When is Christmas break again?

Oh, that's right...it's three weeks away!

First day post-vacay was rough. First period, bless their little hearts, made me want to curse and break laws. Second period, my best class, was also hard to handle. The highlights of my day were, surprisingly enough, third period (a challenging group) and my seniors (who checked out before LAST year's graduation).

I have to admit, going back this morning was hard for me, too. I arranged for my freshmen to go to the library to check out books. As a former literacy coach, I really try to practice what I preached for four years and SSR was my mantra. (I think my principal thought I was a one-trick pony.) We read for ten to fifteen minutes at the beginning of every period. I've explained to them the importance of reading and likened it to a muscle. I wouldn't show up at a weight-lifting competition without working out ahead of time. Reading is the same way.

So we started with the library and SSR and then began our explicit strategy instruction to prepare for the semester exam. We're working on making inferences and reviewing tips for finding the internal text. I'm using strategies out of one of my favorite books, When Kids Can't Read What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers. She's got great strategies for everything imaginable and gives real-life examples to use.

Now, the question that has haunted me all year--will SSR and explicit strategy instruction be enough? It keeps me up at night...and makes the vacations not long enough.

Not near enough couch time...

Tomorrow is Monday. I am not ready. I have not had near enough couch time.

Since I've gone back into the classroom this year, I find myself a virtual veggie almost every weekend. I don't go out of town if it means traveling on Sunday. I empty my DVR instead. I enjoy the fire, the dog draped over my feet, a good murder series on the TV (or Christmas movies this time of year), and lots of couch time. I haven't gotten near enough couch time this break.

You may think I'm lazy. And it is possible. I consider it mental health work. My couch time saves the poor children.

This break has been pretty busy. It started with friends' Thanksgiving on Tuesday--lots of food, friends, and fun. Late night fun. After sleeping in on Wednesday, I spent most of the day on the couch and topped it off with a trip home for a trivia game. Then I was on the road all day Thursday. Friday was taken up by decorating for Christmas and Saturday was consumed by dancing around the living room every time South Carolina got a first down. So there was no rest for the weary.

I'm headed back tomorrow to start cramming for the end of semester district exam. I've been following the prescribed curriculum, but I'm not convinced that they are ready for any sort of standardized test. It's time to start talking testing language and inferences and point-of-view, oh my. So whether I'm rested or not, it's back to the grind first thing tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, I'm going to sit on my couch and watch the few shows left in my DVR. I consider it the sacrifice I have to make for the children.

Yummy popularity!

I am one of the most popular women on campus these days. It's an enjoyable experience. All the girls are coming by to visit and they all want to know, "Do you have it?" Oh yeah, I got it.

I am the sole member of our high school community in possession of the newest novel in the Blue Bloods saga by Melissa de la Cruz.

Now those of you not surrounded by teenagers on a day to day basis may not realize who or what the Blue Bloods are. Allow me to fill you in. The Blue Bloods are vampires. There are 400 of them and they recycle in and out of everyday world. They age, they eat, they live and work. At the end of their life, their blood (sagre azul) is saved until the next cycle.

Now, whether or not you know a teenager, you have at least seen the recent Twilight phenom with all the screaming girls AND their moms. Well, that phenom has spread. All things vampire are H-O-T, hot! That means that books such as Blue Bloods and Vampire Diaries are huge in high school libraries. Vampire Diaries has even turned into a smash-hit TV show. Our media center can't keep the books on the shelves--I have girls asking to go to the library every day.

So I have become very popular. I'm kinda hoarding the book. I tore through the first three so fast that I can't seem to get into the newest installment. So I have been rereading. I started at the very beginning earlier this week, and this afternoon I cracked open my copy of the third novel, Revelations. Then I'll be reading to seek my teeth into The Van Alen Legacy, pun intended.

If anyone wants to donate, say, five copies of the book to my classroom library, that would be greatly appreciated. I mean, it is the Christmas season, after all.

And if you're worried that there's nothing out their for the boys, I'm also taking donations of graphic novels. They can't get enough of them.

So I bought your book

So I bought your book,
A little out of pity,
More out of curiosity,
Mostly out of desperation.
Ninth grade poetry is dull.
Boring.
I'm always looking
for new stuff.
So I bought it.

It sat on my ottoman
For only a day
before I picked it up,
took it to my couch,
and proceeded to look
for my name.
You didn't expect any
more of me,
did you now?
You know me better than that.

I read all the poems.
I read about Uncle Wayne.
I even found my name,
and saw that you spelled
it with 2 Ns, just like God
and my mama
intended.
You wrote about my daddy
and the sobs that still
echo in my heart.
You described my
granddaddy
to what we can only call a T.

I sat here
on my couch
with the dog curled at my feet
and read through
this book you're pushing.
And I cried.
I laughed a little.
But I mostly cried.
And those tears,
fat and sassy,
freed me from the dark place
that sometimes holds me in.

I bought your book.
And I found a little release.

In Need of an Update

I've stayed away from the blog for a while. I've been swamped. My classes, the after school activities I take part in, and bronchitis have had me focused on other things. I've also been dealing with feelings of inadequacy.

I've been utilizing a curriculum that South Carolina teachers and leaders created with Janet Allen. It's a great curriculum that utilizes young adult literature and lots of graphic organizers. But I just don't feel like I'm preparing them for their upcoming tests. This is something that weighs on my mind heavily. I know that I'm doing some things that work--like sustained silent reading. We read every day. And we've been flexing our muscles with poetry. But I just don't feel like I'm getting deep enough. It's like I have time to gloss over the top of things, but we aren't really going to the deepest level.

I'm working with my seniors on analysis. They can't analyze for anything. They can summarize. They can gloss over the high points. But they do not analyze. I'm using deep thinking questions and graphic organizers. We are doing several rough drafts. Eventually, they'll be able to participate in writer's conferences and peer assessments. But they are struggling to get to that deeper level.

So it's something that I'm struggling with all day, at all levels. I want to have this dynamic effect. I want to churn out thinkers and doers.

And that is a heavy load to bear.

So I've stayed off my blog for a while; these questions are sitting heavily on my heart. I reassess what I'm doing every day. I think about my pedagogy every minute. I look out at their faces and read my influence constantly. Now if I could just find the answers...