Preparing My First Lesson!!

 The Process of Creating the Lesson

    The assignment that I prepared for last class consisted of the students reading this text about the genre of science fiction. The text talks about what science fiction is about, and it includes an example of Fahrenheit 451, a book by Ryan Bradbury about a future where books are not allowed and a firefighter whose job is to destroy books. The students in my group had to read this text and answer my question about whether they thought that science fiction was effective at making commentary on real world issues, and to find evidence from the text where they could find evidence that supported their opinion. Creating my Lesson Plan was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. This is because I had to find a text that I felt was appropriate for the class, and at the same time would be something that could help my hypothetical students develop as readers and writers.
I think that the most enjoyable part of my lesson was actually having the opportunity to teach it and be able to see how I faced this situation, because despite all my preparation I was still very nervous to show the students what I had done for my lesson. 

Reflections On the Other Lessons

    I enjoyed being part of my group and getting to participate in my classmates’ lessons! I think that they were really professional and I believe that the topics that they chose and the questions that they asked were very really interesting. The second lesson of our group was one that I particularly enjoyed, because it was about Tiktok, and the impact of social media in our lives. We were asked to read this article and to write about the relevance that TikTok has over current day topics and the importance of fact-checking the things that we read online. The task was pretty similar to the one that I had which was to find evidence in the text of the things I wrote about. I think that I found the reading really interesting, and my classmate was very clear with the instructions and acted like a real professional. I think that I want to become a teacher who is just as confident as my classmate seemed. I have the issue of not really seeing myself as an authority figure and as a real educator. Having assignments of this kind makes it just a matter of time until I gain the confidence to give a lesson and not be nervous about it. 

What I Think Should Always be in a Writing Workshop.

  

 The two strategies that I chose are the use of structured routines through workshops, and the sharing of writing in the classroom. As a teacher, having a set structure for the class where the students can fully immerse themselves in literature is very beneficial for everybody involved in the learning process. It makes the process of writing a lot more approachable for the students, and it helps the students become more interested and open to the idea of literature. On the other hand, sharing your own writing with other people as a student can also be something that helps the student think about their own writing in a reflective way, and to think critically of not just their own writing, but the writing of others. Strategies like having a set routine that's immersive and sharing the writing with the class certainly work separately, but using them together in a classroom setting makes them work even better. First because they help promote writing as an accessible tool that is not just useful in the classroom. And it also makes the classroom a safe space where people can explore their abilities with writing without worrying about their ideas being seen in a negative light. 

    The workshop method for teaching English literature is something that I commented on my last post, and today I want to talk about it again because I think that it is very possitive in so many ways. What is good about workshops is that they are very malleable, and they can adapt not just to the needs of the students but also the educator's needs. Things like independent reading or writing time are things that are proved to be helpful for students, and having these types of activities in a periodic way can help the students immerse themselves in literature and start to view writing and literature in a poisitive light. In "Creating Confident Writers" after Andy read the Koyczan poem to this students, the author comments something that I find really interesting, he says, "Andy models genuine appreciation for the words they just heard and invites srudents to snap along with him in a nice protocol of appreciation... they find themselves in an authentic community of learners who are invited and encuraged to celebrate words in many forms." (Hicks 7) I think that this example of Andy reading the poem and making them snap along with him is really nice, and it shows how incorporating reading with the class during the workshop is makes the whole classroom a lot more open and friendly to the idea of literature, and it helps the students see the classroom space as a lot more than just that. 

    I think that the only thing that always needs to be included in workshops aside from the writing part iteslf is the sharing of this writing with the class or with a small group of students. This strategy is incredibly beneficial for students, I would even say it is a crucial part of the workshop. This is because being exposed to other people's minds and ideas through their writing gives the classroom experience a different layer of understanding to the students. It helps them reflect not just on their own writing—because reading out loud can teach you a lot about how you write— but it also helps them reflect and be accepting of the ideas of other people, which is just as important as reflecting about their own writing. This sharing of ideas doesn't just have to be the student reading out loud what they wrote, it can also be the teacher asking questions that promotes the student thinking about their writing in a reflective and critical way. The author of the book mentions that, "reflective talk about writing can and should find space in our teaching; it can be scheduled arounf the writer during confnerring time, or with a whole group of writers during a mini-lesson instruction." (Hicks 11) What matters is that the student is sharing their writing and they're critically thinking and reflecting about their writing. 

Going Beyond Grammar.

 

Growing up, my writing classes were mostly about grammar and less about actually writing down my thoughts and my ideas. I was never incentivized to write and to express myself through writing. The majority of my classes consisted of the typical writing class where the teacher taught all of the students for a week or two a certain aspect of writing, and then after a certain amount of lessons I would get a test. I only started to see my teachers use the writer’s workshop approach in writing classes when I started high school here in the United States. I believe that writer workshops are what really got me interested in writing as a way of expressing myself and developing my ideas on certain topics. It is funny that only now reading the excerpt from the book “Welcome to Writer’s Workshop” I realize what exactly are the techniques that my teachers used in my high school writing classes that helped me develop my skills as a writer. 

Something that Steve Peha mentions in his book is that writing workshops differ from regular writing classes in the sense that there isn’t really a need for constant testing in a writing workshop. This particular aspect is relevant to me because I struggle greatly with testing, and this difference between both methods of teaching is one of the main reasons why my perception of writing changed during my time in high school. The inclusion of mini lessons and then letting the students apply their learning during the designated writing time during the class is beneficial not just for the student, but also the teacher. Peha mentions in his book, “in order to

learn something well, students have to use it for a while on their own without the fear of

being negatively criticized. That’s why we teach “mini” lessons, so students have the

majority of their class time available for applying what they’ve learned to their own work.” (3-4) As a teacher, I can use writing workshops not only to teach my students and to make them practice their writing, but also take advantage of this time and evaluate their learning of the things that have been taught during these mini lessons. And because i’m evaluating what they have written in class, I can be sure that it is 100% original material from the students.