I. The Nature and Range of Discourses

A central portion of Ruddell’s argument is Gee’s idea of Discourses (almost certainly borrowed from Russian philosopher/literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin’s Dialogic Imagination). For those of you without access to Chapter 1 of Ruddell’s text Teaching content reading and writing, “Discourse” is defined as “ways of thinking, acting, speaking, believing, valuing, [and] interacting…. Like chameleons, we are all highly capable of participating in a variety of Discourses” (6).
As I understand it, there is a distinct Discourse for every hat one might wear – each social role brings with it its own specialized language or dialect, in addition to behavioral expectations. I think we’re all accustomed to this idea on a fundamental level. We implicitly recognize that our speech patterns differ depending on context and surroundings. The language and behavior we use at home differs from that which we use at school, or in a conference, or at a social gathering. In linguistics, these varieties of language are called “registers,” and I feel the issue of registers is of special importance when discussing the development and refinement of literacy.
As an English teacher, I feel it is crucial to expose my students to formal registers. As Ruddell says, all students “can read something” – the trick is to ascertain where their reading skills lie and to build upon those foundations (7). In my experience (however limited it might be), students come to us as experts of the informal registers they use at home and with friends, but with very little experience with formal language. This is the source of one of my biggest struggles. Do I drill grammar, spelling, punctuation, usage, mechanics, and other facets of Standard English? Or do I grade holistically, paying little attention to conventions and greater attention to content and quality of thought? I suppose I should alternate between the two, but for some reason I am having a difficult time balancing the two extremes. My own secondary education stressed precision and accuracy in communication, which is probably one of the reasons I entered the English field to begin with. But my coursework in Education tended to push me in the direction of leniency…after all, how can I expect all of my students to operate on an advanced level? In a perfect world, I could differentiate my instruction to highlight content vs. convention with ease, but I’m grappling with this issue right now.
The idea of Discourses is similarly prevalent to teachers of other subject areas as well. Effectively, each course has its own Discourse. In order to succeed, students must become literate in each class. Because every field of study has its own jargon, every teacher is responsible for instructing students in the specialized language of that field. Ruddell chastises teachers who expect students to come fully prepared with all the literacy skills (Discourses) necessary to excel, because teaching these Discourses is one aspect of instruction in every class. He has a point – it is unreasonable to expect a middle school student to enter high school with all the vocabulary and reading/writing skills needed for all classes. However, I don’t feel it is at all unrealistic to expect a certain degree of experience and skill. I am dismayed when my students don’t exhibit even the basic literacy skills that society has agreed should have been mastered in elementary school. That is just one of the (necessary?) evils of social promotion, but that’s another issue entirely.
With all of this in mind, I would like to pose a few questions:
1) What level of literacy expertise can we expect our students to have coming into our classes?
2) What improvements can we reasonably expect to make in the course of 45/90/180 days?
3) If students are masters at some Discourses and novices at others, what pre-existing, fundamental literacy skills can we draw upon in each of our fields as a starting point for our own studies?
4) To what degree should we permit informal registers to enter our classrooms, and when should we enforce the use of formal registers? (for example, distinguishing between daily journal writing versus end-of-term research papers)
5) How do we cope with the constantly evolving techno-literacies and weave them into all classrooms?

I’m not expecting responses to all of these questions, but any thoughts would be appreciated. Ruddell skims the surface of the last issue (technological literacy) in his chapter, and I’d like to discuss it separately in another post.

foldables

I use these a good bit in class. They are easily adapted to many different topics. Students really enjoy making these projects and then they have good study materials for later. The material for the students doesn't break my bank as much as other strategies that suggest using post-it notes and such that I don't really enjoy purchasing. Also with the foldables the student can use their own supplies--paper and colored pencils.

Trying to appreciate enthusiasm

It's that time of year again. You know what time. That's right. Spring Break is approaching, the school year seems to be dragging and summer is a long way away. I keep hearing it as I go through the hallways, "spring break will never get here;" "we've got two months left after spring break; how will we survive?" "It's a long time until summer." Now, you might think the students are saying this, and I'm sure they are; but I've been hearing this from teachers. Every single day. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm a little bit guilty of this. My wife and I are both teachers, so we're both feeling the crunch/drain. However, why is this? Instead of complaining and looking at the downside, I/we need to appreciate how much time we've got left. I have a pretty good bunch of kids this semester. Sure, my 3rd block is very, very, very, very, very talkative. However, instead of seeing this as a negative, I need to focus on the fact that they are just enthused. I'll ask a question, and six people want to answer at the same time. That's a good thing. I've got the slackers, of course, but I've got a bunch of hard workers. Let's take a moment to appreciate this and not complain. I had a group last semester that was HELL! Started with 19 (15 were repeaters), finished with 11 and no one failed the class--with very little help from me. I have very few repeaters, no discipline problems--except for talking--and everyone seems to enjoy the class. I should be sad the semester is coming to a close. It's hard, I know, but let's enjoy the kids we've got while we've got them. Even the one in the back that has to shout out the most ridiculously stupid thing that you've heard every semester for the past five years but he thinks is so original. Appreciate his unoriginality and copy-cattedness. It's not easy, but we're teachers. It's our job.

