BlOg FiVe!

Literature Circles

     My first experience with literature circles was in my senior year.  We had to read Lord of the Flies and discuss the assigned chapters everyday with our "lit circle".  At first I was a little hesitant.  I mean who wants to awkwardly talk about the book with a small group of people staring at you waiting for some good insight to a book that half the kids didn't read.  I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the class went and how much I learned from what others had to say.  As the book also states, we had jobs to do within our group and it switched every time.  They were jobs with lame but witty titles such as "Artistic Adventurer", and "Vocabulary Voice".  Although these names were in fact lame, they were really helpful when discussing.  It made sure that everyone had a voice and that everyone was talking about something different.  The only problem I had was the play these discussions were graded.  I remember one time I had to draw a picture of a scene and I got points off because I drew stick figures.  Last time I checked I was in English class and by the time I drew an adequate human the class would've been over.
     Anyway, the book had a lot of insightful things to say about literature circles that I have heard and have not heard before.  The one idea that I particularly liked was assigning literature groups based on books that one wants to read.  I never understood why classes made kids read the same books, I just thought it mattered that they were reading for the same concepts.  I think breaking a griup up by book leads to better discussions because students are more likely to talk about something they are familiar with then something they resent.  For example, I would so much rather talk about Harry Potter then Lord of the Rings.  I would have a lot more to say and would definitely enjoy it more.  I also thought it was interesting to learn that other countries appreciated these practices and that reading is enhanced by this activity.  I think linterature circles are a fun way to make sure kids participate and it is good way to see who is reading the material and who is getting by by just reading summaries.  I also see it as a good way to get away from the lectures that we are so used to as students.  For some reason, students seem to like it better when their peers teach but I assume it's because they can relate a lot better.  I am not going to lie, my favorite part was talking about Oprah's reading circle.  I did not know she started one but I think it is awesome that she did.  I may now appreciate the fact that she has her own network now.
     The one thing that I think is also interesting is how much we use literature circles in college.  THIS, I am not a fan of.  Having five english classes drives me insane anyways let alone doing the same thing in every class.  I don't think it is the literature circles I have a problem with as much as it is making the WHOLE class one literature circle.  This to me screams boredom and you have a chance to say one thing in an hour and fifteen minute period.  I also think we spend too much time talking about summaries of the books rather then what we think about them and how they make us feel.  However, I do think literature circles are effective if they are used properly and in moderation.

"Standard English"

This article is my favorite of the ones we read so far.  As a quick story, I work at a grocery store and there is a woman who works there that speaks very "unstandard" english.  As an example, she says "I throwed it away yesterday".  Now it never bothered me much until a year or two ago and now I can't take it.    I think it is because as english majors we are supposed to know how to speak and get annoyed very easily ar incorrect grammar.  However, this article had really nice things to say about those who speak in a way that isn't what we are used to.  I think it is important that students write what they want to write even if it is grammatical mess or is a stream of consciousness piece.  I feel that students.  Rules of grammar can be difficult but it should not stop anyone from saying how they feel. I like the part when the author describes how when they students write in a way that is familiar to them then they express themselves a lot better.  I also liked how they used writing as almost a therapy session.  A lot of students have no one they can trust in their lives and maybe now they see writing as a way to relieve their stress and find trust in their peers who suffer from things themselves.  I feel like english classes would be a lot more welcoming if students did not have so much fear from what teachers and other students are going to say about the way that they speak and they way that they write.  However, someone's dialect tells us so much about them in a good way.  Look at American literature, the dialogue in that tells us so much about history and makes the literature we read so much more powerful.

"Tracking"

In my old school district, we would start getting tracked in sixth grade.  From then on, you had to fit certain preequisites and grades in order to take certain classes.  That being said, if you had a bad year (let's say 7th grade) then the rest of your school career would be done for because you wouldn't have made the cut for honors classes after 7th grade.  I think tracking is an awful thing that is ultimately like segregation.  I graduated with about 700 students in my class.  I could tell you that I probably knew 200 of them pretty well because I had the same classes with the same kids that I never got to know anymore then the ones I was placed with.  The kids in the lower levels have expectations in classrooms and their teachers treat them so much worse then they teach their honors students.  Teachers tend to make these awful assumptions that these students don't want to go to college or have nothing to share which is completely not true.  By 7th grade the schools want us to know exactly what we want with our life when some adults still don't know what they want with their life.  Tracking is like a bubble that they place you in.  You can't get out of it and you're cut off from others because of this bubble.  Being tracked leaves you no room for you to be unique but shows how much you are the same as others in the same track.  I think tracking is just ultimately degrading.  Tracking tells you what you have done because you are forced but not what you are capable of.  I think everyone should be in classes together because that is what society is like.  You are forced to be with people different from you so should get use to it in class.  In the world you are going to have to work in groups with different people who have different experiences but still have to accomplish the same goal.  Humans are meant to rely on each other and no one should be deprived an education that they want.  Once tracked, students feel that they have a label on them and that they aren't worth anything above that.  I think tracking needs to be done with and that everyone should learn together and learn to help each other.  The article had a lot to say about tracking and I completely agree with the author.  I like how the author desribes the two levels of tracking and how they want different things out of their classes.  This just goes to show that the lower tracked students still want something out of their education.  I think, as does this author, that honor classes are predictable.  I don't know why all kids can't get together and read materials that fits all of their needs.  I think learning would be so much better that way.