Seminar 3rd Stage

During the first two parts of this seminar, we have been seeing how San Juan Evangelista curriculum is. Having brought up a great number of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats we could realize the curricula's structure. In our last stage of seminar we used the SWOT system of analysis for identifying all the recently mentioned characteristics present in a curriculum. After that analysis, we encountered one main weakness that called our attention greatly: Library or facilities in general. In this last stage we will write a proposal with possible and feasible solutions to this weakness. One of the main reasons we had to focus on this weakness is that they do affect students learning and opportunities for learning. Therefore, we will focus on giving solutions regarding this setback for improving the teaching and learning of English in the school. The school we are analyzing in this seminar is San Juan Evangelista in Las Condes.

We will begin by introducing the weakness and later on giving our proposal and the possible benefits to be taken out of this process.

Weakness

·Library or facilities in general

If parents pay almost $200.000 pesos per student every month, they will expect some standard materials for students or at least accessibility and availability of the present resources. Due to the fact that we know the school, we can say that the amount of money the school receives does not show, for example in the technological aspects, facilities or infrastructure. The amount of computers is definitely not enough for the amount of students. To have the opportunity to use a projector you need to have patience since you will have to confirm availability or wait until some other teacher is done. (There is only one laptop to move around with the projector).

In terms of technological aspects, we believe that the school must have an improvement in the number of computers students have to work in. It is true that computers can be a multifunctional tool that can provide several facilities, but it is not the unique resource to improve language learning.

Another aspect in which the school facility is deficient is in the library. Those books that are the base of knowledge to consult are not enough for subjects and students' needs. A final aspect is the accessibility of the materials. Recently an order came from the head of the school: teachers could not print in the teachers’ room printer anymore. Instead they had to ask the head of the department for permission which limits the possibilities of having access to material from the internet. The first day of this second semester we presented a project of updating the self access room. We asked for different materials: cardboard, markers, tape, etc. and after a few weeks we received some of them. The accessibility is definitely affecting the school progress.

Proposal

Students are the most important part of our job as teachers. So we need to concentrate on all those elements that are going to help us to teach them a language the best way possible. We believe we need to start by understanding our class from a constructivist point of view. According to Penny Ur, constructivists state that all human beings construct their own reality and therefore, their knowledge. Also, Slavin argues the important role of teachers because they are the ones who facilitate this process of learning by making information meaningful and relevant to students. If we understand learning from this perspective, we need to see the importance of having all the necessary elements to nurture students' learning: resources and materials which promote a good learning environment.

Create a positive climate

The first element that we need to set in the classroom is rapport. This relationship that you establish with your students will help them to feel capable and comfortable while learning a second/foreign language. This rapport can be accomplished by showing interest in the students, working with them as a team and developing genuine sense of happiness. Then, the second element is establishing a balance between praise and criticism. Learning is a difficult process and everybody inside the classroom needs to be willing to try and practice. The appropriate feedback — praise or criticism — being genuine will allow students to learn from their mistakes, classmates' feedback and their own self-evaluation about their performance. Finally, the third element is to generate energy in terms of reaction. Students and teachers need to react to each other in order to create a good interaction among them.

With a better distribution of resources we can improve our students learning.

As we have seen in this seminar, students’ learning is at stake in this school because of many different reasons. One of the most important reasons is the lack of resources variety. This has been causing a great deal of problems for teachers and students because in class they simply work with the textbook, many times because they do not have more resources. We have already presented the tuition parents pay for each of them; therefore, it is shocking to say that the school does not have resources when parents pay $200.000 each month for each student. If that is the case, there are many modifications in order to have more accessibility when using the resources. In this part of the seminar, we will suggest different resources that are sort of inexpensive and accessible. We will also refer to the present resources and how to manage them in a better way.

There are several resources we can use in order to teach our students in the best possible way. As seen in the chapter “What can we teach with?” by Tessa Woodward, there is a multiplicity of resources we can use in our classes.

The first resource mentioned is the dictionary. We think that the accessibility and availability of resources are present because there are dictionaries in the library. However, it is also well-known that teachers cannot carry dictionaries to every room. Therefore, as part of our proposal, dictionaries should be in the classrooms. Students have questions in the process of learning; consequently, dictionaries should be available for students to use them right in the moment.

The board is the second resource mentioned by Tessa Woodward. However every class has a whiteboard, we can observe that teachers do not make excellent use of it. We can improve the usage of the board by dividing it into little spaces for different categories to have its place. For example, we can have one side of the board for new vocabulary, or the menu. This will eventually lead to better practices and students more enriching learning processes. It would also be ideal to have a space on the walls to put some posters with extremely useful information for students to be aware of, or with different written production they have made and with many other things so that every resource contributes to creating the climate and perfect environment for learning.

