Sasha+Gore


 * Here is my [|glog] (intoduction to me as a teacher).


 * Here is my yearlong plan:

> > [|DeCosta, Meredith, Jennifer Clifton, and Duane Roen. “//EJ// in Focus: Collaboration and Social Interaction in English Classrooms.” //English Journal// 99.5 (May 2010): 14 - 21. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.] > > This article argues students become actively involved in learning when instruction focuses on collaboration. According to the authors, students learn when they“draw on others as resources, when their success with meaningful work is within sight but just beyond their current grasp” (par. 18). In this Vygotskian model, known as zones of proximal development, knowledge is socially constructed and students learn through interacting with one another as novices and experts. In a time which recognizes “literacy practices as not only social but also digital, participatory, and multimodal” (par. 20), collaboration can be effectively created in classrooms through technology. This type of environment has the teacher out of the spotlight as students employ social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Wikis to construct their own understanding. Through these Vygotskian interactions, students are able to collectively use technology to create a more complex and engaging classroom. By using technology to foster a collaboration which more accurately mirrors the non-school world, these authors argue a social conscience is made visible, both for and by students. As students experience and contribute to the construction of classroom collaboration, personal motivation is developed as teachers take students’ distraction and disinterest and redirect it for curricular purposes, largely by using tools they are familiar with and invested in employing. As such, an essential part of getting students involved in a classroom community, in caring about course concepts and relying on one another, requires the use of student-led collaboration, processes in which technology can be a significant motivator.
 * Article Report #1


 * Article Report #2

[|Zimmerer, Stephen, Wanyi Jia, Patricia Ansah, and Allie Whitman. “Student Voices: What Makes You Want To Go To English Class?” //English Journal// 100.1 (Sept. 2010): 23 - 24. Web. Accessed 24 Oct. 2011.]

There are many factors students cite as reasons they like or dislike a particular class. In terms of the four students interviewed for this article, the presence of a student-centered classroom community in their English courses is stressed. As Stephen Zimmerman states, “In English, when I raise my hand I feel as though I’m offering something very valid…the topic of participation also helps me to see more about my peers” (par. 2). For these students, being allowed to think, and to share these thoughts with others, is essential. Knowledge is then found through exploration and confrontation with ideas. As outlined by Wanyi Jia, “there is no limit to expression, creativity, or oppression” (par. 7). Part of placing students as the focal point of classroom community also comes from implementing variety in instruction, as Patricia Ansah points out, “Another suggestion is to switch up classroom activities. A little spice never hurt anyone” (par. 10). According to Allie Whitman, connecting to students’ lives beyond the classroom is necessary. She states, “I’m plugged into the giant network of thoughts and passion and creativity that is English class…and even when I’m measuring acid, or factoring polynomials, or eating dinner, I’m still attached to English class” (par. 13). All of the aspects of a student-centered classroom which these students emphasize, from participation, to working from what is already known, can be met through incorporating collaboration and social interaction into this type of community, and while not explicitly stated, this is a goal facilitated by technology.


 * Article Report #3

[|Sewell, William C., and Shawn Denton. “Multimodal Literacies in the Secondary English Classroom.” //English Journal// 100.5 (May 2011): 61 - 65. Web. Accessed 24 Oct. 2011.]

The article’s authors define classroom community as students working together to build knowledge of content concepts and skills. As such, they argue that teachers must acknowledge students as 21st century learners. They state, “scholarship has recognized the diverse ways 21st-century students create, share, and comprehend meaning” (par. 1). This means realizing that “knowledge construction is much more social and, hence, bound upon situational contexts” (par. 2). If teachers want students to engage with each other in constructing learning of course content, then they have to validate different ways of building knowledge. In this sense, movies, web sites, and video games are all ways of learning necessary concepts and of interacting with one another. By doing so, educators are drawing on students’ out-of-school literacies to help them perform and interact better in the classroom. One way they emphasize using technology to construct a classroom community of respect and learning is to employ anchored media instruction. They define this as, “anchors are not merely lectures; rather, they are narratives, stories that create a realistic context to make learning motivating, meaningful, and useful” (par 6). An example they provide is showing video clips as story starters, or ways to introduce and approach a text, thus presenting a common and engaging platform for student interaction. Another way to accomplish this is to incorporate variety into instruction. No matter what technology is used or how, multiliterate instruction constructs a classroom community where students are the focus and they collaborate in their learning.


 * Here is my Early Career Starter Sheet:


 * Here is my unit plan: