Bright Ideas Conference

On April 12th, I attended the Bright Ideas Conference in East Lansing, Michigan. My favorite session was a morning presentation, in which the presenter discussed the idea of going more in depth in an English classroom, and the use of scaffolding in the classroom. Scaffolding means providing support for students, instead of merely expecting them to complete a task all on their own. The presenter talked about the Zone of Proximity, which is basically finding the point at which students can accomplish a task with the help of another, and how when teachers provide this type of help, students are able to achieve more. The presenter also discussed some alternative assessment strategies used in Europe, such as asking students questions using multiple prompts or modeling a task for students before asking them to complete it themselves.

The presenter also discussed in some depth a senior project that was conducted in her school. The senior project was a requirement for graduation, and an entire class was dedicated to its completion. The students were given an exhaustive checklist, which required some tasks, such as “getting the signatures of 30 adults,” geared to help students in the research process.

I also found one interesting technique a useful tool for the classroom. The instructor gives students “provocative prompts” which help students think more deeply about the content. The presenter also recommended that instructors spend more time on depth, rather than breadth, when it comes to concepts. She argued that spending a unit on one Shakespeare play will give students the tools they when they are required to study Shakespeare in the future. The presenter said that when students spend more in-depth time on a concept, they are no longer afraid of approaching something that seems scary. Instead, they already have the tools they need in order to complete a task, which in effect, can help better prepare students for college.

Grammar Group Presentation

Wow! I must say that I was impressed at the “Paris Theme” this group used to teach their presentation. I thought that it was especially thoughtful of them to bring in “wine” for the class to enjoy. I also enjoyed the background music that was being played at an non-distracting level throughout the presentation. The group really got into character by dressing up in berets and “French” attire. I liked the theme, and I thought it was a good lead-in to their entire lesson: how to use grammar in an artistic manner. Their enthusiasm for their topic was very motivating when it came time for me to compose sentences using an “artistic brush.” I enjoyed the light-hearted, yet descriptive sentences that spewed from my mouth as the presenters guided me through several stages of artistic grammar. I feel that time flew by fast for the students and presenters alike. During the first session, we were practically out of time as soon as the lesson began. I feel that the activities chosen did a good job of reflecting the content of the book this group read. After discussing the book a little further with the presenters, I have decided that it is definitely one I would like to have on my book shelf. Thank you Grammar Group!

Questions for Christensen Conference

What inspired you to write your book?

What challenges did you face as a first-year teacher?

Were there times that you found yourself frustrated with your students?

What would you change about your teaching experience if you could go back into time?

What advice would you give to a new teacher?

Poetry Presentation

I thoroughly enjoyed the poetry group’s presentation. I was impressed at the number of hands-on activities this group used in teaching their portion. I especially liked that they spent the extra time and effort to bring in magazines, glue, scissors, and other creative supplies necessary for the class to complete the assignments. I really enjoyed the activity where we had to cut out words from magazines or newspapers and use the words to form a poem. This was my favorite activity because I got to use my creative mind in two ways: I made a poem out of words, and I made my poem look good on pink construction paper. The only complaint that I have about this group is that I would have liked to hear more about the book. Do you recommend that I buy this book as a college student who is interested in English and poetry? Do you recommend that all teachers purchase this book? I would have liked to hear more commentary on what the group read, and whether or not they found it useful overall. The activities we did, however, were so creative and unique that based on that alone, I might purchase the book. Thank you for the experience!

Community Presentation

I really enjoyed the activity that this group had us do in class. I liked that they didn't reveal what we were doing ahead of time. We spent most of the class period trying to create communities using the instructions the group gave us. Each group had a certain amount of money and were allowed to create their communities in different ways. Some groups faced challenges while one group, the "white wealthy" group did not seem to have any challenges. I liked the discussion afterwards, where we talked about challenges that non-dominant groups face in real communities. I would be hesitant to do this activity as we did it in a middle or high school. However, I would use this activity to discuss different characters' communities in a book. Overall, the group did a great job and I appreciated the presentation!

Multigenre Presentation

I was part of the Multigenre group. I really enjoyed working with four of my peers on this project. I think that it was a great experience both planning and presenting to the class. My group worked really well together in the preparation part of our project. We were able to decide and agree on the concepts that we wanted to present in the class. I was glad that Vanessa had several examples of multigenre projects that she brought in. I really think that you need to see a completed project in order to fully understand exactly what a multigenre project is! One of our biggest challenges was time management during class. We had to fill an entire hour and fifty minutes! We planned out each day and estimated the amount of time we would be spending on each portion of our presentation. However, once we were in class, the minutes seemed to drag on while we sped through the content! I think that my group did a really good job of pulling together and coming up with additional exercises for the class. I thought that our extra activities were both relevant and appropriate. Overall, I feel good about how our presentation turned out!

Christensen Chapter 8

I don't think that we had tracking in my high school. If we did, I was pretty unaware of it. I think that one of Christensen's biggest strengths is that she allows and encourages students to work as a group. Students can learn from each other and gain new knowledge just from having a discussion in class. Being able to work with others is also a valuable skill in the real world.

I am glad that Christensen has the students do things like work in a group to act out scenes from books. That is something that we used to do in high school, and it definitely helped me to a better understanding of Shakespeare!

I also think that is is more important for students to look more critically at fewer texts. I do think that it is important for students to practice reading, however, being able to think critically might encourage students to read more on their own. You could always give students a book list at the beginning of the year for extra reading.