Book Clubs + Canada Reads

February 11, 2014literacy, Reflections, Uncategorizedbook clubs, Canada Reads, Canadian authors, Carmen Aguirre, Pooja Dharamshi, revolutionpoojadharamshi

As a Ph.D. student and an educator, I (Pooja) find myself mostly reading academic journal articles or student writing these days. While I enjoy reading both types of text, I miss reading for pure pleasure; in particular, I miss reading novels. Novels are a commitment of both time and energy, but when you read a truly great novel it is totally worth it.

I recently formed a book club with some colleagues/fellow educators. Although I have a lot of my plate already (don’t we all?!), I thought this would be a great opportunity to connect with colleagues on a more personal and informal level, (not to mention being pulled into the world of a fascinating novel). We selected Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter by Carmen Aguirre. This book, written by a Canadian author, was the official selection of the 2012 Canada Reads initiative. I’m currently reading the final pages of this gripping memoir, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great read while supporting a Canadian author. I made time for reading this book during every opportunity I could: riding the subway, sitting in the doctor’s office, waiting for my oatmeal to cook in the morning. I was surprised to find how many of those small moments I had each day, which would usually be taken up by scrolling through my smartphone. Our book club meets for the first time tomorrow evening at a colleague’s home. I’m looking forward to discussing the book in a relaxing atmosphere.

Learn more about the Canada Reads project:

http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/

A Short Summary of the book:This dramatic, darkly funny narrative, which covers the decade from 1979 to 1989, takes the reader inside war-ridden Peru, dictatorship-run Bolivia, post-Malvinas Argentina and Pinochet’s Chile. Writing with passion and deep personal insight, Carmen Aguirre captures her constant struggle to reconcile her commitment to the resistance movement with the desires of her youth and her budding sexuality. Something Fierce is a gripping story of love, war and resistance and a rare first-hand account of revolutionary life.

Source: (http://www.amazon.ca/Something-Fierce-Memoirs-Revolutionary-Daughter/dp/1771000368)

Defining Literacy

February 10, 2014literacy, Literacy teacher educators, Reflectionscurriculum, defining literacy, educators, literacy teacher educators, teaching literacyckosnik

Literacy in the 21st century. What does it mean? Or perhaps the better question to ask is, what does it mean TO YOU?

If you are a writer, editor, public relations manager perhaps literacy means the the ability to read and write.
If you are a financial advisor perhaps literacy means the ability to understand “how money works in the world” (financial literacy).
If you are a journalist, analyst, or film maker perhaps literacy means the ability to “analyze, evaluate and create messages in a wide variety of media modes…” (media literacy).
If you are weather analyst, forest ranger, or environmentalist perhaps literacy means the ability to “understand ecological principals and the ways society affects, or responds to environmental conditions” (environmental literacy).
In keeping with the Winter Olympics, if you are an athlete, perhaps literacy means the ability to “move with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities in multiple environments” (physical literacy).
If you are an elementary school educator, literacy means all of the above. If you are a elementary school student, literacy means all of the above.
If you are a literacy teacher educator, literacy means… By Yiola
* definitions taken from online google searches, mainly wikipedia.

Beatles, Popular Culture, Relevance, Perspective …

February 9, 2014critical literacy, education, Reflections, Social JusticeBeatlers, cultural perspective, Ed Sullivan, teaching for relevanceckosnik

I (Clare) was reading in the newspaper that Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ performance on “Ed Sullivan.” http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2014/02/08/beatlemania_a_moment_in_time_never_to_be_repeated.html

