Bread+Loaf+School+of+English


 * Event Title: Bread Loaf School of English**
 * Date: Summer 2011**
 * Location: Ripton, VT**
 * Name(s) of Attendees: Charlie Housiaux**

Description of Workshops, Classes, Institutes, Etc.:
This summer I attended the first of a four year Masters of the Arts in English Literature program at the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College. I took two classes this summer: (1) "Describing the Imagination," in which we investigated the importance of documentation in the classroom as it pertains to student learning. We also looked at ways to elevate the role of the imagination in education; (2) "Intersections in American Literature," in which we studied major works in American literature, including //Huck Finn, Invisible Man, The Human Stain, Middle Passage, Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl, Uncle Remus, The Heroic Slave, The Conjure Woman and Other Stories,// and a variety of modern poetry.

How I Hope to Apply What I Learned At Ransom, and/or, What My Colleagues Might Try at Ransom:
For the "Describing the Imagination" course, I wrote curricula that informs the first semester of seventh grade. I plan to use the "Voice and Empathy" work that I did in this course as we study short stories and //The Outsiders.// I want students to investigate ways in their oen lives where they acted as perpetrators, bystanders, targets, and advocates. Students will create a digital timeline of these moments, and then select one about which to write a personal narrative. I seek to keep documentation of the learning process in mind during this unit. I plan to incorporate a short story from //Conjure Woman and Other Tales// into the eighth grade short story unit.