portfolio // disposition 1 | reflection 2

“Candidates will exhibit behavior that demonstrates a belief that all individuals can develop, learn, and make positive contributions to society.”

// interpret
This disposition emphasizes the importance of having faith in all students’ abilities.  What all teachers must understand and believe is that all students are capable of learning.  Though they may manifest this capability in different ways, understanding material through a variety of means, there is no student that cannot be taught.  The effective teacher seeks to include and cater to this diverse spectrum of learning styles so that all students can maximize their ability to learn, grow, and ultimately contribute to society.

// select
To demonstrate how my own practice embodies the idea that all students can contribute in a meaningful way, I have included a handout titled “Seminar Discussion Procedure,” which outlines how the class discussion will operate and be graded.  [D1.R2.A1]

// describe
One of the main concepts I wanted students to understand after reading Animal Farm was the power of language.  Among the various activities I used in class to examine this idea was a seminar discussion.  I had not originally considered including a seminar as part of the unit, but after my mentor teacher’s suggestion, it seemed like a worthwhile endeavor that would offer a unique change of pace.

Prior to the discussion, students had read and answered questions on two articles.  One, from the New York Times, considered the term “Orwellian” and its usage.  The other was an abridged version of Orwell’s essay “Politics and the English Language.”  Students brought these articles and their responses with them to the seminar session.

At the beginning of class, I distributed the procedure handout and explained how the discussion would work.  In particular, I emphasized the fact that my role in the seminar was solely as moderator; the content of the discussion and the directions it went in were (for the most part) up to the students.  I then opened the floor to any speaker who wished to start.  During the discussion itself, I recorded each student’s checkmarks and made sure those who raised their hands had a chance to speak.

After the seminar ended, I explained that students who wished to boost their grade by another check could submit a written reflection about the discussion the following day.

// analyze
By its very nature, the seminar style of discussion supports the ideas of this disposition.  First, a seminar discussion emphasizes the idea that all participants are capable of making valuable contributions.  When introducing the concept of the discussion, I explained that all (or most) students had read the assigned articles and had some kind of response to them; thus all had something to offer in our conversation.  I further explained that these contributions need not be weighty, pensive statements on the novel or its themes; they could be as simple as well-explained agreement or disagreement with the articles.  In addition, students could always respond to their peers’ ideas, expanding on them either through agreement and extension or disagreement and counterargument.  In some way, every student could offer a meaningful contribution to the discussion.

Second, the seminar also shows that all students can learn because through discussion, they collectively create understanding.  Just as all students had ideas to contribute to the discussion, all students also had those ideas altered or even contradicted outright by their peers.  Through discussion, students amended or revised their preconceived ideas.  As a result of the seminar, each student’s understanding of the novel’s themes was increased thanks to the collective efforts of the class.  Each student left the room that day knowing more about the use of language than they had when they entered.  In short, each student learned.

// appraise
The seminar discussion seemed to be a useful addition to the Animal Farm unit.  It allowed me to expose students to related texts (namely the two articles) and show how they connected to the novel.  The session also helped place Animal Farm in broader contexts, both within the English discipline and the world at large.  Through our discussion, students were able to see how the novel commented not only on communism and the Russian Revolution, but also on the power of language over any people during any period of time—including our own.  Students explored the modern implications of the themes of Animal Farm by discussing how the current United States government manipulates language to control opinion (e.g. in phrases like “No Child Left Behind” and “USA Patriot Act”).

From a pedagogical standpoint, the seminar was also effective because it further developed the classroom community.  By staging this event, I tacitly endorsed the ideas that all students could make meaningful contributions and learn from each other.  Students gained an increased sense of agency and voice within the class as they guided the discussion where they thought it should go and discussed the issues they found most pressing.  In some small way, the seminar discussion hopefully emphasized the idea that our English class could work together as a team to reach a fuller, more relevant understanding of literature.

// transform
While my own assessment of the seminar discussions is a positive one, I would like to have more concrete feedback from the students in the future.  Either before ending the discussion itself or during the beginning of the following class, I would like to administer an informal survey (perhaps via journal entries) that asks for two responses:

·         Name one thing, big or small, that you learned during our discussion today.
·         Tell me whether or not you found the seminar helpful, and why.  Did it increase your understanding of Animal Farm and its themes?  What worked for you in the discussion and what didn’t?  In the future, what can I do to make this kind of discussion work better?

As simple as this feedback would be to collect, it could go a long way toward improving future uses of seminar discussion so that they become increasingly effective and informative.