This seems like an aggressive way to reach out to you, but I was so inspired by our conversation on disability studies and fairytales, that I facilitated a conversation on both during my composition course’s flex period.

Christian– we watched Split and looked at the different models of disability. They were super interested in talking more about the social model and the religious model. They were also interested in the way the film conflates victimhood with mental illness.

Francesca– we watched Tangled and I had them read Rapunzel. We talked about the way characters often serve as metaphors for “good” and “bad” behavior and the way that’s shifted over time. I then asked them to create an updated version of Tangled that subverts Rapunzel even more than Tangled. It was great– revisions included: the prince is in the tower; the witch is not a witch, but a plastic bottle [commentary on pollution- the princess is trapped because the air outside is too poisonous]

All this to say– thanks!

Dhipinder

For my final project, I’m creating a series of lesson plans for high school students, with a personalized introduction to each one that outlines my rationale for using a particular primary text. Although this isn’t for a thesis or capstone project, I think it’ll be useful for me to get more experience on the practitioner end of teacher training. So far, the research I’ve done supposedly informs my teaching practice, but with the gap between research and practice in education, it’s no surprise that I’m already finding this to be a bit of a challenge.

I thought introducing each lesson plan would give some context to you all, but also force me to really think about why I wanted to incorporate certain texts into the high school classroom at all. Some guiding questions that I’ve been using are: What does this text provide that is not done so in a better way by anything else? is this text developmentally appropriate for the students I have decided to create lessons for?

I’ve been inspired by some of the work I’ve reviewed so far in class. I’m considering expanding the introductions into journal entries of sorts, where I really hone in on things that I learned through engaging with the text at different stages of my life, and how that has led me to prioritize certain information or “lessons” I want my hypothetical high school students to learn from my lesson plan.

Thanks so much for taking a look at my very rough draft, I look forward to talking through it on Thursday.