9/9/9

Gallagher's eight ways to get students to probe deeper into thier reading was awesome. When adding Christenbury's concept of media integration in the classroom, we get nine ways we can get students to infer from their reading out of both chapter nines from our books. It's late and I'm tired, but I thought the 9/9/9 was cute. Ok. I'll be a nerd, too!

I really liked Gallagher's "Literary Dominoes," and the "Flip Side Chart." This gives students a visual to work with, also. That really helps to reach all learning styles in the classroom. Deeper Comprehension is a biggie, I would agree also, to giving students insight on critical thinking about real life issues. When Gallagher points out that most students "come to me willing to accept whatever they read at face value," it worried me a little. That means that society, as a whole is not teaching kids to think critically about real life situations. When I talk to kids, I really don't get this same vibe though. It seems to me that kids are really in touch with "underlying inference" in the comedy they are exposed to, today. I agree with a lot of Gallagher's ideas, but I don't think he's giving kids enough credit on this. I think kids are very smart and read more into reading than he gives them credit for, upfront.

That's not to say that we can't help them delve even deeper in reading, though. Why not help them find deeper comprehension to the fullest extent? Push them more by the exercises discussed and other ways we've learned; literary comprehension is one of the greatest ways to help students gain intellectual stimulation.

I would definitely agree that teachers who teach in lower level schools should get bigger rewards, of course.

Using media to teach our students English is going to fun. Even if my school doesn't have the greatest access to computers or internet, I'm going to find ways to implement media into my teaching. I thought it would be fun to use the newspaper with lessons and their cheap. I'm going to bring several once a week and have students pick out articles they like and have them connect it to the classic lit we're reading in class somehow. That will help them connect real life to lit, and keep them up with the times.

Prisc