Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Blog Part 2: Actual Post 3:  Learning to fly:

For the optimal experience please listen to this song while reading this post: Learning to Fly 

After that massive introduction that couldn’t be more confusing if I tried (I know, because I tried). Chapter one a very short chapter that seemed to appeal to me on a very basic level It had all the ear marks of a great chapter, it was brief, to the point, and it talked about how standardized testing is the enemy of our students (That is how you get on my good side). The idea that the book “Multiple voices, multiple texts” want to convey is that the reading experience is something that needs to be rendered in a myriad of ways and constructed by a myriad of voices.

            A very traditional way of teaching is a teacher stands in front of the classroom, tell the students what to read, then tells the students how to read it, then tells them what it means, then gives them a summative assessment to make sure the kids learned what the teacher intended, this is called the transmission model of teaching. The idea of transitional learning (as this book wants to focus on) takes the focus, and instead of placing it on the teacher, they place it on the students. The teacher’s role becomes that of a facilitator in the group. The teacher brings in books, reading, and writing, and provides a path in which the students can start their inquiry. From there it is up to the students. The students generate the questions; the students begin to inquire about the topics, the ideas, and the issues. In short, the students guide themselves in what they are learning.  A classroom that has this type of learning is fraught with student created work, writings that the students have made, lively discussions within the classroom and an area where learning is not only fun but a driving force, with focus and urgency. It is not a lazy trek down a river but instead it is a class responding to the rapids of a subject and finding a way to navigate and learn from those rapids together as a team. (I just went river rafting in case you couldn’t tell)

            I really like this idea of teaching. I love to read, I love to read all kinds of things when I was doing my undergraduate studies I loved to read the psychology studies and think about the possibilities of what could happen. I love to read mystery books and guess at the end, I love watching movies and tv shows and try to see where this is all going before it gets there. In short, I love to delve deep into not only what is being said but, to me, more importantly why it is being said.  As a teacher of ELA I want to use this type of teaching so that my students will come to their own conclusions and to create their own ideas of what the world is, what it should be, and how that can change, and how they, as a collective, can help each other to learn and to grow. I know that I cannot change the world, but I know that I can help my students find their place in that world and help them to change their own world.