Moni. Muli bwanji?

It means "Hello. How are you?" in Nyanja which is one of the languages commonly spoken in Zambia, Africa. These words seem quite foreign to me now but I'm sure it won't take long for them to become familiar.

I am pleased to tell you that I leave for Zambia August 9th 2012 and plan on returning in mid-July 2013. I am going to teach 8th grade in Lusaka, Zambia next year through Mennonite Central Committee's SALT (serving and learning together) program. I will live with a host family and teach in a local school. I'm very blessed to be able to learn about how people live on the other side of the world and do life with them! Not everyone gets such a wonderful, challenging opportunity.

Because I want to be 100% available during my time there-- I will not be updating a blog. I will be journaling a lot and communicating via email. I would love to get together and share about experiences when I get back but I really want to be focused while I'm there. If you would like to be informed of my experience during my time in Africa please EMAIL ME at tiffanyankrom@gmail.com and I will add you to the list! I will send out emails periodically. I hope you partner with me on this journey!!!

May the Lord bless you!
Tiffany

The Achievement Gap in America’s Education System

Structural racism is something that Americans need to acknowledge and demolish. While there are some plans in place, like affirmative action, there seems to be little class mobility for black individuals with a low socioeconomic status. There are many avenues to blame that have contributed to structural, societal racism and lack of class mobility for low socioeconomic black Americans. I will discuss how America’s ugly history has set up an achievement gap between black students and white students’ performance, why this issue persists and some possible ideas for a solution.

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige asks an important question in his work titled The Black-White Achievement Gap: Why Closing It Is the Greatest Civil Rights Issue of Our Time. He asks, “What are the long-term economic, social, and racial consequences for African Americans in the event of a continued— and possibly growing— achievement gap between African American students and their white peers?” (Paige XIX). Paige wonders if the current, static crisis in America’s educational system is “prolonging the racial stigma of African American intellectual inferiority?” (Paige XIX). This problem in America’s education system is nothing new.

In the preface to The Philadelphia Negro, a social study written by W.E.B. Dubois, Dubois challenges white people to “work to try and include the blacks, to reach out to them, train them, give them a leg up so they could recover from the experience of slavery,” (The Philadelphia Negro XXV). Dubois had written this statement in 1903 in an essay titled “The Talented Tenth” (The Philadelphia Negro XXV). From the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the abolition of slavery to the Reconstruction in 1877, black Americans have been perpetually oppressed by elitist white Europeans that are too selfish and captivated by capitalism to care about the ways in which they exploit other people. Even after the abolition of slavery, white people still found ways around the law which would allow them to maintain having slave-like labor. White people began the practice of share cropping which was a practice much like slavery; these oppressed people would cultivate gardens and give a portion of the crop back to the oppressor who was generally a white farmer. Black people were never able to escape the system; they barely made just enough to scrape by daily.

Although present day American society has toned down direct racial prejudice, yet pockets of unrelenting hatred can still be found, black Americans are still not being treated equally to white Americans. In 1897 Dubois wrote about the Black experience in America and his inner self in another essay titled “Of Our Spiritual Strivings.” He writes, “The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife— this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self [double consciousness] into a better and truer self,” (Of the Dawn of Freedom 4). Even though this was written 32 years after the abolition of slavery it seems as though American society had yet to shake the mental and structural prejudices that discriminated against black Americans. Unfortunately this phenomenon can still be found today, it is just done in a more convoluted manner.

The elitist white oppressors of history, and today, seem to be unable to focus on the problems of inequalities that they impose on others. The sociological study The Philadelphia Negro was a good catalyst to shed light on the real inequalities and oppression at hand but a major problem was that the oppressed could not learn of their own condition because they were not the ones that read the study. The white people that initially read The Philadelphia Negro were previously uninformed about how black Americans were living because their lavish lifestyles were drastically different than the lifestyles of victims of oppression. “And yet how little we really know of these millions,— of their daily lives and longings, of their homely joys and sorrows, of their real shortcomings and the meaning of their crimes,” Dubois writes of his sociological studies of black Americans in the essay “Of the Quest of the Golden Fleece” (Of the Dawn of Freedom 67). It was important for scholars to study environmental and structural factors in history that could lead to a higher rate of crime among black people. Along with economic distress, overcrowded housing, lack of opportunities for education as well as being discriminated by society as a whole there were other factors that contributed to higher rates of crime among black people.

Beginning in the late 1800’s black Americans were able to begin some kind of higher educational process due to programs like those of ex-slaveholder Richard Humphreys who founded an institution that “having for its object the benevolent design of instructing the descendants of the African race in school learning, in the various branches of the mechanic arts and trades, and in agriculture,” (The Philadelphia Negro 87). While it was significant that black Americans were being incorporated into some aspect of the educational system in America, it is important to point out the fact that these practices did not influence authentic racial equality in American society. In fact, it was the beginning of institutionalized racism in education because what seemed to be happening was that white Americans labeled black Americans solely on their skin color and deemed that they could only pursue a certain path in education. Black people simply could not study the same things that white people did. And schools were segregated.

Another large separation between white people and black people was the static-ness of each culture. White people made assumptions regarding what black people were like. Black people constantly lived in fear of showing themselves and often were forced to live in a way that was a façade. Ironically, one important thing that seems to be leading to the demise of black people’s education in present day United States is “blackness” as depicted by American culture. The business people that set the trends for America need to be aware of the repercussions of selling a stereotype into other’s eyes. This depiction of how black people “should be” can be embraced or rejected by black America but the problem at hand is unawareness of the way in which these oppressed people are being stereotyped and limited by this definition of “blackness” that is manufactured by white business people and is marketed back to them; white dominance has set up a structure of inequality that continues to reinforce racial superiority.

In what ways is “blackness” defined in the media? Black people are depicted as dysfunctional. Once this discourse had been created “it is stronger than actual representation of what an individual says because it does not carry as much weight” as collective societal view does (Mbyaye). This problem is not unique to Americans in general; many Americans do not have the voice to represent themselves— others portray them (Mbyaye). Possibly the most detrimental representation of “blackness” in the media is American hip hop. What white businessmen who create hip hop music and videos are “capitalizing on is leading to the colonization and victimization of an entire culture” (Mbyaye). They are reinforcing age-old stereotypes and prejudices of black people that depict them as violent, ghetto criminals, highly sexual and poorly educated. Black men are also depicted as ultra-masculine and dominating; black women are depicted as passively submissive (Riggs). All of these stereotypes need to be burst and measures need to be taken that allow black Americans to represent themselves in whatever way that they choose, not in the way that greedy white Americans can profit off of.

All of these things have contributed to a concept in which W.E.B. Dubois coins as “double consciousness”. This is a dilemma and paradox that articulates the “ways in which African Americans feel pulled into multiple directions in American society,” (Mbyaye). Many black Americans are conditioned, through interactions with American society, to believe in racial prejudice and, therefore, learn ways in which they suppress themselves in order to become more like white culture.

