Carol Thebarge, a substitute teacher in Claremont, New Hampshire was terminated the moment she refused to unfriend her students from her Facebook contacts.
Carol, 79, was let go from teaching in Stevens High School when she ignored the school policy on social networking and internet use. The policy states that any teacher and any other school employee are not allowed to have students as friends or followers on social media like Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook, etc.
According to Carol, she felt sad because her part of being let go is not how she planned to end her 35 years of service to the teaching profession. She said she chose not to unfriend her students from her Facebook friend list since they loved her posts. She also believes that her posts are not, in any way, inappropriate or unethical. Instead, she believes that her posts help build character and boost a person’s spirit. Her posts include pictures of her cats, her grandchildren, and her thought and wisdom gained through her years of experiences living in this world.
Claremont Superintendent Middleton McGoodwin said Thebarge had to be dismissed, as she chose to decline to follow written school board policy. He also added that the officials had already given Thebarge a memo several years ago regarding the same matter.
The school management has been observing strict implementation of the policy on using social networking sites since it may result in inappropriate issues about the boundaries between students and employees.
Another reason for the strict implementation is the recent arrest of a Math teacher, Christopher LeBlanc, for having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student. LeBlanc also taught in Stevens High School.
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Fore more information, please visit the following related links:
1. https://www.facebook.com/carolandemile?fref=ts
2. http://www.wmur.com/news/claremont-math-teacher-accused-of-having-sex-with-student-in-classroom/25134970#!ZozdU
3. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-04-19/facebook-teachers-social-students/54416058/1
4. http://www.businessinsider.com/carol-thebarge-fired-from-claremont-hs-2014-4
5. http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/04/07/nh-teacher-fired-for-refusing-to-unfriend-students-on-facebook/
6. http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/04/07/nh-teacher-fired-for-refusing-to-unfriend-students-on-facebook/
Showing posts with label Other Reads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Other Reads. Show all posts
DepEd Closes Palarong Pambansa
Sta. Cruz, Laguna--“The Palarong Pambansa should not only be regarded as the biggest sporting event in the country, it should also be known as one of the biggest gatherings of young Filipino of heroes,” Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC said.
During the closing ceremony at the Laguna Sports Complex, Luistro commended the dedication and commitment of the people behind Palaro. He said, “The success of Palarong Pambansa 2014 lies on our hardworking partners in the local government and in the technical working group who stayed up late every night to ensure that the upcoming events were covered, our teachers and school administrators who made sure that our young athletes have safe and secure billeting areas, the security personnel who maintained peace and order during the ceremonies and the games, the medical teams who responded quickly to our athletes’ needs, and the parents whose continuous support propels young athletes to move forward.”
He added that the people’s support for and commitment to the Filipino athletes made this year’s Palaro one of the best Palarong Pambansa to count.
Palaro heroes
“Dala ng mga magigiting na manlalarong ito ang kanilang mga magagandang kwento, magagandang pangarap hinndi lamang para sa kanilang mga sarili kundi pati na rin para sa iba,” the education chief said.
The Palarong Pambansa 2014 showcased the laudable fortitude of athletes in different games. It catered to the differently-abled athletes whose determination to demonstrate their capabilities.
Luistro highlighted the inspiring stories of athletes whose resolve and sense of purpose impelled them to do more not only for themselves but for others. He said, “Ang bawat manlalaro dito ay ang bayani ng ating bansa. Ang patuloy ninyong pagtataya at pagbabahagi ng inyong lakas at suporta sa inyong teammates ay katangi-tangi.”
“Walang natalong atleta sa Palarong Pambansa. Ang mga natatalo lamang sa Palaro ay ang mga nawalan ng pag-asa,” he said.
The above text was directly taken from the official website of the Department of Education. This blog does not have any rights over this content. This was only reposted for purposes of dissemination and more effective information campaign. Our staff is ready to take this content down should it violate any law, policy or statute.
During the closing ceremony at the Laguna Sports Complex, Luistro commended the dedication and commitment of the people behind Palaro. He said, “The success of Palarong Pambansa 2014 lies on our hardworking partners in the local government and in the technical working group who stayed up late every night to ensure that the upcoming events were covered, our teachers and school administrators who made sure that our young athletes have safe and secure billeting areas, the security personnel who maintained peace and order during the ceremonies and the games, the medical teams who responded quickly to our athletes’ needs, and the parents whose continuous support propels young athletes to move forward.”
He added that the people’s support for and commitment to the Filipino athletes made this year’s Palaro one of the best Palarong Pambansa to count.
Palaro heroes
“Dala ng mga magigiting na manlalarong ito ang kanilang mga magagandang kwento, magagandang pangarap hinndi lamang para sa kanilang mga sarili kundi pati na rin para sa iba,” the education chief said.
The Palarong Pambansa 2014 showcased the laudable fortitude of athletes in different games. It catered to the differently-abled athletes whose determination to demonstrate their capabilities.
Luistro highlighted the inspiring stories of athletes whose resolve and sense of purpose impelled them to do more not only for themselves but for others. He said, “Ang bawat manlalaro dito ay ang bayani ng ating bansa. Ang patuloy ninyong pagtataya at pagbabahagi ng inyong lakas at suporta sa inyong teammates ay katangi-tangi.”
“Walang natalong atleta sa Palarong Pambansa. Ang mga natatalo lamang sa Palaro ay ang mga nawalan ng pag-asa,” he said.
The above text was directly taken from the official website of the Department of Education. This blog does not have any rights over this content. This was only reposted for purposes of dissemination and more effective information campaign. Our staff is ready to take this content down should it violate any law, policy or statute.
The Legend of Hundred Islands
THIS IS A PHILIPPINE MYTH POPULAR IN MINDANAO.
Centuries ago before the coming of the Spaniards to the Philippines, there was a brave rajah who ruled over the people of Alaminos, Rajah Masubeg. He had several hundred warriors to guard his kingdom, led by his son Dam Mabiskeg. The little kingdom enjoyed peace and prosperity, unmolested by its neighbors.
But one day, a report came that an invading force was coming from across the sea. The rajah called a council of war among his chieftains. It was decided to meet the enemy at sea. They must not be allowed to land. One hundred of the bravest warriors was summoned. They were placed in ten large bancas, armed to the teeth. Datu Mabiskeg, in the lead banca, commanded the task force.
The two forces were soon locked in mortal combat. Furious hand-to-hand fighting broke out on the boats and raged until the sun sank in the west and darkness covered the sea.
When morning came none of the warriors returned alive. The enemy was nowhere to be seen, they had been annihilated and so were the one hundred warriors led by the intrepid son. While the kingdom celebrated victory, the old rajah mourned for his son.
A week later, when the towns people woke up in the morning and looked toward the sea, a wonderful sight met their eyes.Where before has been an empty expanse of water as far as the eye could see, now there were many tiny islands dotting the sea line. There were about a hundred of these islets. Some were shaped like over turned bancas; others looked like bodies of dead men floating in the sea. These people of Alaminos believed, were the one hundred warriors who had given up their lives in defense of their homes. The gods had immortalized them in the form of islands so that they might watch over their native land forever.
Centuries ago before the coming of the Spaniards to the Philippines, there was a brave rajah who ruled over the people of Alaminos, Rajah Masubeg. He had several hundred warriors to guard his kingdom, led by his son Dam Mabiskeg. The little kingdom enjoyed peace and prosperity, unmolested by its neighbors.
But one day, a report came that an invading force was coming from across the sea. The rajah called a council of war among his chieftains. It was decided to meet the enemy at sea. They must not be allowed to land. One hundred of the bravest warriors was summoned. They were placed in ten large bancas, armed to the teeth. Datu Mabiskeg, in the lead banca, commanded the task force.
The two forces were soon locked in mortal combat. Furious hand-to-hand fighting broke out on the boats and raged until the sun sank in the west and darkness covered the sea.
When morning came none of the warriors returned alive. The enemy was nowhere to be seen, they had been annihilated and so were the one hundred warriors led by the intrepid son. While the kingdom celebrated victory, the old rajah mourned for his son.
A week later, when the towns people woke up in the morning and looked toward the sea, a wonderful sight met their eyes.Where before has been an empty expanse of water as far as the eye could see, now there were many tiny islands dotting the sea line. There were about a hundred of these islets. Some were shaped like over turned bancas; others looked like bodies of dead men floating in the sea. These people of Alaminos believed, were the one hundred warriors who had given up their lives in defense of their homes. The gods had immortalized them in the form of islands so that they might watch over their native land forever.
The Legend of the Mount Kanlaon
THIS IS A PHILIPPINE MYTH THAT TALKS ABOUT MOUNT KANLAON. IT IS POPULAR IN THE ISLAND OF NEGROS.
There once lived on the island of Negros a princess named Anina who lived a very sheltered life.
One day, Anina overheard her father talking to the kingdom's chief priestess. The priestess was frantic about a report that they could not find a single maiden who was unblemished.
Later, Anina asked her father what it was all about, and the king finally broke down. There had long been a seven-headed dragon threatening the kingdom, and the monster could only be appeased if an unblemished maiden was sacrificed to it.
In fear, all the women in the kingdom had cut themselves to disqualify themselves from the sacrifice. Parents cut their own baby girls so as to spare the infants from the sacrifice. But the king and the queen couldn't bring themselves to mar their daughter's beauty, and so Anina was the only remaining unscarred female in the kingdom.