Magazines are a very useful resource especially in the language classroom. There are innumerable activities we can develop using and image or an advertisement from a magazine. By using images from magazines or even newspapers, we bring realia to the classroom which is another essential in effective language teaching. With images we can develop skills and teach vocabulary and grammar. Magazines are also very accessible and they can even cost nothing. If you are organized, you can ask your own students to bring 2 or 3 old magazines or newspapers. This way, the teachers will have a stock of magazines and newspaper to choose images from. This initiative can definitely be transferred to other subjects.

According to Ur there are two more important materials to consider for language classes: overhead projectors and computers and video equipment. The first gadget is very useful for purpose of motivation. The use of these devices allows teachers to have a catchy class in which students receive a different type of input, creating a more vivid and dynamic class. For instance, having a projector will allow the teacher to bring different material and save money from not using worksheets. You can always scan certain elements out of a book or something else to be presented in the classroom for visual or written purposes. Plus we need to acknowledge the importance of having a computer with full access to internet and video and audio devices. The second resource – video equipment — allow teachers to bring authentic material into the classroom. This is fundamental in order to expose our students to many different native accents. It is also very flexible because you can plan many classes including the same type of TV program, movie, series, and so on having in mind that you have the possibility to stop, rewind and keep playing it again.

As a final proposal, we think that managing our own classrooms is the best solution for organizing our resources and taking more advantage out of them. According to Douglas Brown, classroom management includes the design of the room, position of the desks, acoustics, neatness and cleanness, whiteboard or chalkboard and equipment. Besides all these devices, teachers have an important role in classroom management. Some of the teachers’ characteristics that affect classroom management are: voice projection, articulation, body posture and language, facial and hand gestures, body movement and eye contact. Ideally, all these factors can be managed by teachers, but how can we do it if we have to be moving from one room to the next?

We must encourage the dean of our school to see classroom management as an extraordinary tool with which we can take the best out of our students and also develop their learning processes more easily and effectively. As Richards and Renandya express, “Classroom management refers to the ways in which teachers manage a class in order to make it maximally productive for language learning” (28). Therefore, it is highly necessary that we start implementing our own classrooms. Thus, we will be able to arrange it in the best manner so that we can achieve the expected learning.

The teacher as Resource

According to Brown, teachers are also a resource inside the classroom. They need to be available for advice and questions when students seek them. If we consider the classroom as a place where learning takes place, every single object and person should be considered as a resource to learn: you can learn from books, images, and so on, but also from your classmates and the teacher. Obviously, there must be a balance between the way teachers plan and manage their class and the development of students' autonomy. Our principal goal should be to equip our students with a sense of successful learning: this means we should tell them what successful learners do and how to accomplish this in order to provide them with certain skills to develop autonomy. Again, we have to bear in mind that teachers are models and facilitators of learning, therefore we present to our students different strategies and techniques to improve their learning process.

Conclusions

It is of the great importance to bear in mind that students learning and possibilities are the main issues inside of the school. We, as teachers, need to provide several elements that can positively affect students’ performance, not only inside the classroom, but in their lives. The school role should be as the supplier of facilities, but what happens when the school does not have enough materials or resources students can work with? Clearly, it will be very difficult for them to construct and create their own knowledge. It is essential to have students interested and motivated during all their learning process that is the main reason explaining why San Juan Evangelista should consider and work with this lack of resources.

Having in mind all the arrangements we have proposed to improve students’ learning and autonomy through English classes, we can say that the main goal San Juan Evangelista should have is to consider the money investment that parents make and provide their pupils with the best quality of education. In this final stage of our seminar; we stated that creating a positive climate allows students' confidence with the teachers and among themselves. Naturally, it helps to respect each other and it allows different opinions and suggestions to improve the class. Without diminishing the importance of this issue in the school, we truly believe that San Juan Evangelista needs to improve in the distribution of resources to accomplish the main goal. If the school is looking for better understanding and improvement of students' learning, the school and teachers must think about how they are using their resources. As we mentioned before, the appropriate use of dictionaries, the board, magazines and those more technological resources such as computers, videos and TVs will be an easy and quick solution to improve students' learning. Perhaps teachers are not taught to use these elements inside their classes. Probably, universities and colleges take for granted the use of them. But, they do not really know how difficult it is. Therefore, the school could implement a training course to fulfill this area of teaching practice, if teachers are not working well in it.

This is the final purpose of our seminar, to find aspects in which we as students and future teachers, can improve and help this school and any other to incorporate new ideas and deal with issues that are important according to the culture and community in which we will be accepted. By saying this, we accept the role of teachers inside the schools based on the idea of becoming an actor which can transform and change the reality with help of students and colleagues. If the school accepts the teacher as another resource the roles inside the classroom will be richer, because autonomy is practiced in this type of environment. If the whole school community assumes that we learn from each other, the autonomy and the roles of everyone will increase the outcomes of our learning. Throughout English classes students can understand these concepts. Obviously, the ideal project is practicing it in all the subjects, but in English we need to work with different materials and resources because we are talking about language learning, which is focused on communicating our ideas.

