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Robert Longoria
Finding Their Way: Engaging Students as Multicultural and Multimodal Theorists within the Classroom Introduction Developing the seed of an idea appears at times, a fruitless journey. On any given day, one can spend a millisecond brainstorming, eager to bring the germ of an idea to fruition—developing a local recycling center, imagineering a symposium that enables dialectic for public discourse, or constituting a vast social media space for public expression across continents—but somewhere along the way, those sources of information are too often lost upon us because although we engage in a form of public discourse, for whatever reason we did not write it on a napkin, we did not blog it on a social network, we did not engage in public discourse with other individuals with similarly ambitious ideas. Why? It varies. But the story ends the same way. We get discouraged. We forget. Life happens. But I am interested in what individuals write down a napkin. What students watch on YouTube. What the general public processes from Wikipedia. What people live through—a story, in other word—more specifically, a story that progresses to the point where both individuals and public-intellectuals of the community can engage and develop those (digital) narratives into the public space. Michael Chabon once expressed, “A story begins with this nebulous feeling that’s hard to get a hold of and you’re testing your feelings and assumptions, testing what you believe. They end up turning into keepsakes and mementos—like amber in which a memory gets trapped.” As a propagator of multimedia/multimodal literacy and (digital) narrative storytelling, I propose that Tumblr—among other social media networks—is one of many resources available to capture,
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and ultimately engage with that nebulous feeling. Through interactive engagement that Web 2.0, and cross-platform, multi-modal constructs provide, educators can incorporate agency and democratic application for students to interact with pedagogical application. Through this exploration of social media and web 2.0, I want to generate a multi-modal and multi-cultural framework in which student e-portfolios envelop students’ lived experience, passion and personal interest within dialectic of self-affirmation that facilitates multiple intelligences and helps generate creative capital with a little “c” within the classroom. Through the following discourse, I propose a curriculum that integrates the works of Rio Grande Valley author René Saldaña Jr.’s novels through the social media platform website Tumblr to generate multi-modal and multi-cultural framework of middle school student e-portfolios that engages with dialectic self-affirmation. Engaging With Culturally-Relevant, Age-Appropriate Literature Through “Erika’s Stories: Literacy Solutions for a Failing Middle School Student” Hadar Dubowsky May’ayan utilizes composite student ‘Erika’ to illustrate the “silenced and disengaged learner” that characterizes similar tendencies of students labeled “at-risk” in the Rio Grande Valley, citing her as “poor, Hispanic, bilingual, [and] had previously been placed in special education….’ (647) Within the framework that May’ayan sets up, she presents a student with multiple intelligences and literacies that is able to engage within the context of Internet usage, Hispanic cultural background, and multi-cultural texts yet “did not engage in most-of the classroom-based literacy activities” (648). To engage with those multiple, if not yet expressedin-the-classroom literacies we—as May’ayan suggests—need to adapt a curriculum that consists of culturally, age-appropriate texts. While May’ayan initially utilized The House on Mango
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Street as an example of culturally-relevant texts for Erika’s case, I instead offer utilizing the works of René Saldaña, Jr.—The Jumping Tree, A Good Long Way, Dancing with the Devil and Other Tales From Beyond—in conjunction with Juan Sauvegeau’s Stories That Must Not Die. While the Rio Grande Valley offers a wealth of other literature related to folkloric elements (Xavier Garza’s Creepy Creatures and Other Cucuys), and socio-political (the works of Americo Paredes and Gloria Anzaldua), I want to be able to offer students a curriculum based on the trajectory of one specific author in order to allow consistency that simultaneously explores personal narrative, geographical integration, and folklore. This use of potentially culturallyrelevant texts allows middle school students to identify with similar exploration of family conflict, religious practices, popular culture, and Hispanic familial and cultural events and therefore potentially engage within class discussion. Though the integration of culturally-relevant texts such as Saldaña’s work is imperative towards reaching out to Mexican-American non-or reluctant readers, it is important to not utilize them solely for the purposes of that engagement. Saldaña himself addresses the issue within “Mexican American YA Lit: It’s Literature with a Capital ‘L’”: We don’t deny Mexican American works’ cultural value—we will even bring it up in class—but we don’t treat it as a lesser literature (lowercase ‘L’) by assigning it because of its cultural significance. It is that, of course, but it is also much more, just like the books by the above named authors. (70) To avoid merely emphasizing the cultural-relevance within Saldaña’s texts within the classroom, the curriculum in which they are incorporated will also identify narrative devices, rhetorical strategies, and social issues prominent within his works. Through discussion with students it is important to contextualize the idea of self and identity within the classroom, to engage students but to challenge to break through stereotypes and rhetorical self-awareness which will be
