The Context
I have always been deeply in love with my teachable subject, English literature. Since the age of ten, books, reading, and writing has always thrilled and excited me. My head is always stuck in a book, my mind lost in my own world of imagination fighting dragons and triumphing over Dark Lords and evil wizards along with the heroic characters who live in the paper pages of the books I inhale. My room has always been overflowing with books of all shapes and sizes, stuffed and crammed into every nook, cranny, and empty space. When I learned about Shakespeare I thought he was, by far, the coolest man around; he wrote with such beautiful language that, for some reason, I could understand without much struggle. It was very easy for me to understand why he was called the greatest poet ever.
But I was not always this eager to immerse myself in literature. People are often so shocked when I tell them that, until the age of ten, I was a reluctant reader who hated books and had to be forced and bribed with happy meals into reading by her literacy loving parents. I would only read fact books about dogs, and even then I would mostly look only at the pictures. I would have massive meltdowns in the library, embarrassing my bookish mother to no end, refusing to find a book to read. Then, around nine, my lovely mother decided to transition our bedtime stories-for either she or my father would always read to us at bedtime- from children’s picture books I would dramatically sigh and struggle through, to chapter books. My mind and imagination was blown open by these stories that had no pictures, no facts about dogs, and consisted only of words. I fell in love with literature and never looked back.
I started volunteering in English classrooms and an afterschool tutoring program in preparation for this teaching program and was, for some odd reason, shocked to discover that the majority of the teenagers I was interacting with vehemently opposed English language arts. It broke my heart to hear students call Shakespeare boring and dull, roll their eyes at the mere thought of being forced to read “stupid” poetry, and verbally boo Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. In the after school tutoring program I would, metaphorically, of course, have to basically sit on them to get their English homework done, nagging them like a tired mother of thirty, to write their essays. I would help them brainstorm and create their outlines and draft their essays. I did nearly everything short of doing a song and dance to get them to do their homework and was met by blank stares, folded arms, and the constant refrain of “can I go yet?”. When I asked my grumbling, mumbling students why they disliked their English classes so much, the response was heartbreakingly the same from every one of them, “it’s boring, Ms. Nishi”.
I thought that perhaps it was just those few students who thought this way, and, once the leaves began to change colours, the students and I parted ways and I started this program. During my school visits I hoped that I would see enthusiastic students in intellectually stimulating, exciting English classes, and, in some schools, I did. But, in many classrooms, the answers were the same, “it’s boring Ms.Nishi”. Teachers would “liven” up their classrooms by putting the movie adaptation on for the students and sit at their desk marking and filling in the attendance forms. Now, it should be understood that while I sympathize with these teachers, I cannot begin to understand where these teachers are coming from because I am so new in this field I am just a tiny sapling blowing around in the breeze while my roots still form and grow compared to their veteran giant oak trees with secure roots and strong limbs. I do not know their stories.
I started talking to teachers and Googling around at night after completing my own homework to figure out why students disliked English language arts so much. What I discovered is that much of what we English teachers teach is very one dimensional and flat in the sense that we teach literature that is written on paper in books thus we default to reading and lecturing and the knowledge remains one dimensional and lacking life in formulaic academic papers. In order for students to enjoy what they learn in their English classes, there must be something hands-on and three-dimensional about the content, we must make it come alive. But how can we do this? This is what led me to my inquiry question.
The Question:
What are some innovative and hands-on ways to engage students in English Literature?
The Approach
Because my question revolves around innovation and activities within the English classroom, my approach, as of right now, will be a trial and error approach. I will implement some ideas and activities suggested in the research and literature into my own lesson plans and classroom while on practicum and reflect on the outcome of said lessons. I will ask myself questions such as: were the students engaged? Did the lesson capture and hold their attention? Did the students grasp the big ideas and objectives of the lesson? I will take notes between classes on my lessons on what went well and what did not and then I will upload my reflections, and possible recordings of the lesson, onto my practicum / inquiry blog. During my analysis of the research I also plan on investigating how and why literature must be engaging in order for students to be intrinsically motivated to consume and retain it. I will also talk to other English teachers, especially my School Advisor, about how they keep their lessons interesting and innovating. My research will consist of a mixture of academic articles as well as numerous teaching blogs as well as TED talks.