Bibliography

• Brown, H. Douglas. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. New York: Pearson Education. 2000
• Brown, H. Douglas. Teaching by Principles: An interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. New York: Pearson Education. 2001
• Richards, Jack, Renandya, Willy. Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
• Slavin, Robert E. Educational Psychology. New York: Pearson Education Company. 2003
• Ur, Penny. A course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.1996

Native American Wisdom in the EFL Classroom

Most people around the world do not value the wisdom of their indigenous people. Kristen Marée Cleary states in the foreword of the book Native American Wisdom that “the Awaunageesuck (strangers) have, at last, begun to appreciate and learn the values of these great nations”. That, I think, is also happening in our country as we can see people learning Mapudungún or being more interested in this people’s health knowledge. Thus, in this essay, I will try to present the incredible value of the literature of the Native American People and how we can transmit their wisdom into the EFL classroom. This essay will include a brief glance to the reader—response approach, brief history of Native American people literature and different activities that can be done with school students along with the values we can extract from these readings.

In order to use these legends, poetry and stories in the EFL classroom is important to mention the approach to literature I will be using in my classes. The Reader-Response approach is the most appealing to me because people get to bring themselves into their own readings. Readers’ experiences play a fundamental role in interpreting and understanding any piece of literature. This approach can be defined as the approach which emphasizes the individual as a reader—responder, the role of the reader as a re-creator who with his/her experience, previous readings, thoughts and feelings enrich any text. Also, the reader interacts with the text mainly because of the objectives of this approach such as encouraging individual readers to feel more comfortable with their responses to a literary text, encouraging them to understand themselves better by giving arguments to their responses which will make them be aware of themselves (Chen).

This literature has a long story. From an early age, before the English Empire came to conquer North America, indigenous people had their different tribes which all together constituted one civilization. They taught their children orally as displayed in the following:

There are stories and stories….There are the songs, also, that are taught. Some are whimsical. Some are very intense. Some are documentary….Everything I have known is through teachings, by word of mouth, either by song or legends.

Terrance Honvantewa, Hopi (Cleary).

Therefore, some of their legends, tales and stories have been lost. Some others have not because they have been transmitted until this day by the members of the different tribes. Some of them are now in a written form and accessible to people world-wide. These texts are valuable because of the great teaching that their words have and also because they are simple and easy to understand. With this literature “teachers see how folk literature can extend their students’ literacy and love of reading through a range of classroom applications spanning the full range of the language arts” (Young). I am very interested in fostering students’ passion for reading, so with this literature I will be contributing to develop their literacy and love of reading because we will be constantly using it to produce other outcomes such as plays, journals and even stories.

In this part, I will specifically work with methodological aspects of the reader response approach and how we can use various selected pieces of Native American People literature in the classroom. I will first present the text and immediately after it, the values that we can transmit through the reading. Afterwards, I will mention and explain the activities with which we can work in class.

It is no longer good enough to cry peace, we must act peace, live peace, and live in peace.

Shenandoah proverb (Cleary)

After reading this proverb I just thought of the value of coherence. As it states, it is not enough to speak about peace, but that our actions are embedded with peace.

How can I work with this value and the reading in the classroom? Response journals are one of the activities which follow the methodology of the reader response approach (Chen). By asking different questions we can ask our students to write a 150 word entry giving answer to a question and including their own reflection about the reading. For example, I could ask them to reflect on how coherent they think they are between what they say, think and do. I could ask them exemplify their answers. This way, they will have an opportunity of getting to know themselves through the task.

Deer, I am sorry to hurt you, but the people are hungry.

Choctaw Hunter’s Prayer (Cleary)

The value of this prayer is the caring for other living beings. We can see that even when the Native American people hunted, they just did it because they had to and not because it was fun. There was a reason behind the hunting, so they did care about the animals.

With this prayer my students can have a discussion about the slaughtering of animals without being concerned or even caring for them. We can plan a debate based on this prayer in which the students can have a position about it. One group would agree and the other would disagree with the prayer. They would have to find out for more information and in the process they will be thinking about many things that are related to the topic of animal mistreatment.

You Are Part Of Me

You are part of me now

You touched me,

With your kindness and love

So enchanted.

Your soft lips are kind.

Your eyes glow with life.

I'm glad you touched me,

You're part of me now.

Lloyd Carl Owle, Cherokke. (First People)

With this poem we can see the value of respect. It is very much like do not do something that you would not like to be done. So, we can teach respect through this poem because when you are part of something you cannot do wrong. This can also be related to nature since we are all part of nature; consequently, we should not harm or damage our world.

The activity that can be developed with this poem is the oral interpretation. I can ask my students to rehearse and later read the poem aloud. By doing this, they will bring their own interpretation of the poems and feelings towards it dramatically. With this, my students can be practicing their oral skills and features outside the language itself such as rhythm, intonation and stress.

