This has been the hardest chapter for me to read thus far in this class. I had to stop and reread several paragraphs and I am still not certain that I totally understand what it was trying to teach me except that as educators we should use everything that is out there to reach all of our learners. Our students are interested in media and pop culture, so we should utilize what researchers are researching into our literacy instruction.
I was interested in the website fanfiction.net, so I went and checked it out for myself. It is a pretty cool site! I think that students would love to get on here and read these stories. The stories are categorized into several categories like books, movies, cartoons, and etc, but you can search for specific stories characters and such. There are so many twists to familiar stories, that everyone is certain to find one that will catch their eye! This would be a great asset to use in the classroom and it is free!
So, what I am taking from this chapter is this: Keep an open mind. What interests my students may not interest me, but if they are engaged in reading and liking it then I have done my job as a reading teacher. I need to be creative, think outside the box to instill a love for reading in my students.
I too had my reservations about Fanfiction because I knew very little about it. I think you're right that we need to keep an open mind and keep kids interested in good reading. I think that kids working collaboratively on a writing piece is powerful. Kids can be good teachers just like Nanaka's "fans" in chapter 6 that we read. Nanaka had only spoke English for 2 1/2 years and she basically created her own learning environment that met her needs. Her fans also appreciated her multi-cultural background. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI thought the Fan Fiction site was really interesting too. I had never visited it but I like how it is organized and think students would be able to navigate it. While I like the idea of Fan Fiction, I worry that some of the postings on there may not be appropriate for students. I think this idea of expanding on stories could be used in the classroom, perhaps through a class blog.
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