Anina did not weep. Instead, she willingly offered herself for the sacrifice. Fortuitously, on the day she was to be brought to the mountain where the dragon lived, a man calling himself Khan Laon appeared. (Khan in his language meant a noble lord.) He said he came from a kingdom far away in order to slay the dragon and spare Anina's life.
No one believed the dragon could be killed, but Khan Laon insisted that his ability to talk to animals would help him. He asked the help of the ants, the bees and the eagles.
The ants swarmed over the dragon's body and crept under its scales to bite its soft, unprotected flesh, while the bees stung the fourteen eyes of the dragon till it was blind. The largest eagle carried Khan Laon to the mountain where he was able to easily chop off the seven heads of the writhing beast.
In gratitude, the king gave Khan Laon his daughter Anina to be his bride, and the people named the mountain after the noble lord.
And that is how, according to the story, Mount Kanlaon got its name. That it is a volcano is because of the spirt of the dead dragon.
There once lived on the island of Negros a princess named Anina who lived a very sheltered life.
One day, Anina overheard her father talking to the kingdom's chief priestess. The priestess was frantic about a report that they could not find a single maiden who was unblemished.
Later, Anina asked her father what it was all about, and the king finally broke down. There had long been a seven-headed dragon threatening the kingdom, and the monster could only be appeased if an unblemished maiden was sacrificed to it.
In fear, all the women in the kingdom had cut themselves to disqualify themselves from the sacrifice. Parents cut their own baby girls so as to spare the infants from the sacrifice. But the king and the queen couldn't bring themselves to mar their daughter's beauty, and so Anina was the only remaining unscarred female in the kingdom.
Anina did not weep. Instead, she willingly offered herself for the sacrifice. Fortuitously, on the day she was to be brought to the mountain where the dragon lived, a man calling himself Khan Laon appeared. (Khan in his language meant a noble lord.) He said he came from a kingdom far away in order to slay the dragon and spare Anina's life.
No one believed the dragon could be killed, but Khan Laon insisted that his ability to talk to animals would help him. He asked the help of the ants, the bees and the eagles.
The ants swarmed over the dragon's body and crept under its scales to bite its soft, unprotected flesh, while the bees stung the fourteen eyes of the dragon till it was blind. The largest eagle carried Khan Laon to the mountain where he was able to easily chop off the seven heads of the writhing beast.
In gratitude, the king gave Khan Laon his daughter Anina to be his bride, and the people named the mountain after the noble lord.
And that is how, according to the story, Mount Kanlaon got its name. That it is a volcano is because of the spirt of the dead dragon.
What Are The Six (6) Elements of Thinking?
ELEMENTS OF THINKING
Psychology
When we were in first-year college, we had a General Psychology course. As education students we have to be trained to speak and teach in front. So that is why we always have to have reportorial presentations. In the Psychology course, I was designated to present the Elements of Thinking.
Psychology
When we were in first-year college, we had a General Psychology course. As education students we have to be trained to speak and teach in front. So that is why we always have to have reportorial presentations. In the Psychology course, I was designated to present the Elements of Thinking.
It was very hard for me to search what the Elements of Thinking are. I tried the library and the internet but to no avail. This is the part where I had to ask help from my professor. LOL.
Now, I thought of posting this so that it could help people in their General Psychology lessons. Here they are:
1. Inner speech
2. Body Movement
3. Mapping
4. Imagery
5. Reasoning
6. Masking
INNER SPEECH
Every time I'm asked a problem or anything to solve, I talk to myself and I guess I'm not the only one who's doing it. This is inner speech. Lev Vygotsky used this in his cognitive development theory, THOUGHT AND LANGUAGE. He said that we learn by instructing ourselves what to do.
One of the manifestations of inner speech is what we do in the bathroom and in front of the mirror. We talk to ourselves.
BODY MOVEMENT
When I think of a problem -- a really big problem --, I hold or scratch my head or forehead. I don't command my hands through my circuit of system of nerves to this this but it naturally happens. This is very common to many people. My friend, for one, blinks more often than usual when he's thinking.
This proves that our mind is over our body. Our bodies are affected by what is happening in our minds.
MAPPING
To put it in a smaller box, when we learn something, we put it somewhere in our storage house where we can retrieve it easily when we need the information. We place it near information which are similar. We arrange the information in our minds logically if possible. This way we are MAPPING the concepts in our minds.
The time I learned how to play the guitar, I placed it near music information in my mind. This way, whenever I think about music, I think about piano guitar. Because of this concept mapping, I learned to relate guitar and piano in playing chords.
Of course, I don't do this intentionally. The whole process is done subconsciously as if the brain is designed for sorting and arranging.
IMAGERY
Imagery is the visual description we see in our minds when we are thinking, especially when reading or listening to stories.
When I was reading Jack London's To Build A Fire, I imagine blue and white. I see in my mind how cold the setting was.
There are many types of imagery.
- VISUAL IMAGERY. We see what we hear. While reading or hearing the part where Juliet makes her monologue in the balcony, we see Juliet making her monologue in our minds.
- TACTILE IMAGERY. While Geoffrey Chaucer is describing Allison's dress as one of the pilgrims, I picture in my mind how smooth her dress was.
- GUSTATORY IMAGERY. Talking about food, I and my friend usually imagine in our minds how delicious the food would be. Most of the time, it makes us salivate.
- OLFACTORY IMAGERY. How did you feel while reading William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily? How did you imagine the smell that the neighborhood complained about in the story? We picture the smell in our mind.
- AUDITORY IMAGERY. Imagine the some of long nails scratching the blackboard. Your mind gives you the information the sound would be really awful because you are picturing it in your mind.
- KINESTHETIC IMAGERY. Every time I dream about myself falling down from a building, I wake up kicking.
- THERMAL IMAGERY. Temperature means a lot to the body and especially to the mind.
- VISCERAL IMAGERY. Upon hearing the word SAD, HAPPY, EXCITED or any emotion, we imagine the feeling in our minds.
REASONING
Said Rene Descartes, DUBITO ERGO COGITO ERGO SUM. This means I DOUBT THEREFORE I THINK THEREFORE I AM. Also, according to what I read, from a book I can't remember, INTELLIGENCE IS NOT THINKING ABOUT THE THINGS YOU DOUBT BUT DOUBTING THE THINGS YOU THINK YOU KNOW.
As a part of the thinking process, we doubt all information that comes in our mind and verify them by the use of our logically arranged and systematized storage house. We reason out based on our prior knowledge.
MASKING
Jean Piaget can still remember the time when some guys attempted to kidnap him and his nanny. The memory in his mind is so clear that he's very sure that it really happened. But everything was a hoax. His nanny tried to make a alibi when they arrived home late. Even if Jean Piaget already knows the fact, he still can't erase in his mind the mask that it made.
As a natural function, our mind masks things we think we should know.
People who saw the news about the 9/11 Terrorist Attack thought that they saw in the television the fall of both of the towers in the same day; only to find out that the video of the second tower falling only went out to the public after a week but people say that they have a clear memory of seeing the two towers collapse in the same video in the same day.
Basic Discourse Analysis for Secondary English Teachers in the Philippines
BASIC DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
by Mark Angelo S. dela Peña
This time we will discuss what DISCOURSE ANALYSIS is, discuss an example of DISCOURSE ANALYSIS and figure out why we have misunderstandings.
by Mark Angelo S. dela Peña
This time we will discuss what DISCOURSE ANALYSIS is, discuss an example of DISCOURSE ANALYSIS and figure out why we have misunderstandings.
Discourse Analysis is a branch of Linguistics that deals with the study of language in use and in context. Its main purpose is to reveal that words and groups of words could mean differently when used in different situations.
To put it in a smaller box, imagine yourself and your friend walking to the gates of the school after your last class in the afternoon. Of course, you and your friend would ride the taxi to go home. Suddenly, your friend acted strange, looking for something in her bag. She then said "I lost my wallet."
Now, there are many possible responses for this and they could be: "Where did you put it?" or "Do you think you left it somewhere?" but these responses are very unlikely. The most common response for this is "It's okay. I got you."
The surrounding circumstances -- that you're both going home, that you both need to ride the taxi, that you have to pay the taxi and that a wallet is a thing where people keep their money -- affected your hearing and perception.
One proof related to this is the McGurk effect. The McGurk effect states that our auditory perception is affected by visual information. What we hear may change by what we see. Imagine more senses involved to change what you heard.
In the above example, we don't perceive that our friend is saying "I lost my wallet." In our perception, she is actually saying "May I borrow some money?"
As humans, we don't only have instincts and when we say "instincts," we refer to the basic drives. As humans, we also have consciousness and perception. This is the reason why misunderstandings commonly occur among us -- because we have perception. We all have different perceptions of all different things under the Sun.
Imagine a person who thinks that another person has grudges against him. This person always gives meaning to everything that the other person says. And so, this is misunderstanding: he always thinks that there is a "context" between them.
MAJOR 4, A Course Overview: The Teaching of Literature by Kat Cortez
GOALS IN TEACHING LITERATURE
1. Development and extension of literary competence
Literary Competence: ability to internalize the grammar of literature which would permit a reader to convert linguistic sequences into literary structures and meaning.
2. Development and enhancement of the imagination and creativity
The different literary genres allow the readers to enter different worlds: realistic, fantastic, futuristic and even out of this world.
3. Development of students’ character and emotional maturity
Through literature, the students can discover and realize many universal truths and insights about the world and human nature.
4. Development of critical thinking
Students may be challenged to interrogate their own beliefs and practices and those of others.
5. Development of literary appreciation and a refined reading taste
The literary experience should provide students with a love of literature.
Why teach literature? (Duff and Maley, 1990)
ü Linguistic: In terms of language acquisition and learning, literary texts offer samples of a very wide range of styles, registers and text types at many levels of difficulty.
ü Methodological: Since literary texts are open to multiple interpretations, readers can have different opinions and ideas about a variety of topics. This provides the learners with the opportunity to engage in genuine interaction.
ü Motivational: Literary texts are non-trivial since they deal with matters which concerned the writer enough to make him/her write about them. Literary texts touch on the themes to which the learners can bring a personal response from their own experience.
PROCESSES IN STUDYING LITERATURE
How do readers respond to literature? How can we make our students respond to literature?
1. Description: Students can talk or write about what they read in their own words.
2. Discrimination: Students can discriminate among different literary types.
3. Relation: Students can relate several elements of a literary text to each other or to other texts.
4. Interpretation: Students can figure out what they think the author is saying and defend their interpretations.
5. Generalization: Students can draw out the main idea of a piece of literary work or an author’s style.
6. Evaluation: Students can evaluate the worth of a piece of literature using a set of criteria.
7. Valuing: Students can indicate the importance of literature to their own lives or to the world outside the text.
8. Creation: Students can respond creatively by making art projects, composing a musical medley, producing a music video, writing another stanza for a poem or another chapter to a novel, etc.
WHAT DO WE TEACH?
a. Short Stories: fictional works depicting one character’s inner conflict or conflict with others, usually having one thematic focus.
b. Novels: long works of written fiction.
Elements of Fiction
v Setting: This refers to the time and place in which a story takes place.
v Characters: They are usually the representations of human beings.
v Plot: This refers to the way the actions are arranged in the story.
Types of Plot
Linear: conventional
In Medias Res: story starts in the middle of things
Circular: conventional combined with flashbacks
Parts of the Plot
Exposition: introduction
Complication: onset of major conflict
Crisis: curiosity, uncertainty and tension are greatest
Climax: highest point of interest (decision, revelation, action or realization)
Denouement: finishing of things right after climax
v Point of view: This refers to the one who tells the story. The point of view can be:
Omniscient- delves into the thoughts of the characters
First Person- the narrator may be the protagonist, a minor character, an observer or the writer himself/herself
Third Person Limited Point of View- the narrator can only relate the actions or behavior of the characters
v Theme: This refers to the significant truth about or insight into the life and human nature that is illustrated in the actions, preoccupations, and decisions of the characters.
v Images: These are usually characterized by concrete qualities rather than an abstract meaning. These appeal to the senses.
v Symbols: These could be images or objects that stand for something other than themselves.
Elements of Poetry
v Sense: It is revealed through the words, images and symbols
a. Diction: This refers to the denotative and connotative meanings
b. Images and Sense Impressions: This refers to the words used that appeal to the sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch
c. Figures of Speech: These refer to the creative use of words or expressions that a poet uses to enhance the sense impression
v Sound: This is the result of the creative combination of words. The poet may resort to the use of alliteration, assonance, rhyme, repetition and anaphora
a. Rhythm: This is the ordered alteration of strong and weak elements in the flow of sound and silence
b. Meter: This refers to the duration, stress or number of syllabus per line
c. Rhyme Scheme: This is the formal arrangement of words and lines to fit together and the organization of the parts to the whole
v Structure: This refers to the arrangement of words and lines to fit together and the organization of the parts to form a whole
a. Word Order: the natural or unnatural order of words
b. Ellipsis: omitting some words for economy or effect
c. Punctuation: abundance or lack of punctuation marks
d. Shape: contextual or visual design, omission of spaces, capitalization or lower case
Types of Poems
v Lyric Poems: express the author’s mood, emotion or reflection in a musical language. It derives its name from the lyre, and was primarily intended to be sung. Not all lyrics are sung but they are all melodious.
a. Ode: the most majestic type of lyric poetry. It expresses enthusiasm, lofty praise of some person, thing, deep reflection or restrained feeling.
b. Elegy: it can always be distinguished by its subject matter, death.
c. Sonnet: it is distinguished by its form, for it always consists of 14 iambic pentameter lines
d. Song: short lyric poem which is intended primarily to be sung.