The last piece of folk literature is a longer one. It is the legend of the origin of the Hopi Snake Clan. (Appendix 1)

With this legend we can have very interesting activities. After we have read the legend in class, all together, we can act it out (Chen). As a class, we can create a dialogue based on the legend and create different costumes for the characters that are present in the story. I think this activity will be very successful because students really like to have creative activities in which they are fully involved. Constructivist theory claims that by the fully engagement and level of involvedness students can truly learn. With this activity, they will be bringing themselves into the reading. Another activity is to ask them to create their own legend based on their family tradition (Chen). They will be writing based on the same model of the legend presented in class a story of their own life and that of their family. In order to do this, they will have to interview their family members such as grandparents, parents and uncles and aunts who will eventually end up sharing stories and tales about the family. Then, with students’ imagination they will write their own story and learn about themselves and their respective families.

As you can see, teachers can definitely and should absolutely use folk literature in the EFL classroom. In my constant search for more interactive and fun activities, I think that the proposed activities to include folk literature in the class will be challenging and motivating for students and they will be learning. Using the reader response approach allows us to understand our students better and to include them in our activities; thus, creating a more student-centered classroom. Involving the students is essential in order to have a more effective classroom and I am sure they always have something to say: I think we should listen to them more often. At the same time, they will be learning about themselves and their origins and they will begin to have an opinion about different topics and issues that are posed in the beautiful folk literature. Fortunately, there is more access to folk literature and there are so many more poems, prayers, legends and tales with which we can work.

Bibliography

Chen, Chi-Fen Emily. Teaching Literature to Children. <http://www2.nkfust.edu.tw/~emchen/CLit/Teaching.htm>.

Cleary, Kristen Marée. Native American Wisdom. New York: Fall River Press, 1996.

First People: American Indian Poems and Prayers. <http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/The_Origin_Of_The_Hopi_Snake_Clan-Hopi.html>.

Young, Terrell. Happily Ever After: Sharing Folk Literature with Elementary and Middle School Students. Newark: International Reading Association, 2004.

Teaching: What With??

So far in this ELAB I have taught several times in my classes. Fortunately, I have been working with a good teacher who supports and helps me in every situation. She has given me the possibility of creating new activities and teaching material for the students with whom we work.

I started working the first semester with high school students. During that experience, I could not be so much of a teacher because that was not ELAB 3’s purpose. Nevertheless, I did have opportunities of teaching 12^th graders and I think that with their English level I can teach a lesson with whatever imaginable resource and the right questions. Their speaking proficiency is very high which allows teachers to develop a class only with them speaking and practicing their speaking skill. However, they do other things in their classes and not only speaking. Now, I am working with 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grades. In this ELAB 4 I have had more opportunities of teaching them and I have been able to notice that varying resources is very important because students have different learning styles and teachers need to provide all students with the right input.

Through this experience and the methodology class I have become aware of the quantity of resources we have which are not always limited by the economical resources. In this journal, I will explain and mention all the small elements I have used to create different activities and spending very little money.

Some time ago, the 6^th graders had to begin a new lesson. The lesson dealt with comparatives and superlatives. For my activity, I created a very small worksheet and asked them to stand up if they were “the shortest student in the class” or “more popular than…” It really worked perfectly, and most importantly, students learnt how to use the rule without explicitly explaining it. Students are one of the resources inside the classroom. It is clear that by doing this activity they will never forget since they were involved in it. At the same time, I used TPR (Total Physical Response), and they answered to the commands.

Another resource I have used in my classes is images. With images you can have your students do simple tasks such as recognizing colors, describing clothes or activities up to more complex activities such as writing an essay based on inferences from the image. Images can be taken from the internet, newspapers, articles, books and magazines. They are inexpensive and easy to obtain. Another positive feature about working with images is that you bring realia to the classroom with them. For example, if it is a newspaper image, students can recognize settings, streets and people which will help them remember what they have learnt when they see those things again.

Flashcards is a type of image I have used. At the beginning of this second semester the 5^th graders were working with a unit from the book called “Animals”. During my winter break I printed over a hundred images to make flashcards in my house, so I had many animals. I told my teacher who agreed to use them in one of the class. The task was to work in pairs and describe the animal in the flashcard. It was so much fun because some of the students even gave the animals names. Some girls danced when presenting their animal. Making your own flashcards is very easy and inexpensive.

Lastly, I have been using many games. I want the students to have fun when they are learning with me. When I was teaching jobs and professions, I brought little pieces of cardboard with different jobs and professions written on them. I asked the students to do mimics and it was really fun. At the end, they learned the necessary content and had fun. Another game I did was a memory game with past tenses of irregular verbs. It was fun and good practice for the students. I have also used crosswords which can be made with a downloadable program from the Internet[1]. This one was also to reinforce past tenses of irregular verbs. Again, cardboard is very inexpensive and an accessible material.

Doing all these activities and using many different resources has been really successful. One of my main aims has been to blend learning with entertainment and it has worked. The students have had good results which can be a proof to say that they are really learning when I teach them.

I could identify two major strengths during this ELAB. One is creating material. I think that we need to find resources everywhere. Cardboard has become one of my best friends for teaching because you can do several things with it by just writing a word. I have discovered that I am quite creative and that teaching the content of the textbook does not have to be by using it. Classroom management has also been one of my strengths. I do manage my class and the time. Students behave very well and the most I get from them are yells once in a while when we are playing.

