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Future Facilitatorz
Just a group of college kids majoring in Secondary English Education
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When I think of teaching English, I think of reading literature. The best website I’ve found is definitely good reads. This can be a great way to integrate technology into the classroom, because students can get suggestions for independent reading assignments based on what books they have previously read and enjoyed. If The Bluest Eye caught your eye, try reading a Maya Angelou book like Goodreads recommends. This website is also an app, and it can keep track of what books students have read and allows them to rate and give their opinion on the novel. Nearly every book is on their database, so there is never an excuse of not being able to find one.
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Technology in the Classroom - Reddit and Writing Prompts
.In English classes one of the toughest challenges can be trying to spark creativity and interest in the students. This is an especially tough challenge when trying to teach on a subject like grammar or Shakespeare. Both of these are generally uninteresting to to high school students, and because of it students will be overall uninterested in anything you teach. I had an English teacher in high school that would start every day off with a writing prompt for us to write about. These would range from things related to what we were studying to literally anything that we could write a story about. After writing about a page some students would share what they wrote about, and then we would start with the actual lesson. I found this to be a very interesting and unique way to spark creativity in the students. There is a website called reddit that houses different categories for all different kinds of web pages, but one of these specific webpages is called writing prompts. This page is constantly updated with different writing prompts for students and writers, and they range in every kind of genre, whether it be a silly, fun adventure style prompt or a more serious, thought-provoking question that sparks deep thinking in the students. I think this website could be very useful for getting students more involved in their writing
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Pronunciation/Syllable App: Helping students correctly use/pronounce words.
What if you could use an app to help people who do not use English as their primary language that helped them with the pronunciation of words. Using the Pronunciation/syllable App, I would be able to access it and help those who struggle with syllables and how to say a word. This would benefit many people in the classroom and help students understand the meanings of words and how to use them in a simple application for minimal cost! Amazing
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Technology in the Classroom - Kindles!
As an English educator who aspires to use technology in the classroom, I believe kindles are the truth, the way, the light. Kindles can be the savior to the English teachers puzzled of how to incorporate technology that stems from the pressure of administration and ultimately the progression of everyday use of technology in our society. Kindles have SO MANY functions that can help students in the classroom, especially those with vision problems and students who are more of an audial learner. Here is an article of how AWESOME Kindles could be in English classrooms of ALL grade levels!
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/how-to-use-kindle-in-the-classroom.shtml
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Maker Competition Within an High School English Classroom
What you’ll need: TinyBits
What to do within the lesson plan:
1) Have students get into groups of four
2) Have groups create a project with TinyBits pieces to make a mechanism that allows them to record their voice, play their voice, and is set up to a timer that connects to a piece that let’s them know when the time is up (such as a light or a buzzer).
3) Have groups recite poems in whatever way they’d like to within the time limit of a minute.
4) Have each group play their poem out loud for the whole class.
5) Whichever group has the most accurate recitation of the poem wins.
Why this is so great:
- It’s a great way to get students who are more into technology or working with their hands participating in English class.
- It’s a fun way to practice reciting poetry and shows students the importance of how to recite a poem correctly.
- Students with anxiety will still get the learning of poetry recitation without the pressure of performing the poem in front of a class.
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I love finding poetry that can have a deeper meaning beyond the printed words. Poetry is individualized, so every reader can find and create their own messages from the same words. The ability to do so can expose a reader’s own inner thoughts and desires. Poets can exist beyond time, as evident with Emily Dickinson’s work in this list along with E. E. Cummings. Poets are not only relevant in their own time, so poetry can forever be an excellent way to learn how others see the world.
24 Must-Share Poems for Middle and High School
by Samantha Cleaver
It can be hard to know which poems will spur your middle and high schoolers into deep, meaningful discussion and which will leave them, ahem, yawning. So we asked experienced teachers to share their favorites—the punch-in-the-gut poems that always get a reaction, even from teens. Here’s what they had to say:
1. Snow by David Berman captures a narrative in miniature with a creative structure.
2. Deer Hit by Jon Loomis
Students won’t soon forget this poem, both for the story and the sensory details.
