Post #11 – Lit. Bingo!

After roaming around campus in search of concepts that appeared in our readings, my group and I discovered several literacy concepts hidden around Cal. The first one we discovered was “A Social Justice organization in Berkeley.” This one came really quickly to us because we all agreed that UC Berkeley Boalt School of Law was one massive institution for social justice in policy reform. Next we also uncovered the bingo selection that reads “3 Examples of Non- English languages in the linguistic landscape AT CAL.” To find this we ventured of into the Free Speech Café. There we found several newspapers with the titles in different languages. Also, we found that ornamental obelisks and Sather Gate had writing in Latin. Thereafter we also checked in the box that reads “A compelling example of working in the ZPD at one of your group members mentoring sites.” One of my group members mentioned that she worked with a student at St. Martins on a math assignment. She mentioned that as a tutor she helped the student figure out a long math problem. She helped the student by explaining step by step as they went along. However, when my group member mentioned that she stopped and let the student try to figure the problem out, the student struggled.

Thereafter we also marked “An extreme example of the narrative character of teachers student relation in your experience.” I provided my example from middle school. When I was in the 8^th grade I remember having a teacher that would only read to us from the text book. She rarely allowed the students to talk about the material or even work in groups. I remember that she would simply read us a paragraph form the book and then make us work on a worksheet that was related to the paragraph she wrote. I remember that I dreaded that class, but fortunately that class only lasted one hour a day. Finally the last one me and my group check was “An example of literary in theatrical performance form a mentoring experience.” One of the group members shared that literacy and performance are deeply intertwined. She said that many students that perform must memorize certain lines in a play. Through this constant reading and rehearsing is where many students get the most exposure to literacy. My group member mentioned that the students may at times also remember poems by heart first by reading the piece then by practicing it over and over again.

Through this experience I discovered several hidden forms of literacy. I also discovered that there were many different ways of acquiring information, such as “banking” “performing” “scaffolding” and “narration.” Overall, this assignment opened my eyes to the world of literacy I hadn’t noticed before.

Post # 10 - Conventional vs. New methods of multimodal literacy

What is the future of the five-paragraph essay in a multimodal future? And if ‘performance’ in dance and filmmaking (to take a few examples) is to assume a place alongside ‘performance’ on a written exam, how should performance be assessed?

I think the five-paragraph essay will remain only because it has been a traditional method of argument and expository writing for so long. However, I also believe that the dance and film portions of performance will slowly be integrated into the traditional classroom curriculum. I think these types of multimodal literacy are beneficial because they force the students to “think outside the box” or in ways that challenge the norm. The benefits of assimilating such performances into the conventional styles of teaching broaden the spectrum of what people can use as a medium of expression. Teachers can use both the traditional style of teaching such as the five paragraph essay along with a newer form of assessment, for instance a film or piece of art. Through this, i feel the student will be able to achieve a mastery of several spectrums. The only difficulty lies in assessment. How can a teacher grade an abstract film piece? I think that it simply comes down to effort and thought. Ifi had to grade the video we watched in class I would give it an A because the author obviously put in much work into the movie. Additionally the creator of this film also took the time to reflect on the novel read in class and incorporates the major themes in a very subtle way into the movie. Thus I do believe that both the conventional styles of assignments (5 paragraph essay) and the newer methods (films or dance) can certainly be juxtaposed into one lesson plan.

Post #9 - Teaching the Teacher

Reading Paulo Freire’s piece last week made me think about what the role of the instructor is in classrooms. Obviously the teacher must teach, but the question that arose after reading a section form the "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" is how exactly should a teacher teach? Freire conveyed the dangers of simply narrating to children because teachers run the risk of turning their students into “containers, into receptacles to be filled.” I completely agree with Freire because if teachers simply narrate the students become easily distracted and lose the enthusiasm to learn. Essentially nicely summed up my thoughts when he stated that in a strict narration method of teaching “education becomes an act of depositing in which the students are depositories and the teacher is the depositor.”

I decided to do some extra reading on this topic and discovered that there are actually a number of different styles of teaching. I found that some teachers claim a Formal Authority teaching style in which teachers focus on content. This type of teacher doesn't usually require much student participation in class. In essence this style centers on the philosophy of “Sage on the stage.” I think Freire would argue that this method is faulty because teachers can fall into the hazards of narrating to their children. On the other side of the spectrum fall teachers who use a Facilitator style in which they focus on activities and emphasize student-centered learning. This type of teaching style works best for students who are comfortable with independent learning and who can actively participate and collaborate with other students. Finally I also fund that there are teachers who choose to be somewhere in between the strict narrating style and the facilitating style. These teachers use the Demonstrator style in which they act as role models by demonstrating a certain skill and then as guides in helping students develop and apply these skills and knowledge.

I have to agree with Freire’s point on the misfortunes of narrating, but I also think that teaching at one point or another involves some sort of narration. For that reason I feel that if I were a teacher at St. Martin’s I would utilize the Demonstrator style in which the teacher allows the students to participate, BUT at the same time uses some narration to explain the subject material.

How would YOU teach if YOU were a teacher? Do YOU agree with Freire?

What do YOU think?...