According to my teacher I need to ask students to behave properly, but I do not mind having a little noise in the classroom. I believe it is just a discrepancy of opinion. Anyway, I think we need to build the environment and that will not happen until I have my own class because in my position I cannot interfere with the teacher-students routine. One of the noticeable weaknesses I can perceive is the lack of mechanics in my teaching. I do not have the map of my planning in my head and sometimes I forget about essential things such as giving an appropriate warm up or correcting tasks. I do believe, however, that I will get more practice with the years. Therefore, one of the changes I would introduce in order to improve my weakness is to bring my planning into the classroom so that I have everything clear. I know that the structure of the class is essential for students learning, so I need to improve that area of my teaching.

One action that I have taken has given me great benefits. Participating in seminars and workshops has become a great help for me. Going to the TESOL, for example, was extremely enriching because I took many ideas from the conferences I attended and put them into practice in my ELAB. Encountering experienced teachers is an aid for all newly qualified teachers and for me while I am working in my ELAB because they can teach you, in a way, how to teach a content, resources to be used, how to vary activities, and so on.

My objectives were very clear. I wanted students to work in group and I wanted them to have fun. Fortunately, my two objectives were fulfilled. Along with those objectives, I wanted students to learn which I think was also accomplished. My best recompense has been seeing my teacher laugh and play with the students while I am conducting the class. I really hope that she will incorporate my activities in her teaching. I am quite sure that my students are learning and having fun at the same time. Of course, not everything must be fun, but when the content is a bit complex and tedious, games can help very much. In the end, they are just children, they love having fun.

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[1] www.qualint.com

My Own Way

By now, I already know in which grade I would like to teach because I have been exposed to diverse schools and different grades. I was very upset when I had to change my classes at school at the beginning of this second semester because I felt very comfortable with my teachers and with the students I was working. Now, I look back and I think that I was mistaken because with the change I realized how much I wanted to work with high school students. I am now working with 5th and 6th graders and whenever I finish an activity I see that those are not the classes I will feel comfortable with. My main aim in teaching English is to help them become critical thinkers and, more importantly, subjects in this society. Learning English is simply the means of accomplishing that final goal. However, I do think they will learn English because they will be constantly exposed to plenty of input and they will need it to participate in the class. I would also like to help them become more autonomous and responsible of their own learning. In this essay, I will explain what my position towards teaching English is and which approaches seem the most appropriate for my objectives to be accomplished.

We have dealt with the many approaches that exist when it comes to teaching English during our methodology classes. I may say that some are better than others such as: the communicative approach and the learner centered approach. Some other approaches are old fashioned and not very useful for my goals with learning English such as: the grammar translation method and the silent way. This categorization should always consider the students’ characteristics and the objectives of your classes. However, by categorizing the approaches as useful or useless I am limiting myself: therefore, I will not have an eclectic approach in my classes. Nevertheless, I need to use the approach that best suits my expectations and objectives in a determined class with certain learners. Unfortunately, that approach does not exist and I must have a mixture and create a balance of different approaches.

Firstly, I think I would use a learner centered approach because the learners are definitely more engaged when they are creating and actively participating. Knowing the reality of Chilean classrooms, the best approach to solve the problem of large classes is the learner centered approach. Otherwise, the teacher would be constantly lecturing the students and they would never have the opportunity of practicing what they have learnt. This approach involves plenty of group work which will help our students be more tolerant, respectful and have an opinion about various issues in the society. In high school, I could bring many tasks that can be developed in groups and my part would be just that of a mediator. These activities can, at the same time, be fostering students’ critical thinking skills. For example, I am very interested in literature and by bringing books and using the reader response approach which is an approach to literature consisting of having students interact with each other and with the text; I will be fostering their critical skills and using the learner centered approach. By means of discussions in groups about the selected readings, students will be practicing the target language, tolerating others’ opinions and interpretations and being critical by questioning whatever the author is trying to pose. The methodology of these classes is having the students doing the talk and the teacher just monitoring their discussions. The more relevant characteristic of this approach is that students will have a sense of “ownership” of their learning (Brown, 2001). The learner centered approach is the one which considers students needs and styles the most. Since the most important part of the class is the student, everything works having them in mind. As we have seen in class and at the ELAB, we may have the best planning, but if this planning does not regard the students’ needs, styles and interests, the class will probably fail.

Secondly, the learner centered approach is very much related to the communicative language teaching approach. Since they will be working in groups, the possibilities of communicating with others are great. By definition, this approach consists in having all the elements of the English language incorporated in the class: the main focus of this approach is to build learners communicative competence by means of engaging them in authentic and pragmatic functions of the language (Brown, 2001). Students are engaged in using the language receptively and productively and group work is essential to have this approach in the class. This approach is also related to the idea of incorporating the four skills in the classroom. Therefore, the planning of my classes will develop skills and not individual features of grammar or vocabulary. Ergo, students will be eventually learning these features in context and practicing the language in order to acquire it which is also one of my main goals in being a teacher.

Thirdly, I think it is essential that my classes include challenge and fun. In order to achieve that I think I should include the Total Physical Response approach. With this approach, students will have fun and they will be a part of the learning. This approach consists of having students respond to various commands. Regardless the fact that I want to work with high school students, we saw in class that this approach can be used with learners of all ages and of all proficiency levels. It is very selfish to take all the fun away from high school students just because they are too old to play. Sometimes, even I would like to have some fun in my classes because it is a fun way to learn. I completely disagree with teachers that state that school is not for playing because I, as an English teacher, will have an immense variety of games and I am planning to use them with my students. For example, I can have an introductory class with new students using this approach. It would work as an ice breaker. If I ask my students to walk around the room and ask them to stop in front of another student and answer his/her questions, I will be helping them to get to know each other better and they will be practicing their comprehension skills. For that reason, Total Physical Response (TPR) is completely applicable in any context and in any class.

Lastly, in order to help them become more autonomous and responsible, it is important to teach them as many strategies as possible so that they continue learning English outside the classroom. In the book Learning Strategies for Success, Douglas Brown points out that “It has long been recognized that the most successful learners of languages are those who understand their own abilities and capacities well and who autonomously engage in systematic efforts within and beyond the classroom to reach self determined goals of acquisition” (2002). Therefore, I need to build a set of strategies for our students to learn English. These strategies should consider the students’ needs and styles. Using this approach, I will save so much time from the class because we will not have to learn all the vocabulary in the class, they will engage in practicing their speaking skills outside the class, they could write entries on a blog which are all language activities they will perform autonomously. As I provide them with different strategies, it will be of their responsibility to use them in order to acquire the language. In the end, the ones who are more interested will use them to learn more, practice more and acquire the target language faster. At the same time they will get to know their characteristics as learners better because they will have to take some tests for identifying multiple intelligences, learning styles, if they are left or right brained and many other features of themselves.

After working on this paper, I can conclude that the best approach is the one created upon other approaches. Taking your students and the objectives of your class into consideration is essential for making this eclectic and balanced approach work in your classes. In this paper I have mentioned several approaches which have worked in my own classes at ELAB, but some of them may not work in a different context. For example, I have mentioned the learner centered approach as one of the most important ones, but I know that sometimes my classes will need a different format and I will have to give explanations or even lectures of the content. It is known that the perfect approach does not exist, but with one’s own constant evaluation of the approaches we are using, we can come up with the one that best suits our expectations, students’ needs and objectives for a certain class. I am sure these approaches can change from one school to another and even from one class to the next because of the different contexts, students and even time schedules. It is in this constant evaluation and reflection where we can become better teachers. Therefore, we must spare some time to reflect upon our practice and evaluate how our teaching is being developed. Hence, this is my approach to teaching today, maybe next year my approach will be entirely different.

Bibliography

Brown, H. Douglas. Strategies for Success: A Practical Guide to Learning English. New York: Longman. 2002

Brown, H. Douglas. Teaching by Principles: An interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. New York: Pearson Education. 2001

My Antonia

If you consider My Antonia a realistic novel, mention the characteristics that enable you to categorize it as such. Give examples from the novel.

Having studied Realism as a literary movement and its most fundamental characteristics, I can now attempt to analyze a piece of art and be able to decide whether or not a novel such as My Antonia is realistic. Being a fan of Henry James (Wikipedia), Willa Cather wrote My Antonia with many realistic features all influenced by this Realism’s prominent figure. Thus, My Antonia has been considered a realistic novel and, in this essay, I will provide reasons and examples from the novel to demonstrate it.

Realism can be defined as the faithful representation of reality having as the central piece the singular and common individual (Campbell). Therefore, any realistic piece will present the day to day situations of life, social relationships and the protagonists will be characters with strong real roots and marked development: people with whom you can feel more or less identified.

One of realism’s most fundamental characteristics is the representation of middle-class family (Campbell). I can perceive this characteristic in My Antonia because Jim’s family belonged to this social class. Jim went to college and then to Harvard which denotes that he was not poor nor rich, but middle-class. It was very difficult for sons of farmers in Nebraska to stay at the university. In book 3: Lena Lingard, the narrator describes “Some of those boys came straight from the cornfields with only a summer’s wages in their pockets, hung on through the four years, shabby and underfed, and completed the course by really heroic self-sacrifice” (Cather). This description does not apply to Jim’s stay at Lincoln because his grandparents helped him economically to go and experience a pleasant stay.

