Insomniac's blog

This is a question that I have been thinking about a lot lately. One of the postings that I had to do in English 311 for Dr. Rob was on how I would run my literature classroom. I think this is a constructive question for any pre-service teacher, regardless of discipline.

In my imaginary perfect world where I would have control of every aspect of my history class, I would focus less on dates and names and more on concepts and theories in history. The internet can be used to easily find what happened in American history in 1909, but the question of how did what happened in 1909 effect the rest of the century is a question that most pupils can not answer. In order to answer such questions, history needs to be more broad focused than on a certain person or a certain date. Also, I would focus less on the "Big" people in American history and spend more time on history from the "bottom up". By the time most pupils reach high school they should have some basic understanding of who George Washington was and what resulted from the American Revolution. What I would like my pupils to think about is how did the normal, everyday people respond to these big events in American history.

In order to cultivate this type of learning, my classroom would have to be discussion based with an emphasis on interpretation rather than right or wrong answers. History, like literature, can be interpretated in many ways by many different people. In order to facilitate this sort of discussion I would want to focus on primary documents rather than on textbooks. Textbooks, unfortunately, are often date and "big" people focused rather than on concepts. Therefore, if primary documents are assigned to be read then the pupils can come up with their own ideas about history. My job as a teacher will be to provide some sort of a framework for pupils to shape their ideas around.

Now, having said all that, I realize that I do not live in my imaginary perfect world. Instead I will be teaching under a proscribed curriculum with other teachers who may or may not appreciate my sentiments on teaching history. In order to function to the best of my abilities in the real world, I may have to tweak some of my ideas on teaching. Yet, I do hope I have a little bit of academic freedom so I can take history to a level of interest and understanding for my future pupils. 

If my world was perfect, my future lit class would be a combination of two subjects taught by me or a team taught class with an emphasis on literature and history. I firmly believe that history can answer when and where and who while literature answers the what and how and why questions. I want to combine the literature and the history in order to give pupils a greater understanding of not only the text but also the reasoning for the text to be written. Simply put, I want a fully rounded educational experience for my pupils.
I also want my classroom to be an open forum area. I know, everyone wants their classroom to have an aura of openness where pupils can discuss literature and its impact on their lives. It is all well and good to say it, but putting this "openness" into practice is going to be a day-to-day job. I will have to work hard at creating good discussion questions and writing assignments in order to promote that open aura. I suppose it is a good thing that I am almost anal about organization.
Another aspect of my future classroom is that I want to be up-to-date on technology (yes, this is the techno-peasant talking, believe it or not). I think that many younger people today are much more technologically advanced than even people in their 30s. While I have always resisted technology, after class today I realized that technology is one area that I need to embrace. And, I need to use technology in an innovative manner. I really liked Rob's use of Thoughtcrime as a way to draw in pupils. Perhaps I will eventually have to take some courses on technology in the classroom in order to help me with my apprehension of machines.
While I want to be techno-savvy, I realize also that a lot of the tried and true teaching methods still work. I still want to pass out handouts, do outloud reading in class for pupils, talk about themes, and assign fairy ring work. I believe face-to-face human interaction is still the way to learn the most.
Having said all of this, I know that my first years of teaching will be a brutal learning experience for me. My rebellious streak is likely to get me into trouble when I start assigning controversial and banned books. My temper can be short at times. I get frustrated when others do not see things my way. I tend to be a little too snarky and sarcastic at times. These are all aspects of my personality that I am going to have to deal with, tone down, and work around in order to become a teacher of the highest merit. Most of all though, I want to inspire my pupils. If I can understand what motivates each class, what grabs their attention, what makes their light bulbs go on, then I think I can achieve the level of teaching I desire. But, each class will be different from hour to hour, day to day, and year to year. So my teaching style will have to change with it. Overall though, I want my class to be the one class that my pupils look forward to on almost everyday.

