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Technology in the English Classroom

"Effectiveness of Computer-Aided Technology for Teaching English Courses in the Internet Era" - Caihong Xie

This article by Caihong Xie explains how technology could help Chinese students learn and remember vocabulary words. Even though technology is usually seen as having a negative effect on students and their attention span, this experiment has proved otherwise. By using Computer-aided technology (CAI), which is "a type of teaching-aided technology that has emerged because of the fast advancement of computer technology," there was an improvement in the teaching process and it made the teaching goal while also improving the teaching quality. For this experiment, they had two college classes in China take an English writing test during the first week of classes and then after the end of the semester, and it had to be completed within 45 minutes. The test had 42 words, with wrong and correct answers. These wrong words would then be displayed on the computer along with the corresponding Chinese meanings of these words.

To add on, technology is relied on heavily in the classroom, according to the article. Teachers use it to organize their plans, give students their assignments, and much more, like how it is here in America. They are also using AI computer-aided teaching to solve the "deaf-mute English" in the past, and the students get to have their own personalized teaching methods.

In this day and age, we rely heavily on technology so we can write our papers, take notes, make slide presentations, etc. We also tend to get distracted by these devices in class, especially in college since that is where all of the assignments are being done unless the professor says otherwise. However, apparently from one of the students in class, in the schools, there are applications where the teacher has access to the school's computers/laptops, and they can see what the students are doing on these laptops. Even though this might seem beneficial for the teacher since they don't need to be walking around, it still somewhat feels like a violation of privacy.

I believe that there are better ways to go about this. What I have seen in my practicum is that the students don't have their phones or laptops out since they rely heavily on paperwork. However, for exit tickets or if the teacher says otherwise, they use their laptops, but only for class purposes. I would allow my students to use their devices to take notes and research, however, if there is a trend in low grades/performances, I would probably talk to the class about it and try to emphasize the importance of paying attention and how that can affect their grades.

"Teaching the Novel in a Virtual Classroom" - The Joys of Teaching Literature

This podcast is from an English high school teacher in New Jersey. He discusses many topics within the classroom while giving advice to incoming teachers. In this specific episode, he talks about how the virtual classroom has affected the students and his teaching, specifically when reading the novels. From his structure, he organized by topics and has the students read it by themselves. He arranges the topics so when discussing the book, they can go deeper with discussions. By doing this, he received positive feedback from past students about how his class was one of the only classes where they actually read the book.

To add on, he touched upon the concept of the virtual classroom and how that has affected the students' attention span. Seeing that there were many things happening during the time that this episode came out and given the fact that they had been virtual for a while, he came up with an idea. When the students were split up into their groups, he told them to discuss the topic that they were learning about and connect that to what was happening outside the classroom. This helped the classroom since it gave them something to focus on while also being able to discuss what was happening in the outside world when they would usually do that during school.

I can relate to the students mentioned in the podcast because I also had to take two English courses on Zoom and it was not the easiest, nor was it the most interesting class. I believe what played into this was that since we were now becoming accustomed to online learning, students would find ways to not bore themselves during the class session. Whether that be going on their phones or going to a different website on their laptop, students felt the need to be doing something else since they found that it was easier to be lazy or to not pay attention without getting caught since everybody was in their own space. From this, it would be very difficult to follow along with the teacher and try to catch up as well.

I do agree with this teacher's method of teaching in a virtual classroom and also believe that applying this in the actual classroom can work as well. Not only are you letting the students engage with the books and their peers, but you are also giving them a space to talk about recent events that are happening outside, connecting that to what they are working on.

Mental Health

"How to Bring Moments of Joy to High School English"- Andrew Simmons

Since virtual learning was mentioned in the previous section, it is also important to talk about mental health because these past few years have not been easy on anybody. It is definitely easy in the education field for both students and teachers. However, when you have teachers like Andrew Simmons, a High School English teacher, who makes sure that there is still joy and excitement in the classroom, makes it just a bit better.

Simmons spoke on how he taught his class about Hamlet while also being considerate towards his students' mental health. The assignments remained the same, which consisted of public speaking and critical thinking. However for this school year, he assigned more creative writing, "so students can safely share authentic feelings through fictitious characters." He also changed his reading list to much lighter text with some comedy, beauty, and love. When reading Hamlet, he held a "live-chat play" since the class was through Zoom. With these activities and assignments, the students were able to interact more and even engaged with the material.