Another major trait of realism is the importance of the characters’ development over the importance of the plot (Campbell). Willa Cather did her part in the novel by developing Antonia, Jim and Lena fully. For example, Lena grew in the course of the story as I can perceive it with the following statements: “Whenever we rode over in that direction we saw her out among her cattle, bareheaded and barefooted, scantily dressed in tattered clothing, always knitting as she watched her herd. Before I knew Lena, I thought of her as something wild that always lived on the prairie, because I had never seen her under a roof.” (Cather) And, “'I don't want to marry Nick, or any other man,' Lena murmured.’I've seen a good deal of married life, and I don't care for it. I want to be so I can help my mother and the children at home, and not have to ask life of anybody.'” (Cather). These two statements show how her life was and who she wanted to become. From her early youth, she was determined to be an independent woman and help her mother. However, she did experience rough life at the beginning of her arrival to the United States because she was a foreigner and there is always homesickness and obstacles to face when being abroad.

The last element being used for this analysis is that realistic novels render reality closely and in comprehensive detail. Apart from that Cather uses beautiful language in all her very detailed description which, at the same time, accounts for My Antonia as a work of art. This comprehensive detail is very clear specially when used to describe the landscape. It was interesting to see how simple grass became the most energetic and overwhelming grass I have ever read. In the following quotation we can see how nature is transmitted to the readers: “But the little buzzing things that lived in the grass were all dead—all but one. While we were lying there against the warm bank, a little insect of the palest, frailest green hopped painfully out of the buffalo grass and tried to leap into a bunch of bluestem.” (Cather). Her way of describing is particularly close to what has been defined as “imagery”, using words to produce an image in an instant of time. “We were so deep in the grass that we could see nothing but the blue sky over us and the gold tree in front of us.” (Cather) represents the image she produced and this took me there instantly almost feeling the touch of the grass in my body.

After analyzing My Antonia, I have realized the magnificence of realistic works, especially this novel. Its descriptions provide the readers with a sense of understanding, specifically because I felt as if I was there in Nebraska when reading it.

By using these three main features in realistic works: representation of middle-class family, importance of character development over the importance of the plot and rendering of reality and in comprehensive detail, I have given reasons and examples which determine that My Antonia by Willa Cather is a realistic novel. With other features mentioned, I have also expressed that My Antonia is a work of art in Literature.

2. Which of the characters is most attractive to you? Say why.

After reading My Antonia, which I liked very much, I can see how important characters are in any piece of art. My Antonia is not the exception since it is a realistic novel which is characterized by the development of characters. In order to answer this question I have three great characters to choose from: Antonia, Jim and Lena. Well, I feel very attracted to Lena Lingard for many different reasons: the most important one being her independence. She was also a very goal-oriented person which can be seen after she had accomplished her goals such as becoming a dress-maker and helping her mother.

Throughout the story, Lena Lingard grew up and matured extraordinarily. From being just one of the hired girls she walked a long path to becoming a respectable woman who accomplished her goals. I always feel really identified with this type of women because they simply inspire me.

Lena’s sense of independence was extremely important to her and in some of her first interactions with the other characters in Book II: The Hired Girls, she makes it even more prominent. In the following quotation she expresses her desire of being someone on her own, “'I don't want to marry Nick, or any other man,' Lena murmured.’I've seen a good deal of married life, and I don't care for it. I want to be so I can help my mother and the children at home, and not have to ask life of anybody.'” (Cather). The independent woman was portrayed in her character because she decided to move to Lincoln and start her own business as a dressmaker: “I live in Lincoln now, too, Jim. I'm in business for myself. I have a dressmaking shop in the Raleigh Block, out on O Street. I've made a real good start.'” This independency is what has called my attention the most. It is also this independence which makes her the most attractive character of all to me.

Lena Lingard’s autonomy has also led me to think about the concept of the “self-made man”. This concept describes the capacity of human beings of becoming who they decide without much help of others or the society. Lena is a good example of that concept as illustrated in the following quotation: “Certainly she (Lena) had no one but herself to thank for it”.

Her being a goal-oriented person is also very attractive to me. I could read that since she was young she had her mind focused on achieving her goals. She stopped working in the farm and started working for Mrs. Thomas. From this moment on, she knew she wanted to become a dressmaker as stated in this quotation: “She (Mrs. Thomas) is going to teach me to sew. She says I have quite a knack. I'm through with the farm. There ain't any end to the work on a farm, and always so much trouble happens. I'm going to be a dressmaker.'” (Cather). Despite all the obstacles a fine young foreign woman can encounter in her life, she achieved everything she dreamt about. That is inspiration to a young woman like me and she has taught me that I can achieve everything I want to. She also wanted to help her mother and build a house for her: “This summer I’m going to build the house for mother I’ve talked about so long” (Cather) and even until the end she usually went home every summer and help her mother so much (Cather).

Lena Lingard was a woman full of sacrifice and she accomplished her goals in life. She was also very independent and did not like having people helping her out. She has been a real inspiration to me, and she is to me the most attractive character in the novel. As Lena has inspired me, I would love that she inspires my students, especially the female students, so I would love to invite Lena to my classroom and share her testimony of how despite all the difficulties you can still achieve your objectives and make their dream come true.

Bibliography

• American Literature. Cather, Willa: My Antonia. September, 2009. <http://www.americanliterature.com/Cather/MyAntonia/MyAntonia.html>.
• Campbell, Donna. Realism in American Literature. Washington State University. <http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm>.
• Wikipedia. “Willa Cather”. 4 November, 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cather>.

