Weeks 7 and 8 Notes

Language and Literature students completed their first unit test and performed very well in the written sections of the test but less well on the vocabulary and recall sections. I have been trying to suss out whether this is because the students are not practicing good study habits and/or preparing effectively or whether the material is excessively difficult. I am inclined to think that what we are confronting is the reality that students are needing to acquire a different set of reading and test skills in order to manage the new, more advanced level of material they are working with. This is ALWAYS difficult to do. I continue to make adjustments to the way we need to use class time, to the practice of review and repetition, and the quantity of information I'm asking the students to handle.

In our Postmodernism unit, we have taken up a selection from Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Woman Warrior" as well as Julia Alvarez' "Antojos." In order to understand the diversity of American voices that become more prominent during this historical period, we are discussing the different ways that these stories represent the experience of being American, their different points of view.