I'm done. I am so amazed at how much doing the Multigenre Literacy Autobiography has taught me about myself. Forget that it might be an interesting tool for my students to do. It was worth doing just for the realizations I've had into my own development as a reader/writer! (Imagine what I might have learned if I had the time to do it as well as I would have liked - as in with music, etc.) SPOILER ALERT: Here are some of my insights:
1. I was pretty sheltered as a younger child. I don't see that as all bad; for one thing, I had so much time to read!
2. Obviously, print has dominated my life. It was MUCH easier for me to come up with lists of books than any other genre, and I have deeper emotional reactions and a better recall of the details (where the book came from - library, purchase, gift; where I was when I read the book; how I felt about the characters; approximately how many times I read the book; who recommended it/to whom I recommended it), and there are far more books left OUT than any other genre.
3. I really was a victim of the DWEMs prior to college.
4. I read as much, if not more, classic lit in high school as in college. Partly, it was self-motivated.
5. Few, if any, of my Honors students have anywhere NEAR the print experience I had going into high school.
6. At a variety of points, I was surprised at the divergence in my choices. I remember liking the two examples, but they seem mutually exclusive almost. Good thing I never felt pigeonholed, but do I ever make assumptions about students that way?
7. Until late elementary I can't really remember actively rejecting any genre.
8. Thankfully (I've spent too much money and time for this to be otherwise), I teach much differently from how I was taught. I was going to give up near the end, but I decided to look for a couple of photographs. While it was a horrible choice sleep-wise (please excuse my snoring during the guest speaker tomorrow), I felt very good about some of the cool learning activities I actually had EVIDENCE of in my My Pictures folders.
9. My daughter's experience has been so different from mine, but she has had so much more opportunity to create a variety of texts - and not just digitally, also through art, dance, music, and old-fashioned pencil-to-paper.
10. I'm going to be really bummed if I don't get to share this, but I also know that I definitely MUST come up with an abridged version before I show my students. I like it, but it IS a draft!
Good night.
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Number 7 really resonate with me! I didn't realize it until doing this project, but most of my favorite books when I was a kid were fantasy--a genre I really dislike now. It's interesting to see that we were so open to anyting when we were kids but most people are the complete opposite as adults, sticking to just a few favorite genres. I wonder what other areas in life that this pattern applies to?
ReplyDeleteI know one woman who always orders the exact same thing every time she goes to a restaurant, even fast food. I think that's the extreme, but we do get stuck in our happy little ruts.
ReplyDeleteThat's part of what I love about being back in classes, being a part of professional associations, going to conferences, and doing NWP continuity activities. I feel as if it keeps me fresher for my students.