Standardized Testing

       Ever since talking about standardized testing last week in class I have spent some time thinking about whether or not they are beneficial or not. Personally I believe there is too much pressure from standardized tests to perform and live up to a certain standard. Testing in general in difficult but the ACT, SAT and MME all have set time blocks and put pressure on young adults. I started looking into standardized testing and whether or not they should be required for college admissions. As of 2014 there are 850 test-optional colleges. Meaning a submitted ACT or SAT score is not required. This trend of test optional is growing. When applying to schools the GPA of a student matters more.  According to an article I found on PBS GPA is better tool for acceptance to college. “According to the data, if high school grades are not high, good testing does not promise college success. Students with good grades and modest testing did better in college than students with higher testing and lower high school grades.”

If colleges are starting to slowly move away from standardized testing then why is it such a big production in the school system? Elementary school students should not be testing. Elementary school is laying the foundation for higher education so children should be working to master certain skills. Testing of these skills can be done school wide to measure improvement but it should not be done at a state level with the MEAP test or others similar to that. Recently new standards for testing have been proposed by the government which would reduce the amount of testing done in each grade and eliminate the No Child Left Behind Act. “In its new guidance to states, the U.S. Department of Education tries to soften its emphasis on using test scores to evaluate teachers and urges states and local districts to cut down on redundant and low-quality tests. The agency also pledged to work with states to amend waivers they have received under No Child Left Behind “to reduce testing in grades and subjects that are not subject to federal testing requirements and/or find alternative ways” to judge student achievement and use that to evaluate teachers.”

Overall this emphasis on test performance creates unnecessary stress for students and when testing starts young it becomes the normal way of determining how successful one is. Standardized testing and the number of tests given needs to be reevaluates because our education system is flawed.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/nail-biting-standardized-testing-may-miss-mark-college-students/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/study-says-standardized-testing-is-overwhelming-nations-public-schools/2015/10/24/8a22092c-79ae-11e5-a958-d889faf561dc_story.html

What Should be Read in Classrooms

All ninth graders across Michigan read the same selection of books, Romeo and Juliet, Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird and Animal Farm. Every teacher approaches these required readings differently. Assignments vary, time spent on each text vary. But why those books? Why isn't there more variety in the required reading? Jeffrey Wilhelm touches on this in the sixth chapter of You Gotta Be the Book. "I also began to adopt a wider and more inclusive view of what constitutes literature. I began to encourage readers to read young adult novels, picture books, comic books, illustrated books, organic nonfiction pieces, and student writing". By utilizing different forms of writing the monotony of reading the same novels will not prevent students from being engaged.

I think it would beneficial to students to read a picture book, comic book or graphic novel while reading a denser novel. The two could be read together and compared if the themes and main ideas are similar. It would be necessary to find alternative readings that fit the novels being read and through research the monotony could be broken up. Differing assignments could then be assigned to gauge the understanding and comprehension. Choosing other writing forms would help because students tend to dislike Shakespeare so reading something along with the play might help students to focus.

It'll be important to make the curriculum individualized when I actually start teaching. By incorporating short stories, comic books, children books and other variations on written work will be helpful in engaging students. Along with other written work the use of art and music could be used in accordance with the required readings. In  my senior year English class my teacher would often times bringing music along with song lyrics to be apart of a lesson. It was a good change from the constant reading of long and sometimes boring novels.

Visualization in Correspondence with Reading

As we continue You Gotta BE the Book, Jeffrey Wilhelm talks about his experiences and his methods regarding individual students and their experiences regarding reading. In the fifth chapter Wilhelm focuses on the use of visualization when it comes to engaging struggling readers. He focuses on three individual students who prefer artistic outlets. Wilhelm describes this need for visualization as the inability to "see anything when they read, and that therefore they could not experience and think about what they had read". Students often struggle with mental visualization of what has been read. Wilhelm states that "teachers nor materials seem to emphasize visualization in reading as an important element of active reading, comprehension, comprehension monitoring, and response." Its clear that to help certain understand/comprehend material visualization needs to incorporated.

Art education as stated in the book needs greater attention. According to research conducted art education can "1) increase the variety and depth of meaning people can secure in their lives, 2) develop cognitive potential, which is achieved through the exercise of various opportunities and, 3 achieve educational equity." Wilhelm approached visualization in his own way. He let students read comic books, and picture books in contrast to novel. I think the use of graphic novels and comic books in the classroom is a great way to grab the attention of hesitant readers. As a teacher I think that visualization can also be worked in with projects to show comprehension. Students could turn a play or novel into a children's book in order to visual and show understanding.

Teaching is about understanding your students. Using visualization in the classroom will have a greater impact on some more than others. visualization will be helpful to some so finding the right amount visualization activities. If some students benefit from the activities more than others then they can apply techniques on their own in order to understand the readings.

Making Reading an Active Process

As we continue to read You Gotta be the Book in class each chapter presents new information about reading in the English classroom. Wilhelm has a way of telling from experience while informing about the best ways to engage students that he has found in all of his years. A whole section of the third chapter is devoted to "Turning Reading into an Active Process". Wilhelm talks about how some students are reluctant readers because they see it as more of a "decoding process". Wilhelm would rather have students find meaning in the reading. But he has made it apparent that this distaste for reading stems from the "traditional questions and discussion patterns". It is here that I think Wilhelm makes a great point students who aren't engaged in the reading won't ever find interest if they are given assignment without variety or assignments that do not peak interest.

