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K. Eddon

November 17, 2015

Book Report

Joey Pigza Swallowed The Key

In Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, Jack Gantos introduces us to the character of Joey Pigza, a hyperactive young man who unintentionally keeps everyone around him on alert.  Why?  Joey is wired.  Joey is electric.  Joey is unpredictable.  Joey actually swallowed a key.  Gantos provides his readers with emotionally compelling characters and creates a wild ride of a story that will leave you eager to predict what will happen next for Joey.

Joey was raised by his emotionally abusive Grandmother until his own mother returns home to take care of him.  If the instability in his home life wasn’t enough, Joey’s experience in school isn’t much better.  Due to his hyperactivity and propensity to accidentally hurt himself, and others, Joey’s teachers are naturally wary of him.  Joey is eventually removed from the general classroom and placed in a special ed room.  As Joey so accurately put it, “I felt like some kind of bad dog that had pooped all over the carpet, eaten the slippers, and attached the mailman, and was now being sent to obedience school” (37).  Ultimately, with the help of his Mom and doctor, Joey finds the right medication to help him maintain a more stable emotional disposition.

Gantos presents a compelling and relatable story of a student dealing with a learning disability, and navigating a complex system of educators, doctors, and family members who all have opinions on what should happen next for Joey.  This book allows the reader multiple perspectives (student, teacher, family) through which to understand a complicated issue.

Reference:

Gantos, Jack.  1998. Joey Pigza Swallowed The Key: Macmillan.

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Week 4SPED 771Informal Response:  Have a character write to another character in the text.The Pregnancy Project                                                       Dear Gaby,             Proud.  Proud is how I am feeling after walking step-by-step with you through your courageous pregnancy project.  Proud is how I am feeling after witnessing you stand up in front of eight hundred classmates and teachers and reveal your truth.  Proud is how I am feeling listening to you share your story: societal and familial expectations for you, societal and familial perceptions of you, your personal choices in the face of these expectations, and your personal strength.  Proud is how I am feeling knowing that your choice to chart your own path and make your own choices may positively impact other young people, young women in particular.  Proud. Proud.  Proud.  Gaby, you know my story.  I have no secrets in that regard from you.  I had dreams.  Those dreams were stifled by a mix of low expectations and poor choices.  I stayed with the man that got me pregnant at fourteen because I was young and it was what my mother expected of me.  I went to work in a potato plant warehouse rather than go to school and further my education because that’s what my husband expected of me.  I submitted to these expectations and resigned myself to my life.  Oh, Gaby, how I wanted more for you when you came along.  I didn’t want you to following in my footsteps or those of your sisters.  I told you early on that education is the key to a better life and how glad I am that you listened! I look forward, mi hija, to seeing where you go from here.  I am comforted by the fact that you have internal strength and an ability to make the best choice for you, even if it doesn’t align with what society thinks women should do.  In your speech to your classmates you said something that will stay with me forever.  You said that “to this day, I continue to fight not to live my life as a stereotype” (p156).  I wish for you to carry that strength with you always and be a beacon of light for other women who are struggling to find their own voice and strength in the face of stereotypes of what a woman should be or should do.  You are an inspiration. I love you, Tu madreReference:  Rodriguez, Gaby.  The Pregnancy Project.  Simon & Schuster. 2012. 

