Narrative Writing

In Chapter two of Teaching for Joy and Justice, Linda Christensen shares her thoughts, strategies and experiences teaching narrative writing in the classroom. In my experience in school, as I and many others shared in class before, narrative writing was very much overlooked. Especially personal narrative writing. I feel that this is perhaps because teachers feel pushed to use their writing instruction time on “more academic” forms of writing such as essays and research papers. 

In her chapter Christensen focuses manly on how she uses narrative writing to both teach and enhance concrete composition skills but also how it creates a classroom community. Christensen emphasizes using writing topics and prompts that fuel student response and allow them to make connections with others in the room. While doing this she also introduces grammatical structures and stylistic approaches to writing.

I found it interesting how she has the students share their narratives or even just ideas with the class. I especially found her Read Around method to be very valuable. I do however question if some students would be apprehensive to share their personal writing or if they would change their compositions knowing that other students would be hearing their writing. The most valuable part of the Read Around I feel is that it offers a way for student to give and receive constructive feedback. The point of the Read Around is not only to workshop writing but also to make connections and hear everyones voice in the classroom. I would very much like to adapt this method into my own classroom someday. 

This chapter really challenged me to think about the values of narrative writing and question why it so often overlooked. Like Christensen I feel if students are passionate about what they are writing about it is easier to teach them the more concrete writing skills like grammar and stylistic elements. Introducing model narratives as well helps students to work on literacy skills and allows them to make connections even outside the classroom community.

The most impressing thing for me about the chapter is how response Christensen’s students seemed to be about the narrative assignments and process. In many examples in the chapter she explains how students really opened up and talked about very personal and serious concerns. By opening up through their writing they were able not only to make sense of things for themselves but have the support of others in the classroom community. The students were often surprised to find out other peers were going through the same challenges. 

Overall I found the chapter very enlightening to the idea of narrative writing, something I too often overlook when thinking about teaching. 

Standards... Good or Evil?

Until recently academic standards such as the Common Core and NCTE have generally been presented to me in a negative light. I would hear teachers complain about making sure all the standards were hit. I would often also get assignment which seemed out of place and thats sole purpose was to hit whatever standard was stapled on to the top of the paper. 

I remember reading the Common Core standards for the first time and being very surprised with the open ended of the standards. They seemed very manageable and that they could be easily reached by a variety of lessons or activities. I became both relieved and confused by my previous encounters regarding the negativity of the standards. 

Reading both the Common Core Writing standards and the NCTE standards this week I paid closer attention to whether or not the two included some of the components of critical literacy ideology we discussed in class last week. I found that the NCTE standards very much reflected the critical literacy views .he standards ask that students generate ideas using questioning and problem posing, respond using diversity of language styles, use cross cultural examples and use their own language to accomplish their purpose. I felt that nearly all of the standards in the NCTE list kept in mind the critical literacy ideology. As I moved to the Common Core I expected that they may not be as mindful of the discourse. I was surprised to find that some of the standards worked well with critical literacy such as using claims and counter claims to support arguments, and writing paying attention to voice and audience. 

Reading the article about the PAARC test brought back into my head some of the criticism of Common Core. Although it is widely known that the test was overall not liked, It was very interesting to see teachers opinions of the test and their more specific complaints. I found it very alarming that students and teachers both felt that the questions were inappropriate for the grade level taking the tests. To me that is setting students up for failure even before they sit down to answer the questions. Another aspect of the article I found interesting was educators are concerned about how affiliated PARCC and the Common Core are and that if this goes to far how much of the education system will ended up to their discretion. This may have also been fueling some of the earlier critiques I had heard about the Common Core. 

Although I do agree there needs to be some way to measure student knowledge and make sure all students are getting a fair and equal education I am not sure that standards and high stakes tests are the answer.

Reflecting on Student's "Barriers"

Reading Gorski’s article I found myself at first reflecting and approaching his argument as I usually do reading about the troubles of the achievement gap and the challenges that students face. My heart breaks thinking that some students have so many outside factors weighing on them at such a young age, and that some of these “barriers” as Gorski calls them not only limit their success in the classroom but in turn limit their mobility post high school.

I thought back to FNED 346 my freshman year of college when these issues first really crossed my mind. I grew up in a community of mainly white- middle class families. My friends and I would often complain about our classwork interfering with our sports, social lives or other extra-curricular activities. I remember sitting in FNED learning about some of the actual barriers students today face such as poverty, racial discrimination and abuse. I soon realized that these barriers would also become part of my life and be in my mind setting out to be a teacher. Although, I may not ever have to face (hopefully) some of these challenges students enter the classroom with, it is my job as an educator to help them achieve success both inside and outside the school despite these barriers. Even though as an educator one cannot fix a students economic situation or home life, one can work to provide them every tool necessary for success in the classroom. 

I also really enjoyed how at the end of Gorski’s article he included those reflective questions. The first question really stuck with me the most, “Am I helping students develop a language that problematises deficit framings?”. I stuck with me because it seems like such a simple thing to do even though it takes a lot of conscious effort. By just changing the way one speak to students and word things like his example of “drop out” versus “push out” the teacher can create a climate of both acknowledging the unfairness of the current barriers students face while also placing students in a more positive mindset about themselves. 

Christensen and Brilliance

While reading Linda Christensen’s introduction to Teaching for Joy and Justice one quote from very early on in the chapter continued to resonate with me thought the reading and the next few days. Usually when I read, I find that the stand out point to me lays closer to the end of a piece of writing, but this quote by Christensen started out right in the beginning and really drove my understanding of the rest of the information. On page two Christensen states, “Teaching for joy and justice begins with the non-negotiable belief that all students are capable of brilliance” (Christensen 2). After reading and re-reading the sentence after its initial jump out to me a few things began to take shape in my head. Christensen introduces us to the idea of teaching for joy and justice, the central argument of her book not by defining it, but by telling the reader/educator where it starts. Immediately, I began to think of this form of teaching as ongoing, evolving and shaping, not confined by some singular definition so woman teaching in Oregon crafted. Next, I began to think of what this means as a teacher. Every teacher should believe that all students have their own capabilities and abilities to learn. Christensen takes it one step beyond. Not only should teachers believe in their students ability to perform, they should believe in their students brilliance, their students ability to grow above and beyond their own expectations. For me, when I hear the word brilliance it does not mean the student received an A grade, passed an standardized exam, or performed exceedingly well on a task. To me, the word brilliance means the student excelled beyond what they believed they could and reached a new level of learning. Thinking about this quote from a students perspective also brings an interesting viewpoint. In order for a student to be successful the class as a community needs to believe in a climate of success. If a teacher is accepting get-by grades and mediocre work that satisfies standards students will never be pushed to that stage of brilliance. At the same time, it is also the job of the classroom community to support each and every member to reach that stage of brilliance. Part of what also resonated with me reading this quote was that I found it to be an important reminder for all educators to keep in the back other minds. Striving for the brilliance of all students and fostering a love of learning in the classroom is I hope to always hold in high regard as a teacher. This quote from Christensen really pushed me to think deeply about this idea.