What pieces of the seminar folder did you find most valuable?
The article Harlem Connections: Teaching Walter Dean Myers’s Scorpions in Conjunction with Paul Laurence Dunbar’s The Sport of the Gods is very valuable to me. The author Mark I. West talks about how he teach “Literature for Adolescents” by pairing books that date before 1970 with contemporary young adult novels with similar theme. His students are required to read both books with chosen theme, and they respond to this pairing positively. I‘d be interested to try this method in my teaching.
What did you enjoy most about the seminar?
I enjoy the part about the author Walter Dean Myers’ life. It’s amazing that he can accomplish so much, yet he is not even educated as most writers do. It’s very inspiring to me, personally. Myers says that “writing can be learned by anyone truly interested in language and literature…Writers don’t fail because they don’t write well, they fail because they don’t produce.”
If you came away from seminar wanting to read any of these books, which would you pick up and why?
Shooter will be the book that I would pick because it is about the violence of teens. Thinking about most recent Virginia Tech shooting and other incidents that have happened in high schools or colleges, we do need to find out what is behind the motive of violence, and how can we understand those problems as educators and maybe how can we do some preventive work.
What contributions did you make to the seminar?
I am definitely a good listener and an active participant during the 45-minutes’ seminar.
What connections can you make between your experience of seminar and teaching adolescents?
Again, I will adopt the method of pairing books in my classroom as I mentioned in #1 question. In doing comparison, students learn not only the theme but also the history through 1970’s novels. On top of that, I believe that it is interesting for my students to learn what different young adults do in different time.
What suggestions do you have for your seminar facilitator?
Ray has done a wonderful job. My suggestion is that I hope Ray can also print out the paper he writes about this seminar.
What are you applauding? What was most effective that your fac. did during the seminar?
Ray was obviously well prepared to his seminar topic. He introduced us the author’s life and works in depth. I am applauding for him!




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