Monday, October 8, 2007

Cop Out Blog

This blog is a cop out. I don't have much to add, but I wanted to post the link to this article from the Village Voice: "The Body Beautiful"

What I will say about this article is that Automotive is the high school at which I'm doing my field training for the Fellows. The high school, as the article mentions, has a population of 1,100 boys and 60 girls.

So far, I have 1 class out of those I'm shadowing that even has a girl. A girl. I've seen a couple more in the hallways.

Right now 2 of my cooperating teacher's reading classes are studying a young adult novel called Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book details a story based on the author's life-- her rape as a high schooler.

It's an interesting dynamic to teach a book about a woman's story of rape as a female teacher in a roomful of boys. So far they are respectful and really seem to empathize with the protagonist. It makes me hopeful that they'll not only learn about literary technique, but also basic human interactions and morality.

I guess I wrote more than I thought. I am so good at blogging.

2 comments:

Jessie Shaffer said...

What an article. I can't imagine how strong those girls must become. I think I understand your desire for the military cut a bit better now. You are so bad ass.

Anonymous said...

In my first rotation I have 11 boys and 4 girls.
My send rotation is 12 boys and 3 girls.

it's weird that it worked out that way.. there are dramatic differences between how each class behaves and works together. There are pros and cons in each. For example, I can't do a lot of buddy reading in my first class because girls are super chatty and they never get their work done in couples. In my second class I can't play "sparkle" ( a spelling game) with them because the class is so competitive and everyone starts fighting about how nothing is fair. ay dios.

not that this has anything to do with reading a novel about rape to a bunch of boys.. still, i think it's a good idea. Sometimes you need to force kids to get into books they may not pick up otherwise.. It's great that they get to have a glimpse of something that terrible from the female's perpective.. it's a great way to explore deeper emotions and learn empathy.
-Milla