7/3/07 Morning Page
Think of your future demo (CSUWP conference) from the perspective of an audience member…thoughts, impressions, disappointments, questions….
I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while since I’ve started researching. I wonder if someone in special ed would think, “Does she think she’s just discovered something totally new? We’ve known that for years. Who does she think she is?” I wonder if someone who teaches middle school English would think, “No way am I teaching that! The kids don’t need that poetry! I hated poetry and I skip teaching it every year. I’d rather teach something else that I’m passionate about. Who does she think she is?”
I’d want to know of other areas or subjects where this research was applicable. Does my research easily translate into the art classroom? Science? How would this maybe help a History teacher?
Ideally, I’d like an audience member to say, “Wow! This is interesting brain research or research about the ways our students think. I bet that would help me with ___________ in my class! This presenter should be Miss America. I will do my part to vote for her.” But I’m just not sure my demo will have quite that affect.
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3 comments:
Would you settle for Mrs. America? Because I'd vote for you for sure! I think that what you're looking at would be of great interest to Special Ed teacher, a group who I think are exceedingly open-minded and willing to try just about anything that will help their kids succeed. Perhaps presenting this scenario to a group of special ed teachers as a "this gets great results from my SPED kids - why do YOU think that is?" might give you some valuable insight. Honestly, I think you've got something worth looking at and I'd be very interested in knowing more about what the actual classroom situation looks like.
Steph, I think that people are going to be interested in your approach to teaching and how you relate to kids. I'm teaching AP next year and it has a heavier poetry component than I'm used to, so I'm definitely looking for ways to get excited about poetry.
I used to think I hated poetry, but now I've truly learned to love to read it when it's well done. So now I'm hoping to finally transfer that enthusiasm to my teaching. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your project soon!
First off, I'd totally vote for you.
But like Natalie and Jason, I know that English teachers will be interested in how you've helped ANY kid like poetry and how you've helped special ed kids in general.
I worked closely with a special ed. teacher for the last 8 years of my teaching, and we learned so much from each other! In fact, when they were remodeling our part of the building, we went into the principal and insisted that wherever we were going to be moved in the building, we be moved together.
When I heard you talk about your conversations with your colleagues this summer, it sounded like you had great respect for one another, so I think that will come through in your demo as well.
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