schools, but I could tell that students didn't even have their own copy of a book, they only had class sets of books and this startled me.
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