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facilitated by discussions and prompts within the Tumblr social media platform in order to avoid only teaching the dominant community “about the other’s culture as it is portrayed by someone from within and therefore authentic, or to prompt the Mexican American non-or reluctant readers into the act of reading by introducing them to writing that they should share an obvious connection with.” (70) Reader Response Strategies, Its Multimodal Framework, and Application To allow students to become multicultural and multimodal rhetorical readers, we as educators need to allow for collaboration within the classroom, Through “Teaching for creativity: towards sustainable and replicable pedagogical practice” Erica McWilliam and Shane Dawson argue for a shift from first to second generational understanding of creativity. In accordance with their definitions, First generation (big ‘C’) creativity “locates the creative enterprise as a complex set of behaviors and ideas exhibited by an individual, while second generation or small ‘c’ creativity locates the creative enterprise in the processes and products of collaborative and purposeful activity.” In order to develop little ‘c’ creativity within the classroom and generate what is defined by economists as creative capital, “an arsenal of creative thinkers whose ideas can be turned into valuable products and services” we need to engage with a creativity-enhancing learning environment in higher education by interaction through culturally-relevant texts and activities that help students develop digital storytelling. In lieu of a more academic-based definition, I re-appropriate the term digital storytelling as “ad-hoc and haphazard everyday narratives that people give shape to through their appropriation of portable devices and online services” such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Through Web 2.0, mass collaboration—i.e. “swarm intelligence”—is able to develop and enable the capacity to “create shared distribution computing capacity, connecting to other like minds through shared interests rather than personal
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relationships and co-invent with others based on passion than focusing only on profit as motivation.” (639-640) In order to emphasize and generate both engagement and discussion about the proposed South Texas literary curriculum within the middle school classroom, students will need to construct markers and identify concepts within the texts in order for the educator to gauge initial and longterm engagement with the content. William Broz’s “Not Reading: The 800-Pound Mockingbird in the Classroom” identifies key reader response strategies that in adapting to the multimodal Tumblr platform will be able to engage and gauge students’ assessment of rhetorical comprehension and application. Through online response journals and discussion items (DIs) posted to the multimodal Tumblr model, students will be able to respond to texts as opposed to quizzes or tests based on not reading strategies. In transitioning Broz’s application of reading response and discussion items to a multimodal platform, student will be able to engage with the multicultural (Saldaña’s) texts by incorporating online bibliographies as they simultaneously cite online publications and multimedia artifacts as they embed the items within the Tumblr blog. Through online discussion and self-publication through these constructed Tumblr e-portfolios, students will be able to develop and analyze their own academic and rhetorical comprehension. Methodology Kirsten Drotner in “Boundaries and bridges: Digital storytelling in education studies and media studies” proposes “more systematic forms of digital co-production such as video diaries and animation narratives do seem to make room for more extensive identity work (64-65).” Through the utilization of a multi-media website such as Tumblr as e-portfolio for students within the classroom for students to utilize technology as tools applied in order to reach educational goals,
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where the teacher serves as a technical guide in order to facilitate efficient online collaboration and solution of well-defined problems. In-between readings of the aforementioned curriculum texts (Saldaña’s novels), students would be expected to join Tumblr social networks and develop their own online e-portfolio that would contain entries for a weekly journal for the purpose of reflecting on his/her learning, challenges, online discoveries over the course of the academic year. Students would be concurrently utilizing their creative technical space as a form of multimodal authorship and engaging in peer review workshopping and feedback, throughout each week students would be required to engage in response with each other’s blogs providing clear and articulate suggestions and comments for up to four to five students in a “cluster”. These clusters would serve to bridge a connection between groups with struggling readers and non-readers, who would be teamed up with above-average readers and at-level readers in order to compensate and provide a means of support towards a collaborative final project towards the end of the semester and academic year. Conclusion In an age where technology is becoming a more concentrated form of communication and students who stem from a variety of backgrounds, it is becoming increasingly important to develop curriculums that incorporate and facilitate multi-modal and multi-cultural learning. While this proposed curriculum and application may be helpful to educators and students, these are by no means the only literacies that should be addressed within the classroom, this is merely one of many platforms that can be utilized by middle school educators.