e. Simple Lyric: category of the lyrical poems that do not properly belong to the other types of lyric poetry
v Narrative Poems: tells a story of love, adventure or romance
a. Epic: long narrative poem about the exploits of a supernatural hero
b. Ballad: tells the story of ordinary people
c. Metrical Tale: an ordinary love story in verse
d. Metrical Romance: medieval verse tale based on legends, chivalric love and adventure or the supernatural
Literary Devices in Poetry
v Figures of Speech
a. Simile: comparison of two things by using the words like or as
b. Metaphor: direct comparison of two unlike things or ideas
c. Personification: gives human traits to inanimate objects or ideas
d. Synecdoche: using parts for a whole
e. Metonymy: using another word which is clearly identifiable or associated with the idea referred to
f. Hyperbole: Exaggeration
g. Apostrophe: direct address to something inanimate or dead or absent
h. Oxymoron: using contradictory terms
i. Litotes: giving an assertion by means of negation or understatement
j. Allusion: refers to any scientific, historical, mythological, literary or biblical event or figure
k. Paradox: phrase or statement that on the surface seems contradictory but makes some kind of emotional sense
v Sound Devices
a. Onomatopoeia: use of words that imitate the sound of the idea it denotes
b. Alliteration: repetition of consonant sound, especially in the initial position
c. Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds
d. Rhyme: repetition of sounds at the end of words
e. Anaphora: repetition of word or words at the beginning of two or more successive clauses or verses
3. ESSAY (a prose composition of moderate length usually expository in nature, which aims to explain or clear up an idea, a theory, an impression or a point of view)
Parts of an Essay
v Introduction
v Main Body
v Conclusion
Types of Essay
v Formal/Impersonal Essay: deals with a serious subject and important topic like philosophy, science, politics and religion. It has an authoritative and scholarly subject.
v Informal/Familiar Essay: covers light, ordinary, or even trivial subject matters in a conversational, friendly and often humorous tone, but equally insightful as that of the formal essay.
Theatrical Styles
v Arena: theatre style of the Greeks. The actors are surrounded on all sides by the audience and they make entrances and exits through the aisles. This establishes an intimate relation with the audience.
v Medieval Theatre: this used staging areas called mansions inside churches and portable wagons wheeled about outside the churches.
v Elizabethan Theatre: this used a wooden structure providing an enclosed space around a courtyard open to the sky. The enclosed structure generated an intimacy and involvement between the actor and the audience.
v Proscenium: the stage used in the 19thCentury. This stage distances the audience from the play, providing a clear frame behind which the performers act out their scenes unaware of the audience’s presence.
v Eclectic: this is the theatre of the modern times. It uses arena, proscenium and every other kind of staging.
Genres of Drama
v Tragedy: shows the downfall and destruction of a noble or outstanding person, traditionally one who possesses a character weakness called a tragic flaw. The tragic hero, through choice or circumstance, is caught up in a sequence of events that inevitably results to disaster.
v Comedy: intended to interest and amuse audience rather than make them deeply concerned about events that happen. The characters encounter some difficulties, but they overcome their ill fortune and find happiness in the end.
v Tragicomedy: a play that does not adhere strictly to the structure of tragedy. This is usually a serious play that also has some of the qualities of comedy.
v Farce: has very swift movements, has ridiculous situations and does not stimulate thought.
v Melodrama: show events that follow each other rapidly but seems to be governed always by chance. The characters are victims in the hands of merciless fate.
Elements of Drama
v Plot: Sequence of events in the drama
Exposition: introduces the setting, characters and the basic situation
Inciting Incident: introduces the central conflict
Development: the conflict runs its course and usually intensifies
Climax: conflict reaches a high point of interest or suspense
Resolution: conflict is ended
Denouement: ties up the loose ends that remain after the resolution
v Characters: the entire shape of the action derives from the characters’ strengths and weaknesses
v Setting: time and place in which the action takes place
v Dialogue: speeches of the characters used to advance the action
Soliloquy: speech which an actor, usually alone on the stage, utters his/her thoughts aloud, revealing personal feelings.
Aside: short speech made by the character to the audience which, by convention, the other characters on stage do not hear.
v Movement: these are keyed to the structures of the speeches
v Music: are sometimes incorporated for dramatic effect.
v Theme: the message, central action, or what the play is all about.
THE LITERATURE TEACHER: REQUISITES AND DEMANDS
1. Literary competence
The teacher of literature must not only be literature literate, but more importantly literary competent himself/herself.
2. Broad reading background
The teacher of literature must not be just one paragraph or one book ahead of his/her students. He/She must have read a lot of literature before even venturing to teach it.
3. Love for literature
The students must sense that their teacher in literature oozes with love for literature in the way he/she discusses literary texts, gives ready examples, quote lines of poetry or passages from fiction or drama, or talks about the authors.
