Blog's Purpose
As a teacher of middle school English Language Arts, I've come to the conclusion that in this particular subject area those students who are abstract thinking, high verbal, and right brained -- especially those students who are female -- most directly benefit and excel from the traditional instructional practices.
Conversely, those who are more concrete thinking, high spacial, and left-brained -- especially males -- least benefit and excel from traditional instructional practices and are in fact put at risk simply because of the way that they process information.
As a high verbal myself, I had the experience of struggling in Chemistry in high school. At the time I wished that there was a "chemistry for poets" because the highly structured, non-interactive method that it was taught completely shut me out from the learning. And yet today I can recognize what a wonder chemistry and science can be once the basics are grasped.
So, it's become something of my personal mission to "flip the script" and attempt to develop in my own teaching practice a method for reaching students for whom Language Arts has traditionally been a challenge. Specifically I'm looking at trying to reach:
- Non- or Reluctant-Readers
- High spacial and high math thinkers (Left Brainers)
- Deep intuitive, and/or non-verbal thinkers
- Boys in particular
To ferret out the best practices and the best teaching tools for these students, I will be exploring the potential value of:
- Procedures and structural models for writing
- Visual Tools to illustration abstract concepts (including icons)
- The value of Repetitive Practice (as opposed to "drill and kill")
- Spiraling key concepts repeatedly in order to build fluency
- Technology tools such as Quizlet.com and Flipped-Classroom style instructional videos
Without any set regiment and being profoundly poorly self-disciplined, we'll see what comes of this blog. Best intentions here. If nothing else, perhaps this may serve as a repository for useful tools, videos, articles, and links.
Best,
Jonathan Chappell
7th Grade Language Arts
Derby Middle School
Birmingham MI
