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.

Christensen Chapter 5

My favorite activity from this chapter was the interior monologue. I think that students can learn something by trying to picture what it would be like in another person's shoes. I liked that the students had to place themselves in difficult situations, such as a soldier in a war, so that he or she can imagine new feelings from a different perspective.

I also like that Christensen uses poetry to help teach a lesson, whether it is in English or history. Having students both read and write poetry in this way makes students become more emotionally involved in the content, which in effect helps them become better learners.

I also liked the Remember Me Poems. I'm not sure if I would have the students write about each other. I think it would depend on how close the class felt towards each other. I do think this activity could be modified so that the students wrote the poem about someone they cared about, and it would still be effective.

Christensen Chapter 4

I agree that students' home languages should be recognized, however in reality, being able to speak and write standard English is the ticket to a higher education, higher class, and better job. I know that it is unfair for those who come from homes where standard English is not spoken, but it is equally disadvantageous for students not to teach them the rules of the "cash language."

Christensen's classroom is very diverse. In a classroom like this, I think it is important to do activities that incorporate and celebrate ethnic diversity. I especially enjoy the poems and stories that use the students' home language. I do wonder what Christensen would do in a high school like the one I attended, where 90 percent of the students are white. What would these poems look like? Should people in power be ashamed of the world they have created? How can you make a classroom of privileged students learn a lesson about language without making them feel like their ancestors were evil?