Renowned author Richard Wright used character Bigger Thomas as a catalyst to write about suppression of the self in the novel Native Son. A problem with getting poignant messages like Wright’s out is the economics of the book trade in America (Riggs). Who reads books? Middle class white people (Riggs). Wright recalls a conversation with Martin Luther King Jr. and writes, “He [Martin Luther King Jr.] wants me to keep writing the kinds of books that tell the truth of what he lives, but, and this is the central problem, there are not enough Negroes to buy those books,” (Letters 22). This statement emphasizes the hopeless that many African Americans had because of such a dominant white American presence that was an allusion white people used as a control in order to exploit others. Wright continues, “So I’m left facing a white audience that does not wish to face the general truth of the problem, even if I try to present it for their own good,” (Letters 22). John Edgar Wideman offers a solution in a documentary titled Black Is Black Ain’t by saying that Americans need the “intention and willingness to enter someone’s skin and live there and feel there [to] give up one’s ego” in order to understand the oppressed people within our culture (Riggs).

President Obama is quoted, in 2008 as a senator, in Paige’s book The Black-White Achievement Gap: Why Closing It Is the Greatest Civil Rights Issue of Our Time as he proposes a solution on how to create a “more perfect union” (Paige 1). Obama states that Americans can help by “teaching them [black children] that while they may face challenges and discriminations in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism, they must always believe that they can write their own destiny,” (Paige 1). Schools cannot continue to be a place that discourages black students from dreaming of succeeding, rather, they should be a place that inspires all students to study and work hard in order to become successful in life. Teachers must teach in a way that allows their classroom to be an authentic representation of a model idealistic society with hopes of students analyzing that environment instead of being absorbed in the messages in the media, culture, his or her family structure and the harsh environment that surrounds areas of people with low socioeconomic status.

This is where the achievement gap in America cannot be ignored any longer. “[It] is not a new challenge. Almost a century has passed since the problem was first identified and quantified by the United States Army when it began to use large-scale mental testing to assess recruits. The results showed that white recruits outscored their black peers by substantial margins,” (Paige 3). What’s more shocking is that “differences in language and math skills appear by the time that children enter kindergarten, and those differences persist into adulthood,” Paige 3). This is present day structural racism. America’s educational system has quite the challenge ahead of it.

The facts are startling. “Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and other studies show that while the black-white achievement gap has narrowed in some subject areas since 1970, the average African American student still scores below 75 percent of white students on most standardized tests,” (Paige 3). The reason that this topic is so horribly fascinating to me is because I’ve seen it manifest itself in my classroom in many ways. When I was tutoring at a school within the Akron Public Schools district, I was working with “underachieving” students. These students were the victims of the achievement gap. I went into that context still holding onto the notion that every student was and is capable to meet my challenging academic expectations. And the student that I worked with for an extensive amount of time did. Her white teachers all regarded her with contempt and I challenged her with hopes of her putting the effort in to succeed. The first few meeting sessions she did not like me and did not want to invest in the material. Then I watched her conditioned responses to authority, created by sixteen years of living life in the United States, slip away. She opened up and worked hard. I actually cried over it because I was so moved by her transformation and personal growth. One of the happiest moments in my life was when one of her teachers condescendingly explained to me why I should not get my hopes up regarding her academic performance, he showed me a previous test that she took which was left completely blank, and she received an A on the next test that I helped her prepare for. If teachers do not hold all students accountable to the same standard then I believe them to be racist. I also believe that they should leave the profession before they do any more harm to the future of American society.

This incident has not been my only experience with the matter. At the current school that I am working at within the last few years they redrew the district lines and now include subsidized housing within the district. The students get “bussed in”. I put these words in quotations because most faculty members, unfortunately, use the term in a derogatory way. The staff seems to be fed up with said students because they do not complete assignments and ultimately lower the school’s average performance. They are more than just a statistic, they are people! I struggle with what to do with these students myself. I’ve given several pep talks to students. I’ve offered bonus assignments that would help redeem failing grades that are a result of late or missing assignments. One African American male student even became quite hostile with me and claimed that I was “salty” because I expected him to turn in work, and reminded him his missing assignments. I had to remind him that I’m on his team and that I actually want him to do well. I did not want him to be surprised when grades came back and he was failing miserably. But, unfortunately, I think that these students are used to flying under the radar. Teachers seem to just pass them in order to get them through the system. One African American male student told me he basically could not read the text that we were working on, which was a simplified translation of The Wife of Bath’s Tale, and he is a senior in high school.

I think the issue at hand regarding the achievement gap in America’s educational system is quite complex. While individual teachers could put forth educational measures to show students the hand of oppression on African Americans in history, as well as present day, but this alone cannot counteract all of the other facets that have significant influence on this matter. The representation of African American people in the media must be reformed. The various media outlets should depict African Americans from all walks of life in order to reduce stereotyping. Rap music should be reformed as well. Another possible solution would be for the government to issue special opportunities for urban schools to receive grants. These grants could purchase more innovative technology and new textbooks among other things that will help motivate students and provide them with more opportunity to really learn. The main reason that I believe is a huge factor in the development of adolescents psyche regarding racial oppression and stereotypes is family life.

I’m left wondering how a teacher can counteract society, culture and students’ family life as well. Since single-parent families are the most economically depraved people in the United States, students that come from these homes will be indoctrinated with many false ideas of what their life has to be like. “Despite the complex nature of the problem, [of single-parent families] the weight of existing evidence suggests that the problems of male joblessness could be the single most important factor underlying the rise in unwed mothers among poor black women,” (Wilson 73). This cycle of poverty will perpetually exist unless the American people step in.

The problem of structural racism is nothing new to this country. Many of the present day problems were articulated long ago by W.E.B. Dubois in The Philadelphia Negro. So, with all of these factors at the surface, what can I do as an educator? Can I promise my African American students that they can succeed in America if they work hard? Heck yeah, I will. I don’t care if they get irritated at my academic intensity toward them, I will continue to hold all of my students, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, whatever, to the same standard of education. And I will voice my disgust with others that don’t. The issue of the achievement gap in America’s education system is complex but I believe, however impossibly complex the issue is, that education is the beginning of the solution to the problem.

Works Cited

Dubois, W.E.B. Of the Dawn of Freedom. New York: Penguin Books, 2009. Print.

Dubois, W.E. B. The Philadelphia Negro. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press, 1899. Print.

Mbyaye, Babacar. “Modern African American Literature.” Kent State University. Oscar Richie Hall, Kent, Ohio. 16 October 2011. Lecture.

Paige, Rod and Elaine Witty. The Black-White Achievement Gap: Why Closing It Is the Greatest Civil Rights Issue of Our Time. New York: AMACOM, a division of American Management Association, 2010. Print.

Riggs, Marlon. Director. Black Is Black Ain’t. San Francisco; California Newsreel, 1995. Documentary.

Wilson, William Julius. The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987. Print.

Wright, Richard. Letters to Joe C. Brown. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Libraries, 1968. Print.

Honors Internship Option-- A Reflection on Fieldwork at GlenOak High School

This semester was my final semester as a full-time student at Kent State University. Partnered with my courses was a 100-hour fieldwork experience at GlenOak High School in Canton, Ohio. I will be teaching full time at GlenOak during the spring semester. During the hours I spent observing classes and teaching a two-week unit I learned a number of things about education and teaching.