3. Eating Poetry by Mark Strand
Read this poem to discuss the meaning beyond the literal words on the page.
4. Fire and Ice by Robert Frost
Frost doesn’t hold back with this poem, an ideal one for discussion and debate.
5. Having a Coke with You by Frank O’Hara
Teach this poem for how O’Hara uses references, or for the humor.
6. That Sure is my Little Dog by Eleanor Lehman engages with popular culture and an irreverent tone.
7. Mother to Son by Langston Hughes
A politically charged poem that still rings true today, Hughes’ poetry, but particularly Mother to Son, is timeless.
8. Another Reason why I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House by Billy Collins
Any student who’s ever felt annoyed or had to put up with daily frustrations will relate to this poem.
9. Pass On by Michael Lee creates snapshots of memory, creating lines and ideas for every student to grab and hold on to.
10. The Rose that Grew from Concrete by Tupac creates a clear connection between the rhythm and deeper meaning of poetry and rap.
11. Beethoven by Shane Koyczan
This poem is a biography in verse that connects Beethoven’s story to the universal.
12. A Dream Within a Dream by Edgar Allen Poe
Poe is an expert at rhyme scheme—and this poem is clear evidence.
13. Oranges by Gary Soto
Soto’s poem about trying to impress a girl shows what small moments reveal about ourselves, and how those moments embed themselves in our memories.
14. Still I Rise by Maya Angelou is a political, uplifting, call to action that students should read right when they’re starting to define the mark they can have on the world.
15. And the Ghosts by Graham Foust
An example of just what one line can do.
16. So You Want to Be a Writer by Charles Bukowski sheds light on the writing process, with a sense of humor and a tongue-in-cheek challenge.
17. This Is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams
This poem leaves lots of space for inference, which leads to great discussion.
18. Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas is a solid poem for teaching poetry elements (repetition, rhyme scheme, you know the rest).
19. We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks
This fun, quirky poem captures the mood of teenagers, and leaves a lot to talk about.
20. Daddy by Sylvia Plath
Plath rarely minces words and this is no exception—this poem is stuffed full of deeper meaning.
21. I died for Beauty-but was scarce by Emily Dickinson
Dickinson is so good at creating mood, this time about reflection.
22. Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe
A ghost story wrapped up in a poem, another Poe classic.
23. Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market by Pablo Neruda
The rest of the poem is as humorous as the title, and it’s fun to dissect and analyze how Neruda writes about everyday objects, like the Tuna on ice.
24. A Total Stranger One Black Day by E. E. Cummings
Use this poem to teach ways to approach point of view.
What are your favorite poems to teach?
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The folk tales and fairy tales that one writer grew up with may be completely unfamiliar to some of their readership, and vice versa. A less homogenous literary community can create a wider range of traditional stories to draw from, even as the weight of timelessness persists. Some stories are older than nations, and an infinite array of ways to tell and retell them endures.
Tobias Carroll (Hazlitt, 2015)
Creating unique stories will become more difficult over time, as writers are constantly having to adjust to changes in society as well as changes in new stories. Some people believe that every story that can be told has been told already, but in a new way. Every story involves some sort of conflict, whether it be man vs man, man vs nature, man vs himself, or man vs supernatural. Every possible stereotype of any group, gender, or race has been used in literature, whether that be challenging the stereotypes of those groups in real life or following the stereotypes that we all know. Every story has evoked some sort of emotional response from a reader, and every emotional response possible has most likely been felt by a reader. However, this doesn’t mean that stories should not be created anymore, but that we should continue to write, to explore new ways of telling the same stories, and discovering if there truly is a new story somewhere out there to be told.
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Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.
Margaret Mead (via zunge-aus-gold)
This simple quote can teach students (and teachers) a lot about what it means to learn and think. A student cannot simple be told “what you need to think is....” but instead be taught how to think in order to apply that thinking into productive reasoning. I find too often that teachers incorporate a method of “here’s what you need to know, what are your thoughts, how should you do this, etc.” but instead they should be teaching the different ways to think abstract and absorb thinking methods in order to teach them the proper way to think and apply it.
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This goes very well with educators teaching Standard English to students who use AAVE (African-American Vernacular English). This English or language is inherited from many generations dating back to when their ancestors who were slaves had their native languages and culture stripped from them but also were refused education. The slaves made a language that made more sense to them, making a one system type of language so ALL slaves from different cultures and languages could understand each other. So, when we as English teachers are grading a paper and we see AAVE being used, instead of saying a student is wrong, rather tell them that you are teaching them Standard English and Standard English has certain grammatical rules and laws and when writing formal papers in America, we must use Standard English.
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Teachers need to allow students to have more freedom in the classroom. Create work that both challenges them and inspires them
Writing Prompts for English Teachers #19: The Skate Park
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Heard that these are banned, but I have read most of them in school. If these are banned in schools... please do read them on your own time. I’ve noticed a lot of quotes that I find most resonating with me are quotes about rebellion... but why must I be categorized as a rebel for liking books with incredibly human sentiments. One quote that is actually my screensaver is by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and it says, “If I repent anything, it most likely my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?” and another quote that I forget who said goes somewhat like, “Well behaved women rarely make history.” It’s true! The women who wrote literature lived incredibly rebellious lives and they LIVED and they helped others live. Many famous authors are classified as rebellious. That’s what makes good books. An author is the sum of their experiences. Look up authors that truly lived their lives, and read their books. If you don’t lead a rebellious life, at least read about them. You deserve some thrill!
Happy Banned Books Week! “Read like a criminal.” - Greg Pizzoli
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I have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.
Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it’s weigh.
My checker tolled me sew.
A checker is a bless sing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when eye rime.
Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.
Bee fore a veiling checker’s
Hour spelling mite decline,
And if we’re lacks oar have a laps,
We wood bee maid too wine.
Butt now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
Their are know fault’s with in my cite,
Of nun eye am a wear.
Now spelling does knot phase me,
It does knot bring a tier.
My pay purrs awl due glad den
With wrapped word’s fare as hear.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should bee proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaw’s are knot aloud.
Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays
Such soft wear four pea seas,
And why eye brake in two averse
Buy righting want too pleas.
Candidate for a Pullet Surprise
by Mark Eckman and Jerrold H. Zar (via futureenglishteachers)
This poem is eye-catching in many ways. The most obvious is that it seemingly would make no sense, but if you can struggle through it, there is quite a message. English is hard and a difficult language to learn. We can’t rely on outside sources to correct our spelling and expect everything to be right. Editing is also an important aspect to remember.
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And yet some people today take pride in the fact that they don’t read, it’s like if people bragged that they’ve never travelled before
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When writing, it’s incredibly important to describe in a new and original way. I would like my students to show me, not tell me. We tell things in everyday conversation, and if books and literature were all written by just telling, it would be incredibly boring (or even more boring, depending on what kind of student you are). Make the writing close to home. Make it so incredibly zoomed in, so personal that it could only possibly relate to you. I can bet that someone out there will relate, and relate so much that it’s like they wrote it. Even if it’s just a line, that line can end up on someone body as a tattoo because it resonates so much to them. Make your writing resonate so much with yourself that it resonates to the whole universe.
—Janet Fitch (Los Angeles Times, 2010)
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…this poem must be written as if you are already dead, as if nothing more can be done or said to save you. You must write this poem because there’s nothing more to do.
Margaret Atwood, from Selected Poems II: 1976 - 1986
(via violentwavesofemotion)
I think this means that if your heart is not 100% into the poem than it is nothing more than just words on a paper. You need to write your feelings and thoughts and transform those feelings into the poem.
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This picture captured my attention, but the link made me reblog. This is from a mom to her child’s future teacher, but the ideas are important for teachers to realize about any student or just about teaching in general.
5 Gifts To Give Learners (& Yourself)
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