Oh, so that is what that word means...

Let me recreate a typical vocabulary instruction lesson at Lehi High in the 1980s.


Teacher:  Good morning.  Today we are going to find definitions for some of the words contained in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.


Students:  <Groan, grimace, guffaw>


Teacher:  The paper that I am passing out has 20 words on it.  Use the dictionaries from the bookshelf to find the meaning for each word.  Hand in the paper when you are finished.


THE END


So, at the end of this vocabulary lesson, I felt a little like Lane Meyer in this class:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmdVqCNev6Q&x-yt-ts=1422503916&x-yt-cl=85027636&feature=player_detailpage







I essentially spent 45 minutes copying words from a dictionary onto a piece of paper.  Then, after we had read the text, I would be expected to remember the definitions well enough to correctly match each word with a coordinating definition on a multiple-choice test.  Can you see where this instruction left me a little bewildered and frustrated?


In the week's vocabulary reading by Harmon, Wood, and Hendrick, it states that teachers must help students do three things in order to effectively teach vocabulary to students: define the terms, put the terms in context, and demonstrate correct application of the terms.  What good is it to find the definitions to words we don't know if we will never be able to understand how the words fit into the text or how to use the words correctly or be given an opportunity to use the words?  In order to prepare students for college and careers, we must help them develop their literacy.  They have to become acquainted with vocabulary specific to various disciplines, but we also need to teach them how to decode new words in their own reading so that they will become independent readers who have the tools to succeed.


You may find this surprising, but I plan on doing my vocabulary instruction in a way that does not resemble the Lehi High instruction in any way, shape, or form because I want my students to actually learn the vocabulary from my class.  I plan on having hands-on activities to test students' understanding of words (e.g. Pictionary and charades) in ways that accommodate different learning styles.  I also want to be sure and include our vocabulary words in my own communication so students can understand how these words are used in context and become accustomed to hearing them spoken.  When students are asked to write in their journals or draft essays, they will be encouraged and expected to use the vocabulary words in their own texts to show me that they truly understand them.  I want my students to be immersed in the vocabulary of English so that it becomes a part of them.


As for the definitions from the dictionary, I will save those as punishment for students who don't like "Better Off Dead."

Teachers I Have Known

Many years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was a student at Lehi High School.  I was not an exemplary student by any stretch of the imagination.  I was one of those students who sat in the back corner desk and tried very hard to remain invisible, and I had a very high success rate in this area until my sophomore year when Mr. Achziger came along.  I remember writing an introductory essay for his class entitled "Five Cups of Me" in which I had to tell five things about myself.  After the very first assignment he marched to my mother's office--she was the secretary in the counseling office--and asked why I was not in the Honors English class.  This simple question put an end to my days of invisibility and mediocrity in the English world.  Now I was expected to "do my best" and "achieve my potential."  At that moment in time I began to despise Mr. Achziger.


What I failed to realize in my all-consuming rage against the man was the fact that Mr. Achziger was the first teacher who refused to accept my minimum effort because he knew that I had more to offer.  The time that I spent in his class contains some of my greatest memories from high school.  Why?  He was a teacher who made students feel important and intelligent.  I still remember the authors that we read in his class:  Bradbury, Vonnegut, O'Henry.  Not only did I read works by these great authors, I devoured them.  The reason for this is quite simple...Mr. Achziger made it fun.  Not like "balloons-and-streamers" fun, but fun in the sense that we had real discussions about the texts where he asked questions and allowed us to answer them without contradiction or condemnation.  Students were welcome to express their opinions and defend their ideas using textual evidence. He encouraged us to read these texts with an open mind and come to our own conclusions.  He let us read and appreciate the stories for the greatness that they contained.  I know this doesn't sound overly exciting, but for a student who had never been treated with this kind of respect from a teacher, this new experience was AWESOME! 


After leaving Mr. Achziger's class, I was excited to see what possibilities my junior year in English would hold, and then Mrs. (insert name that should not be named here) happened.  She was a "war veteran," as she called herself, because she had survived 25 years of teaching students who "would never be able to understand really good literature" and had lived to tell about it.  She taught with a thinly veiled attitude of superiority and contempt. I went from the greatest reading experience of my life to the worst in 12 short months.  There are only a couple of memories I have of Mrs. X's class.  First, we read The Illiad, and this teacher spoon fed us every ounce of symbolism and literary merit that this text contained because she didn't think that we, in our near vegetative state, could ever figure it out for ourselves.  I hated every moment of the reading I did in her class.  No one likes to be made to feel inferior, and no one likes to be taught (I use the word loosely in this case) by a know-it-all.  The second memory is much happier.  It just so happens that one day Mrs. X took on her haughty tone with a student who didn't appreciate it at all, and she got knocked out, literally!  One minute she was berating this student in front of the entire class, and the next minute she was laying on the floor due to the right cross that landed on her chin.  Now, I am in no way condoning violence, but I think there was a bit of karma that happened that day.  In short, Mrs. X's teaching style had an adverse effect on my love of reading because she never trusted me as a reader.  She never gave me the opportunity to come up with my own ideas or conclusions.  She never gave any students the chance to discuss a text and decide on its theme.  She only let us know from the beginning that we weren't capable, and when a teacher doesn't trust a student's abilities, it is nearly impossible of a student to trust in his or her own abilities.

Hello!

Hello to all of my fellow SCED 4200 peeps!  My name is Polly Tolbert, and I love English.  I am not talking about Hugh Grant, scones (not the deep-fried kind), and Big Ben.  I have a love of the English language in all its glory!  So, as you can probably guess, my interests and hobbies include, but are not limited to, reading, writing, and reading some more.  When I am not reading, I can be found cooking, baking, gardening, laughing, and playing with my human kids and my puppy kids, as well.  So, it will also come as no surprise that my major is English Education with a  Literacy teaching minor.


A question that you may be asking yourself is "What does a Literacy minor include?"  I have had the opportunity to take courses that delve into the nooks and crannies of texts.  I have studied how students begin their literacy journey in the very early stages of childhood.  I have studied how to motivate reluctant adolescent readers to pick up a book and give reading a try.  I have studied how to develop lessons that will help the formerly mentioned reluctant readers continue along the literacy path.  And, I hope to study many more aspects of literacy in the future.


If I am planning on teaching literacy, then I had better have a pretty good understanding of what it is, right?   I believe literacy is the ability to not only have the ability to read written text, but to also have the ability to understand, synthesize, and apply all forms of text.  Students are bombarded with information every day from so many sources:  books, texts, music, webpages, television, magazines, and a myriad of others.  It is important that they know how to navigate these texts to enhance understanding and application.  I mean, what's the good in watching a video on youTube about how to build a rocket if you can't use it to build a rocket?  Literacy is imperative to success in school and in life.


Well, that is me in a nutshell.  I am sure that we will all have a chance to get to know one another better throughout this semester, but at least you have a small idea of what I will be bringing to the table.  Don't say I didn't warn you!