African American Vernacular English

Our class discusion on African American Vernacular English reminded me of this youtube video. Although it plays on sterotyoes, I think it is a good example of switching between types of English based on geographic and race group assosiation. It is also cool because it is about a substitute teacher; a job that I can see myself having in the near future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw

Standard English

Standard English: What it isn’t

I have to admit that after reading this article, I still am not sure what Standard English is. At the same time, I have a better understanding of what it isn’t. I thought that the author’s decision to write the article by explaining the common misconceptions of Standard English has left me more confused than if she had just attempted to define Standard English. However, I will write about my interpretation and potential problems with the idea of Standardized English.

What I can’t seem to comprehend is the idea that there can be more than one Standard English. But if there is more than one Standard English, doesn’t that defeat the purpose of what is Standard English. If you have more than one standard of the same thing then you really haven’t established a standard at all. It seems to me that establishing a standard based on varying dialects is actually working to create different languages all together. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of trying to create a standard?

At the same time, we do not need to establish the one superior version of English that we can all agree is the standard. With so many different countries and unique regions now speaking English around the world, we will never be able to agree on a true standard. English has already evolved too much from its spread out of Britain. Complicating the idea of standardization even more, in my opinion, is that every English speaking region believes that there English is superior to anyone else’s. In this sense, we can have many different versions of standardized English. I would not consider either of them to be Standard English with a capital S because there is not one version that ranks above the rest.

My other concern with the idea of Standardized English is the creation of a hierarchy based on a person’s ability to speak in the established superior version. There is power in language. If we devalue one group of people’s way of speaking and establish another as better, we stand to do the same in other aspects of society. We will begin to perceive a person of being of lower status based on the way they talk and use the English language. I believe that in this sense, language becomes a hegemonic device as one group is able to establish dominance over another. For these reasons, I have concerns about the idea of Standardized English.

Growing in leaps and bounds!

Looking back at my first term as a student teacher, it is amazing to see how much I have I have learned already. I remember my first day in the classroom how nervous I was. I couldn’t even imagine myself getting in front of a classroom full of students as a teacher. It’s not that I get nervous when public speaking, in fact public speaking is an asset I have as an aspiring teacher. I was nervous because of the image I have of what a teacher should be like. To me teachers were these all-knowing people who had an answer to everything. I was almost overwhelmed with the pressure of teaching. Things began to change. Through interaction with students in small groups and during work periods, I began to develop an understanding of how to communicate in a classroom setting. I felt like I was actually helping students with their learning. Was I actually teaching!?

A few weeks into my first term as a student teacher, my co-op teacher asked me if I wanted to lead a lesson. I was excited at the opportunity, but again also nervous. I didn’t really have much time to prepare and brush up on any background information. It was a History 30 article on the fur trade. My task was to read the article and explain what the author was saying. It went really well!  I read it with a good teacher voice and didn’t stumble over words. My biggest fear was sounding like a bad reader. Teachers are never bad at reading out loud. Periodically I would be given the opportunity to lead a reading or even sometimes a lecture/ note taking lesson. I could actually feel myself develop as a teacher with each time in front of a class. It was really cool!

Just last week, my last day in school for the term, I felt as if the students trusted me as their teacher. My co-op teacher was away and the class had a sub. The sub was running late, so I was given a key to the classroom by the office staff. It felt awesome! It was like a symbol of my development as a teacher. With the sub late, I began the class using the note left by the co-op teacher. I liked that feeling of being the real teacher, even if it only lasted for 5 minutes.

During all of the classes that day, the students were given work periods on upcoming essays. When the students had questions about their assignments, they came to me for help. I felt as if I had earned their trust through my role as a student teacher. I would also like to say I gave the students great advice for their papers. Many of the students were struggling with referencing in Chicago style. I happen to be a pro at this; a product of years of history paper writing. By showing them reference tips, I had real effect on the success of the students.

After reflecting on my first term, I was surprised at how much I have learnt about teaching. I’m already looking forward to my internship.

We are life long learners too

Today I came to the realization that becoming a teacher will be a lifelong journey. To say that anyone can master the art of teaching would be naive. We will always be presented with different situations that we will have to adapt to. I have come to realize that one of the best skills we can develop as teachers will be the ability to read our school environment and the students in our class. We will have to be able to cater our class to meet the needs of our students. Easier said than done. Take for example this conversation I had with a few students.  

Last week I had been helping one of my history classes with a French Revolution simulation assignment. The class was divided up into the 3 estates and were to come up with a list of complaints for King Louis. The idea behind the assignment is that the students will realize that on all issues the 3^rd estate is out voted by the other two, and they will have uncovered the beginning causes of the French Revolution. When asking students how the simulation went, they responded with comments of dissatisfaction. They told me in a history class they like when the teacher talks and they take notes. This caught me by surprise as I thought students hated lectures and notes.