As I think about how I would run my future literature class, I am faced with a few dilemmas. First, state and local curriculum guidelines. I have an idea of what kinds of literature I would like to teach, but there is always the possibility that what I want to teach does not coincide with the mandatory curriculum.
Another dilemma that I can see is the issue of intellectual freedom. In a way intellectual freedom ties in with curriculum choices in that when specific guidelines are set then it makes the teacher's job more difficult if he or she wants to supplement or change assigned texts.
Another aspect of future literature classes that could be problematic is that each class is different. I do not want to go into my first classes thinking that I can assign whatever I want. The pupils are all from different backgrounds (especially in urban settings), lifestyles, and social classes, so to treat the pupils as one body may not work. My hopes are that while I cannot possible change every pupils outlook and reading style, I may be able to influence a few each year. As Dr. Rob said, it is hit and miss.
I do not want to be so strict in my classes that I am unwilling or unable to change either materials, books, plans or anything else that does not seem to work with pupils. I suppose it all comes down to the ability to read the pupils, understand your specific school curriculum, and be able to roll with the punches. I know in my first few years teaching I will probably learn more than my pupils, but hopefully I will be able to impart a passion for literature and show the connection that literature has with the rest of the world and the connection it has in all the liberal arts. I want my pupils, by the time they leave my classes in the summer, to become students of literature. Remember, student comes from the Latin for fanatic. That's my goal...to inspire passion for literature and to help others see how integral literature is to our humanity.

After reading and discussing literature choices for adolescents, I have changed my mind slightly. I still believe a canon of some sorts is important. The so-called classics are classics for a reason and in college students are reading these classics still. In order to prepare those of our pupils interested in college for it, we need to familiarize them with these classics.
However, having said that, I think the classics need to be supplemented with books that are more current and more directed at the culture of this time. The classics became classics because they often represented a voice for the age in which they were written. If educators do not allow for new books to enter into their canon then what will happen to the voice of the current generation? Let's face it, Melville and Shakespeare do not always represent our way of thinking in this more modern age. Albeit some of the same themes can transcend time. Themes of love, violence, jealousy, depression, and other human emotions never truly leave humanity, and that is why having these classics around is still important.
But, more modern writers can also represent those human emotions in their stories as well. I think that there has to be a balance of sorts. Modernity with the past.
As far as what I will teach, I am not sure yet. To be honest I am not up to date with the newest YA authors out there so I cannot reel off a list of authors and books I would teach. I do know that I would teach books from authors that are vastly different from my pupil population. If I am teaching in a rural, white, midwestern area I would teach books from African American, Latinos, Native Americans, as well as books which deal with issues in which my pupils may not be familiar, like homelessness, urban settings, and other "big city" types of issues. I would turn this around if I was teaching in an urban setting or in a setting in which my pupils were of a certain ethnic origin. I believe it is important to expose young people, especially those in the middle school years, to things outside of their normal daily environment.
I also have a bit of a rebellious streak in me, so teaching controversial books could be a huge temptation for me. Would I teach Huck Finn? You better believe it, although I may send home a warning/permission slip to parents. I would also offer substitute books to pupils who may have a hard time with certain controversial books. I do not want to hurt anyone or deeply offend anyone so offering substitutes would always be appropriate. However, I do not want to become so touchy feely that I cannot assign a text without some kid begging not to read it because it has a bad word in it.
So, I do not know exactly what adolescents should read. It is up to individual parents, educators, and kids themselves to decide what is read-worthy.

This question is hard to answer. The capabilities, maturity, and education of each young adult pupil needs to be taken into account. Some middle schoolers and high schoolers are capable of reading novels and stories that some adults may not be able to read. Others may not be able to read even YA books and may have to remain with juvenile books for awhile longer.
For proficient readers, I would say let them choose to a certain extent. A teacher should perhaps recommend certain titles, authors, or genres for their gifted and talented pupils, but let them choose books that they believe will challenge them.
For the less proficient reader, teachers also need to guide them in choosing books, but the teacher needs to understand the pupil on a personal basis to understand their capabilities. For the average reader (those reading at their grade level), teachers need to still provide choices based on their level of ability.
Some YA readers may be very fast readers, but lack comprehension. Books that force these readers to slow down may be a good choice as well as exercises like the "picture it" thing we did in class may help these readers with comprehension.
I do not believe in the so-called banned books idea. Censorship should be a personal decision between the pupil and their parents. While certain books may be to difficult for YAs to grasp concepts (such as Paradise Lost or the Satanic Verses ), books like The Scarlet Letter or Huckleberry Finn are not too difficult to understand. The main reason for parents to object to these books are because of language and situation. As a parent, I can say that children hear and see a heck of a lot worse on Sunday evening television than what they will find in most books!
So, acceptable literature for YAs to read varies. There are so many different types of learning styles and readers out there that to classify what is "good" and what is "bad" is simply much too difficult on that broad of a level.

