Diverse Learners
On my first day of Student Teaching, one student came up to me and asked, "Are we going to talk about Black History month in here?" This question jump-started something in me, making me become more aware of the types of students in my classroom. A city school, Shelby High School has an extremely varied student body. Therefore, I decided to take that one student's question seriously. When I look back at my own high school experience and books I read, authors like Hawthorne, Poe, Melville, Shakespeare, and Frost come to mind. In other, dead, white, Protestant, men. When the majority of my students are not white, Protestant, or men (and certainly not dead), it seemed ridiculous to teach primarily these traditionally privileged writers. Therefore, though I did teach some dead, white, Protestant, male authors like William Shakespeare, I worked to incorporate a grand diversity of authors from various backgrounds--just like my students. We read Jewish authors, African-American authors, and Latina authors. We read plays, epics, poems, novels, screen-plays, news articles and various genres. In other words, the types of reading I incorporated into the classroom were varied, just like my students' learning styles.
I also worked hard to incorporate a diversity in writing styles as well. Throughout the semester, we wrote short stories, literary analyses, article and book reviews, poems, narratives, and other types of genres. This exploration of different types of writing not only helped appeal to different preferences in students, but it also challenged students to try ideas and writing styles they weren't comfortable with. In the end, the last writing assignment allowed for 100% student choice and creativity, allowing students to present their learning in the way that works best for them personally. In addition, students had constant choice in content in all of their writing assignments. Creativity and originality were not only encouraged, but expected, and I often awarded extra points to thinkers that stepped outside of the box and tried new ideas and new approaches (sometimes even without success, but these "failures" sparked great conversations and became great learning moments as well).