The first thing I learned was that the material used in each classroom, in this institution, is uniform. With the common core quickly approaching the entire United States and becoming the standard practice in Ohio, this phenomenon is typical. I quickly had to forget my romanticized ideology about creative control and flexibility in the classroom— for now. Each English four class, which is the basic senior-level English course offered, is covering British Literature out of the same textbook and is traveling through the material at approximately the same pace. This was hard for me to understand at first because each student tends to absorb dense information at a different pace. Also, students are assessed by a standard common assessment at the end of each nine weeks. This is not the only form of assessment, however. Teachers create other forms of assessment throughout the nine weeks in order to assess students' continual progress. The British Literature textbook at hand conveniently has a DVD collection with footage to introduce each time period and a worksheet volume that coincides with the texts that are to be taught. While all of these tools that support uniformity in education are useful— creativity and critical thinking skills seem to be largely absent from these practices. Luckily my cooperating teacher strays from the "bare minimum" materials and brings in outside resources. She creates reading guides, worksheets and other tools that help students learn.

I have two cooperating teachers that teach in dynamic ways. One is bubbly, humorous yet stern and has students work on worksheets and reading guides in small groups (or individually) a lot and generally students read some of the material aloud together during class. My other cooperating teacher withholds a lot of information about the texts, forcing students to construct their own thoughts, and operates in a way that largely revolves around brainstorming and other discussion-based techniques; students are generally expected to complete reading assignments individually outside of class and to continually monitor themselves to take quality notes during class. Each method of instruction is unique, insightful and both serve as fantastic models for me to follow. Students are learning in each classroom.

I’ve learned that one major structural setback to the education system is that students are being taught how to be better test takers. Common assessments, and the hefty weight of said test on students’ grades, communicate how significant these uniform tests are. This is unsettling to me. Can tests really accurately display how much a student knows? Is education (completion of various grade-levels) and knowledge (retained, connective learning) the same thing? I would hope so. It was startling when I had one student, a senior, who told me that he could not read. It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand the form or allusions of “The General Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales; he had little to no word recognition of the terms used in the simplified translation of the piece from the Middle Ages. I was shocked. How does this happen in America’s education system? And why is it often overlooked? Obviously I do not have the answers.

Regardless, it was thrilling to teach. I taught a two week unit on The Canterbury Tales. I began the unit by digging up photos and facts about the text and Canterbury, England during the Middle Ages and throwing them into a PowerPoint presentation. I provided students with some interesting scholarship on Chaucer’s life as well. It didn't take long for me to learn that students really do not like taking notes. But, I wanted to get them thinking from Chaucer's perspective. I spurred students toward the path of understanding questions like: how did Chaucer characterize those around him and why is it significant that he did so? Students grabbed their textbooks, broke off into groups and became experts on one character of “The General Prologue”. They marked up poster boards and brought these people of history to life! I gave specific guidelines (textual evidence of characterization, literary devices, vocabulary, depiction of the character's occupation, depiction of Medieval society, Chaucer’s opinion, etc.) Then each group presented their findings. After nearly each presentation students dove into dynamic discussions regarding a variety of complex topics like— hypocrisy and virtue in the Catholic church, science vs. religion, one’s occupation vs. one’s identity, appearance vs. actions and even more. The students were critical about what was going on in society during that specific time period which bled into insightful discussion of current society. I even included a lesson on "A Small, Good Thing" by Raymond Carver. Students read the piece aloud. This beautiful, modern short story allowed students an outlet to connect information about characterization, the human experience and the limitation society can put on a person because of his or her occupation. At times discussion was fruitful and beautiful.

We also read, analyzed and discussed The Wife of Bath’s Tale. Students have very interesting insights on marriage. When I posed the same predicament of the Knight character to the students (to choose between a young and unfaithful wife/husband or an old and faithful wife/husband) many students chose a young, unfaithful spouse. While I was trying to decipher authenticity in their responses (was "cool factor" a major influence here?) one student spoke up and said she would “choose an old, faithful husband so that she could have affairs but at least he wouldn’t have any.” I was shocked. At least she thought through an answer? During similar dialogue with students on other topics I have learned that American culture and individual family circumstances have major implications on the development of adolescents. In the end students were surprised to learn that the Knight allows the Wife of Bath to have authority over what she would be in their marriage; she chose to be both young and faithful. So the Knight learned what women really want: choice and equality. I think each student walked away from the unit at least learning the importance of respecting others regardless of his or her gender. This may seem like common sense but due to American culture, among other things, students can be stereotypical, binary and prejudice in their thinking sometimes.

While I have mostly reflected on academic learning and critical thinking in the classroom, perhaps the more dynamic, spontaneous things I have left out. Some fascinating things have taken place in the classroom. I had an abrupt, chaotic burst of marker-throwing occur during group work which happened to be the same day I was observed by my professor. Students threw paper, pencils and pens. One student flirtatiously, yet disruptively, bit another on the hand. (I think Twilight may have had an influence in the matter…) One student stood up as the bell rang and then immediately passed out cold on the floor. Several students are perpetually absent. Several students do not turn in any work. None. Even if they were in class and I beg them, twice. The only students that seem to complete extra credit assignments are the ones that don’t need the points. One student brought a weapon to school. There was a car accident in the parking lot. One student is dealing with the death of a family member. I've learned that life is sloppy. Teaching is not a static, linear, simple thing. Students are unpredictable. But, amidst this swirl of vibrant adolescent chaos, I completely love what I do. I learn more and more about the human experience every day. These lessons are priceless. There are some students that persevere through unimaginable circumstances. There are some students that lack any and every form of motivation. There are some students that crave validation from teachers. Some could care less. The breath of all these students competes for air space in the classroom.

Underneath every unique individual there is so much potential that most students fail to recognize and embrace. They are capable of so much. I desire to create an environment to foster intellectual and personal growth. I hope to unlock doors of curiosity within each student so that they would question society, politics, culture, history and other elements of the world around them. I also desire to see students ignite a passion within them toward pursuing something that will ultimately benefit and challenge them as people.

During my time at GlenOak High School this semester I faced many challenges. While I was expecting to deepen my understanding of The Canterbury Tales when prepping and teaching the text, I also learned a great deal about the educational system, the educational process, practical application of ideology, classroom management, lesson planning, society, the influence of culture and family structure on students, the spontaneity and humor of adolescents and so much more. I also learned that teaching is fulfilling, challenging, straining, stressful, emotional, complex, dynamic, creative, rigid and the only job I can see myself being happy doing. I can't wait to teach full time in the spring.

The Reality of Teaching

I've come to learn one important thing about American culture...

It's not about what you know but, instead, about what you can sell.

It's upsetting for a future educator to learn that:

-schools are in severe danger regarding funding (millions and millions of dollars.)
-standardized tests are considered a legitimate form of evaluating a person (both students and teachers)
-HB 136 (in Ohio) is proposing an option for students to have a choice to attend a private or charter school (both unregulated by the government and, therefore, do not meet the same standards as schools in the public sector) on the public school's dime.
-HB 136 has the potential to collapse the public education system as a whole and create "poor" and "rich" schools thus eliminating the middle class.
-High schools are not reading important texts that help one understand American history and society. (Why do they read so much British Literature? Where's African American and Native American studies?)

Everything in America is a business, even public education.

What is a solution?
Well, how can you fight American culture? Americans don't want to fund education!Our society needs to care about its future in order to bring about social reform and a better quality of life for its people. Hard to do that when you only care about the dollar. Even harder to do it without the dollar.

Some options:
What if more assessments, that are processed by third parties for evaluating students (and teachers), were project or portfolio based?
What if standardized tests didn't serve as financial leverage but as a guide to help see where schools can improve?



It's been disappointing to learn the tangible, concrete side to education vs. the romanticized ideas I orchestrated in my mind. I thought teachers helped guide students to achieve critical literacy? How is this notion actually being modeled to educators?




