Teaching Demo Reflection

Since I was the first demo, besides Tiffani's demonstration, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I do feel like, for the most part, it went well.  If I had the chance to do it again, I might make a few improvements:

--reorganize the beliefs and contentions so that there is clear division between the two and develop some stronger claims
--have the first group create found poems from The House Made of Dawn.  I was worried that there wouldn't be enough time, but instead of having them focus on just a response, I should have just had them create poems.  It's not that the exercise wasn't useful and the participants didn't accomplish the objective, it's just that it might have been a little more interesting.  My purpose for using that text was to show that the close reading would help them sort out some of the details from that particular section of the text.  And that absolutely happened.
-I might have spend more time during the presentation looking at actual artifacts--the student examples of double-entry journals and found poems

The process of completing the demo was also productive.  Taking the time to sit down and think about why I use a particular practice and the various ways that I use the practice was insightful.    Through the research, I found some additional modes of using the double-entry journal in the classroom that I will most definitely use as well.  The conversation afterwards was by far the most useful portion of the demo.  I really valued the discussion of possible methods for using the exercises that one could implement into various classes and modes.  Emily's suggestion to use the double-entry journal for analysis and quote explanation support was a great suggestion.  I will definitely use that in the fall.  It was also useful to hear from teachers about the ways that they found the activity productive and helpful.