After reading some more of the textbook by Wilhelm, I think I have a clearer understanding of literary reading. I thought about the moves I make when I read and about certain books that I have read and what I did when I read those books. I think literary reading changes depending on what book you read. For example, when I read Notes From Underground over Christmas, I really had to think more. I kept a pencil handy and underlined passages and words that I did not understand. Along with that came my dictionary to look up words. I learned what pedantic means during that reading. Also, I read the footnotes to gain a clearer idea of what Dostoevsky meant and the time frame in which he was writing. Those footnotes were extremely helpful and added more to my visualization of the story.
I am not a re-reader for the most part. Unless a novel or story is assigned in a class and I have read it before, I usually do not re-read. I think it is because I have more of a photographic memory when I read. If someone were to ask me where a certain line or situation is in the book, even months later, I can usually open the book and flip to within a few pages of it. I also tend to paint a picture in my head while I read and I find that when I have to re-read that picture is hard to distort and I do not like to do it. My daughter, Myah, is an avid re-reader. If you have not checked out Myah's recommendations on the left, please do. She was excited to help me with these. Like I said, Myah is a big re-reader. She's read Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot 32 times! I think it is because she knows the story almost by heart now and she finds some comfort in the characters. I think she has become emotionally attached to them and can live their lives over every time she reads that book.
As far as imaging goes, I guess I am a little weird. If the novel or story is set in modern times, I usually see it in color. But, if the story is set back in history (usually over 100 years or so), I see it in like a sepia color. Perhaps this is the influence of television and movies in my life, I'm not sure. I do get involved in the characters on a personal level, but I am more like the fly-on-the-wall rather than an extension of the character. I like to observe in my visualizations rather than what I call interfere with the story.
But, it does all depend on the book. With some of the more complex novels or with stories in which I am not familiar with the setting or plot I tend to take the fly-on-the-wall approach. However, with other stories I become more fully an extension of the character or I get personally involved in the story. I must admit that I am a romance novel reader and with those books I do get more involved. If I know that it will be a happy ending (as in most romance novels) then I feel good about getting involved, but if I do not know about the ending, or if I know it is going to be sad, I tend to use the fly-on-the-wall approach.
I tend to get a little lost in the story too. I devote my almost every moment to it. I have a hard time reading books by Stephen King and romance novels because I often let everything else go, like cleaning up after my kids or taking my dog outside. I usually try to read those books after my kids go to bed and then I find myself at 3 a.m. wondering where the time went.
I do not think I consciously chose to get involved in books anymore. If I find the story interesting I am fully engaged without having to try to force myself to do anything. If I do not find the story interesting I tend to force myself to sit in a quiet room and have few distractions. I also give a book about 10-20 pages before I will abandon it, but that depends on the size of the book. If it is a short story or a short novel, sometimes a few pages or paragraphs are sufficient enough for my judgment call.
This is how I do literary reading. I do not think that everyone who reads in-depth reads the same. I think the reader choses which books he or she will get into and I think that depending on the reader's position in life at that time can make the choice to be more in-depth for him or her.

A cure for insomnia? Just kidding. I think literary reading is reading for content as well as pleasure. While literary reading may be considered "scholarly", I think literary reading is something that people do for different reasons, including for school. Reading, for some, is the pleasure of discovery...a new place, a new idea, something that may be encountered outside of the normal daily environment. I'm not sure what literary reading is for me. Perhaps a combination of all of those things.
One of the areas in high school that always irritated me is that assigned literature was never really explained. Sure, the concepts, plot, characters, and such were often explained in detail, but the reasons for reading the literature were never explained. Why read Shakespeare? What significance does Lord Byron have on my life? Sure, Mark Twain is entertaining, but why does he write his dialogues like that? Many of these "why" questions can be answered by applying other educational disciplines into literature. For example, if I, as a teacher, were to assign The Flivver King by Upton Sinclair, it would probably not make much sense to pupils if they did not understand the history of Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company. When I become a teacher that is what I want to do, combine literature with history in order to generate a larger picture for pupils. Literature is fantastic in that it encompasses not only various literary genres but that it also exposes people to a wide range of topics including history, art, psychology, and so forth.
So what is Literary Reading? I am not certain if I know the answer to that. Hopefully, by the end of the term I will have a better understanding of literary reading.