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Week 4SPED 771Informal Response:  Have a character write to another character in the text.The Pregnancy Project                                                       Dear Gaby,             Proud.  Proud is how I am feeling after walking step-by-step with you through your courageous pregnancy project.  Proud is how I am feeling after witnessing you stand up in front of eight hundred classmates and teachers and reveal your truth.  Proud is how I am feeling listening to you share your story: societal and familial expectations for you, societal and familial perceptions of you, your personal choices in the face of these expectations, and your personal strength.  Proud is how I am feeling knowing that your choice to chart your own path and make your own choices may positively impact other young people, young women in particular.  Proud. Proud.  Proud.  Gaby, you know my story.  I have no secrets in that regard from you.  I had dreams.  Those dreams were stifled by a mix of low expectations and poor choices.  I stayed with the man that got me pregnant at fourteen because I was young and it was what my mother expected of me.  I went to work in a potato plant warehouse rather than go to school and further my education because that’s what my husband expected of me.  I submitted to these expectations and resigned myself to my life.  Oh, Gaby, how I wanted more for you when you came along.  I didn’t want you to following in my footsteps or those of your sisters.  I told you early on that education is the key to a better life and how glad I am that you listened! I look forward, mi hija, to seeing where you go from here.  I am comforted by the fact that you have internal strength and an ability to make the best choice for you, even if it doesn’t align with what society thinks women should do.  In your speech to your classmates you said something that will stay with me forever.  You said that “to this day, I continue to fight not to live my life as a stereotype” (p156).  I wish for you to carry that strength with you always and be a beacon of light for other women who are struggling to find their own voice and strength in the face of stereotypes of what a woman should be or should do.  You are an inspiration. I love you, Tu madreReference:  Rodriguez, Gaby.  The Pregnancy Project.  Simon & Schuster. 2012. 

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Kate EddonWeek 3 Positionality ResponseThe biggest take-away for me after reading “How Does Your Positionality Bias Your Epistemology?” is that because “ positionality is the multiple, unique experiences that situate each of us, no one student’s perspective is privileged” (p.33).  In other words, there is no one position that is right or better than another.  Understanding this helps me move away from the thought that there are correct or incorrect experiences and focus on understanding another person’s point of view rather than judge it.  Putting this theory into practice in the classroom opens up a wealth of opportunity for “consensus building exercises” (p.32).  Continuously creating space in a classroom for the sharing experiences, thoughts and points of view is a way to put into practice active listening skills, build respectful dialogue amongst students that will, hopefully translate outside of the classroom walls as well.  Reference:  Takacs, David, “How Does Your Positionality Bias Your Epistemology?” The NEA        Higher Education Journal, Thought & Action, Summer (2003): 27-38. 

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Kate EddonWeek 3 Positionality ResponseThe biggest take-away for me after reading “How Does Your Positionality Bias Your Epistemology?” is that because “ positionality is the multiple, unique experiences that situate each of us, no one student’s perspective is privileged” (p.33).  In other words, there is no one position that is right or better than another.  Understanding this helps me move away from the thought that there are correct or incorrect experiences and focus on understanding another person’s point of view rather than judge it.  Putting this theory into practice in the classroom opens up a wealth of opportunity for “consensus building exercises” (p.32).  Continuously creating space in a classroom for the sharing experiences, thoughts and points of view is a way to put into practice active listening skills, build respectful dialogue amongst students that will, hopefully translate outside of the classroom walls as well.  Reference:  Takacs, David, “How Does Your Positionality Bias Your Epistemology?” The NEA        Higher Education Journal, Thought & Action, Summer (2003): 27-38. 

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Kathryn Eddon

Week 3. Informal Response

How would you use this text in your own classroom?

A Step from Heaven is both a heart-wrenching and heart-warming story of Young Ju Park, a young girl who immigrates with her family from South Korea to the United States. This text beautifully details the immigrant experience – the misconceptions about America and the stark realities.  While the story of Young Ju Park is not every immigrant’s story, it is a story worth highlighting in a classroom because the themes of power, social class, and gender are universal and offer multiple ways for students to interact with and connect to the text.

In my classroom I would assign this book and devote class time every day to independent reading.  After several chapters I would gather the class to review what we are reading and weave in questions related to social class (Why was Young Ju embarrassed for her friend’s family to know where she lives?), money (Describe the family’s financial situation upon arriving in the US? Can you identify any economic barriers they encountered?), gender (Why was it so important for Young’s Ju’s parents that she have curly hair upon her arrival in the US?) and language (Young Ju never learns to speak Korean. Do you think this indicates a conscious move away from her culture?).

I would utilize both whole class discussions as well as think-pair-and-share strategies to get kids thinking about the inequalities and barriers that immigrants face when arriving to the US.  My hope would be that after several rich discussions about the text students would be able to make connections to current power and economic structures and how these affect immigrants.

Na, An.  A Step from Heaven. Simon & Schuster. 2001.