Story writing - Pass Along

My students have been learning to write in the past tense, in level 3 Spanish, and they just did an exciting activity that I wanted to share. Everyone would have a sheet of paper out and write the first line of a story: ex. Once upon a time there was..., In a galaxy far far away. Then, I would tell them to pass their story to the right. That person would write the second line of the story and so on. The students would have to read what the other person wrote, proofread it, and use their creativity to write the next line. After passing the story many times, the last person would read the story and draw a picture on a piece to describe the story. In the end, we would sit in a large circle and the original owner of the story would read their story out loud to everyone! This was great and the students were rolling on the ground laughing about the crazy things that people wrote. This kind of "tricks them" into learning. So many standards are met when doing this activity. I would definetly suggest other teachers doing this!

Socratic Seminar

This week two of my classes enjoyed the use of Socratic Seminar. It works well with smaller classes. They enjoyed the physical arrangement of the circle and seemed to feel more comfortable in presenting this way.

Marianne Haney

Dealing with all of that male testerone

It's happened to me once again, and I cannot stand it. Once again, I've been given a class of mostly guys. Out of 19 students, there are only three girls (and very quiet ones at that). Also, half the class is made up of football and rugby players. You know the type. The real "men's men" type. Don't get me wrong. These are a great group of guys. They do their work, they don't complain (too much--they are high school students), and they're respectful and polite. However, they show no interest in anything. They do their work, but they are lifeless about it. I can give a literary assignment, they'll do it, but don't even think about getting them to share their opinions or asking them to discuss what they read. They just want to write their views down and move on. It is a completely unemotional group. The girls have become just as bad. They won't say anything because they are afraid of being made fun of by the guys for showing interest. How does one deal with this situation? How can you motivate a group of guys and get them to show some emotion when they have been trained not to show emotion, that emotion and interest are for girls? They just want facts and logic. That's it. Unfortunately, literature is not just facts and logic. It's about having a response to it. What to do?

Triskaidekaphobia

I recently found an article about triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number thirteen. I thought that my math students would enjoy reading this article. This week my students are going to read this article and complete a follow up writing assignment. The writing assignment asks them to describe some of their fears about mathematics. If they do not have any fears about math, they are asked to describe fears that they have about another school subject.

Read Aloud in PE

I've tried the read aloud on a few occassions. My latest attempt was with my PE/Basketball classes. The book , "Playing for Knight" , is about a basketball. One would think a basketball class would enjoy an excerpt about a basketball player. The generall consensus was lets go to the gym now.. I must say one student did come up to me during class and ask to borrow the book. So, I guess you could call it a success ....one student at a time.

Spanish/English Book Activity

My Level 3 Spanish Students have learned about the past tenses and are now trying to write stories using both the preterit and the imperfect. I borrowed an English fabel book that begins talking about....Once upon a time....and they are going to do fun reading exercises with it that connect with our standards. They are going to underline the verbs in the past tense and tell me if it were translated into Spanish, would the verb be conjugated in the preterit or the imperfect and why. This is going to help them with their essays they are writing about their lives, 1) what they were like when they were younger and 2) what were their favorite memories. Does anyone have any other ideas that I could do with this English fabel book, maybe something that could be an extension of this before we do it?

Government Activity

The students will use foldables this week when they learn "How A Bill Becomes A Law."
They will write the major steps in both the House and Senate, and ultimately give the options the President has when he gets the proposed law.
I look forward to using this activity with them.

Marianne Haney

Activity

This week my US History seminar class made foldables with the sections of their book. They wrote the title of the chapter at the top of the sheet. Each section was written on each tab. The students were instructed to write five statements of fact from that particular section beneath the tab. Once started, they all caught on quickly. Most finished within the time period allotted in block. I will try this again.
Marianne Haney

Wanted Mathematician Poster

I recently had my Algebra I Part I students complete a project on famous mathematicians. Each student received a mathematician to research. The information that they found had to be put on an 8 1/2 X 11 "Wanted" poster. The students had to include the mathematicians name, birth/death date, birth country, the country they worked in, and 5 to 8 sentences describing what contributions they made to mathematics. Many of my students enjoyed this activity. I think many of them enjoyed it because it got us out of the classroom and into the computer lab. It also answered many of their questions like: "Who in the world came up with this stuff?"

Four Perfect Pebbles

Now that the "dust" has settled a little after Mrs. Lazan's visit, I am wondering what y'all thought about the read aloud exercise. How did your students react? A couple of students told me that they liked the reading part, but they didn't like the different teacher voices. They said they kept getting confused because one teacher would read one way, and the next would sound different. That one surprised me, but it made sense.

Do you think we should try this type of thing again? Suggestions for improvement?

A Fantastic Essay That is Pure B.S.

I happened to come across this link about an essay posted to The New Yorker by Michael Chabon. If you know who the author is, the man is a brilliant writer who writes complex novels. He' s even won the Pulitzer Prize for The Adventures of Cavalier and Clay. The man must be a walking dictionary because I don't know half the words he uses most of the time. Also, he loves, and I mean loves, superheroes and the mythology surrounding them. His essay is titled, "Secret Skin: An essay in unitard theory" and is about how superhero costumes can never be realistically possible because they would look too ridiculous to ever be taken seriously. He approaches this with a scientific eye and analyzes each part of the costume, including the hood, mask, gloves, boots, trunks, everything. It is amazing how much analytical detail he goes into. It's like reading a scientific journal article about how cholosterol leads to heart disease. It's just written in such a tone. However, upon finishing it, you will realize that the whole essay is total B.S. because who really cares about the functionality of a superhero's cape. You still have to admire the writing style of the man, though. He's brilliant but full of crap, which makes for an enjoyable read. Check it out:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_chabon

If only our students could write so well.