I probably should not admit it but I clearly remember the event. My entire family was gathered around the TV. “Nielsen says 45 percent of all TV sets in use at the time were tuned into the broadcast, with fans and the uninitiated alike gathered shoulder to shoulder in their living rooms.” The article on the Beatles commented that they “landed on a trigger point when they hit America. It was a pop culture sonic boom spurred by talent, timing and luck that’s still rattling the windows.”
So I had a few thoughts when I read the article about the Beatles:
· For me there are a few key events in my youth that gripped the national (and often) world stage. Events where I remember so clearly where I was sitting when I heard the news, how I felt … . For example, I remember so vividly when the school principal announced on the PA (something rarely used) that JFK had been assassinated and I can recall as if it was yesterday sitting with my family watching the live footage of the first walk on the moon … I wonder what will be key events for our youth today?
· In our highly diverse world, events in one culture/country can be viewed very differently in another (on a small scale, my grandmother was appalled by the Beatles and their long hair). As a classroom teacher I used to bring current events into the classroom because I felt it was important for the curriculum to go beyond the classroom walls. As a teacher educator who teaches literacy courses I spend a lot of time on non-fiction, in particular perspective in newspaper and news reporting. How can we prepare student teachers to bring current events (and global events) into the classroom for discussion and interrogation when there are such different views? (The current Olympics would be a good springboard for discussion). I know as an experienced teacher the skill and diplomacy needed to handle discussions that can be controversial. Current events need to be in the curriculum if we want to be relevant but it is not a simple task.
And for those of a certain age, listen to your favourite Beatles song today and sing along as if you are a teenager. Clare

Reflecting on Our Strengths and Weaknesses

February 6, 2014classroom teachers, education, literacy, Literacy teacher educators, Reflections, Teacher educationcritical incidences, literacy, reflection, strengths and weaknessesDr. Cathy Miyata

I (Cathy) was reading a literacy newsletter yesterday and was intrigued by an article by literacy educator, Clare Landrigan. She reminisced about a saying her father used to share with her, “Everyone’s greatest strength is their greatest weakness and their greatest weakness is their greatest strength.” I have heard this before and tend to agree with it. I have referred to it often while exploring Brookfield’s critical incidences with my student teachers. We would reflect on the possibility of how our greatest strength could be holding us from recognizing our own literacy assumptions.

What intrigued me about Landrigan’s article was the educational perspective she introduced that I simply had not entertained before. She asked her readers to look at the weaknesses of her students and try to see them as their greatest strength. For example, the student who cannot sit still . . . has the potential to be incredibly productive and he student who takes forever to do something . . . is attentive and thoughtful. What a wonderfully productive way to look at the students we teach, regardless of age. It also might help us recognize positive aspects in ourselves when we are feeling particularly critical. What is your greatest weakness?

More Winter … Trying to Keep a Sense of Humour

February 6, 2014Reflectionsdogs in snow, humour, winter weatherckosnik

We have had yet another huge snowstorm in Toronto. It is beautiful but the walking is treacherous and it is bone-chillingly cold. We have had too much weather. I (Clare) am trying to keep a sense of humour as this winter goes on and on. Here is a little cartoon from a local newspaper!

Newer Modes of Communication Challenging the Written Word

February 5, 2014critical literacy, education, literacy, Reflectionscommunication, digital communication, language development, linguistics, teacher education, writing, youth culture and languageckosnik

Smartphones and templates offer a newer mode of communication and slowly, it seems, a new language is taking shape. Short, incomplete sentences with alternatively spelled words are dominating the domain. Incomplete thoughts… and abbreviations http://www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php are rapidly becoming familiar.

I’ve (Yiola) bin thinking about literacies and what txt and tweets and FB mean for literacy development. IDK what to make of this. It’s interesting cuz language changes. wordz change. punctuation ceases to exist. LOL
youth 2day use symbols, short forms, a variety of new symbols to communicate.
I’m still wondering how #hashtag came to be the symbol that it is. #justdontunderstand
The exclamation point has indicated strong emotion. now we have 🙂 😉 and 😦
Is one more correct than the other?
Plz share some insights… i’d luv 2 hear ur thoughts on the implications for teachers, teacher educators, parents. I mean, how r we to communicate and facilitate language development if we r not in tune with social media discourses of youth today? Do we ignore it? Incorporate it? Explicitly teach the differences between formal / traditional language and social text?
ttys, yiola

Studying Beyonce… in Higher Ed?

February 4, 2014curriculum; teachers, UncategorizedBeyonce, critical media literacy, gender, higher education, media literacy, Pooja Dharamshi, racepoojadharamshi

Lately, Beyonce has been in the news a lot more than usual. Recently, without any warning(or PR), she released a self-titled album to the public. She was also, debatably, the most talked about performance at the 2014 Grammy’s a few weeks ago. However, the most interesting news I (Pooja) have recently read about Beyonce has to do with the world of academia.

