The Beat Goes On
By: Stephanie Jablonski
My Prelude
I have been reading and writing since I was a child. These are the areas in my life that have helped me not only survive in school, but in my personal life. Escaping into the world of a book was one of my favorite pastimes as a child, as well as journaling, studying the meanings behind song lyrics, and writing my own. I have always found deeper meaning in pieces of art in all of its forms. It was only natural for me to gravitate towards these subjects in school and put every effort I had into doing my best in my literature and writing classes. The best classes were the ones in which I had the opportunity to read books AND write about them. I couldn’t be a happier student!
When I became a first grade teacher, it struck me that I was one of the first exposures that my students would have to reading and writing in a school setting, and I realized the power held in that position. I was teaching my students the basics of reading and writing, and their experience with me was crucial to their initial thoughts of literacy. This both excited me, and terrified me. What if I could not get them to enjoy it? I had my enthusiasm towards the subject and my training in presenting and teaching it, but was that enough? My first couple of years of teaching I quickly learned just how difficult the task of teaching reading and writing was to younger students. I wanted more training and experience in the area of literacy, and realized that this is what I wanted to be the focus of my future as a student myself. This is when I decided to apply to the Masters in the Art of Education program at Michigan State University and focus on K-12 Literacy Education.
Literature, Film, and Poetry-Life Is Good!
I didn’t think I could actually appreciate books any more than I did before I began this program, but I was wrong. During my program, I took two courses in children’s literature, TE849 entitled Methods and Materials for Teaching Children’s And Adolescent Literature which focused on different genres and issues within children’s and adolescent literature, and TE838 entitled Children’s Literature and Film which dug deeper into the children’s films and the stories that they originated from. When I was growing up, I never realized just how much these stories had an impact on me and how they seemed to shape my childhood. Revisiting books and films including Jumanji, Charlotte’s Web, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Wizard of Oz, as well as more current works like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, brought me joy and excitement. This class caused me to think about how children of the present day are not exposed to these classics that I experienced when I was growing up, and even if they happen to be, much of the time it is exposure to the film. This class challenged me to consider what impact film has on future generations, and how this affects the future of classic literature from the past and the future. Both text and film are forms of art, and there are aspects of both to appreciate, but we dug deeper into what is taken out of the original story when a book is turned into a film. It drove me consider utilizing more film into my classroom to compare the two forms of a story, and I have already done two book to film studies with my first graders this school year. The content of this class made me more aware that media and visual stimulation are taking over our society through movies, video games, and merchandise, and while this is not necessarily a negative change, it is important that children continue to experience classics and original texts throughout their childhood. I want to help them to appreciate and understand the differences between an original story, and its film version and the version presented among our world’s market.
My other literature class focused on children and adolescent literature, and brought out many deep conversations regarding the books that we read. This class forced me to step out of my comfort zone with discussions and opportunities to share my opinions and thoughts about what we read with a small discussion group. While all of these discussions were online through discussion posts, I don’t think I have ever discussed literature that intensely or thoroughly. My group and I had some insightful discussions regarding issues revolving around stereotypes and misconceptions in children and adolescent literature, and the best way to approach these with our students. Discussing difficult topics and stating my opinions confidently has never been a strength of mine, but this small group interaction made me feel comfortable and supported in this setting. I opened up more than I ever have and had the most enjoyable time talking about the numerous books that we read. These discussions helped me see the topics we talked about from different perspectives, while also giving me various ideas on how to bring them up with my students. This class made me a stronger and more confident communicator while also teaching me how to pick out appropriate literature for my students to read and discuss.
No More Stressing About Assessing!
While teaching is one part of my job, assessing my students is what guides my instruction, especially with all of the different areas in reading! TE842 entitled Elementary Reading and Assessment Instruction made me aware of just how many different areas of literacy there are to assess aside form just comprehension and decoding abilities. Oral language and fluency and important areas of reading instruction, and a child’s ability to read and speak smoothly and with fluency is almost as important as whether or not they are understand what they are reading. This class also showed me the importance of integrating writing into my reading instruction and how this helps with both comprehension and oral language. Since taking this class, I have added writing to both my small group reading instruction as extension activities and to my whole group lessons when responding to literature. It has helped my students communicate what they have read and understand the text, while also allowing me to assess their understanding of what they have read independently, or listened to in my own lessons.