Realism

1. So far we have studied several works of US Literature. Apply your concepts of “What is literature” to one of those works and discuss why you think it is a work of art.

I must begin by saying that, without disrespecting the scholars, I disagree with the definition shown in the class of considering only canonical literature as good literature. I believe literature is something very personal and subjective. In my opinion, good or bad literature does not exist. In short, what is good for me might be bad for you and that is perfectly right. One cannot give a concrete definition of literature, and probably of nothing at all as Virginia Woolf pointed out: “One cannot hope to tell the truth. One can only show how one came to hold whatever opinion one does hold” (Project Gutenberg). My opinion has its roots in the article “What is literature”. In this article, the author states that “’Literature’ and the ‘literary’ then are highly subjective categories” (Laga) and its definition is left to the personal background. However, in the article, there are some characteristics which define what a work of art is. Using those characteristics, I will analyze one of the pieces of literary work we have discussed in class.

“The masque of the Red Death” written by Edgar Allan Poe can absolutely be considered as a piece of canonical literature, I think. The first characteristic is the imaginative or fictive character of literature as opposed to factual information. Poe’s story is a work of art in the sense that he invented the pest, the context, the settings and the characters. “The masque of the Red Death” is art because it is an imaginative story and does not contain any factual nor historical information. Secondly, literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language. For example, in the story Poe writes: “There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution” (Literature Network). This is an intensification of the language since he uses exaggeration by using the word profuse. The use of language in the story is definitely not ordinary, but denotes mastery. Thirdly, literature is non-useful writing. Reading “The masque of the Red Death” is of no use for us. It does not contribute to do anything pragmatic. Literature in that sense is not practical; nevertheless, I do consider thinking as something pragmatic, and Poe invites us through his story to reflect upon our fears. Lastly, literature is what I like to read. I do enjoy reading Poe, and whenever I write something it has macabre features like his writings. I believe Poe is one of the best American authors because it moves me completely. I could say that, according to me, Poe is a canonical author and “The masque of the Red Death” is a work of art. The article also supports my opinion because of all the above mentioned characteristics of what makes a piece of writing in a literary piece of writing.

In conclusion, “The masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe is literature because it is imaginative, intensifies the language, is non-useful and I like reading it.

2. Romanticism is a very complex literary movement. Choose one work you consider romantic and explain what it is that makes it a romantic piece of literature.

Throughout history, artists have created and been part of different artistic movement. Literature is considered an art; therefore, writers are artists. They have also been part of various movements. In our American Literature class we have studied Romanticism which I think is one of the most complex artistic movement to understand. Anyhow, we have dealt with it in our classes and I can say I have some basic knowledge regarding its basic characteristics. When I say basic knowledge, I am implying that to deeply understand a literary movement we need to devote more time to comprehend its rationale and read quite a number of pieces.

Romanticism’s basic features are the representation of supernatural and occult dimensions, human psychology and sensibility of human beings. Apart from these characteristics, it has also been called as the Counter-Enlightenment movement since it disagreed with the rational dimension of the epoch. It highlighted the intuition, imagination and feeling which were not considered by the Enlightenment movement. Another feature present in the romantic works is symbolism. Based on the previous romantic features mentioned, I will analyze “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” is a completely imaginative work since it does not have any factual information. Poe’s imagination created this great story and he did not have any rational reason for creating it. It does not have any reference to place, time, or characters. In fact, it does not even mention names, which makes it a romantic piece. Human psychology is also present in this literary work. We can observe that when the killer talks to himself after he had committed the deed: “If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.” (Literature Network) and also when at the very end he confesses the crime because he felt the officers were listening to the dead man heart beats: "Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! - tear up the planks! here, here! - It is the beating of his hideous heart!” (Literature Network). In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Poe also showed the feelings of the main character by writing: “TRUE! - nervous - very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?” (Literature Network). Finally, Poe uses several symbols in this work such as the disease, the heart beat and the planks. All of these do not have any explicit meaning and are merely left to the reader’s mercy of definition. We can see how this is very romantic because it is connected to the more psychological and sensible aspect of human beings rather than the rational.

In conclusion, “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a romantic piece of literature since it has all the features of basic Romanticism. As exemplified, romantic authors like Edgar Allan Poe must include imagination, feeling, symbols and human psychology in their works of art.

Sources

• · English Department Brooklyn College. “Romanticism”. http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/rom.html
• · Laga, Barry. What is Literature? A Refusal to Define or Limit. Mesa State College. http://home.mesastate.edu/~blaga/theoryindex/literaturex.html
• · Literature Network. Edgar Allan Poe: The Masque of the Red Death. http://www.online-literature.com/poe/36/
• · Literature Network. Edgar Allan Poe: The Tell-Tale Heart. http://www.online-literature.com/poe/44/
• · Project Gutenberg. Virginia Woolf: A room of one’s own. http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200791.txt
• · Wikipedia. “Romanticism”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism