Who I am as an Educator.

 


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Does the Canon Need an Overhaul? Introduction “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” - Dr. Seuss Reading is one of the great pleasures in life.  Seuss, concisely and in rhyme, summarized its importance, reading opens your mind beyond yourself, broadens your knowledge and your understanding of the world.  Educators are often tasked with selecting literature to use in their classrooms which meet state guidelines, while engaging students in meaningful ways. Many do this by selecting works from a commonly accepted list known as a literary canon. Generations of students have read literary canon works as part of their required curriculum.  Jordan Bates defines  literary canon  as “a body of books, narratives and other texts considered to be the most important and influential of a particular time, period, or place”.  The subject of the literary canon is a polarizing topic amo...
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Stanley's Fateful Journey

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Louis Sachar's novel Holes details a young man’s journey to find himself.  Stanley Yelnats, a likable yet unlucky young man, finds himself convicted of a crime he did not commit and sentenced to 18 months at Camp Green Lake where “if you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy” (Sachar 5). Stanley arrives at camp, weak in both mind and body, to serve his time. Through facing many trials, Stanley ultimately finds that he has become strong enough to trek through a desert, outwit the criminal warden while solving a hundred-year-old mystery, and save the life of his best friend. When asked how he ended up at Camp Green Lake, Stanley blames his “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather” (Sachar 57). Mr. Pendanski, the camp counselor, corrected him: “You’re the reason you are here. You're responsible for yourself. You messed up your life, and it's up to you to fix it. No one else is going t...
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Analysis: Zoot Suit

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  In Luis Valdez’s play  Zoot Suit,  the plight of the Hispanic search for identity is exposed.  Although the play is set in the early 1940’s, issues it highlights are still problems for Hispanics today.  Henry Reyna, along with twenty other Hispanic youth, all Pachucos, is arrested and tired for a in August of 1942.  From the outset, it is clear, the “gang” of Pachucos being held will not be able to get a fair trial due to the continual criminalization of the young adults by The Press.  The play is narrated by El Pachuco ( The  Pachuco), who resides in Henry’s subconscious, as the metaphorical embodiment of Pachuco culture, the “secret fantasy of every bato, in or out of the Chicanda” (Valdez 26). From his duck hat to his tailored tacuhe (suit), El Pachuco embodies all that is to be pachuco.  He is the quintessence of Hispanic pride and defiance, he is outspoken regarding injustice towards Hispanics, keeping the spotlight...
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