1. Alex Boswell
12/5/2012
Category: Advocacy for Students and Democratic Citizenship
Cultivating Agency in the Classroom
The artifacts provided below are from an activity that I presented to a group of 11th
graders while
I was student teaching. The activity asks students to (1) read a section of text from The Absolutely True
Diary of a Part­Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, to (2) use a note taking method while reading, and then
to (3) reflect on their note taking, as well as some of their thoughts and feelings about reading.
This artifact is meant to serve as evidence of my advocacy for students and democratic
citizenship. In the hopes of creating a classroom atmosphere in which all students feel welcome and able
to participate, I presented the activity by first communicating to students that the purpose of the activity
was to assess, for themselves, what might work or not work for them as developing readers. As a teacher,
this activity served three main purposes. First, it was one way for me to assess the reading and writing
skills of my students. Secondly, it was my first attempt to reach some of the students who planned on not
reading the novel at all, by asking them to read the first few pages and to give the book a chance before
they chose to try to get by in class without reading. Thirdly, the note taking system that the students were
asked to use was meant to help develop active and close reading skills, as well as to encourage students to
own their specific process. The note taking system was merely one way that students might be able to
achieve and develop literacy skills. The activity embraced the notion that (1) all students do not need to be
or feel the same, (2) they are able to have an opinion in their learning process, (3) they have a right to
experience agency and personal discovery in the classroom, and (4) they are able to make choices for
themselves when it comes to learn the most effectively. Most importantly students were able to try out a
method that was new to many of them and discover or develop skills, in order to be responsible
representatives of their own learning.
This activity worked well in my 11th
grade classroom as a student teacher. The more resistant
learners responded positively to having a personal say in their learning process. They became more
invested, through this activity, in finding out how to become better readers, if they weren’t already
invested. The more enthusiastic learners in the room were able to share with the class what works and
does not work for them on an individual basis as readers. Other students would then light up with
excitement because they could relate, or because they were the complete opposite with their learning
process. In addition, everyone was given the opportunity to feel extremely capable and to take pride in
their participation, since all answers to the activity were valid and could be taken seriously. As the students
shared their reactions to the note taking activity, I asked questions, sometimes to an individual student, and
sometimes to the class. For instance, at one point I asked, “How many of you remember more of what
you read than usual?” or “How many of you hated this activity because you found the note taking to be
very distracting?”
This artifact reflects my development as a teacher who advocates for students and democratic
citizenship. Everyone has a right to an equal educational opportunity, to feel welcome, able to participate,
and invested in one’s learning through a sense of agency. Agency and an understanding of oneself is
important in how I teach so that my students are able to use what I teach in creative ways and outside of
the classroom.