This course also required me to do a focus project on some area of assessment I have been interested in. Since I have experienced English Language Learners in my classes, I decided to do a focus project on teaching and assessing vocabulary since this is one of my major components of literacy that these particular students as well as my English speaking students need the more solid instruction according to research that I conducted. I studied Marzano’s Six Steps to effectively teaching and assessing vocabulary, and have successfully implemented most of these steps into my own classroom instruction with all of my students. Vocabulary instruction was one of the areas in my literacy instruction that was lacking before I took this course. I feel that by choosing this focus project, I had the opportunity to self-reflect on my teaching and pick an area of my instruction that I felt strongly needed improvement. This was a great independent study and I felt that I took charge of my own learning and teaching by completing and implementing this project.
Be Positive!
I have always had a very positive attitude towards learning. As I said in one of my prior essays, I would be a professional student for the rest of my life it this was practical. Teaching has made me realize that not all students come in to school having a positive attitude towards learning. To some of my students, school is just simply a safe place for them to be for a few hours of their day. As I wrote one of my reflections for my course on developing positive attitudes towards learning (CEP802), I remember writing how shocked I was as a first year teacher at some of my students’ lack of desire to try. What I learned in this class is that all students want to learn and succeed; it just takes a little extra effort with some. The simple statement that all kids want to learn deep down changed my entire view of these students. This class was a very pleasant surprise to this program, and it was one that I feel I was meant to take. The case studies that we discussed and worked on have helped me reach so many of my students and their individual needs, and have made me a more patient and emphatic teacher. This course taught me how to build confidence and intrinsically motivate my students as individuals no matter what their incoming attitude towards learning has been. When a student has a positive attitude towards learning and feels safe and that they matter, it can make all the difference in not only their interest and drive to learn but also their behavior.
I have also improved in the area of behavior management because of this program with my course entitled the Psychology of Classroom Discipline (CEP883). While I feel that this class and my class on developing positive attitudes towards learning were in some ways similar, this class helped me focus specifically on the way that I responded to certain behaviors exhibited by my students throughout the day, and how to target the reasons for specific behaviors. This class was a blessing to have during my third year of teaching which proved to be my most challenging year in the area of behavior that I have had as of yet. This course challenged me to create a behavior management plan for my own classroom based on research studies and philosophies, my own philosophies towards teaching, and my classroom needs. I have continued to used this behavior and response system in my classroom this year with my current students, and it has proven to be very effective over the past year.
Although these two courses were electives and were very different from my literacy focus, I am so happy to have had the opportunity to have taken both of these courses during my MAED program. They have been very crucial in my growth as a teacher. By using the strategies and responses that I have learned in both of these classes, it has created a classroom environment better suited for learning as well as meaningful relationships with all of my students that I believe has made a difference in my classroom climate and my ability to teach my students in the most effective ways. These were improvements in my teaching that I did not expect to obtain from this program, and I feel like a more well-rounded teacher because of them.
And The Beat Goes On...
As I near the end of this chapter of life at Michigan State University as a graduate student, I think about how I have grown as both a teacher and as a learner. I feel that these classes have made me a more confident teacher in not only literacy but in behavior management and developing the best possible learning environment for each of my students as individuals. I never imagined that the elective classes that I chose would have such a powerful impact on the way I run my classroom on a daily basis. I feel that I can make a difference with any student that comes my way, and can develop a positive relationship with them in order to best help them grow and succeed in my classroom.
Not only has this program helped me grow as a teacher, but I also have more of a appreciation for something that I already loved before I got into this program-literature. I now have the ability and strategies to look deeper into both the art of good literature and good film and their different genres, to appreciate and understand where all originated. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in my literature courses and feel that I am leaving this program with a new perspective on books and media. It has inspired me to pick up past books that I have enjoyed as a young adult and child and read them again, and also to try out new genres of literature and film. I hope that this fresh perspective will help expose me to new worlds in literacy, and that I will more confidently expose them to my students.
As I finish this essay and continue to reflect on this program and my time as a learner and student, I am suddenly overwhelmed with emotion-these are after all, my last formal thoughts that I will be writing for my MAED program. I have been a student of teaching and literacy for seven years, and now those seven years are coming to an end. As I consider how I have evolved over the last few years, I begin to think about music and how it evolves over time, since it is a very significant part of my life. Some musical artists try out different beats and sounds, some take risks with lyrics and rhythms, and others change their sound completely from album to album, but they are all trying to reach someone’s heart and mind through all of their efforts. I’d like to think of my teaching as my music that I play for my students on a daily basis. I have found ways to tweak and evolve it through my experience in this program, and I have taken risks with new ideas that I have learned and created. Just as a musical artist’s passion for their art grows with each new album they produce, my passion for teaching has only grown with each year of experience. The beat of my teaching goes on! It continues to evolve and carry on, with no promise of slowing down! I hope to continue to use my personal music of teaching to reach the hearts and souls of my students for many years to come.
