In the past month we have covered a variety of topics, many of which I have found to be very enlightening. One of the first things we did was watch a power point and discuss the forming of multiple choice questions and answer choices. This was eye opening to learn about these because throughout my high school career I have taken several multiple choice tests but now, when I take one it's like a whole new experience. Never before did I pick up on the many different types of multiple choice questions as well as the different types of distractors and traps throughout the answer choices. Now when I take multiple choice tests I am much more conscious of how things are worded and how easily I used to fall into the mindless traps.
Another topic we discussed this month was poetry. For me when we started "My Father's Song" by Ortiz I was a little nervous, mainly because poetry has never been my strength so I didn't want to embarrass myself in discussion. However, as the discussion continued, I began to feel more comfortable with the poem and was able to pick up on many of the ideas and details others were mentioning. I think thoroughly going through this poem really helped me with analyzing a poem, however I still think I could use some more practice.
Annotating, annotating, annotating. We have indeed done lots of annotating this month! Which surprisingly, I haven't minded too much. I have realized in our discussion how much annotating really helps one to understand a piece of literature. Not only does annotating expose one more to the material and allow them to get more familiar with it, but it also allows one to be creative and try to draw conclusions in order to get a deeper understanding. Annotating is not the only thing that is helpful to understand literature, discussions are another very helpful way to dig deep into a book. We finished up our discussion of American Dream and are now just beginning a new discussion on Death of a Salesman. For once, I can actually say I am excited to further discuss DOS after having such a successful one of American Dream. Usually in book discussions I find it hard to add something that isn't completely obvious and irrelevant, however, with as much time as we spent on American Dream, I think I was able to develop a sense to look 'between the lines' and pick up on some important details. After the American Dream discussion I am now much more excited to start really getting into the DOS discussion. Also, I think the DOS discussion will also be better because since we watched the film I think this really helped people get a better understanding of the play right off the bat so we can quickly jump into the more complex ideas.
Very thorough--all you missed was our study of tragedy--and you did pretty well synthesizing material and making connections to life outside this class (though you could step this aspect up a bit in future.)
ReplyDeleteOkay... So, I didn't really feel anything from the multiple choice study. It seemed kind of obvious, like patterns we recognize but never bothered to name. I thought it was neat that teachers have to take a class on test-writing. Do you think they had to take tests on test-writing? Like "What kind of question is this question?" Like test-ception.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way about the poetry. I have never been good at understanding it and didn't think I'd be able to get anywhere with it either. And then I was surprised too! It started making sense and unfolding. When we moved on to the second one, "Promises Like Pie-Crust" I was so happy to be able to break it down. Aren't you glad we're getting this practice?
I don't know about your class, but sixth hour struggled a little with DOS. I think American Dream was a lot easier to break down... I'm a bit scared to tackle Hamlet, but I'm sure we'll get through it!
Sarena,
ReplyDeleteI loved your post! I forgot to mention our multiple choice review in my post because I couldn’t remember when we did it, but I think you brought up some really good points. Every time I take a test now I can easily identify the type of question, which makes answering it quite a bit easier! I’m glad poetry is getting less intimidating. One thing you might want to include is an example of the ideas and details that you addressed. Your post was very general, my guess is because you’re afraid the reader won’t understand the context, but we all are in this class together so we know what you’re talking about. Don’t be afraid to dive a little deeper. I think you hit on some keep points about annotating and discussion. It definitely makes understanding a complex text a lot easier when I can read my thoughts of every line. I like how you hit on things we’ve done in class that have had an impact to you and your thoughts behind it, great job!