4. Emotional maturity and experience
Certain topics and themes in literature need to be handled carefully and tactfully, without moralizing or pontificating or passing judgement on people, their religion, race, gender or class. He/She must remember that the object is to liberate the students’ minds from prejudices, biases or narrow-mindedness.
5. Knowledge of different methods, strategies and techniques
The teacher of literature constantly finds ways to make the teaching of literature meaningful, interesting, enjoyable and even unforgettable for his /her students.
6. Knowledge of students’ reading ability, language ability and interests
The teacher must know where the students are coming from—their ability level, what they have read, if they like acting, singing, writing or debating, what hobbies and habits they have, etc.
CONSIDERATIONS IN CHOOSING METHODS, STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING LITERATURE
Teacher-Centered
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Learner-Centered
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Focus is on instructor
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Focus is on both students and instructor
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Focus is on language forms and structures (what the instructor knows about the language)
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Focus is on language use in typical situations (how students will use the language)
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Instructor talks; students listen
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Instructor models; students interact with instructor and one another
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Students work alone
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Students work in pairs, in groups, or alone depending on the purpose of the activity
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Instructor monitors and corrects every student utterance
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Students talk without constant instructor monitoring; instructor provides feedback/correction when questions arise
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Instructor answers students’ questions about language
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Students answer each other’s questions, using instructor as an information resource
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Instructor chooses topics
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Students have some choice of topics
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Instructor evaluates student learning
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Students evaluate their own learning; instructor also evaluates
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Classroom is quiet
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Classroom is often noisy and busy
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ü Traditionally, literature is taught through lecture and straight recitation. The teacher is the fountainhead of knowledge and sole authority of the correct interpretation of literary texts. In such a teacher-centered classroom, the students become passive recipients of knowledge. This set-up, although convenient for the teacher, could prove to be boring, unchallenging and monotonous.
ü A student-centered classroom gives students an opportunity to read and experience literature freely without fear of being reprimanded for not being able to guess the teacher’s interpretation. Students are encouraged to think on their own, to trust themselves and to feel confident about their own reading of literature.
This refers to the amount of time that the teacher and the students talk inside the classroom.
ü At the simplest level, teacher talk time (TTT) refers to how much the teacher talks during a lesson. However, this will vary according to the stage of the lesson. For example, the teacher needs to speak more when providing explanations of and examples for the target language early in the lesson. Elsewhere he may speak less as students need ample opportunity to practice the new material. Overall, however, the teacher should roughly limit his speaking to 20% to 30% of the class time, with the remainder devoted to speaking/use of the language by the students.
ü On the other hand, Student Talk Time (STT) should be around 80% during the course of the lesson. Their use of the language should further promote qualitative thought. For example, this means that choral drills, substitution drills, and other exercises remain important because students need these activities to become familiar with and absorb the target language. However, too many drills or other, similar activities result in students who switch off their brains. The fail to critically observe, analyze, and practice with the new language.
ü Talk time by the teacher and students accomplishes the following:
1. It allows the teacher to restrict his speaking to vital areas of the lesson. When he then speaks, students know the information is important. They listen more attentively and work harder to successfully process the information.
2. Students get to speak more. When students speak more, they have increased opportunities to become familiar with the new material.
3. Students have more chances to experiment with and personalize the language. They can mix previous vocabulary and grammar structures with the target language of the lesson, as well as steer conversations towards their individual interests.
4. As students speak more, they must also rely on their skills. For example, if two students fail to understand one another, they must work together to repair the miscomprehension. This better prepares the class for the real world, where they can’t rely on the teacher for help.
5. As the teacher speaks less, students have added opportunity for interest and challenge. For example, think back to your life as a student. Which classes did you enjoy the most, ones with a long lecture or ones that allowed active engagement?
ü Some guidelines in supplementing the printed page:
1. Developing response tasks and purposes for tasks. Select a text and think about what you would like students to learn from interpreting this text. Based on what you want students to learn, select some talk, writing, or drama tools that will best achieve what you want them to learn. By defining what you want students to learn, you can link your tasks to your purposes—what students will learn.
2. Devise some tasks, and for each task, define the purpose for that activity based on what you want students to learn from doing that task and from using the tools designed to fulfil an activity—for example, that you want students to learn how to contrast different cultures in a text so that they can define the conflicting forces shaping characters using a mapping tool. Then, write a clear set of directions for these tasks, including your purposes—students will want to know: “why are we doing this?”
3. Sequencing tasks. In formulating your tasks, you also need to think about how to best sequence tasks so that each tasks prepares students for subsequent tasks “first things first.” In thinking about sequencing tasks, you are continually asking, will students be able to do this task, and, if not, what can I do to prepare them for this task so that each task serves to prepare students for the next task. For example, rather than start out with a discussion of a text, you may need to prepare students for that discussion with some free writing or listing-questions tasks. Or, for a mapping task, you may first want to have students list different items to include in their maps.