Upon further reflection I realized that to meet the needs of all students we need to gauge the learning styles of our classes. But at the same time, we may have many different learning styles in one classroom. We will have to use a variety of techniques in order to ensure our students meet the learning outcomes and reach their full potential. We need to create an inclusive school environment and this includes including everyone’s learning preference.  It is possible that there are some students in the class who learn better through simulation activities. When it comes time to design lesson plans and activities, I will have to take into account all of the different learning styles of the class. For as long as I am teaching, I will always have to come up with new approaches to teaching similar lessons. We have to be active in our reflection throughout our teaching career. Our teaching will always be evolving.

Our mark driven world

Before beginning my study in the College of Education, assessment and evaluation always fascinated me. I had no idea of how teachers were able to arrive at a numeric grade on an assignment handed. There were obvious differences in quality of student work, but to be able to pinpoint a number out of 100 that a student deserves mystified me. I feel like evaluating student work is such a subjective task that a student’s mark can vary so much based on the teacher. In a mark driven society, this seems to have real world consequences.

I have an example from my high school career of the subjective nature of grades. I was in a combined history English/History class with a different teacher for the two subject areas. History has always been my favorite subject area and I did well in this portion of the class. From my enjoyment of history, I was an active participant in class discussions and developed a good rapport with the teacher. My English class was a different a story. I often disagreed with the teacher’s interpretation and explanation of literature. He taught the English class in a way that I just could just not relate to. I could tell that the teacher did not think highly of my ability as a student. When it came time to hand in the term paper that was to be graded independently by each teacher, their interpretation of me as a student, and the subjective nature of evaluation became apparent. The history teacher gave me a mark in the low 80’s whereas the English teacher gave me a mark in the high 60’s. As a high school student, I was very confused from this experience. Now that I am in the College of Education and learning about assessment and evaluation, I understand this event differently and am able to learn from it.

  First off, the obvious is to be evaluating the work handed in by the student and not the preconceived ability of the student. Even if we have a notion of the work expected to be handed in by a student, we have to be willing to be surprised by the improvement a student makes in their class work. After all, the goal of school is for students to improve and learn for the lessons of the class.

I had a chance this year to visit a classroom that takes a different approach to evaluation. In this class, the teachers do not give grades on assignments. Instead, they give the students feedback on what they did well, and things they could improve on. The students are then given the opportunity to add to their assignment based on the advice of the teachers. This approach has awesome benefits. The students are not mark driven and give assignments their full effort because the assignment means something to them. With the teacher feedback, they are able to learn from their assignment and develop better skills as a student and lifelong learner. This is one of the goals of our educational philosophy and this no mark system is living it.

Group Work

During my in school observation, I was able to apply Gallagher’s theories on group work and watch how they worked in practice. The first thing I noticed that related to the Gallagher’s chapter was the ineffectiveness of large groups. The problem I encountered was a result of two group discussions occurring to close in the classroom to one another. The two smaller groups merged into one larger group and there was almost no effort to answer the questions assigned by the teacher. The two groups were more interested in talking about their personal lives.

            The other problem I noticed was students waiting to be given the answers by the group member they considered to have the best answers. The assignment asked for the students to give their own opinion on the topic and provide a solution, and yet they were waiting for only the perspective of the one student. Even in an assignment that did not have a right answer, they students wanted to have what the perceived to be the best answer. Rather than trying to arrive at a solution with an array of opinions, only one view point was expressed. I should also note that the group member providing all the answers was not taking the assignment seriously and derailed the other member’s opportunities to benefit from the activity.

            To fix these problems, I think smaller groups would be effective. As well, the groups should be more separated from one another. Classrooms don’t provide the best environment for group work. It might have worked better if one of the groups was sent to another location in the school for the activity.

            If the groups had been 3-4 members, it would allow all students an opportunity to express their opinion and make for a more effective activity. For the quieter students, they may be more comfortable sharing their opinions in a smaller group. At the same time, it is still likely that one student will dominate the discussion. The hope with a smaller group is that the other students will be able to add their opinion within the topics raised by the other student.

            Overall I believe that group activities are an effective way to engage students. Through group work, students are provided an opportunity to express their opinions and become part of the learning process. Rather than rely on the teacher for answers, group activities put the onus on the students to learn. I will use group work in my classes, but will be careful to set parameters that allow the most effective outcomes from the students.

Memorable day in the teaching career of Brandon

I would like to share about a memorable teaching moment that happened to me last week. In all of my history classes, the teacher differed to me for a breakdown of the American presidential election. Well, politics is a passion of mine and I jumped at the opportunity to teach students about this topic. Even though it is American politics and my dream is having a class interested in Canadian politics, I found that the American election provided a great teaching opportunity. Along with teaching them about how the system works, I was able to include aspects of the opposing ideologies and there plans for the United Sates. The students were very interested in what I was saying and had lots of questions. I think much of their curiosity came from the large amount of media coverage the election received. From this, I had an incredibly engaged class that wanted to learn about the election. I was proud of my teaching techniques because I could tell the students understood what was happening the night before. Most of the students did not understand how the Electoral College works. After my quick demo, they understood! It was awesome!!