Engagement

Engagement is vital for the student's ability to learn and retain information involving literacy. In fact, it is not only necessary for learning literacy, but learning just about everything. If one is not focused on something, the likelihood for absorbing information is significantly reduced. Engaged means that one is fully invested in something for a particular amount of time. Randy Bomer writes in Building Adolescent Literacy in Today's English Classrooms that we, though we like to think ourselves capable, are unable to truly multitask and must decide what we will  intentionally be attentive to and what we choose to ignore.

Engagement is an invitation not only for the students but the teacher also. Students and teachers alike make a commitment to be actively present to learn from one another through a variety of means within the classroom. Bomer writes that "engagement involves motivation, desire, care and participation."  I chose the word engagement because it is inviting and does not have to be a systematic, monotonous experience. There is a lot of risk and vulnerability a teacher must possess to be engaged with his or her students. I hope that this will be what drives me each and every day as a teacher. To choose to engage with students even if it means switching lesson plans and changing assignments. Above all else, I want the students to know their own value and how it pertains to their own education.

Throughout this semester, I plan on focusing on the word engagement by reflecting on my past and present teachers and professors who were willing to pour into myself and others. I will also look ahead to the students I myself will one day have to teach. It brings me much joy to think of the different ways I can engage with my students. In addition, I plan to engage personally in this course and my studies so I am able to show my students through my own personal experiences.

Comments

  1. Dr. GilesFebruary 19, 2018 at 6:57 PM

    I love that you focused on the fact that we "must decide what we will intentionally be attentive to and what we choose to ignore." That is true for each moment, not just in the classroom.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter 11

Starting with Little, Nearby Things I really like the idea of writing about things that you can physically see near you. I want to work with high schoolers and I know that not all of them may be motivated to write. Asking them to think about abstract ideas may cause students to be discouraged in trying to find a topic to write about. But I believe that if they have to write about something they can physically see in the classroom, it may make the writing process easier to start. It will also require students to think more creatively about random items they are to write about, say, a whiteboard eraser or a  chair . They will learn how to write about things that may or may not have a significant value to them. This activity will challenge they to learn more about a certain object they have seen and known for years. I believe this will also encourage them to write more outside the classroom, because they can apply these same skills anywhere.  Writing into the Fact That the Pr...
Read more

Autumn

Autumn A little girl was I Soaking in the golden rays  My shadow hid beneath me As I lay still on the ground  Face towards the irresistible bright light. Red, orange, and yellow hues Clothed the dull, flat land. Pecans fallen, trees bare, laughter whistled in the wind.  Two, three, four playmates Dancing like acrobats  On her grandma's trampoline.   Dark like night it was The texture a wet rubber duck  Smooth to the touch But quick to slip. I watched my siblings play Its leathery skin  Conformed to their bodies For a moment only to be Propelled like pretzels Tangled brown pieces in the air. Now the day was cool The sun leveled to my height And only two remained to play Myself and my brother.  But it had been fifteen minutes before it was time to go inside.      
Read more

Speak

Book: "Speak" is a novel about a depressed girl, Melanie, who is entering her freshman year in high school with  a secret nobody knows. The author, for the majority of the book, hints about an event that took place at a party that changed Melanie forever. This is also the same event that caused her to lose all of her closest friends.The story is written from Melanie's point of view, describing the thoughts in her head about her teachers, peers, and parents. The author is able to tell the story using vivid figurative language so that readers can picture what is going on in the story. Melanie apathetically goes through the school year performing worse in classes as the year progresses. Her teachers are all strange though they all exhibit a passion for the subject they teach. The one class she does enjoy is Art where her teacher, Mr. Freeman, encourages her to use her emotions as inspiration for the tree she is developing. She befriends a girl, Heather, at the start of schoo...
Read more