4. Formulating alternative versions of tasks. Because you’ll be using the same or similar activities with different grade or ability levels, you will need to be able to create alternative versions of your tasks to match differences in students’ grade or ability levels. For younger grades or lower ability levels, you may need to provide more specific directions or scaffolding or you may need to substitute less difficult tasks. Even within the same class, you may need to provide some students with more structured directions than other students.
ü Students have different interest, needs, preferences, learning styles and abilities. A teacher of literature needs to address this fact about his/her students. They do not learn in the same way and they do not grasp the same things. A variety of methods, strategies and techniques could address different needs at different times. The teacher cannot insist on using the same method, strategy and technique all the time.
ü Here are some suggestions for adding variety in the literature classroom:
1. Reader's Theatre: Host a Reader's Theatre in which a book text is broken up into parts for pupils to read out loud. Have the children read from the script directly, adjusting their voices to reflect emotions. Reader's Theatre scripts are available online for free, in books or you can create your own. If you decide to create your own, choose a text that is loved within your classroom. Engage many children in your class by choosing a book that has multiple characters.
2. Writing Books: Ask your pupils to write their own books that are modeled after literature. Expose your class to a variety of writing styles. Plan out weeks where you will have an author study. During this study, read a collection of books by one author. With the students, notice different things that make the author's writing style unique. Show the children how they can then transfer this to their own writing. Give the students time after writing to share with their classmates what they have created.
3. Book Clubs: Create book clubs for children who are reading at a second-grade level or higher. Your book clubs should have around four students. Choose the literature they will read or ask the group to select the book. The students will all read the same book, but assign them different jobs. Jobs can consist of a director who leads the discussion and a wonderful word finder who looks for adjectives. Then, have the students gather together to discuss the book and share what they found and liked in the book.
4. Group Lessons: Expose your students to rich literature during story time and reading workshops. Choose a variety of books to provide an assortment of literature. Choose one child per week to do a literature review to the class. In his literature review, ask the child to identify the type of book, such as non-fiction, fiction, poetry, etc. Have the child share a brief overview of the book and finish with why he would recommend this book to his peers. Presenting what they read meets several standards and challenges children to think beyond the text.
5. Reading Aloud or Re-enactment: If you want to read through a specific section of a book as a class, one way to get the class involved is to choose students to read one paragraph each, choosing students at random. Students will not want to disrupt the reading by asking where you are in the book, so they will generally keep up. You can also have volunteers stand and read lines from different characters, if you are teaching a play. Getting students into character can help keep them involved in the reading.
6. Literature Movies with Discussion: If the book or play you are teaching is difficult to read, for example if it is written in archaic English, it can help to play segments of a movie made from the book. Movies are visually entertaining, and watching the characters and hearing them speak can help the class understand language of the time period while still seeing the action and events of the book. Lead a class discussion about the movie segments to make sure your class is better understanding the book.
ü The teaching of literature can very well be integrated with developing multiple intelligences. The choice of activities or tasks should consider the development of multiple intelligences.
ü HOWARD GARDNER'S NINE MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES:
2. Logical/Mathematical Intelligence: the capacity to understand the underlying principles of some kind of causal system, the way a scientist or a logician does; or to manipulate numbers, quantities, and operations, the way a mathematician does.
3. Musical Rhythmic Intelligence: the capacity to think in music; to be able to hear patterns, recognize them, and perhaps manipulate them. People who have strong musical intelligence don't just remember music easily, they can't get it out of their minds, it's so omnipresent.
4. Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence: the capacity to use your whole body or parts of your body (your hands, your fingers, your arms) to solve a problem, make something, or put on some kind of production. The most evident examples are people in athletics or the performing arts, particularly dancing or acting.
5. Spatial Intelligence: the ability to represent the spatial world internally in your mind -- the way a sailor or airplane pilot navigates the large spatial world, or the way a chess player or sculptor represents a more circumscribed spatial world. Spatial intelligence can be used in the arts or in the sciences.
6. Naturalist Intelligence: the ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) and sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). This ability was clearly of value in our evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers, and farmers; it continues to be central in such roles as botanist or chef.
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence: having an understanding of yourself; knowing who you are, what you can do, what you want to do, how you react to things, which things to avoid, and which things to gravitate toward. We are drawn to people who have a good understanding of themselves. They tend to know what they can and can't do, and to know where to go if they need help.
8. Interpersonal Intelligence: the ability to understand other people. It's an ability we all need, but is especially important for teachers, clinicians, salespersons, or politicians -- anybody who deals with other people.
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