This honestly sounds like the best Zoom session to be in for high school English. Not only are there fun activities and playful interaction between the students and the teacher, but it also sounds like all of the students truly enjoy the class and learn from it as well. I could say from the classes that I had to take on Zoom, it was really hard to grasp the material since not only was everything digital and it was a big transition, but there was no sense of connection or enthusiasm between anybody in the class. I believe with this type of teacher plan, you can create a lively classroom whether that be online or in-person.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Foreword for "Teaching English In Design" - Leila Christenbury

In this foreword, Christenbury goes into detail about the differences in English classrooms that she has seen so far. From creative teachers, who were given permission to go beyond the curriculum, to unenthusiastic teachers, who not only follow the curriculum but have strict instructions to follow in the classroom. She also touches on the concept that the teacher is the only way for a student to succeed, meaning that "the teacher is all." (p. x) On the other hand, it is not the teacher, but rather the plan that they have for the students and how they execute it. "This unrealistic assessment of the influence of great instructors and of the power of their skills...rested on individual teachers' shoulders, and therefore if there were to blame to be apportioned regarding the extent and persistence of student learning and achievement..., the fault lay on the teachers." (p. x) Placing this unrealistic view upon teachers, not only stresses them out to better themselves or change into somebody that they are not, since it is expected of teachers to have all of the answers and knowledge in order for the students to achieve. When comparing the two different versions of teachers as mentioned earlier, there is a major difference in the progress of student learning achievement. Mainly, innovative teachers, who explore outside of the school pacing, are enhancing students' learning. To close off, she emphasizes the importance of giving teachers more freeway from the curriculum, so it can not only help the students but themselves as well.

I found this to be very important given the many discussions that we had throughout this course. As a class, we discussed the many problems that we had with some of our teachers and what really lead to those problems whether that be how they taught or treated the students. We also spoke about teachers who made an impact on our school years. Many of them vary from their kindness to their well-thought-out teaching. When comparing these teachers to one another, they all have different characteristics, but they all had one thing in common, which was their influence on our lives.

I don't think that there is any concrete teaching strategy when trying to be the most influential teacher to the students. Although, this does not mean that we, as teachers, have the right to do whatever we want. Rather, aim to be kind and respectful towards your students because they are humans as well, and given their age, they can be developing and going through many emotions, which is understandable since we also had that point in our lives. Our job as teachers should be to support them and give them guidance and advice when needed.

"Advancing Multicultural Education: New Historicism in the High School English Classroom" - Sidney C. Li

In this journal article, Sidney C. Li speaks about the differences between the Common Core State Standards and the New Historicism. Common Core State Standards, also known as CCSS, "emphasizes an understanding of cultural diversity in addition to critical thinking and literacy." New Historicism is "a method of literacy criticism" used to "meet the goals of the goals of the CCSS while generating greater discussion about and appreciation for the contributions of diverse cultural narratives." (pg.4) However, when looking more into what is actually taught in the classroom, there is little to no representation for minorities, even though it states in the CCSS. Li conducted three case studies, and one of them included an English classroom. In this case study, she interacts with a World Literature and AP English Language and Composition teacher, Ms. Smith, who uses the New Historicism method in her class.

To expand, Ms. Smith has her students do contextual studies. An example from the interview that was conducted was when she taught The Taming of the Shrew, she had the students dive into the political and philosophical aspects of the text. Instead of just talking about the reading and what is happening, they took an even broader approach and "held discussions about patriarchy and women's rights." From her use of New Historicism, her students can "understand and interpret the author's use of diction," which helps in the outside world since it helps them open up to more culturally diverse literacy pieces, unlike what would be taught from the textbook, according to the CCSS. (pg.11)

After reading this article, it opened my eyes to many problems that schools have when trying to teach about other ethnic groups. Not only is it pushed to the side, but it also represented minorities very little, even though this country is very culturally diverse. I believe that being able to incorporate more novels and texts from minorities can help introduce the students to other cultures and expand their horizons. It could help when they are interacting with others and being able to understand.

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