Legend of the Mermaid - Blog for English 493

Secondary SBGR & Assessing and Evaluating Handout Response The Secondary SBGR is a helpful tool for parents that want to stay on top of what their students are learning. From a teacher's standpoint, it also shows how deeply our grading effects report cards and overall student morale. I don't exactly agree or disagree with the remark about zeroes hurting students. In some ways, it can but it others zero can cause motivation for students to work harder. As a student, I saw zeroes to be partially emotional because I was afraid that I looked dumb and that my parents would be severely disappointed in me because of the result. On the other hand, it also meant that I sought tutoring or studied harder to improve the grade to pass the course as it was clear that I was missing something in my understanding of the subject. From a teacher's prospective, a zero can be the make or break grade to be given to a student. Just like red marks, a zero's effect, in my opinion, is dep...

Assignment Template Response The assignment template was very informative, not only as a basic structure to plan future assignments and engage students but also as a helpful resource in creating and interpreting assignments not just as homework to gauge learning but as tools for the students to utilize as well. I particularly liked the section about questioning the text prior to reading it. It allows students to think beyond just reading the text and is more focused on familiarizing the student with making inferences based on length, titles and any key points that are stylized as important. I also found the section Key Vocabulary as important as the vocabulary of the text often has its own meaning in relation to the text than it does in general. Students can make inferences on vocabulary based on the language and tone around it and formulate their own conclusions on what it means in context of not just the story, but its themes, characters and plot. It not only sets the students up ...

Common Core State Standards & Handout Response While the idea of standards makes sense, the handout did bring up reasons on why it would not particularly for lower-income students and those of colored backgrounds. I personally think standards in terms of concepts would likely be the best route and allowing the teachers to decide on what literature is brought to their classroom and defines their curriculum. The identity of students is often defined by area and race. Race is an emphasis in the article particular in its links to low-incomes and struggles of students of non-white backgrounds. The idea of multi-cultural literature in a classroom is relatively new by US standards. It's something that needs to become more prominent and widespread to ensure students are aware and informed of other cultures outside of their own - an awareness. As a person with a mixed background and went to school in Idaho, I was used to be one of the few mixed raced students at my schools. What didn...

My experience and thoughts on graphic novels My only real experience with graphic novels is with manga. I used to read a lot of it when I was in middle school and high school, particularly Fruit Basket and Chibi Vampire. These days I normally don't read any graphic novels on a regular basis save for the occasional excursion into one of Junji Ito's horror stories who are technically marked as manga. I can say that I've definitely grown into different genres of graphic novels over the years. I originally liked the fluffier slice of life ones like Marmalade Boy or sometimes a more supernatural take with Vampire Knight. Junji Ito's work is all horror and some science-fiction. A lot of the material is darker but still just as mature as the content in some of the previous graphic novels that I've read. Despite it often passed off as simple cartoons, I've found that most graphic novels are not meant for kids. Just like my selection of standard fiction novels, I tend ...

Response to "Discussions as a Way of Teaching Thoughts" by Stephen Brookfield The purpose of discussion as a teaching tool has been one used for centuries. The methods may have changed and adapted but essentially the end goal is the same: for the students to grasp the concept and to analyze and reflect the reasoning pertaining to the subject. From the student side of the scope, I've been one of the more shier, introverted people in a discussion. Brookefield's quote "The longer this silence endures, the harder it is for these individuals to speak out." (Brookfield 6) is spot on from my past experiences with volunteer directed discussions. Particularly with the uncertainty of who speaks next causing some students to slip between the cracks due to their anxiety to speak or their politeness in waiting for others to go and have what they were going to say be already said. The introduction of roles in the discussion was my favorite part of the article becaus...