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Showing posts with label Jay Asher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jay Asher. Show all posts

13 Reasons Why by Jessica Willem Post #4

(Click link above to learn more about this novel)

Relating what I read for use in my classroom and application of the Common Core:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1b Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1c Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.

After having read about the struggles that Hannah went through in the book, 13 Reasons Why, by Jay Asher, I am left wondering how bullying fits into the Common Core Standards. In looking through my own grade 3 standards, I would like to focus on the above three common core strands. I feel that in order to stop students from bullying, teachers need to be proactive in teaching students how to act, not how not to act. In order for students to stop bullying they need to be provided with ways to get along with students who look, act, and think differently than they do. I feel that this is true because it is usually the differences among students that cause them to go against one another. It isn't typically until adulthood that people learn to embrace and learn from other people's differences. If you look at the common core standards presented above the message is clear how important it is to teach students how to have appropriate conversations while in class. I am very pleased to see that the common core is requiring students to know how to talk on topic, build on other's ideas while expressing their own ideas, speaking one at a time in respectful ways, and linking their comments to the remarks of others, are all ways to stop bullying while in class. When students are all taught how to have a respect conversation in class, it will automatically carry outside of class; thus hopefully reducing the amount of bullying. 

Relating what I read to Technology:

I think that students who are learning how to deal with stress, depression, and coping with difficult peers should all have to research information on how to stand up for themselves, and how to communicate to the bully or an outside source when they need help. If students were able to research how to advocate for themselves it would really put less pressure on the teachers and hold more students accountable for standing up for themselves and what they believe in. I do feel that teachers need to be there to support, guide, and stop bullying, but helping students help themselves is the key.


Relating what I read to The 4 C's:

Collaboration:  Schools need to come together to teach lessons on how students can get along. There are often times when I purposefully match up two students who have not been getting along for a project. I will pull them aside and share with them how important it is to come together for the common good of learning, despite their differences. Students need to be taught that they let not only themselves down but the whole class when there is conflict. Conflict is meant to be resolved and what better way to resolve conflicts by teaching students how to come together to do so.

Communication: Hannah has a lot to say in this book, but all after she is too upset to go on living. Hannah needed to know how to communicate her feelings before letting other people have control over her feelings. I think teachers need to start having check in times with their students. I was thinking they could have a one to three minute check in once a week with each student in order to say, "how are things going, how can I help?" This check in idea just might have helped Hanna. Although she went to Mr. Potter for help, clearly he didn't know how to help her. Teachers like Mr. Potter need to be taught how to reach out to students and when to reach out to others in order to help students. 

Creativity: I think the key is teaching anti-bullying techniques is to actually have reformed bullies talk to students about why the bullied to begin with. Maybe this insight with help students get a better sense of what to look out for in order to stop bullying in it's tracks. It will also stop future bullies from seeking alternative measures for dealing with what is really bothering them. 

Critical Thinking: In the book, Jay Asher reveals that he wrote the book after a close relative of his tried to commit suicide. I was thinking that having a quest speaker at a high school who had tried to commit suicide but decided not to, or it wasn't successful would be a good way to show students that they are not alone, and that there is hope and help out there. 


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13 Reasons Why by Jessica Willem. Post #3

(Click link above to learn more about this novel)

Relating what I read for use in my classroom and application of the Common Core:

I have just begin reading, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I am amazed at the story line and how well the story is written.  After reading the first few chapters, I am left feeling extremely sad and depressed; a feeling that I believe middle and high schoolers would also feel.  I think this book would be a great asset to add into the curriculum in order to teach students the deadly affects bullying can have on their peers.  I feel that it is too mature of a novel for my grade 3 class, but the idea and message of the book is one that could easily be adapted to their level of understanding.  I would use the book as a guide in my classroom to explain to students how and why to have empathy for others, the importance of treating others with kindness, and the price of inaction. As a teacher, this book is also teaching me how inaction can have serious consequences.  As a result of this book, I am reminded about my responsibility to my students to take all of their complaints of bullying and suicide serious. 

Relating what I read to Technology:

In researching more about this book online, I came across this web site, where you can listen to someone reading the tapes aloud, posing as Hannah.  While listening to tapes I had just read about, I was left with an extremely different experience.  Hearing the eerie and emotional voice dictate the reasons why Hannah felt she had no choice but to take her own life based on the bullying of her schoolmates, was very powerful.  If I taught an older grade, I would also add into my curriculum the chance for students to explore this more hands on application of auditory learning. 

It was also be neat for students to create their own stories of bullying with the recordings of their voice to share with peers!!


Relating what I read to The 4 C's:

Collaboration:  This book incorporates how Hannah's peers were all a little responsible for her suicide due to their actions and in-actions. It is interested that throughout the book the students who were responsible, end up teaching others about how what they all did was wrong and why. This sends a message too late for students to do anything about, which I do not like. I would like to send the message to students that being proactive and telling people you are upset with them, is a much better message! 

In order to accomplish students learning how to tell peers how they feel, I would have the class act out scenarios where they have to practice using I-Statements. I would have the students write down on a post it different situations where they have had a hard time telling someone they were upset with them. We would use the noted situations as a starting off point for students to act out and give each other advice on how an I-Statement could have been used to remedy the situation. 

Communication: This book incorporates how students interact with one another on a daily basis, without regard how what they say can leave other people feeling.  By communicating without kindness, Hannah was left feeling embarrassed, ashamed, and alone.  If Clay, or another character, had gone out of their way to talk to Hannah, maybe the ending wouldn't have resulted in death. Students need to be taught how to talk to one another when they can tell their friends or classmates are upset!
I think it is important to show students how to tell their peers they have hurt their feelings after a situation has already past. I would have students write their peer a letter explaining that they aren't currently upset, but in the future it would be helpful if they didn't say or do what they had previously done, because it had left them feeling upset. I would have students exchange letters and practice writing back and forth in a constructive way that used I-Statements and empathy for others. 

