See the great comments below from my wonderful former students!
Who? Morna Flaum is an adjunct professor at Johnson State College since 2009. Morna is a writer and teaches a variety of courses at Johnson State College at the undergraduate and graduate level. If you are interested in taking a 3 credit graduate course on Children's Literature & Media with me this summer email me at morna.flaum@jsc.edu to get more information! I will get right back to you!
Registration is through Johnson State College.
Enjoy your summer! Recharge and fill your imagination with great stories, brave characters, interesting facts and strong teaching ideas!
More about me:
My approach allows each person in my class to find books specially tailored to their needs as teachers, readers or parents. I show my students how to use the many library references and indexes and other resources to comb through children's literature and find "exact fit" books for any topic, any child, any special need. I embed all the tools I demonstrate into the class projects, and help my students build text sets that truly nurture inquiry learning and the wider imaginative needs of deep learning. There are no big papers to write for this class, it is all about delving into genre, special children's lit and young adult lit topics, building text sets and examining the professional journals that can enhance and enlighten critical inquiry into children's and adolescent's literature. There are so many ways to develop text sets to strengthen math, science, history and interdisciplinary teaching.
I teach as a very hands-on teacher and learner who honors process learning. I would love to hear from you.
What a great class--I hope you'll share your reading list with me.
ReplyDeleteFrom one of my students 2010 -
ReplyDeleteHere's what I took with me from the course. It is important to know what students are reading and why they are reading it. Invested readers are better readers.
This Masters course brings together, well, Master teachers in the field. I learned a ton about classroom management from our discussions.
And I'm still using my dog-eared copies of Torvani and Disturb the Universe. Thank you for this.
kaulbachw.blogspot.com
I took this class as a graduate student a few years ago and I'm still talking about it. I work with children and just love children's literature, so I found this class extremely interesting and relevant to my work. It really trained me to look at children's literature with a more critical eye, and to examine it within the context of political and social commentary. I loved the unit on fairy tales especially! Now, I really consider even more thoughtfully every book I choose for children and am able to better plan the discussions and lessons surrounding the literature. Not to mention, of course, that Morna is an incredibly passionate, interested and engaged professor. I took three of her classes and they were all wonderful!
ReplyDeleteOh, and can I also add that I took the Young Adult Literature class, and all the same comments stand. It was awesome, and I developed a new appreciation for YA literature. The discussions were amazing, and the assignments were very creative and thought provoking. I still reference the class in resumes and job interviews, and my YA content knowledge has really been an asset in my career.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear that! Thank you Leanne! There are so many interesting perspectives on the framing and context of literature for children and for young adults. Our literacy is changing so rapidly right now; I've added an extensive module on manga and the semiotics of picture books that really ties in with the goals of common core reading of informational texts. It is increasingly fascinating to see how technology intertwines with literature.
DeleteHere's what my friend Angela wrote (but had a hard time posting for some reason)
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend this course. I have taught with Morna in addition to teaching my own Children's Literature course and I can honestly say that Morna opens up the world of magic and wonderment to her students. In addition, she allows them to explore their own imaginations using critical and deep thinking, while uncovering the many layers inherent on our most beloved children's stories.
I took children's literature thinking it was just going to be reviewing the different children's books available. It was not the case. The discussions pertaining to the author's real message, hearing the true voice and exploring the metaphors were academically enriching. Children's literature became an entirely new world not just for the child.
ReplyDeleteI found the weekly presentations of genres very eye opening. I highly recommend the class. Be prepared for your own unique journey with the literature and especially Morna.
Penny Pizer M.A. Candidate in Education in process of completing approved thesis topic.
Penny! I totally agree with your comments! When you take a lit course with Morna you enter new worlds of literature.
DeleteI took the YA course last summer and will be taking the Children's Lit this summer. I very much look forward to taking another class from Morna. This will be the third course I have had with Morna at the helm. She is a wealth of knowledge, which is obvious in the first five minutes when you can barely see her over the pile of books she carries into class. Her passion for every form of language is contagious. She is engaging and understanding. I have always found her expectations to be right on target. I hope I will be joined by many in taking this next unique opportunity in literacy learning!
ReplyDeleteI am really excited about taking Morna's Children's Literature class this summer. Last summer I took YA Lit and it was an awesome experience. I took another class with Morna this past semester, too. When I take a class with Morna I know that I am going to work, but Morna makes work an enjoyable experience. I always walk away from her classes having learned far more than was listed in the course description or syllabus. I can't wait for this class to begin!
ReplyDeleteCarrie, you exemplify the motivated learner. You put so much of yourself into every learning opportunity it is almost silly to give you just one grade of "A". You prove to me the truth of my own experience; when you put effort, intensity and love into learning the results can be astonishing.
DeleteI am a home school Mom. I home school my 17 year old and my 12 year old. I found Morna through the Department of Education Home school Listserv. I was so happy to find her and to have the opportunity to speak with her and to benefit from her experience and wisdom. Her Literacy Class at JSC's education department caught my eye because her passion is in the area of Children's and Young Adult Literature. My 17 year old daughter has written a book and I wanted to ask her for some guidance. Although I contacted Morna for personal reasons other than about this class, I discovered that Morna is a wonderful teacher. In talking to her, it is evident that she is passionate about her work. Morna's wealth of experience will make this a great class to take! Her experience alone, will be a great asset to the student. She has adopted and streamlined (navigational) methods to assist the student to find those hard to find literary pieces. I think that her recognition of the need to assist students to build text sets that will nurture inquiry learning and the wider imaginative needs of deep learning is important. From our conversation, I believe Morna's class will be enlightening and important. Thanks Morna. Margie
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure Margie, it sounds like your daughter has had a wonderful start in life. It is so important to take charge of your learning and to show children how to follow their interests and build a rich knowledge base through personally motivated inquiry. Best wishes on your journey!
DeleteI don't know if this is going to post, but here is a link to the 85th birthday video for Maurice Sendak - it was such a nice surprise on my google this morning!
ReplyDeletehttp://io9.com/maurice-sendak-gets-an-animated-google-doodle-for-his-8-512180518#