Someday I believe I can start to close the gap between what American culture expects out of its people, or consumers, and water the real internal growth that is waiting to blossom within each student-- resulting in the beautiful, self-actualizing bloom of critical, creative thinkers.

at least in my own classroom.



Another thing I've learned-- teachers don't clock out.

Helpful Links

Useful Web Sites


Image Grammar Site
http://www.uakron.edu/noden

For More Images
Google (Select Images)
http:// www.google.com

Movie and Live Speeches
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches

Drew's Scripts-O-Rama
http://home.cdsnet.net/~nikko11/scripts.htm

For Collaborative Projects (Some Items Require a Fee)
Global SchoolNet Foundation Home Page
http://gsn.org
Global School House
http://gsn.org/gsn/gsn.projects.html
http://www.gsn.org/pr/index.html

Schrock's Guide
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide

The Awesome Library
http://www.awesomelibrary.org/

Yahoo Education Site
http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/K_12/Teaching/Lesson_Plans/

Ask ERIC
http://www.eduref.org/

Education World
http://www.education-world.com/

NCTE Lesson Web Site
http://www.readwritethink.org
and click on lessons then click on 9-12

Literary Parodies: Exploring a Writer’s Style through Imitation

Online Resource for Carol Olson's The Reading and Writing Connection
http://www.ablongman.com/olson

Proficiency Tests and Vouchers
Randy Hoover's Research
http://cc.ysu.edu/~rlhoover/ClassConnections/OPT/toc.html

Read #21 Youngstown Vindicator's Anti-Teacher Editorial
Read #21.2 Mary Carter's Letter to the Vindicator

Thinkfinity
http://www.thinkfinity.org/SearchResults.aspx?subject=all&partner=all&resource_type=lessons&q=writing&grade=all&WebSiteArea=educator&search_subject=literature

NCTE Lessons
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/index.asp?grade=0&strand=0&engagement=0

http://www.readwritethink.org
and click on lessons then click on 9-12

http://www.thinkfinity.org and use the menu
Writing Handouts for Use in Class
From University of Wisconsin Writing Handbook
http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/index.html

Lesson Plans for Teaching Writing [Paperback]
Chris Jennings Dixon (editor) (Author)

Second
Set

Student Web Search:
Annotations by KSU Students



Reading Resources

http://www.kidpub.org/kidpub/
This web site is like none I have ever seen. This web site offers more than
36,000 stories offered from kids all over the world. This web site can be
used in the classroom or students can visit this site on their own. Kids can
have their work published and also read others children's work. This web site
I feel is wonderful, it offers many opportunities for children to become
active in writing.

http://toread.com:80/
This web page entitled Learning to Read; Resources for Language Arts and
Reading Research offers you almost any amount of information on any topic that
you could think of dealing with Language Arts. The purpose of this web page
is to improve the quality of reading instruction through the study of the
reading process and teaching techniques. Along with everything else it also
offers Interactive Lesson plans and different professional organizations and
publications.


http://www.coe.ufl.edu/faculty/lamme/lamme.html
This site has a lot of information about children's literature. It
gives a featured book of the month, numerous book reviews, and activities to
use with the books. The books are not for just one grade level either, they
are age appropriate for whatever level is needed. This site also has a
variety of multicultural books. They can range from African American poetry,
to stories of the Native Americans, or even a standard fairy tail. There are
a whole spectrum of books to choose from. Overall, this is a very nice site
to get ideas about what literature to use in your classroom and lessons along
with it.


http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/Literature/Genres/Children_s/Authors/
This site gives the names of various childrens authors. If you click on
their names, it gives a description about their books, and some personal
information about them. For example, Louisa May Alcott is one of the people
featured. It gives a sample of her writings, and even a picture gallery to
look at. There are numerous authors from a to z to choose from. It is a very
nice way to know more about the autors and their writings.

http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/rteacher.html
This site is dedicated to “Children’s Literature” and “Resources for Teachers” from around the world. Bantam Doubleday Dell and Penguin are resourced along with AskERIC and an online games sight. The webmaster’s choices for worthy sites above the rest are accurate. It is valuable to look at these selected sites before looking at the others.

http://educate.si.edu/resources/lessons/langlist2.html
This web page is entitled Reading Activities Stories. This web page
offers lesson plans and activities dealing with the topic of Language Arts.
The home page seems a little boring but once you click onto one of the options
a whole new world opens up for you. This site will take you step by step all
the through the activities that they tell you about, and will answer any
question that you have about the lessons and the activities found on this web
site.

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/historical.htm
This web site consists of brief summaries of historical fiction for children to young adults. The texts are categorized according to subject and/or genre within history. The site briefly describes the time era and then recommends non text books to enhance the lesson.

http://www.grouchykids.com/angstbooks.html
This is a very unique, well composed web site for children coming of age. Literature with brief summaries are categorized under headings such as sex, families, stress, imagination, and peer pressure. The site is brightly colored and is composed of other categories that pertain to life as a teenager. I think that this site is beneficial for teachers to also look at because there will be particular students that we as teachers know better than the others. There might be a few students that some to teachers with personal problems. By being aware of all forms of literature, a teacher might be able to recommend a book from this site that relates to what the student is experiencing.

http://www.connectingstudents.com
This is an information packed site that offers several unique ways and
links for teachers to bring students together in literacy and reading. There
are lesson plans and several links to sites on how to help students connect
with literature that they would be interested in, including the Harry Potter
series. I found it to be full of useful material including themes and lesson
plans.


http://www.kidreads.com
This is a website created for teachers and students. It lists books by reading levels. It also has a "Bookworm" search, "Meet the Authors", and a "Cool Stuff" section. It has the newest and most popular trade books among students and teachers listed. One of its distinguishing features is a "Wish List". The wish list has a registry for students or teachers. It allows readers to list their most desired literature to own and e-mail it to friends and family members in hopes of receiving it as a gift.


Writing

http://members.aol.com/vangarnews/newsletter.html
This is a web site where students writing can be published. In the classroom teachers look for many ways to congratulate students on and encourage success in writing. This web site is a good start to exposing students creative and expressive writing. Publishing student writings on the web is a really good resource and confidence building experience for students and a pleasant experience for teachers. This website welcomes all ages and levels of students and encourages writing to everyone.