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Annotated Bibliography Utilizing the canonical literary works of René Saldaña, Jr., I will explore the incorporation of geographical location and folkloric elements from the South Texas region through the framework of the multimodal framework of Tumblr. The material will serve as an introduction the “an ever-growing canon of Mexican American works of literary art for the young reader.” Multimedia interviews conducted with the author will serve to aid students in having the proper background for the material. Primary: 1. Saldaña Jr., René. The Jumping Tree. New York: Delacorte Press, 2001. Print. René Saldaña, Jr.’s debut novel will serve as an introduction to the curriculum with selections from the novel being highlighted: “The Jumping Tree”, “Love and a Broken Heart”, and “The Lover of Life” with a focus on the autobiographical elements of Saldaña’s novels, some of the his background information, and its relationship the literary heritage of South Texas. I feel a personal connection to this novel because like the author, I grew up out of Nuevo Penitas, it is important to me to remind students that their geographical background and subsequent reflection on their upbringing is an important component of who they are, or choose to be. 2. Saldaña Jr., René. A Good Long Way. Houston: Pinata Books, 2010. Print. “A Good Long Way” follows the multiple perspectives of three South Texas teenagers: Beto, Roel, and Jessy, who over the course of one day make life-altering decisions that challenge the very foundations of their own identities and future. The inclusion of this novel shows Saldaña’s use of multiple perspectives, juxtaposition of characters, and overall inclusion of the South Texas region. Students will be encouraged to develop an essay and/or
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reactionary short story to the novel, with an analysis of the novel or their own stories in relation to “A Good Long Way”. One of the advantages of this novel is that the three protagonists are multi-gendered with diverse characterization and identity, this serves as a way to engage both male and female readers alike along with students of different backgrounds that they can relate to the protagonists. 3. Saldaña Jr., René. Dancing With The Devil and Other Tales From Beyond. Houston: Pinata Books, 2012. Print. René Saldaña’s “Dancing With The Devil and Other Tales From Beyond” follows the tradition set forth by Juan Sauvageau’s original collection of Mexican-American folkloric tales, updating select stories by infusing contemporary references, conflicts, and settings that serve as a connection to the earlier work. One favorite of mine that still resonates with me today is the eponymous story, seeing that archetypical story of a boy dumped by a selfish girl who gets her way with the stranger creating this iconic image of a “tower of fire engulfing the couple” and the moment “for one instant that one for their classmates was being consumed by this fire.” (39) As I’ve learned to admire the characterization of these classic stories, I find myself inspired to continue that legacy, keeping them alive, and recognizing its literary history as a culture and by making my own stories with them. The emphasis on this anthology will be on the folkloric elements and regional geography utilized within it, taking traditional Latino figures and utilizing them for original short story fiction. 4. Sauvageau, Juan. Stories That Must Not Die. Los Angeles: Pan American Publishing. 1989. Print. Juan Sauvageau’s classic anthology of South Texas folklore will serve as the main connector to René Saldaña’s “Dancing With The Devil and Other Tales From Beyond”. From La Llorona to phantom dancers to curandero Pedrito Jaramillo, these tales “are timeless, because
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they are part of the Mexican-American folklore” (iii) and will be recognizable to South Texas readers. In class students will be able to identify the usage of folklore within this collection and its literary/regional relevance within the context of South Texas literature. Through the text, we will examine “The Dancing Stranger”, “The Sobbing Woman”, in juxtaposition to Saldaña’s own short stories within “Dancing with the Devil” inviting comparisons between the two works from students for future papers and blog discussions. Scholarly: 1. Ma’ayan, Hadar Dubowsky. “Erika’s Stories: Literacy Solutions for a Failing Middle School Student.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 53 (8) (May 2010): 249654. Print. Ma’ayan utilizes composite student “Erika” to generate discussion into social, gender, and cultural issues surrounding texts not utilized within the classroom in order develop recommendations for educators with similarly disadvantaged and disengaged students whose “knowledge, experience, and interest base were deemed unacceptable or inappropriate by the formal school culture.”(649-650) She recommendations utilizing culturally relevant and ageappropriate texts paired with open-discussion about the subject matter in order for students to finally become “meaning makers” who are able to having a rhetorical understand of their own “textual experiences”. This article relates to my topic of incorporating more cultural relevant texts—specifically René Saldaña Jr.’s work—and self-aware rhetorical reading and writing in a 8th grade middle school English course. I believe that if the students write about culturallyrelated texts and situations that are important to them, they will be more likely to engage with future texts, regardless of cultural background. 2. Saldaña, René. “Mexican American YA Lit: It’s Literature with a Capital ‘L’.” The ALAN Review. Winter 2012: 68-72. Print.