My Emerging Teaching Philosophy
As a little sapling teacher myself, my teaching philosophy is just beginning to be molded and take a shape of its own. I am becoming a teacher because I believe that English literature and literacy has the power to change the world. I believe that every student has the potential to be smart and courageous human beings capable of kindness and wonder and, as a teacher, I promise to fight for them until they are able to see this potential for themselves. I am beginning to realize that I teach with drama and excitement because I genuinely love what I am teaching yet, because I am a very visual person, I try to make the text as visual and alive as possible utilizing YouTube as a resource for poetic recitations, dramatic re-enactments, and innovative TED Talks.
It should come as no surprise that I have fashioned my teaching philosophy after literature, specifically Harry Potter. I want to be genuinely kind and caring like Professor Hagrid who has a giant heart; fiercely loyal like Professor McGonagall who is strict yet believes in equity in the classroom and will defend her students with every breath she takes; kind and authentic like Professor Lupin who saw his students as powerful young people who could do great things; dedicated and level headed like Professor Dumbledore; and unpredictable like Professor Moody. I grew up learning about my world through the books I read and none has taught me more about what makes a teacher great like Harry Potter. Thus, I will build my teaching philosophy on the bedrock of my imaginative wonders.
The Potential Resources
Cantwell, J. (2014, February 19). Constructing Macbeth : Text and Framing in a Secondary Urban Classroom. Changing English, 21(1), 24-31. doi:10.1080/1358684x.2013.875746
Dell’Angelo, T. (2014). Literacy Through Photography for English-Language Learners. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/literacy-through-photography-for-ells-tabitha-dellangelo
Earle, J. (2015). Homer Meets High-Tech: Data Visualization and the Classics. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/homer-high-tech-data-visualization-james-earle
Felske, C. K. (2005). Beyond the Page: Students as Actor-Readers. English Journal, 95(1), 58. doi:10.2307/30047399
Heick, T. (2013, July 30). What You Need to Be an Innovative Educator. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/what-you-need-innovative-educator-terry-heick
Lord, K. M. (2014). Theme Comprehension: Beyond the Details. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 50(4), 181-184. doi:10.1080/00228958.2014.960344
Mansaray, H. (2013, May 22). Nine Strategies for Reaching All Learners in English Language Arts. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/stw-expanded-learning-time-individualized-learning-hassan-mansaray
Meeks, L. L. (1999). Making English Classrooms Happier Places to Learn. The English Journal, 88(4), 73-80. doi:10.2307/822424
Olden, K. (2011, October 25). The Shield of Achilles Project: How I Used Digital Video to Make Classical Lit Relevant. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/shield-of-achilles-kenneth-olden
Rubenstein, G. (2009, May 05). Kids Feel the Power of Poetry in Performance. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/poetry-slam-global-writes
Scoffield, S. (2016). 10 Innovative Learning Stations That Get Students Reading. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/10-innovative-learning-stations-get-students-reading-shelby-scoffield
Taylor, R. (2013, October 2). Teaching Students to Re-Dream with Shakespeare | Edutopia. Retrieved December 9, 2016, from http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=FA10A43DE1E542C9AADBA16A6E6FFB10&CID=0B3D1607929960EF19D11FE193A86110&rd=1&h=Z8yQNIPWu8G1pPhWagFppFAMs8u640uFkpAG2rbnVTo&v=1&r=http://www.edutopia.org/blog/re-dream-with-shakespeare-rick-taylor?qt-edu_blogs_popular_sidebar=2&p=DevEx,5085.1
Turchi, L., & Thompson, A. (2013). Shakespeare and the Common Core: An Opportunity to Reboot. Phi Delta Kappan, 95(1), 32-37. doi:10.1177/003172171309500106
Wolpert-Gawron, H. (2012, February 13). The Power of Project-Based Writing in the Classroom. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/project-based-writing-real-world-heather-wolpert-gawron