Video

Round #2; January 2016

 

Reflection

Students spent a significant portion of the unit discussing the narrator, John, and his motivations and mannerisms. Students worked in a variety of contexts (individually, in small groups, and during whole-class discussion) to try to uncover John’s feelings. I spent less time than I would have liked at the in-depth terminology of identity, such as the binaries that I was so excited to introduce students to. Perhaps this was too ambitious. In any case, I do not believe that missing out on an introduction to binaries hurt anyone. Students got at the heart of key issues in the text. By the final chapters of the novel, students were literally begging to keep reading instead of holding off for another day. In our discussions, students were able to make many connections between themselves and the text, especially when they wrote journal entries asking them to think critically about themes appearing in the text such as “When did you ever think about running away?” and “Write about a disagreement that you had with a family member.”

We addressed in detail all of the unit’s essential questions, and went particularly in-depth into the idea of “knowing” someone. Students played the roles of characters in a variety of activities, including “Hot Seat” and “Stop! I Gotta See That!” Overall, students demonstrated to me that they were thinking critically about the text and what it could mean for their lives. This came into play when we began writing our memoirs, which built off the earlier memoir assignment earlier this year.

A number of students put forth their greatest effort of the year in this unit. One student whom seldom participated in group work was able to join for over 75% of it. Another student whom hadn’t handwritten me anything this year was able to participate in scaffolded silent conversation and write three paragraphs. Still yet, students participated more in discussions, got involved in in-class acting activities, and led discussions. I also got 50% more students to read aloud in class this unit versus the previous unit. I am very proud of my freshmen for really demonstrating their knowledge and wisdom this unit.

Some student performances were difficult to explain. The stamina needed to complete a nearly 300 page book was challenging for most students. One student in particular refused to take her book home and never followed along in class. She said the whole process was boring and that she hated the book. I met with her privately to discuss ways to get her involved in class. She read aloud in a small group setting and demonstrated that she had no trouble reading aloud. But she didn’t want to do it in class. No matter how many times I talked to her one-on-one, met with her mother this year, and showed her good spots to read, she always refused. Thus, she rarely could write in detail about the starters or journal entries, because she was not reading along with us. For the next unit and next text, I will offer her the opportunity to read with me during a lunch period or after school. Alternatively, maybe I could have her friends help inspire her to read, since they all participated.

For students who did read, the biggest discrepancy in learning in the unit was the amount of detail students provided in journal entries. I always asked for dialogue when students were writing about themselves, and I always asked for textual references when looking at the book. Some students were always able to do this, but these were the ones who have been doing this all year. Many struggled to really find details in the book or their lives. I wrote commentary to these students about the lack of detail, but did not see improvement from the majority. Next unit, I will take some time to require students to read my comments and respond to them, either in the form of simple responses or having them re-write entries if necessary.

Overall, I feel that this was my most successful unit of the year for modifying assignments where necessary, and accommodating them for ELL and IEP students. I could do a little more modeling for some students, by way of providing example writing, including showing what effective dialogue looks like when writing a story.

I really put extra effort this unit into thinking about how to make the unit’s essential questions and goals answerable and attainable for everyone. In the final week of the unit, we conducted a silent conversation activity that I hoped would show improvements from the one conducted early in September. Conveniently, all of my students were present that day, which allowed me to see how they all interacted. I provided scaffolds in the form of heterogeneous groupings, clear and direct instructions, and the opportunity for each group to work at its own pace instead of relying on me for timing. These were all lesson reflections I wrote about in my own journal back in September. Making these changes seemed to work. All students turned in the assignment to me completed. This was a remarkable feat for a class that is so heterogeneously comprised. Quality of work did vary, though every single student demonstrated to me that they understood the assigned passages and could think about their meaning on a micro- and macro-scale. In the case of one student whose IEP mentions “Oral responses supplementing written ones,” our conversations showed that the student related and empathized with the narrator, and even wanted to ask him questions about why he didn’t tell anyone about the abuse he was suffering.

This was the longest book that almost all of my students had read, at nearly 300 pages. At times, it was a lift for them. I would have liked to have found a way to move a little more quickly, since the unit ended up being eight weeks long. No one complained, though, so perhaps this was not really a major issue.

I would have liked to have spent more time on supplementary texts, since we spent a few days looking at poems about identity (we also made connections to You Don’t Know Me) but no time with the short stories I wanted to bring in. I think students would have enjoyed them, and it would have solidified major themes.

I also would have liked to vary activities more day-to-day. I was able to get students moving around and thinking in a number of activities, but about half the days involved journal writing and in-class reading. I often saw eye roles and heard students say “We have to do this again?” Perhaps doing more of the book club readings or small group work could have helped out here.

Overall, homework participation was up from below 40% to above 70% this unit. I attribute this to a more interesting text for students, better classroom management, and engaging activities. This has been my most successful unit this year to this point, which gives me hope that I, too, am learning.