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Saldaña proposes that while utilizing “cultural relevant texts” is beneficial to at-risk and disenfranchised students, multicultural educators do run the risk of accidentally developing a self-marginalization of Mexican American/Latino literature if it is utilized in the classroom for the sole reason of inclusion and assigning it “because of its cultural significance.” This relates to my topic of incorporating of culturally-relevant, age-appropriate texts in the curriculum. In reading this article, I have come to utilize Saldaña’s text as not mere cultural objects but as modes of analysis for other rhetorical constructs and devices in the context of other similarly relevant texts. I believe in recognizing Latino-related novels as Literature (capital L) will encourage me to juxtaposition texts that have cultural relevance but also allow for further exploration of these issues of identity within the classroom. 3. Bronz, William J. “Not Reading: The 800-Pound Mockingbird in the Classroom.” English Journal 100.5 (2011): 15-20. Print.
"Not Reading: The 800-Pound Mockingbird in the Classroom" proposes several strategies to have multiple levels of engagement for students to participate with. The methodology that Broz provides indicates that engaged reading is the "800-Pound Mockingbird", constituted by passive non-readers that have not read nor participated with the text. Broz states: "I assert that engaged reading and the social discourse that arises from sharing one's reading with others represent a transformative ritual (16)." By having students document their own interpretations of a text (chosen by the teacher or even themselves) throughout a timeframe, we as educators are able to measure their own understanding and engagement with the texts as they form their own comprehensive analysis. We are able to develop and witness our student's transformation as a rhetorical reader through those recordings and documentation. This article relates to my topic of
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engaging students with online discussion and rhetorical analysis through the multimodal application of a Tumblr blog. I believe that incorporating Broz’s strategies in the classroom will aid with student learning and comprehension. 4. McWilliam, Erica and Shane Dawson. “Teaching for creativity: towards sustainable and replicable pedagogical practice.” High Educ (2008) 56:633-643. Print. McWilliam and Dawson delve into the discussion of replicating “creative capital” within the classroom that fosters “connectivity with diversity” and “co-invention”, both authors aim to “constitute a framework for systematically orchestrating a ‘creativity-enhancing’ learning environment.” (634) Through this analysis of collaborative of group activity, that utilizes “complex social and cultural” forms with interactive technologies in the classroom, I hope to apply its theories to my own pedagogical application of the Saldaña texts. This article relates to my topic of engaging students with online discussion and rhetorical analysis through the multimodal application of a Tumblr blog. I believe that incorporating online multimodal platforms such as Tumblr in the classroom will aid with student learning and comprehension. Multimedia: 1. Longoria, Robert. “René Saldaña Interview 2011.” Online video clip. Youtube. 27 Feb.2013. Web. This interview conducted in 2011 with author René Saldaña, Jr. will supplement the introductory passages from “The Jumping Tree” further detailing some more of the autobiographical background for students. This will serve as a bridge to the material, further generating a connection to the local author by hearing first-hand about the author’s work. 2. Longoria, Robert. “René Saldaña Penitas Public Library 2011.” Online video clip. Youtube. 26 Feb. 2013. Web.
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This Youtube video will be utilized as a resource to connect to René Saldaña’s use of autobiographical and geographical elements prominent within his work. The video will specifically highlight Saldaña’s visit to Peñitas Public Library, a library where he discusses his hometown, own struggles with literature, and the Mickey Rangel series. I believe that if students are able to see the author read his own work and discuss in the context of his hometown, they will be inspired to be both engaged with his texts and perhaps create their own. 3. Bowles, David. VAO Publishing: a small press for the rio grande valley. Wordpress. Web. Author/Educator David Bowles’s VAO (Valley Artistic Outreach) publishing house website will demonstrate the possibilities of writing their own stories, finding an audience, and publishing them to the local and global communities. This empowers students to participate in classroom discussion and starting/continue to generate their own story concepts and work during in-class and out-of-class. I believe that if students are able to start to engage with out-of-class readings of Rio Grande Valley authors and are able to possibly participate within local literary circles, that will fuel their own creativity and engagement in classroomrelated activities. 4. Longoria, Robert. Along The Border. Wordpress. Web. Through my self-created Tumblr blog, I will utilize it as the primary multimodal model for students to engage with, using it as a hub for generated reading assignments, reader response journal entries, biographical information about the author’s texts, and examples for final projects for students’ e-portfolios. The purpose
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of the blog is to serve as a both moderator for discussion (if needed) and observer for student feedback and development.