English 323: Teaching The House on Mango Street

Immigration/Migrant Workers…How Do We Teach It?

Given the state that we live in i.e. Washington State, immigration conversations have the potential to be very touchy.  We have an interesting mix of conservative and liberal political viewpoints, but we are also home to a huge presence of migrant workers due to the concentration of agriculture.  Therefore, given the fact that I plan to teach in the agriculturally dense Eastern half of Washington, I would want to scaffold this type of discussion adequately before putting it on the table for class discussion. 

Initially, I would want to know exactly what the composition of my class was, and whether I had any students who had direct experience with immigration or seasonal work visas.  Rather than polling this an entirely intrusive way during large group discussion, I would offer the students a journal prompt asking them for their personal definitions of “immigrant” and “migrant worker” in order to assess their interaction with or understanding of the terms. I would personally review their writings and proceed with the lessons from there. 

I would preface any such discussion with a classroom forum to agree upon rules for discussion of sensitive issues. This will allow the students to take ownership of the rules and to ensure that the class takes sensitivity extremely seriously.  Respect is of the highest priority, but in order for a discussion to be beneficial the students must agree to keep an open mind.  Immigration is an issue that many students’ parents will have strong opinions on, and their children will follow suit with equally strong but perhaps less well-informed opinions.

Ideally I would like to structure the lessons in a variety of ways.  Students would have the opportunity to complete individual work and research, to cooperate in pairs, to explore multiple opinions in small groups, and finally to discuss as a large class group.  My ultimate goal would be for students to hear opinions that were different from their own, and to research the larger issues surrounding migrant working families and immigration in the United States.

I think The House on Mango Street would be an excellent literary companion to any such discussion.  Cisneros’s main character, Esperanza, characterizes her own life in a relatable personal narrative that interacts with her immigrant background in a subtle but compelling way.  Students would be able to empathize with Esperanza’s experiences as a young adult, and would hopefully be more willing to understand her experiences as someone who was not born in the United States. 

Perhaps the most important thing I can do as an instructor in a lesson of this type is keep my own personal bias as far removed as possible. Students are impressionable, and they have surely developed some of their own opinions based on the viewpoints of people they respect.  While I do want to provide them with useful information, I hope to train them to form belief systems on their own.  Adolescents are constantly interacting with the world in new ways, my job is to provide them with helpful information and resources to form an identity and an opinion that they have a sturdy foundation for. 

English 323: Monster Blog

I finished Monster and immediately had to access the Internet and the end of novel questions to make sure that Steve was appropriately released from a prison sentence.  I spent most of the novel pulling for the kid who has done what we all did at one time or another, chosen to associate himself with the wrong people at a horribly inopportune time.  Throughout the story I kept telling myself there was no way he could be convicted based on the evidence presented.  As I began to process that in my “rational”/“adult” brain I was immediately haunted by how the Young Adult audience this book was intended for would interpret the story Steve was telling. 

First off, they would probably not be as familiar with the ins and outs of the legal system the way that I am, not that I am an expert, but I have read a lot of crime novels in my life time up to this point. Secondly, it really is unclear exactly what has transpired for 80% of the novel.  Steve acts in an incredibly guilty manner and seems fairly sure of his own guilt.  One thing I remember about my adolescent years was overwhelming guilt about the rules I had broken—no matter how minor they were.  Ultimately I think students of all background will relate well to Steve’s plight.  Jail is the most looming of all punishments for bad behavior, and what Steve truly learns is that one mistake could cost him his entire youth. 

Monster is written in a coming of age style, and it is very easy to follow visually.  We have been working the past few weeks on how to break down texts for students who may be struggling readers.  Yesterday, Dylan showed us one that involved drawing particular pieces or lines of text.  I think this novel would be an excellent opportunity for students to visualize the unfolding action.  Steve uses descriptive detail and movie style blocking that could enable students to process the scene more fully than complex literature. Additionally, it would be a great opportunity to bring in some outside research on the legal system in an applicable way for students. 

Students between the ages of 11-18 have many life experiences that are never documented in the literature they read.  Monster portrays one of them, but normalizes many more.  Steve is neither a criminal nor a member of a gang, instead he’s a high school aged student who wants to make movies, but who is also a little desperate to find a place for himself.  I think that’s the baseline desire of every middle and high school student.  They want a comfortable place to express themselves, and if they cannot find a healthy outlet—they will turn to any avenue to find acceptance.  This goes back to my teaching philosophy. I want my students to find that refuge in my classroom among the books.  Steve’s film instructor clearly provides that outlet for his students, and he supported Steve even after he was arrested.  Steve not only felt safe in that environment, but it also provided him comfort when he could not be physically present in it.  By giving our students the tools necessary to succeed in the often-scary environments outside of school, we give them the opportunity to escape and to rise above their circumstances regardless of what they may be. 

English 323: Exploring Teaching Strategies

I am one of those unintentionally arrogant people who has given very little thought about how to help others read, but has sneered in noticeable derision when faced with someone whose reading skills are not up to par.  I imagine that if I were not privileged to have the instruction I have embarked on these past few months, I would have entered my first classroom in a manner extremely similar to that of Kylene Beers.  Because reading has always come naturally to me, my immediate reflex is to encourage students to “read it” and “read it again” when problems with comprehension arise. 

However, after reading Beers’ compelling introductory chapters to her book When Kids Can’t Read What Teachers Can Do, I feel properly chastised and emboldened to try new strategies to reach the dependent readers I will meet in my future of teaching. Beers mentioned wanting to equip her students with the tools necessary to “struggle” with a text.  I think this simple statement is incredibly poignant.  I don’t want to push information on my students. In the long run this will help them very little, but if I can provide them with some new options when reading becomes an impenetrable task—then I will have succeeded in encouraging them to continue pursuing reading and learning even outside of my classroom. 

One activity I particularly loved and can see myself using was Beers’ “Syntax Surgery”.  Poetry can prove particularly challenging to many students.  Often they view it as something that was designed to resist their attempts to understand it.  As a large, looming conglomeration of text whose structure often defies logic in pursuit of rhyme, I can understand their opinions.  Syntax Surgery visualizes the discussion of a passage or poem’s language, and it requires a group investigation of the individual elements that form a larger body of text.  Freire mentioned learning as a cooperative process between humans, and activities like Syntax Surgery allow students to communicate with their instructor on a level of inquiry and equality under the umbrella of learning.  The first step of understanding often involves taking something apart and analyzing it in a manageable way.  For students and reading, this means paring down assignments to a level that largely eliminates the intimidation factor.  A struggling reader would view even a four page single-spaced document as a daunting task.  Rather than leaving them to struggle on their own, I now have some implementable ways of breaking down a text for my students in a way that does not stress how much I know and how little they do.

As we use this semester to refine our teaching philosophies, I have uncovered a new element that will be inherent to mine.  I hope to promote a learning environment where my students enter the classroom with an excitement to explore rather than dreading English class because of the constant reminders of what they do not know.  Either way they come in with a knowledge deficit, but only one will result in positive results in the classroom.