TE 408: Crafting Teaching Practices, Secondary English
Spring 2024; Section 001
Date:
A brief summary of the excerpt you read for
the week (aim for 1-2 sentences) with the
page numbers
What themes and/or essential questions are
explored?
Two “pops,” or moments that stick with you
when you stop reading (moments that excite
you!) and why
Connections (to class discussions, to in-class
or outside-of-class readings, to personal
experiences)
Questions (did it make you wonder
something? do you wish something was
clarified?) and/or challenges (did it challenge
you to consider an idea from a new or
different perspective? how did this impact
you?)
Additional reflections, as you are moved
1/18
Places as Identity-Shaping Spaces… is an
article about belonging and identity that
centers a novel about a girl who is reluctant to
embrace her Guatemalan identity, one which
her father swiftly decides to begin celebrating
and once he learns his brother is moving to
town. His redecorating of their house bothers
Qui, she might even feel that it comes at the
expense of her American identity.
Belonging/identity are themes that are
explored through Qui’s feelings and actions
related to the intersection of her American
and Guatemalan identities.
I was surprised when she stepped on her
dad’s guitar. I knew she was not thrilled about
his music being forced onto her, but I did not
think that she would try to hurt him like that.
I think that I would be upset too if I felt a
disconnect between myself and my family’s
culture, especially if it began suddenly
flooding into my life all at once. This is
something that has stuck with me after
reading this article.
This article connects really fluidly with the
Appalachian classroom article. Qui, like all
those students in West Virginia, did not feel a
connection to their heritage or the
spaces/places that they supposedly were
supposed to feel connected to.
Why did Qui’s family only start celebrating
their Guatemalan heritage when her uncle
was moving to town? Where was it all along?
Why did they choose not to raise her
bilingually? Of course there are likely complex
answers to these questions, but I am sure
these are questions that Qui must have been
asking herself in frustration.