Wilhelm discovered that the use of different dramatic and artistic activities helped his students experience and learn from the text. Students should be able to express their creativity in English class as to keep them better engaged in the reading, Wilhelm offers various assignments pertaining to reading and the application of dramatic means for assignments. One of the assignment I would use in my own classroom is his "Correspondence" assignment which has students write and respond to diaries, post cards, letters and advertisements in the role of a character. This assignment really seems beneficial for students. Having students write creatively about a book might peak more of an interest. An assignment like this would allow a lot of creative freedom because students could really work to make the letters or post cards fit the time period and the setting of the book.

By allowing students to be creative it helps with the understanding of key points of the book. I know that with project I would always go overboard. My finish product would be over the top and close to perfect because i was given that opportunity to be as creative as I wanted all while demonstrating my understanding. Reluctant readers given different options could develop a tolerance for reading or even enjoyment given the necessary resources.

Getting Students to Read

As we read "You Gotta Be the Book" by Jeffery Wilhelm in class the issue of getting students to read has been the focus. How do you get students to read and enjoy reading? Reading in an academic setting is always harder. And reading in general for some is not enjoyable. Throughout high school and middle school there was a good mix of avid readers and those who would only read if it was absolutely necessary. High school especially consisted of those select students in English classes who would never read the material but somehow managed a passing grade. I have always enjoyed reading but throughout my years in English classes there were certain books that were hard to get through. I had my fair share of struggles when trying to stay on track with assigned reading night. I remember "skimming" chapters just so I could pass a quiz or make my way through an essay topic, usually unsuccessfully. It does pay to actually read the text.

So, how do you grade or regulate the required reading if students are not enjoying the material? Finding a happy medium for "grading" reading is important. From past experiences I always enjoyed lectures about the reading because they really helped with understanding but lectures cannot be graded. Quizzes over the reading can be given but how frequently? What should the quizzes cover? I think if a reading quiz is going to be given it shouldn't be given after every assigned reading. Quizzes should then be multiple choice but they should focus heavily on understanding the student's interpretations of the book through short answer questions. But in order to grade reading I think the most effective way would be through understanding. In the form of a project or an essay following the end of the book. Projects and essays then shouldn't be graded on how correct they are but they should be graded on the content, understanding, and the effort.

Its far to often that students are required to fire off facts about material read. Often times avoiding the actual meaning of the text. Its important to engage students by allowing new ideas and interpretations that skew from the norm. Reading is more enjoyable if a student is able to search for meaning and apply that meaning. Or course as a teacher guiding the ideas is important but allowing ideas to flow could benefit the classes feel of the book.

Importance of Grammar Lessons in English Classes

How important is grammar to a high school English class? As a teacher how do you determine when and how to have grammar lessons? Should grammar be taught regularly? All are questions that can be asked and addressed regarding the role of grammar in a typical high school English class. In class we have been reading about and discussing grammar. I have never been comfortable with grammar and that has become one of my fears especially as a I pursue teaching. In high school and throughout my years in school I always had my mom or dad read through my papers to check for any errors. And even though I have been in English classes for all of my schooling grammar wasn't really taught. There wasn't much emphasis on grammar it was more based on content.

I do wish that I was given more instruction regarding grammar other than the brief lessons given first semester of Freshman year English. I think that once I become an English teacher my focus on grammar will come into play through writing just so its not just based on the strict nature of day to day grammar lessons on different concepts. By the time you reach high school literature classes in 11th and 12th grade grammar lessons become much less frequent and are incorporated in writing assignments or given as a part of a mini lesson.

Grammar instruction is important but I think there is certain way to go about teaching it depending on the English class and the students age and skill level. Grammar is something that should be taught starting at a young age, in elementary school and then reinforced through middle school and early high school. I do wish I received more grammar instruction in my schooling because now as a college freshman I don't feel incredibly confident in all aspects of grammar.

Thoughts on Literature

In the current chapter of Clearing the Way the topic of teaching and writing about literature is discussed. My favorite part of all the English classes I have taken has always been the analysis of literature. I always enjoyed the process of developing ideas about a book or short story as well as having my English teachers lecture on the content. In my experience I didn't necessarily have to write about the literature we read everyday, I was assigned maybe one or two writing assignments per book. But as I read about Mr. Romano's classroom I can see the importance of utilizing both writing and reading together in any high school English class. Overall the process of writing in accordance with reading makes more sense in the application of the two. 

I always enjoyed looking for themes, and symbols within the text. Romano has students take the time before reading/starting a book or short story he has students write, nonstop. They write for ten to fifteen minutes and during this period they have to explore possible themes and explore the topic of the reading. I think such a process would help open up the minds of students to help later in the analysis of the book because they have first impressions to refer back too. Writing prior to reading also lets students give first impressions and give first assumptions on book, it also allows an expression of emotion about a book, a genre or an overall opinion of reading. Having students write would help a teacher cater the lessons to the original thoughts of the students. The writing assignments before would also be well used if after the reading is complete the students got the assignment back and wrote a follow-up, to see if things turned out as expected. 

Through development as a teacher I know that I'll be able to apply writing and reading together with some creative ideas and projects. Hopefully I will be able to peak the interest of students so that reading and analysis becomes enjoyable.