Class

Good Morning!
I realize I've gotten into an every other day pattern... that may continue for a while! I'm taking a class at the University, and I am doing a lot of reading daily (3+ hours). All my morning free-time isn't happening so much. I know, it all sounds like excuses! At least I didn't say the dog ate something, which around here, with two playful puppies and a mischievous cat, that is a real possibility!

So, what is all this reading I'm doing for class? The class is called Critical Literacy, which means we are studying ways reading and writing (education as a whole) should prepare students to be fully human beings, not just people who can do a job. We talked briefly about the purpose of education in our Civil Rights Unit, but I have learned so much more about what it means to be a fully alive, fully human person, who is a thinking, acting being. We've read articles and books about how to make classrooms a place of true learning for teaches and students; we've read about people who are powerful and make lots of decisions, and we've read about those who have no power, no voice in this world. And we've questioned everything - why are there so many poor people in a world that is so rich? Why don't some people have access to the same education as others in our country? Why are there standardized tests? Why do so many kids drop out of school? And so much more.

This is making me plan some interesting units of study for 7th grade. What if we did book groups that studied other countries? What if we looked at immigration into our country? What if we looked at the material/consumer culture that we live in (the culture of buying stuff)? We could also use our writing as action - poetry and stories to express what we're learning; letters to people; newspaper articles.

I want our classroom to be a real place where we all are engaged (yes, reading and writing lots) with real-world issues - we can find them in novels, articles, stories and poetry. And we can write them ourselves. Our Civil Rights Unit was just a small taste!

OK, off to read about No Child Left Behind ... now, that's excitement! HA!
Happy Tuesday!
Ms. Hagen