Foot: Extra Credit

I think that in order to teach effectively you have to be open to every person's options and teaching styles. Assignments for students to produce is one of the areas that I myself am a little worried about. By doing the Multigenre Autobiography I have learned that certain assessments or assignments don't necessarily have the same outcome. All of my classmates had a different style to their presentations, who put books first or television, the shows and books they feel most impacted them and so on. I think it is a good activity to give students, because not only is it something fun for them to do it really helps me as a teacher assess where they are literacy wise. I think this assignment as well as the texts that inspired me will play a major role in what I teach and how I teach my class. I noted in my autobiography that I was obsessed with Pirates for the longest time. I think every student should read a book or watch a movie with a little adventure in it. Those types of books have influenced how I write my short stories and hopefully one day my novel. They also helped me escape from the mundane or stressful life as a teenager. Though I probably won't show my classes Pirates of the Caribbean, (though who can resist Johnny Depp as a pirate?), I would like to give my students the opportunity to read books like Treasure Island with a bit of adventure in them.


Other assignments or activities that I think would definitely impact how I teach my class would be the book we are reading now, "Great Films and How to Teach Them." I am an avid movie goer. Every movie in that book I have either seen or heard about. I think that having film in the classroom could be a good idea is used properly. I don't think just sitting your class down to "reward" them with a movie is the answer. Using it as a companion to the book though is something I would use. Some students are visual learners, some don't even like to read at all. Showing little clips from the movie version to go along with the text we are reading may sway students to want to see what happens in the book. Because I really like movies, and I believe I have learned a lot from them, I want my students to see movies as more than just entertainment, but as a stepping stone to find more literature they may enjoy.