Student data
Last year I tried to teach this same concept, but found that it failed rather horribly. The failure I think was due to my not providing enough scaffolds and other supports to help the students achieve success. The abstract thinking that is needed for this type of analysis is a new skill for most students; while I believed I understood the academic strengths of the class, in the end I had underestimated their ability to apply the concept to a complex literary text such as Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue.
This year I was determined to make the content accessible while not lowering my expectations. Part of that process was to develop more supports for the rigorous content that involved more than just notes taken in class. By providing my students with supports that were useful during lectures and long afterwards as they sought to apply the concept, I believed made a much greater impact. For example, I created a Prezi that explained and provided exemplars for analytical writing using the concepts of visual literacy. I sought to use graphics and an engaging interface to teach the concept. As noted in the video “Visual Literacy in the Classroom”, students express frustration at being “stuck in an environment in which [they] are only as smart as what [they] can read” and question the validity of such an approach: “If I can look at an image and figure out its meaning, is that not reading?” (MacDonald 2012). Before this lesson, I directly taught the skill using the Prezi and then provided students a link to the Prezi in Google Classroom. As I circulated, I saw students bringing up that Prezi on their smartphones and on the desktop PCs much more so than the paper district supplied glossary with writing exemplars.
Understanding my learners and adapting the content to apply to visual learners has made more of a difference in my teaching than anything else I have learned in this course. Seeing the success of this strategy, I quickly changed the way I wanted to teach the students to apply what they already understood about Imperialism. One of those adaptations I made was in the use of Padlet as not only an exit ticket, but a resource for later. At the end of the lesson on Imperialism, students were required to capture their responses on Padlet. Because Padlet is organized in visual display of responses, it is simple for students to see the range of responses and synthesize those responses into their own thinking. As the students worked on their outlines, I saw several students have the Padlet wall displayed on one desktop for reference. What a eureka moment!
While students have yet to finish their essays, their work thus far is showing a much greater achievement in applying the historical critical lens than last year as measured by an informal look at the outlines. Circulating the room, I saw interpretations that reflected understanding beyond the obvious level and students working together to come to those understandings. Many groups had resources displayed on two desktops and were working collaboratively on a third desktop to complete the outline. It truly capture the ability of technology to provide learning opportunities that did not exist before.
As I move forward in my teaching practice, I look forward to keeping this lesson in mind and provide as many opportunities as possible for my students to engage with technology. One of the frequent criticisms of English curriculums is that students do not see a connection between literary studies and the “real” world. I think helping students learn to analyze a piece of fiction for cultural bias is a transferable skill to the real world. While they most likely will not encounter a homicidal Orangatang, they will need to be critical thinkers in terms of how we present ourselves to other cultures and where inherent bias lies. Navigating our political realities requires learners to develop “two types of skills: those that emerge from the critical cognitive intelligences and those that come from emotional intelligence” (Lee, Jukes, Churches 2011).
This year I was determined to make the content accessible while not lowering my expectations. Part of that process was to develop more supports for the rigorous content that involved more than just notes taken in class. By providing my students with supports that were useful during lectures and long afterwards as they sought to apply the concept, I believed made a much greater impact. For example, I created a Prezi that explained and provided exemplars for analytical writing using the concepts of visual literacy. I sought to use graphics and an engaging interface to teach the concept. As noted in the video “Visual Literacy in the Classroom”, students express frustration at being “stuck in an environment in which [they] are only as smart as what [they] can read” and question the validity of such an approach: “If I can look at an image and figure out its meaning, is that not reading?” (MacDonald 2012). Before this lesson, I directly taught the skill using the Prezi and then provided students a link to the Prezi in Google Classroom. As I circulated, I saw students bringing up that Prezi on their smartphones and on the desktop PCs much more so than the paper district supplied glossary with writing exemplars.
Understanding my learners and adapting the content to apply to visual learners has made more of a difference in my teaching than anything else I have learned in this course. Seeing the success of this strategy, I quickly changed the way I wanted to teach the students to apply what they already understood about Imperialism. One of those adaptations I made was in the use of Padlet as not only an exit ticket, but a resource for later. At the end of the lesson on Imperialism, students were required to capture their responses on Padlet. Because Padlet is organized in visual display of responses, it is simple for students to see the range of responses and synthesize those responses into their own thinking. As the students worked on their outlines, I saw several students have the Padlet wall displayed on one desktop for reference. What a eureka moment!
While students have yet to finish their essays, their work thus far is showing a much greater achievement in applying the historical critical lens than last year as measured by an informal look at the outlines. Circulating the room, I saw interpretations that reflected understanding beyond the obvious level and students working together to come to those understandings. Many groups had resources displayed on two desktops and were working collaboratively on a third desktop to complete the outline. It truly capture the ability of technology to provide learning opportunities that did not exist before.
As I move forward in my teaching practice, I look forward to keeping this lesson in mind and provide as many opportunities as possible for my students to engage with technology. One of the frequent criticisms of English curriculums is that students do not see a connection between literary studies and the “real” world. I think helping students learn to analyze a piece of fiction for cultural bias is a transferable skill to the real world. While they most likely will not encounter a homicidal Orangatang, they will need to be critical thinkers in terms of how we present ourselves to other cultures and where inherent bias lies. Navigating our political realities requires learners to develop “two types of skills: those that emerge from the critical cognitive intelligences and those that come from emotional intelligence” (Lee, Jukes, Churches 2011).