Dr. Pytash (Chapter Six)

This chapter gave me many ideas for handouts and worksheets while teaching a text in class.

One statement that bothered me from the book was when Jago discussed that many new teachers only know about teaching from what they have been shown while they were in school. Well... duh!
I know many things that I believe about teaching now will change when I actually get into a classroom. What does Jago expect? Most new teachers have been in school all of their lives. What other options do we really have to grasp the concepts of teaching?

Luckily, I will have gone through the process of student teaching before entering my own classroom. But, the majority of what I know will still be what I have learned from my previous teachers. Is this bad?

Jago took advantage of her opportunities to be involved with the Writing Project. Here, she learned from elder teachers and passed on the tips she learned. I greatly appreciate getting any sort of teaching tips I can find!

Jago went into depth about her lesson plans for teaching The Odyssey. She said that her plans change every year, but gave her most recent plan for her readers to use and enjoy.

I found many of the things she did to be helpful. Character lists, Venn diagrams, a "What's Important?" page, and the "Odysseus' Open Mind" page would all be very useful for students working with the text.

I would like to be able to provide students with the same types of guides to help keep them focused and able to understand what is going on throughout their reading.

I feel that it is crucial to use group work, which Jago does with her students and has groups put on a presentation for each chapter. She scaffolds her students by teaching the first half of the book, but then backs off to have the students learn the material, use reading strategies, and work with their classmates to uncover the text.