Well let me start off my blog this week by saying that I had THE hardest time reading and actually being able to UNDERSTAND The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. It wasn’t until we were in the classroom doing activities with this book that I really started to grasp the concept of what Freire was really trying to get across. I think this is one reason how this book has influenced my teaching. I have realized that an individual is not going to understand something unless they work with it for a while, participate in class activities/discussions, and have time to be able to ask questions. The one part of the book that stood out to me was the banking concept that Freire was talking about. A lot of teacher’s today feel like that is the only way to teach, which is wrong, wrong and wrong! I know from personal experiences that I can’t learn and understand that way. I can’t have a teacher stand in front of me for an hour lecturing at me and then give me a test on something I still may not understand. I feel that students, especially the younger grades you go, will not be able to learn anything that way. They have a short time that they can sit there and listen to someone lecture about something. What if that student has no idea what is the topic of class and they aren’t introduced to activities or class discussions that can make them understand the topic better. Students feel that all the teacher wants to do is say that he/she has done their own part, “taught”( if you really can call that teaching) the material, and now its up to the students to pass that test. No. That’s the exact opposite of what I want to be like as a teacher in my classroom. Freire really made me realize what good teaching is all about, how many things you can include in your classroom, and how you can let your students act as “teachers” some times too!

The whole literature circle concept is a new task for me.  I have never been involved in a literature circle, although I absolutely love the idea!  I think that it is a great way to bring people together that are reading the same novel and a great way to bring up topics of conversation about the novel.  It can also give individual’s the chance to ask any questions that they may need verification on, or even to hear what other people’s opinions are on the same topic.  When my literature circle met for The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, we all had the same thoughts and it was very interesting to hear everyone else agreeing on what we think may happen next or what may happen with the characters.  The literature circle concept is something that I would bring into my classroom because I feel that it connects the students to the novel even more when they are able to talk about it in a small group of peers, along with getting to know your group.  It brings up different topics of conversation that leaves room for so many different opinions.  It gives students a chance to say what they think compared to what another student may think.  I am so glad that I am able to experience the “literature circles” now, but I greatly wish that it was introduced to me at an earlier age because I feel as though its a great concept to have all throughout middle school, high school, and even later elementary school grades.  I look forward to our next literature circles!

I am reading The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls for my literature circles.  Although I have not begun reading it yet, I am anxious to.  The reason why this novel was my first choice was because it is a memoir.  I really love reading memoirs.  I feel that I engage myself in a very close reading of the text because I know that it is about the authors life. I like reading novels that are based on a true story because I feel that I can relate to them better. It is a lot more interesting to me too. This novel seems like it gets very in depth about Jeanette Walls’s life growing up. I took a class on writing memoirs and I enjoyed it a lot. I feel that reading something that is a “fantasy” novel doesn’t attach me to the novel itself, instead it makes me space out. Reading a memoir connects me to what really happens in individuals families and I feel like I grasp the meaning of the novel better. I am anxious to begin reading this because I believe I will enjoy it a lot. I have heard many good things about it and also have researched it and saw how many great reviews it got.

While watching OutFoxed during class there were many similarities that I found between Fox news and The Giver.  The first similarity in OutFoxed compared to The Giver was clearly pointed out when an individual was interviewed during the movie.  He stated that they were “living in an environment of fear” (outfoxed).  Their movements and lifestyles at the office were always being watched or videotaped.  Relating it back to The Giver shows that Fox had similarities to Jonas’s community in the way the environment was “controlled.”  The Giver had set rules, things that were looked down upon and not accepted.  During the movie individuals who worked for Fox kept saying that if you challenged the rules that you were history.  This can be compared to releasing in Jonas’s world.  If it didn’t meet the criteria of what was expected then it was a “thumbs down.”  Another similarity that I noticed between the two was that Fox was seen to be “misleading the public.”  This is exactly what Jonas’s community was doing- they were misleading the people in the community to believe that there was no other way of living and it was all discovered that there WAS things that they were missing out on (ie: feelings, colors, etc.) when Jonas became the receiver.  The last similarity that I found was when OutFoxed talked about the immigrants and how later on in their lives they were seeking citizenship.  This made me think of Jonas in the sense of him living this life of the “unknown,” not being able to feel anything or have memories, until he is put into his assignment with The Giver.  After a while learning these things that he never experienced, he sought citizenship by leaving the community with Gabe. 

A difference that really caught my attention between the two was that Fox news was very outspoken.  They constantly put their opinions into what they believed in.  Relating that to The Giver shows us how Jonas was not allowed to be outspoken.  He had to follow the guidelines of not making another person feel uncomfortable. 

 In my opinion, I found more similarities between OutFoxed and The Giver than differences.  I thought it was a great way to get us thinking about our world today.