CIM Net- Student Work: Anchor Papers
http://www1.open.k12.or.us/cim/cimstu.html
This site is dedicated to writing assignment anchor papers. It shows examples of various student papers and how they are rated for the proficiency tests.

http://www.pacificnet.net/~mandel/
Teachers Helping Teachers
Web Site: http://www.pacificnet.net/~mandel/languagearts.html
This gives you some new and exciting lesson plans to do from other teachers. They also encourage you to send in your good lesson plans so others can use them too.

http://www.bastrop.isd.tenet.edu/eleact.html
Collaborative Lesson Archive
Web Site: http://faldo.atmos.uiuc.edu/CLA/LESSONS/kindergarten.html
This web site gives you different lesson plans for any grade level and in any subject. For writing, if you like a lesson, you can submit different versions to you added for others to see.

http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing>http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing
Jack Lynch has designed a site that I feel is a great writing site. Not only does it define many English words; it gives examples of how they are used. It is a site full of grammatical rules and explanations, comments on style, and suggestions on usage. He also has links to other sites grammar, style, and usage.

http://www.geocities.com/soHo/Workshop/8405>www.geocities.com/soHo/Workshop/8405
This site is interesting, in the middle of the page is a link to, Ideas for Teaching Writing outline. Here they provide you with different topics for writing, mini-lessons for teaching writing, and a writing workshop portfolio idea. They offer quotes to write about and give ideas for journal topics. He also offers links to other sites as well. This site is based off a teacher and his ideas for 7th grade. I feel his ideas are very creative.

http://www.angelfire.com/ks/teachm/ttwriting.html
This is a great website. It gives you definitions for each of the different modes of writing and examples of each. It also has unit plans to use when teaching the different writing styles. It's filled with many examples that are usefull when teaching writing. It also provides links to other sites that can be helpful to teachers in preparing lessons.

http://www.knownet.net/users/Ackley/writing_plans.html
An excellent site for teachers to use in creating writing assignments. There are 20 and 30 different writing lessons to use. One is called a paragraph a week and instructions are given on how to use this activity in the classroom. The directions for each of the lessons are clear and easy to follow. This is a great place to use when your trying to find ways to bring writing into your classes.

home: http://www.inkspot.com

http://www.angelfire.com/ks/teachme/ttwriting.html
I really liked this site because I felt that it covered everything! It gave a nice variety of writing activites of all sorts. They posted the grade levels that the activities worked best for. I felt that everything was organized and was easy to find whatever you needed. The colors and the background also made it interesting to look through. This site would be great for teachers who want to get theri students involved and excited about writing.

home: http://www.angelfire.com/ks/teachme/quotes.html
Quotations from Writers. I like quotations! I think that a lot of them could be motivational, especially when you find yourself stuck in a writers block. I think that
it's good to have a quote on the board everyday for the students to read.
You never know, it may help them! I would also offer the site to students
to look at when they do need some help writing.

http://ofen.org/cyber.serv/academy/ace/lang/elem.html
this site provides different lesson pland dealing with writing for elementry
k-5. examples are the section called successful paragraphs or creative
writing; multi-author story writing. i thought thses lesson plans or Ideas
might be useful if I had a mental block and I co8uldn't come up with my own
ideas.

http://www.kidpub.org/kidpub/howto.html
this is a site showing how to get children's writing published. this site
also has stories of published students. I thought, as was discussed in class,
that this is a nice way to get children motivated towards writing. It would
be exciting for students to see their writing on the internet.

http://www.straightuppictures.com>www.straightuppictures.com
This is just for your browsing. This site contains some neat photos. Just click on the Photo Gallery link.



Poetry

Poetry Pals
http://www.geocities.com/enchantedforest/5165/index1.html
At this site, they publish any student's poetry. It also explains different types of poems and gives examples of each kind. It also gives you links to other poetry sites and projects. Finally, it encourages literacy in todayís youth.

http://www.poetryteachers.com/>http://www.poetryteachers.com/
This site is designed to help aid a teacher in teaching poetry to a class. This site offers lesson plan ideas and descriptions for writing poetry. Offering 4 links into poetry, this site can be fun and educational.

http://www.usglobe.com
This is a website that gives hundreds of examples of
poetry. Teachers can find poems that are models for
the different styles of poetry to use as examples in
the classroom. Students can use this website to
search for a particular poem. The website defines
words in poems that may be difficult and also has
quotes of the day.

http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/kids/poetry.html
This page contains samples of student's poetry that
would be a good sight to use if you are having
students doing creative writing about space. This
page will give your students ideas of where to start
and get them thinking creatively. The poems on this
web-site are very creative.




Projects

http://www.gsn.org/project/index.htm
Global Schoolhouse Projects & Programs Main Page
This site lists numerous collaborative projects. There is also a projects registry section where you can search for current or upcoming lessons and projects on the internet.

The Savvy Cyber Teacher: Finding Collaborative Projects on the Web
http://k12science.stevens-tech.edu/cyberteacher/findingprojects.html
This web site is dedicated to finding collaborative projects on the internet. It has a list of collaborative projects and a list of educational listservs where projects are posted.


La. Challenge Activities for the K-12 Classroom: Collaborative Online Projects
http://etrc33.usl.edu/k12act/collab/
This site is also dedicated to collaborative projects. It has guidelines and formats for collaborative projects and resources. It also has a place where you can submit your own project or join a current project.


Designing Web Pages: Join an Online Project
http://www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/online/join.htm
This site lists six pages of different online collaborative projects to join. It also gives information on creating your own web page.


http://wvaworldschool.org
Bell Atlantic World School
Web Site: http://wvaworldschool.org/html/teachers/projects.html
This gives you different possibilities of collaborative projects to pick from. There are different subjects and it sometimes gives you different grade levels that it is appropriate for. There is then an address to be able to connect you to the place that is controlling the project.




Email Connections (USA and Global)

http://www.stolaf.edu/network/iecc>www.stolaf.edu/network/iecc
This is an intercultural email classroom connections collaborative site. This site began in 1992 and today it has over 8,000 participants from over 82 countries. This site helps teachers connect via the email. You can either participate by joining one of the IECC mailing lists or by exploring the IECC WWW pages. You can use the IECC WWW pages either to look through other people's postings for partner classrooms or projects to see if something there meets your needs, or you can submit your own project announcement or request for a partner classroom (copied from Internet site).

http://www.educhat.com/forums.htm>www.educhat.com/forums.htm
This is a collaborative site for students to "swap ideas" with each other or with educational professionals. There are 6 different forums to choose from. In these forums you have the ability to read what others are doing, and also add your input. In addition, it is a great place to visit if you just are in need of an idea.


Guides to other Sites

http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/
This website has a variety of education links. Kathy Schrock put this site together and many teachers have added lessons, ideas, etc. to the site. The home page explains how she put the site together and explains that she has connected several other sites to benefit students and teachers. This is also a great site for parents who are looking for helpful tips on how to involve themselves in their children's learning. This site is connected to the Discovery's website so it has multiple animal and exploration links. This site is easy for the less computer literate to search because it is all on the home page.


http://ericir.syr.edu/
This is a terrific website with multiple educational links. The home page of the website has links such as Questions & Answers, Virtual Library, New & Noteworthy, Lesson Plans, and ERIC Databases. The lesson plans link has unlimited access to lesson plans for every subject and grade level. The process consists of typing in your subject or topic and then choosing from which you find interesting. The resources that you have access to are also unlimited. I feel that this is a great website for ideas and helpful hints about lessons or education in general.

Research Paper
www.writeenvironment.com/linksto.html
Web Site: http://researchpaper.com
This is an interesting way for students to get ideas and hints for writing a paper. It also gives you links to other places to find more research on that topic. Improving your writing style can also be accomplished on here. Finally, it shows you tips and techniques to make your writing the best it can be.

