Amanda's Blog

Learning Letter Overall this has been one of my favorite courses at Eastern. It looked at many different aspects f teaching while letting us actually getting on our feet and doing so. I think my favorite activity was the mini lesson. Even though the lesson was only 20 minutes it gave me the opportunity to actually teach a real lesson. The only other lesson I taught was for students that ranged age 7-14 and it was for a creative dramatics class. The only downside to that lesson was that we were able to tell our classmates who they are and they were respectful the whole time. In a real high school classroom there will be students that are disrespectful and don’t want to do the work. I also enjoyed the book talk because it gave me the opportunity to see all the different kinds of books out there that students my age are interested in and also books that I could use in my classroom as well. One the books I specifically remember was  “Wonder”. There’s also a movie co...

"Frankenstein" By: Mary Shelley I thought I had read "Frankenstein" in high school but I don't remember some of the scenes mention in this graphic novel. I know it is an adaptation but it still didn't really seem to connect for me. Like it would bounce from scene to scene and I wasn't 100% sure what was going on. I think the graphic novel would be a good idea to use in the classroom at like the end of a unit. As a student I enjoy creating my own images in my head when reading so starting out with someone else artistic interpretations would skew those images. But it would be cool to go back and compare say what you think Frankenstein looked like compared to what the artists depicts him in the graphic novel. The comics are also just still pictures where in my head its like a movie and the characters and time are moving. I had never heard of the graphic novel before but I think it would be a really cool thing to have personally and in the classroom to ...

Elie Wiesel's "Night" I remember reading this book in high school for my holocaust class and then passing it on to my mother to read. Its incredibly dark but it is a story that needs to be told. I also remember during our "Night" unit that they brought in a holocaust survivor to our school. The survivor's story was drastically different from that of Wiesel's. Our guest lost his parents to the Holocaust and was placed in a high-ranking Nazi officer's house as a servant. He was very fortunate to have not had to face the cruelties of this terrible time in history, but was a part of it none the less. It was also crazy because it was like working for the enemy, but he was so very lucky to be put in the situation he was. This story makes me fear for the future due to the old mantra "history will repeat itself". I don't think that we will ever allow another Holocaust to happen, but with what is happening around the world currently ano...

TPA Lesson Plan #___1____ Course: 1. Teacher Candidate Amanda Guarisco Date Taught 11/13/2017 2. Subject English Language Arts “Fall of the House of Usher” 3. Lesson Title/Focus Imagery 5. Length of Lesson 20 minutes 4. Grade Level 9th 6. Academic & Content Standards (Common Core/National) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.3 Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. 7. Learning Objective(s) Students will display their prior knowledge of imagery to identify the five senses portrayed in “Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe and how imagery enhances the story. 8. Academic Language demands (vocabulary, function, syntax, disc...

"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" Sherman Alexie    I loved this book! It was easy, fun, and inspiring. Not saying I love easy books but its always fun to read something fast and also be invested. I was also really invested because of how many references it had to Spokane and the Spokane tribe. I was trying to visualize in my mind if I had been to the certain places that Alexie had mentioned. I also had a personal connection because I used to sell sno cones at Powwows so I had a clear visual of what those looked like. I wish I knew more about the Native American culture, and although this book did teach me a lot, I was yearning for more. I loved Alexie's perspective on his culture as well. For me usually tribe members are so proud of who they are but Alexie spills the truth. And sure he was different because of some birth defects but that didn't stop him. One scene I loved the most was when he transferred to Reardan and he lists the rules of figh...

"Readicide" Kelly Gallagher's "Readicide" was like a breath of fresh air. She answered so many questions I've had about teaching and the stresses it has created even though I haven't even started student teaching. One of my favorite aspect of the book was her take on standardized testing. I remember in class in our small groups we talked about the WASL and other state tests that our teachers would take weeks to prep us for just to prove ourselves to the state. I also remember in high school when teachers would complain about having to stray from their original plans and focus on what they had to teach us so that we would pass these tests. There has to be some other way to test students without taking time out of the teacher's schedule and making teacher's feel like they need to revolve their lessons around a test. Another part I related to was when Gallagher explained that students aren't reading for fun anymore. I can't even remember...

"I Read It, But I Don't Get It" I was pleasantly surprised by Tovani's "I Read It, But I Don't Get It". We are taught not to judge a book by a cover but unfortunately I did not listen to the old cliche. The outside looked old and boring and the title didn't interest me at all. Man was I wrong! This book was so insightful and reminded me of myself in high school. I didn't realize that there were so many different types of "fake-reading". I think I related most to the "resistive reader". I loved reading but was never really interested in what we had to read for class. I could comprehend what we were reading in class but never enjoyed it. As a teacher you should know what the students are interested in and try to apply that information into a lesson. And even though teachers are often required to teach certain texts they should find activities to engage the students in the lesson. This text will help me immensely while teach...

"Why Teaching About Social Justice Matters" To be honest I wasn't quite sure what the question 'why teaching social justice in the classroom is important' and my brain immediately went to my high school current world problems class. This teacher taught what legitimately "social justice" was and the different types of issues happening around the world, but never taught us how to change them. On the other hand, I had a civics teacher who was all about having their students change the world or at least a part of it. He reminded me a lot of the teacher in this article. I love how he doesn't focus on just racial stereotypes and injustices but talks about when his students wrote a paper on stereotypes they focused on " micro-aggressions they dealt with on a daily basis, and lowered or unfair expectations put upon them". He challenged his students to think deeper and look at the bigger picture, which is the world we are living in. He also ask...

"Critical Pedagogy and Popular Culture in an Urban Secondary English" One of my favorite aspects of this article was the paragraphs following the subheading "Teaching Hip-Hop Music and Culture". I think this is very important because not every lesson plan and activity is interesting to students and will help them learn what common cores state standard the teacher is trying to teach. In the example from the article the students were really invested in hip-hop and rap so the teacher morphed her lesson to something involving the things the students liked. Hip-hop has a a lot of poetry aspects so she compared hip-hop song they enjoyed to different poetry techniques. This is so helpful as a teacher and student. As a student you are much more invested because it is something you are interested in. And for the teacher, the students are more eager to come to class and they see something they are interested in in a different light. You can use this is tactic in every su...

"Paulo Freire: Chapter 2 of Pedagogy of the Oppressed" The first thing that stuck out to me in this article was the concept that teachers talk to much in the classroom. And while I do recall learning many things from what my teachers have said aloud there is the flip side that students should use their own voice and questioning to learn. If teachers don't allow the students to speak at all they may never be truly invested in the topic. As we learned a couple weeks ago discussion plays a huge role in the classroom. Students response and discussion is imperative to ensure your students are actually learning. I have experienced teachers with very monotone and uninteresting voices that makes going to class seem like the last thing I want to do. If those teachers gave the opportunity for others to speak it would bring more focus and differentiation to the classroom. Another ideal Freire brings to light is that teachers are teaching memorization not actual learning. And ...