Creativity: Jay Asher does an amazing job writing this story from the point of view of Hannah and the students who contributed to her death.  The way that the story reads, really sets the stage for how real a problem bullying is for Hannah, and students today. Students need to be taught the creative ways to avoid being bullied and becoming a bully! 
In regard to my post about 13 Reasons Why: The Responsive Classroom approach really comes to mind in teaching students creative ways for dealing with bullies and how to avoid becoming a bully.  In my classroom, I teach my students to respect and embrace differences among students in our classroom. We talk about how everyone has things in their lives that make it hard to come to school and concentrate. Therefore, we need to always strive to make someone’s day better, not worse, because we don’t know what hardships they already face. At the beginning of the year we all made a list of things that a bully might want to make fun of us for. Then we exposed our weaknesses, making it hard for a bully to want to make fun of something we already had shared with everyone. Some students talked about not being able to afford cable, having a relative in jail, sick grandparents, parents who are always at work, siblings who bother them at home, etc. I taught my students that it is okay to have a bad day, yell at someone by accident, not want to participate with everyone once in awhile, because some days all of our stresses add up and make us feel not like ourselves. I taught my students that the key to being in control of any situation is to recognize how you are feeling and tell someone right away. Using I-statements and taking a break is what is practiced in my classroom. As long as you are communicating about your own feelings and how someone else is making you feel; it puts you in charge. If a bully is bothering you, tell them why you want them to stop. Then tell an adult and ask for help in talking with the bully to find out what happened and what can be done to fix the situation.  Having share times in class is also a creative way to avoid bullying and being bullied. Allowing students a chance to share about their lives brings students closer together and then it becomes less likely they will want to hurt each other.  

Critical Thinking: This book really makes you think about what affects bullying has on students that are in our current schools. It asks a lot of questions, such as: does Jay Asher glorify suicide with this novel, how should an innocent bystander like Clay feel about being on a pre-suicide tape, how should the students be left feeling after hearing the tapes; should these students commit suicide now too? Students need to be put into situations where they can practice thinking critically about the affects of bullying often!
In my classroom, I teach a unit on how to be a good citizen. Within this unit, the students are given ingredients to make a good citizen trail mix. As we add in each ingredient, I tell students that a good citizen is someone who possesses many different characteristics. A good citizen is someone who works hard to help make their community a better place. Explain to the students that their classroom is a community, and that they should strive to have a classroom full of good citizens, not bullies. I show the students the bowl I prepare the trail mix in. I explain that we are going to let the bowl represent our classroom, and we are going to fill the bowl with all the things that good citizens do. As I fill the bowl, I tell the students what each ingredient represents: honesty, respecting others, doing your personal best and responsibility. After all of the ingredients are in the bowl, we mix them together and I explain to students that a good citizen would have all of these qualities. There is no room for bullies in our bowl or in our classroom.




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Thirteen Reasons Why

Ok, I think I'm finally doing this the right way. I have to say that I am not a fan of this right now as I have not been able to get anything I have written to post. Clearly my fault , but extremely frustrating. Anyway, I am posting about the book Thirteen Reasons Why, which I read a couple of weekends ago. I have not read anybody else's opinion of the book because I didn't want to confuse what I was thinking with what I read. There were two reasons why I initially began reading this book. The first was that it's a novel and for me an easier read then textbook material. Second, I really wanted to know what the tapes said. As I was reading the first few chapters of the book, I kept waiting for some pretty big things to be revealed on the tapes that the character Hannah left for others to hear after she committed suicide. The character, Clay, that is listening to the tapes also seems to be anticipating some big revelation that will help him understand what happened to Hannah. The problems that Hannah began to discuss, by themselves, seem to be fairly small in nature and I remember thinking that these are things I remember used to happen all the time in high school. I also was thinking that Hannah seemed to be extremely sensitive. As I continued to read, I could see how these seemingly small incidents were building up in Hannah's mind and becoming a very big deal. These incidents which all occurred with different people, eventually culminated in Hannah's decision to end her life. I began to understand that the author of this book was trying to help people be aware that even the smallest thing can have a big impact on another person and that we never really know how our actions will affect somebody else. Therefore, it is our job to think about what we say or do before we do it.  After finishing the book, my first thought was that this could be used as a tool in high school guidance to help students see how their words and actions could hurt another person. Also it may help somebody who is feeling isolated to know that other people feel like this. I teach students that are about 5 years younger than these students but some of the conversations I overhear in 6th grade make me worry about how students are already being impacted by the thoughts and actions of others. Finally, I have to say that this was a book that I couldn't decide whether I liked or disliked because, on the one hand, it was very hard emotionally to read, but on the other hand it has a message that needs to be heard.
     One of the ways that I believe this book could be used is with Junior or Senior High School talk groups that guidance usually facilitates. Students could read this book and have discourse discussions on the many topics this book brings to light. Ideas such as how words can hurt people, how actions cause reactions that can't always be anticipated, or how vulnerable we all can be to name a few. Engaging students in this activity gives then an opportunity to think critically about peer relationships and the different roles students play in their school. For high school students this could be done in a class such as patterns to human behavior, however I do think that staff that are experts in the psychology or the like need to be included to support these discourse discussions as some material is of a very sensitive nature.
CCSS Standards that relate:
 

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1a Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1b Work with peers to set rules for collegial discussions and decision-making (e.g., informal consensus, taking votes on key issues, presentation of alternate views), clear goals and deadlines, and individual roles as needed.
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1c Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1d Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented.
Ann St.Laurent

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