Lesson Plans

http://www.col-ed.org/cur/
This web site has lesson plans in all subjects including Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies. They are grouped by grade levels. Each lesson plan has an overview, objectives, resource/material, and activities list. Many of the plans contain worksheets and handouts. This site is very thorough and complete.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/ray.saitz/
This web site contains lesson plans that are extensive in literature, poetry, and writing. There are worksheets, handouts, and daily journals. This site uses new poetry and is very extensive in writing plans.

http://faldo.atmos.uiuc.edu/cla/
This web site uses collaborative lesson plans that are grouped by grade level and then subjects. This site is great but a little dificult to find the original lesson because so many teachers have added on to them with postings.

http://www.lessonstop.org/
This web site contains lesson plan formats and how to instructions. This site is useful when starting out a lesson plan and it uses the media to help the lessons. The lesson plans are grouped by their subjects.

http://www.proteacher.com/070009.shtml
ProTeacher! Primary Reading
lesson plans for elementary school teachers including emergent literacy,
phonics and decoding.
I loved this site. It provides hundreds of links to lesson plan sites and sites that have so
much useful information. There are links to relevant articles, center ideas,
literacy units, activities for students and tips for teachers. It's very specified, very well organized and easy to use. if you can't find it here, I'm not sure where you could!

http://www.yesiteach.org/lesson2.htm
Yes, I teach
Because I will soon be a Young Educator myself, I related well to this
site. It seems to be set up for new teachers to give each other tips and
advice and mini lessons or activities. It almost seems like a support-group
type atmosphere on the site. The activities with the books focus more on
children's creation of literature as opposed to their use of it, which is
something I really like.

The Lesson Plans Page
http://www.lessonplanspage com/
An extremely simple, but nicely laid out, site featuring over 650 lesson plans. Organized neatly by subject matter and then divided into grades pre-k through high school, the site is easily navigated. The site seems to be updated weekly.

Lesson Plan Links
http://www.wuacc.edu/services/mabee/lessons.html
Lesson Plan Links has over 150 site links to lesson planning. The sites are divided by subject matter. Links lead directly to the lesson site. LPL also has a category for links, which cater to all subjects. This site is very simplistic in design and does not use a lot of filler or ad space. It is extremely easy to navigate.

Teachers.net - Lesson Bank
http://www.teachers.net/lessons/
Extensive list of lesson plans is found at this site. They are listed by subject matter. This site also incorporates a chat center for teachers. A lesson request area is also offered for teachers who are in need of certain topical lessons, which are not found in the lesson bank. This is a nice site, which is very informative and offers many resources for the teacher.


Lesson Plan Place
http://www.inet-edu.com/lessons/links/index.html
Hundreds of useful and valuable links to lesson plans are located at this site. Subject matter is broken further down for easier location of topics and specifies the grade or grades for which the plans would be suitable. Easy navigation without much fill. Very extensive!

Your Mojo.com
http://www.yourmojo.com/links/Lesson_Plans/
This site has links to various lesson plan sites along with annotations for each site. It looks like they are in the beginning stages of a rating system for evaluating each link. There are not many ratings listed at the moment. Sites are listed by subject matter. This site includes many more resources for the teacher.



http://www.lessonplans.com.au
Lesson Plans for Every Classroom
Although to get the most of the complete resources at this site, you have
to pay, there are free bits and pieces of most books that can be found next
to their links. The reason I chose this site was because, as the site states,
most of the literature found here was written by people who are still
teaching, people who are using these very lessons in their own classrooms. I
think it is a testament to the validity of a lesson or activity if it is
written by someone who is currently implementing it. I also liked that this
site was very focused on literacy and writing and reading. There are some
good sources for books on these topics as well as lessons.


http://education.indiana.edu:80education.indiana.edu/cas/ttforum/lesson.html
I like this website for lesson plans because it is organized into different subject areas and categories. Some of the categories included are: Computers with Internet, Students with Disabilities, English as a Second Language, Foreign Language, and Conflict Resolution. This site even includes a virtual frog dissection. Many of the lessons contain hyperstudio presentations as well as photographs and images.

http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/index.html
On this website, lessons are divided by subject and grade level. Images are provided on most pages. It lists the curriculum focus, duration, and objective for each lesson. Many of the lessons incorporate the internet. Related links and video connections are provided for most lessons.
http://members.aol.com/mcsing29/index.htm
I like this website because it is a children's multicultural literature resource. It posts a book of the week as well as criterion for evaluation of multicultural literature. There are also suggested books, divided by grade levels, that would aid in teaching nonfiction and historical fiction.

http://www.lessonplansearch.com/
This site has over 1,300 lesson plans for many different subjects, and
all grade levels. It was very organized, and broke everything down step by
step. For example, if you chose reading, it then asked what grade level you
wanted. Then, you were to put in what area you needed such as vocabulary
skills, or rhyming. The actual lesson plans were detailed and had interesting
ideas. It did this process with whatever subject you chose. It was a nicely
arranged site.

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/workshops/67381
This is a writing web-site filled with ideas for
teachers. It gives step-by-step instructions of
lessons to do in the classroom. I liked the
vocabulary game presented on the site. A good
vocabulary is the key to good writing and this game
will really help build up a vocabulary. This site also
has links that students would find interesting.

http://metalab.unc.edu/sashley/lesson.htm
This site gave a list of different lesson plans that have been found all
over the world wide web. It is very helpful in that respect, because it saves
time and gives variety. The lesson plans were for any grade level that you
wanted. It gave an overview, purpose, objectives, and interesting activities
for almost any subject. There were also mini lessons for subjects such as the
civil war. This site gives such a mixture to chose from, and had a nice
layout.

http://www.lessonplanz.com
This site has all sorts of information to help teachers. It is not just
about lesson plans. For example, there is a list of featured books for many
different grade levels to review. There is also an a to z shopping list for
teachers for things such as workbooks, games, and bulletin boards. Teachers
can put their own lesson plans on this site as well. As for the lesson plans
themselves, it gave a nice overview, and it was very organized. With the
computer and technology lesson plans, they were interesting, and had fun
activities using graphs. This is a helpful site, because there are so many
things that a teacher can get accomplished on this address.


Interdisciplinary Sites





Not Yet Classified


http://www.cyberteens.com
This is a website that focuses on middle school students and teachers to get information. Art, Music, Games, and Novels are some of the categories listed on the home page. When dealing with older students they often enjoy independence. This site lets the students feel like they are doing leisure activities when really you are focusing on school work. I really like this site because it is appealing to young adult students and teachers on an educational level.

http://www.massnetworks.org/~nicoley/tutorial/
I found this web site to be interesting in the fact that it shows both the
teacher how to search the web and the students as well. what this site does
is provides a tutorial some of the topics inclued jargon, themes,
communicatiing with e-mail etc..

http://www.pc.gsd.k12.us/writingproject.html
This site takes you from picking stories to work on through cutting and
pasting the students stories on to e-mail and sending them back to the web
site. It's a real step by step procedure. which would be great for new comers
to the world wide web writing teachers.

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/
This is a wonderful site that has so much to offer on all subjects! It
includes current events and updates on stories and lessons to help both
teachers and students. There are also old and new lesson plans, vocabulary,
lists of books for different subjects, and ways to slide lessons through grade
levels. This site is helpful and useful for teachers who are just starting
out and for teachers who are experienced and updating for a variation on
lessons. Definitely a resource worth noting.

www.criticalthinking.org/K12/k12class/trc.nclk
This site was very interesting. It offers concepts on critical thinking
and how to get your students to do so in all aspects of education. It gives
specific ways to get students to think critically when they read and write,
which is a great characteristic to have in young students because you can
develop that as they get older. The site also lists strategies and standards
for assessment. It gives structured, remodelled lesson plans in great detail.
A great resource to have for literature teachers.

www.edoasis.org/
This site is loaded with information! It gives lists of age appropriate
lessons and books for students. The lessons are detailed and give much
information on how to teach the curriculum. The lists are structured so that
you can access books for each grade level, which is very handy. The site also
gives information on how to design your lessons, get into workshops, and
construct class or student literature web pages. You can connect with other
classrooms and teachers to collaborate on lessons and projects through this
site. You can learn and update on how to prepare lessons and go about
teaching them to students. The site is really good for writing. There are so
many ideas about what students can write about and how they can improve there
writing skills. The decor of the site was great, too. A treat to visit!

www.education-world.com/
The final site I visited had information that covered a broad spectrum.
It gave the usual lesson plans and projects, but it also gave state standards
for reading and writing. This is very helpful information when you're
planning for state testing. The site also lists collaborative projects, and
tips for education majors in their specific fields. The site is great for all
subjects, but for writing and lesson plans, it hits all areas from the
classroom activities to state regulations and standards. It's a very
informative site and a great resource to have.

http://thewritesource.com/index2.htm
The Write Source- A website that is devoted to helping students and teachers
with writing. Included is a section on writing topics which helps students
to get a jump start on selecting interesting topics by grade level. Another
exciting area this site offers is a section for students to submit their work
for publication. This site also includes helpful research links and a
product catalog.

wwwbir.bham.wednet.edu/
Birchwood Elementary School- A website that has resources for both students
and teachers. Student sites give children a chance to explore a particular
subject which utilizes animated pictures to make things realistic. The
teacher resource section includes ideas for online projects, research lessons
and word web pages.

www.absolute-sway.com/winthrop/advice.html
Elizabeth Winthrop Online- This site gives basic advice on writing and
publishing for young writers. It includes sample writings. There is also a
section for frequently asked questions (FAQs). A message board which allows
users to post and respond to questions and comments that have been entered.

http://cybersleuth-kids.com/
Cyber Sleuth Kids- This site is full of information on various subjects and
is displayed in a fun and exciting format. This site is recommended for
students K-12 and even includes a homework helper, educational search engine
and directory. Everything from Art & Music, Sports, News Media, Science
Weather, Fun & Games and many more are included!

www.atlantic.net/~klesyk/teacher.html
Cool Teachers Links- This site is quite useful for teachers and contains
links to teacher conferences and curriculum specific sites. Included
subjects are literature, mathematics, art, science and music. The homepage
menu is simple to use and clearly organized. Many FREE offers for teachers
are included.


http://www.cyberteens.com/ctmain.html
This site has a chatroom, games, contests, an artist gallery, a section for young composers, links to other cool sites, a young adult novel-in its entirety with a page for each chapter, great graphics, and a zeen…all for young adults. The zeen, like other magazines is filled with a variety of material, all written by or for teens. The zeen features artwork, poetry, prose, and a section called fresh where the viewer can find interviews, public service announcements, and opinions. This site has been received praise from the New York Times, Macromedia, and me.

http://www.sutton.lincs.sch.uk/
This site is a wonderful resource. Sutton Le Marsh National School is a primary school somewhere in the UK with an amazing website whose content ranges from games and links, to chatrooms for community members, to story starters and project ideas. It is necessary to explore the website, looking at each page, to realize the full potential of this resource.

http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/wiseowlsw/page9.htm
With educational links for "very young children" and craft sites for any child along with teaching ideas and parent resources, this site is packed with useful items. Some of the links are to orderable resources, but enough links provide free information to make this site worthwhile.

http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/rteacher.html
This site is dedicated to "Children's Literature" and "Resources for Teachers" from around the world. Bantam Doubleday Dell and Penguin are resourced along with AskERIC and an online games sight. The webmaster's choices for worthy sites above the rest are accurate. It is valuable to look at these selected sites before looking at the others.

http://www.yahooligans.com/School_Bell/Language_Arts/
Because this is from a search engine, the list of sites varies with time and is not really ranked according to quality. However, there are enough sites to choose from that regardless of changes, this search has found some great sites. I am particularly fond of the link to lists of Online Stories. These stories are classified by genre: folk and fairy tales, ghost stories, interactive stories, poetry, stories by young writers, and storytelling. The stories by young writers link has an excellent link to web publishing sites. A multitude of sites and ideas can be found by exploring from this search.


http://www.writeenvironment.com/linksto.html
This web site offers you a wide variety of options; some of these include such
things as activities, reference materials, lesson plans and on-line writing
labs to help students. All of these assets are just a few of the options
concerning this web site that make it so wonderful and such a valuable asset
to teaching. To top things off you can also receive a free newsletter by just
a click of a button.


http://resources.globalchalkboard.com/teachres.htm
This web page offers many resources for teachers and could prove to be most
valuable when teaching in the classroom. This home page alone offers you many
different areas of help for teachers some of which include: Lesson plans, A+
web sites and products for teachers just to name a few. My favorite
connection was to the lesson plans they offer you lessons in all aspects of
teaching from English to Science. They even have a section on icebreakers so
that you and the students can get to know each other better.


http://www.cl.ais.net/rlevine/ - This link is a great place to start an
educational search for teachers. It has the links to lesson plans, web
browsers, resource sights and many other great sights. If you click on the
icon for cool lessons at the top of the page it takes you to a list of tons
of sights where to find lessons. They range from Webquest to the University
of New Mexico. They also allow for the search of lessons by discipline
and/or grade level.

http://www.geocities.com/athens/academy/6617/index.html - This web sight
is a "cybrary," or a library on the Internet. It has global access to
research and homework. When I clicked on the literature and writing icon, it
took me to a new page that was a large list of resources for a variety of
topics. It had literature and story resources and student writing and
grammar resources. These resources were all links to different education
ways and fun ways and a combo of ways to improve the grammatical teaching of
a student.

http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/ - The AskERIC Lesson Plan
Collection contains more than 1,000 unique lesson plans, which have been
written and submitted to AskERIC by teachers from all over the United States.
It always accepts new ideas from teachers and asks that they submit lessons
that they think have been successful. AskERIC succeeds on the success of its
contributors. The lesson plans are very thorough ideas that might need to be
modified slightly to meet the needs of a class. They cover a wide range of
subjects and topics that are bound to be related to your lesson. It has
eleven sub links within the Language arts link itself.


http://www2.wcoil.com/~ellerbee/childlit.html - This sight is a member of
a group of sights devoted to children's literature. The sight contains a
number of links to resources including other members of this literature
group. It has a link that allows you to join the larger group if you wanted
to connect your web sight about children's literature. The resource data
link allows you to look for a book by the genre, era, subject, awards won,
and a number of other ways. This would be a great sight for an Elementary
School teacher who was planning a lesson about or a round a story or had a
lesson and needed a story to go with it.

http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/ - A web page devoted to the helping of
teachers. This sight has a message board to talk with other teachers, a
place with teacher tips, a link to lesson plans or a thematic unit, a
shopping area. This sight has the greatest variety of the resources I
checked. They have full-blown lesson plans off the links here complete with
worksheets. It is a great sight.

http://www.atozteacherstuff.com
This is an excellent web site that provides teachers with thematic unit ideas, teacher tips, a communication message board, and some of the best, easily accessible lesson plans that I have seen on the web. I highly recommend this site to those searching
for exciting lesson plans.

http://www.halcyon.com/marcs/lesson.html
This is a lesson page by Marc. He provides his lessons and then a large number of other web sites with effective lesson plans. I enjoyed this page because it was easy to navigate through. It also has the pattern of branching roots; each web site leads to a new
site.

