Course II Session 1

• Describe how outside the school experience(s) have expanded or deepened your subject area content knowledge, and tell how it enhanced or changed your understanding . Include at least one specific experience.

           My content area is English(ELA). I have studied English language and literature in high school and college.In high school and college in India, I had studied British and American poets, authors and playwrights.  However, after I came to this country and lived here for an extended period of time I learned first hand about American society, culture and history. It was after having travelled across the world that I really started understanding the background of stories like The Great Gatsby or the Grapes of Wrath. Everything I had read about now had a context for me. I could see what the social and cultural environment around me is, what is the history behind it and understand first hand writers like Toni Morrison or Alice Walker. So being able to connect my reading to my own experiences of travel, learning and discovery has helped me in a deeper understanding of my subject matter.

•  Respond to the class discussion of Ball's "The Subject Matter Preparation  of Teachers."Have your initial judgements or opinions changed based on the discussion?

         After reading Deborah Ball's article I thought of how important having a strong grasp of content knowledge was to a teacher. The more the teacher is confident of her subject matter the deeper her scaffolding can be. As she takes the students through a process of understanding a particular subject matter, the students can feed of her confidence and develop a confidence in the subject matter themselves. They will love Math if the teacher loves Math. Love for a subject can be contagious and students will develop a love for the subject if they see the teacher passionate about it. The teacher can then take them to levels and areas of critical thinking with a confidence she might not have if she did not know her subject well. But, just having content knowledge alone is not enough. The teacher should also be able to use the steps of planning, engaging and supporting her students through the process of teaching. There should also be a strong awareness about the who the students are and where they are at in their learning for the teacher to be successful. After the class discussion, my initial opinions have not changed but they have deepened as a result of it as I had multiple view points from different people. There were also quotations and parts of the article that my attention was drawn to during the class discussion that I had overlooked during my first reading.

• Where are you in developing and pursuing a line of inquiry? What is your question? At this point, what do you know about the research available in this area? What ideas do you have for possible experiential learning sources?

          I am still in the very early stages in my line of inquiry.I am thinking of focusing on the English Language Learners. I am thinking about children's books that have the stories of immigrants or ethnic stories and how these stories have woven themselves into American culture. My possible question is "How is the immigrant story the story of every American and how has it woven itself into American Children's literature? I would like to explore this in Children's Literature in the Upper  Elementary grades (3-5).  As of now I am thinking about visiting libraries and museums that documents the story of the immigrants into the country. I have already visited the Oakland Museum that have some Dorothea Lange  pictures of immigrants in this country. I have yet to come up with some experiential sources for my study.

• Feel free to add artwork,photographs,quotations, or personal experiences that connect to your content area. Express yourself.

Having come from another country myself, I am an immigrant too. However, having grown to love this country as much as where I came from I want to give back through teaching. I feel fortunate coming to this country having a strong grasp of English Language and Literature.  I want to teach children and hope to help those kids who are new to the country.  It is very difficult to face language barriers everyday and to not undertsand what is going on in school can be extremely difficult and frustrating. The older the child is the harder it can be.Through my teaching I hope to make this experience a little bit easier for them. Having access to children's literature that tells the stories of these immigrants will help me in my goal of building bridges and connecting with these students.

People and Blogs I have responded to.....

Nora Garcia

Sarah Fredericks

Tammy Enjaian