Blog 1: Do a brainstorm of your teaching philosophy (unit plan portfolio part 1).
This seems almost comical, since I'm like a man groping in the dark, equipped with Goens, TDOC, FAC and McCormick in one hand, a flashlight in the other. It's less a philosophy and more a "greatest hits" from the above. Compared to my colleagues who've been teaching FYE in colleges for years, I have only this arsenal of books and some gut feelings.
* It essential to honor the student's own schema, rather than foisting one correct meaning of a text.
* It's vital to engage the student in meaningful experiences with language -- as personal and usable as possible.
* It's important to give the student a great variety of opportunities to read (magazine articles, hypertext, fiction, nonfiction) and to write (personal narrative, descriptive essay, argumentative essay). It's equally important to give students the chance to read books of their own choosing (for pleasure) and to write "low stakes" pieces, such as free writing and non-graded journals.
*While I generally favor an expressivist approach, like B &P, I would employ pre-reading discussions and post-reading comprehension questions to ensure the basic points are clear.
*While I admire McCormick's socio-culture angle, I prefer B & P's reading/writing saturation approach, which doesn't allow much time for the historical study of the structure of power and the plight of the victims. However, as a matter of respect to all students and all cultures that they represent, there should be some lesson(s) on the erroneous misinterpretations of SE as the superior dialect, and an acknowledgement of all dialects as honorable and valid.
*It seems crucial to integrate reading and writing (I still need to understand this better).
"This seems almost comical, since I'm like a man groping in the dark, equipped with Goens, TDOC, FAC and McCormick in one hand, a flashlight in the other."
ReplyDeleteHahahaha. I love this. This is sort of EXACTLY how I felt when I first started brainstorming. But by the end of my brainstorm, I had a better sense, or so I hope. I imagine that it will change as I get more experience, and I presume that's the case for "real" teachers too as they grow and learn from their experiences.