http://www.cyberteens.com/ctmain.html
This site has a chatroom, games, contests, an artist gallery, a section for young composers, links to other cool sites, a young adult novel—in its entirety with a page for each chapter, great graphics, and a zeen…all for young adults. The zeen, like other magazines is filled with a variety of material, all written by or for teens. The zeen features artwork, poetry, prose, and a section called fresh where the viewer can find interviews, public service announcements, and opinions. This site has been received praise from the New York Times, Macromedia, and me.

http://www.sutton.lincs.sch.uk/
This site is a wonderful resource. Sutton Le Marsh National School is a primary school somewhere in the UK with an amazing website whose content ranges from games and links, to chatrooms for community members, to story starters and project ideas. It is necessary to explore the website, looking at each page, to realize the full potential of this resource.

http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/wiseowlsw/page9.htm
With educational links for “very young children” and craft sites for any child along with teaching ideas and parent resources, this site is packed with useful items. Some of the links are to orderable resources, but enough links provide free information to make this site worthwhile.

http://www.yahooligans.com/School_Bell/Language_Arts/
Because this is from a search engine, the list of sites varies with time and is not really ranked according to quality. However, there are enough sites to choose from that regardless of changes, this search has found some great sites. I am particularly fond of the link to lists of Online Stories. These stories are classified by genre: folk and fairy tales, ghost stories, interactive stories, poetry, stories by young writers, and storytelling. The stories by young writers link has an excellent link to web publishing sites. A multitude of sites and ideas can be found by exploring from this search.

My intellectual influences and my dream of social justice in America's public education system.

It is a difficult task to attempt to pinpoint one single person that has influenced me the most intellectually; there are many people that have contributed to what I know. It would almost be ignorant to limit intellectual influence to one person, although, I feel as though there is a single person that has changed who I am entirely. It’s important to note what the root of intelligence is; I believe that it is passion. The person that has struck a match of passion in my heart and has challenged as well as taught me the most is Jesus Christ. After Him, I believe my main intellectual influences are Martin Luther King Jr., Sufjan Stevens and Shane Claiborne. I will address the ways in which I have been influenced by each of these sources.
Jesus Christ is the one that I worship. By worship, I mean that I literally want to be more like Him and I strive to understand His mind. The act of doing this permeates my life. This explains the beginning of my actions, the core of my being. I feel as though I have a heart for justice and social equality (as well as human rights) because Jesus did, and still does. I feel led into my future career, as an educator, by the orchestrator of life. The reason why I pursue knowledge and expertise on certain things is because deep within my heart they are incredibly important to me. This passion begins my quest in almost everything that I do; I can see this passion underneath all of my major intellectual influences as well.
Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most important people in our nation’s history. Not only did he lead American’s toward the civil rights movement but he did it in such a revolutionary way: without violence. M.L.K. studied the way that Jesus Christ handled conflict and that guided his direction for social change. The way he organized people to protest for their rights is phenomenal and profound. Nonviolent resistance is still a concept that the majority of the United States does not embrace. America is known for its “unstoppable” military and for dealing with issues with brute force. Yet, despite the ultra-American way of handling conflict, Martin Luther King led black Americans to social change, theoretically. I don’t want to depreciate the outcome of the civil rights movement; but, I firmly believe this nation as a whole must go through more changes until all American citizens are given an equal opportunity at success in this country.
The second person that has influenced me intellectually is Sufjan Stevens. Stevens is a musician from Michigan. He produces thick art that is layered in complexity. While encountering his art one may experience sensory-overload due to its brilliant nature. I may even argue that he is the greatest musician, if not one of the greatest artists, of this decade. A phenomenal piece of his is called “The BQE.” It is an exploration into the Brooklyn-Queens expressway as well as the hula hoop. It may be trite for me to attempt to articulate what the concepts behind these symbols are but I will give it a try. The BQE itself is an open-wound tearing through the city and is a direct result of the automobile. The automobile is responsible for substantial changes in American culture. The automobile created the phenomenon that people had the option to drive out of the city and into the suburban sprawl. Stevens filmed various angles and perspectives of driving and watching the BQE in action. He also composed a fantastic album expressing what he thought of this experience. Stevens wrote out his thoughts and included these notes in a leaflet tucked within the album art. The footage he shot and edited from the BQE was then projected behind a live performance from the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2007 in the Howard Gilman Opera House in celebration of the Next Wave Festival. The material is dense; Stevens not only confronts the history and social forces behind the BQE but also reveals more ideas. He writes about self-realization while driving the BQE and how he is “born again” while riding through the cervix-like overpasses. He also writes about the significance of the hula-hoop --and while this symbol may seem random—the hoop is circular, much like the wheel of an automobile, and while it doesn’t instigate forward motion, it celebrates the act of staying in one place and watching the world spin around you. I am deeply, deeply influenced by Sufjan Stevens other pieces of his art as well because almost all of them challenge me intellectually.
The final person that has largely influenced me is Shane Claiborne. He is a celebrated Christian activist and author. I recently saw him speak on Christians and Civil Disobedience at a forum at Malone University. He started a ministry in Philadelphia called the Simple Way. The Simple Way is an organization that cares for others and helps bring public attention to unjust laws. Recently, Claiborne led a peaceful protest in Philadelphia because it was illegal to feed the homeless under certain circumstances and it was also illegal for homeless people to sleep in the park. He distributed communion in the park, as well as pizza, and had a sleepover with all of his homeless friends. He was thrown in jail and had to go to court. Eventually all of the charges were dropped and, I believe, the law was reformed. Claiborne also sheds light to Pennsylvania’s gun laws. He sees a lot of violence in the streets of Philly and wants to have stricter gun laws in the state— a young man was shot and killed in the Simple Way’s front yard. His ministry is not a separate entity from the city like a lot of churches are. He lives right in the midst of the poor. This ministry really resonates with me because not only does Claiborne provide housing and food to the poor and destitute, he also works for social change in the judicial system. I want to be like that.
Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King Jr., Sufjan Stevens and Shane Claiborne have all influenced me spiritually and intellectually. Because of the spiritual pull in my heart, I want to increase my intelligence on issues and see restoration and authentic justice in society. I believe that my chance to see this social change may occur while being a teacher in the public school system. I don’t think that the gap in the quality of education in urban and suburban districts should exist. It also cannot be ignored any longer. It is simply unfair and corrupt. The system needs to change from the inside out. A lot of the issues have to do with funding. Because students are not receiving an equal opportunity in high school or even promised the hope of college and other forms of further education, they continue the cycle of poverty that they were born in. Regardless of race or ethnicity, the poor people in America are not breaking the cycle of poverty. What happened to the “American dream”? The intellectual influences that I have mentioned allow me to see a model of what my life could look like and what role I can play in social change.

Class Reflection (Pytash)

I liked how this semester we learned more about lesson planning and we used canonical literature. I was a bit leery of young adult literature but this class, and mainly working on the final, has taught me that young adult literature can compliment canonical literature in the classroom. I don't think teachers should stray from the canon but I think teachers should be more flexible in teaching newer things. The combination of young adult literature and multi-modal resources can help breathe life into the literature language arts teachers are teaching. This class has taught me the effective use of young adult literature and how to break difficult material down into smaller pieces that adolescents can understand. I want my classroom to be student-centered so I will do what I can to get students to care about the material (even if I personally detest young adult literature).