Rutgers University now offers a course called “Politicizing Beyonce,” in which her musical career is used as a lens to investigate“race, gender, and sexual politics.” The instructor of the course, a Ph.D. student, says “he’s seeking to help students think more critically about media consumption.”

I am intrigued by this course, yet not sure what to make of it. Is this a relevant and contextualized way of studying issues of race and gender or is this normalizing our (society’s) idolization of celebrities by creating a place for it in higher education?

What do you think?

Professional Identity

February 4, 2014classroom teachers, education, Teacher educationGrowing as a Teacher, lives of teachers, professional identity, Sense Publishers, teacher education, teacher moraleckosnik

Today I (Clive) was teaching my School and Society (social foundations) course in the preservice program. Our topic was professional identity. What a class we had! We discussed:

· Teachers’ perception of their role

· Motivation and satisfaction

· Challenges of teaching

· Work-life balance

· Confidence

· Stance in relation to system mandates

I selected a number of quotes from our chapter on professional identity from our upcoming text: Growing as a Teacher (Sense Publishers). The students took turns reading these quotes aloud which proved to be very powerful. We brought the “voices” of the teachers into the class. Here are a few of the quotes we read:

Classroom teachers have an enormously challenging job; I didn’t realize that when I first started teaching, but now I do. And that hasn’t made me any less effective, if anything it’s made me somewhat more; because now I’m kinder to myself. I see that basically the teacher sets the atmosphere of the classroom, and if you’re constantly stressed out and trying to attain the impossible you become a frustrated and burnt out person. (Felicity, eighth year teacher)

The most important aspects of my role are ensuring that my students develop a positive sense of self; that they acquire a love of learning; and that they develop a world perspective, with compassion and understanding for other people. Embedded in that are social skills; but it’s bigger than that, because I want them to see beyond their own life and community. This view of my role is broader than it used to be. If you’d asked me when I started teaching I would have said the world citizenship component was important, but it didn’t play into my daily practice to the extent it does now. (Tanya, eighth year teacher)

Coming out of my inner-city pre-service program, where the emphasis was on being a change-maker and inspiring every kid, I had to learn that it can often be slow going and I have to not feel defeated if I fail to accomplish everything I hoped for. Because…you really, really need to enjoy teaching to last in the profession, and it’s draining and can get frustrating. I’ve always worked in inner-city schools, so I’m mentally prepared for it…[but] I’ve had to learn not to take things personally. Otherwise you go home and things rest in your mind and you get physically sick. (Jessica, fifth year teacher)

Basing my teaching on where the students are and where they need to be [according to the standards-based approach], I found I ended up teaching to the test; and the whole fun and love of learning went out the door. So I changed my process, and asked: What am I teaching? What skills need to be taught? How can I get that across to them in a way that they’ll enjoy? And then after reflecting on it, and seeing where it didn’t work so well, I asked: What should I change? (Lucy, fifth year teacher)

A Model Blog: Nick Burbules

February 2, 2014education, Reflections, Social Justiceblog sites, blog writing, digital literacy, googlegroups.com, Nick Burbules, political advocacy, systematic bloggingckosnik

My (Clive) recent experiences writing blogs and discussing them with my ITE class have made me think more about blogging as a writing and communication form. This in turn has led me to look more closely at the blogs posted at Progressive Blog Digest by my friend Nick Burbules, who I know through the Philosophy of Education Society. http://pbd.blogspot.ca/2014_02_01_archive.html
So far as I know, Nick established this site – and maintains it – on his own. (I’ll try to entice him to give us some back story.) It must take up a great deal of his time: it appears almost every day and is extraordinarily informative. It focuses mainly on US politics, taking a “progressive” approach to issues, while not avoiding all criticism of Democratic icons such as President Obama. The tone reminds me of Rachel Madow of MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
What is distinctive and so valuable about the site is that while Nick obviously has strong views, he doesn’t use it as a soap-box. His one-liners (often one-worders) are clever, funny and pointed. But they are followed by anywhere from one to half-a-dozen links that give followers immediate access to relevant information, examples and articles. I can imagine people spending a lot of time at this site, loving it, and learning a great deal. Which presumably is just what Nick wants.