Content Knowledge Session One Post

1. Describe how outside-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.

I am not entirely sure if "outside-school"means my undergraduate/graduate work, or if it means outside of the classroom that I am teaching in. Thus, for ease, I will go with the former, and discuss how my time in the classroom has deepened my knowledge and comprehension of my subject area.

What I have come to learn is that preparing for a class lecture and discussion, in which I will be leading as opposed to participating is much different. In the past, going through my undergraduate work as an English major, I spent a majority of my time reading novels and taking notes. But I always did so with the notion that there will be someone there to fill in the gaps, or if I do not understand something I can ask my professor. Now, when I sit down, and begin to plow through a novel, my main objective is to find areas that are going to cause confusion for my students, so that I am prepared to answer the questions they have. I now need to be the one who knows all there is to know about the novel, not saying I always do, but it is definitely my main objective now. I am striving to not only understand the text, but know it inside and out, know the background knowledge, know about the author, and be able to take all of that information and condense it down to bite size pieces for my students. It has definitely been a challenge, but one that I have enjoyed, and through prepairring a novel for a lecture or class discussion, I have deepened my understanfing and knowledge of my content area.

In addition to my work in the classroom, I would say that my time spent traveling, and going to the places where these authors that I am teaching about lived, died, wrote about, cared about, et cetera has truly been a game changer for me. I have been able to sit in the pub where the inklings met, and discussed their work, I have seen the landscapes that inspired so many of the Romantics, and all of this has lead to a greater appreciation of the work, but also a deeper understanding of the work. Now I am able to tell my students from a first hand perspective what this Abbey looked like, or what it was like to see a play in the Globe Theatre. I feel that traveling to these places, and experiencing for oneself the material that one will be teaching is vital to truly knowing one's content area.

2. 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?

Our class was only able to discuss the article in part, thus I would not say that I have had the opportunity to be changed as of yet. But from my discussion with others in my subject area, it would seem as though what I felt was about on par with how others felt about the article, and through the brief discussion we did have on the article, nothing of mine has changed, as of yet.

3. Where are you in developing and pursuing a line of inquiry? What is your question? Are you satisfied with 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 feel as though I am fairly far along in my line of inquiry. I have a question, I have a fairly large amount of both primary and secondary sources lined up, and am working on building up the secondary sources I have. My question is: how can one best teach existential philosophies through fiction? I am rather satisfied with my question, as this is a field of study that has always intrigued me, and is something that I already spend a good amount of time researching and reading about, and am excited to develop the curriculum for others in my field, as well as for my students. From what I have already gathered as far as research goes, I can tell that finding specifics will be difficult. What I mean by this is that there is very little regarding existentialism in the classroom, as well as how to teach existentialism. There is, however, much on the existential themes of this novel, or of that author. Thus, I will be able to piece those articles and studies together, and develop a better understanding of the material. Possible experiential learning sources has been one that has been plaguing me. I am not entirely sure of what exactly to do at this point, though I have one or two ideas. Such as, I know the Cal Shakes has teacher training nights, where teachers can come in and be given lessons on how to integrate the various philosophies found in Shakespearean works into his or her classroom. I think this would be a great experiential learning source. But I am still working on finding others.

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

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,
    Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
    A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about thy shape
    Of deities or mortals, or of both,
        In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
    What men or gods are these?  What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit?  What struggle to escape?
        What pipes and timbrels?  What wild ecstasy?
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
    Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,
    Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
    Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
        Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal - yet, do not grieve;
        She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
    For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!
Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
    Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearied,
    For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
    For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,
        For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
    That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,
        A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.
Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
    To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
    And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea shore,
    Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
        Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
    Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
        Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.
O Attic shape!  Fair attitude! with brede
    Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
    Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
    When old age shall this generation waste,
        Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
    Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all
        Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

John Keats, Ode to a Grecian Urn