Living Literacy

A Different Kind of Christmas

2011-12-26T11:32:00.000-05:00

Can I start by saying I'm pretty spoiled when it comes to my family? I grew up with my grandparents--all of my grandparents--and even two great-grandparents. In fact, as a 34-year-old woman, I still have all of my grandparents. And we spend the holidays together.

When I was growing up, my two sets of grandparents lived about 45 minutes apart from one another. I had a country set and a city set. And we saw them at each holiday. We started each Christmas morning at home, but soon hit the road for the country. After lunch there, we headed over to my other grandparents' house to finish the day. I know that I was blessed to grow up surrounded by so much love. And that has continued into adulthood--my city grandparents downsized and moved to the house next door to my parents. And we continue to spend the holidays with both families.

This year was different in many ways. Some ways were good and some were not, and it was definitely an adjustment. I have a sick father this year. He had a knee replacement at the beginning of the month and contracted the MRSA infection, so Christmas was put on hold for him. To top that off, my cousin had an emergency c-section on Christmas Eve, so Christmas was on hold for her as well, although she got the best Christmas present ever in the form of a precious little girl.

But these hardships made Christmas much different for all of us. For the first time in 34 years, I did not see my dad's parents for Christmas. I spent Christmas Eve in my own home this year. I spent Christmas morning in my own home this year. My dad wasn't able to eat with us at all this year--he stayed at home while we went next door for dinner. While I regretted these changes, this may have been one of the best Christmases I've ever had. I don't remember ever laughing so hard with my family. I don't remember enjoying the holiday quite so much. It's been wracked with anxiety for me the last few years, but this year was so relaxing. But there was no anxiety this year because I knew that there was nothing I could do to change the course of events. So we relished in each other's company like we never have before.

There was a lot less stress on my family this year, surprisingly enough. We had a rare opportunity to exist within our own bubble, knowing that there was no way to change anything and there was no way to make anyone else happy. I'm sure that our bubble will be burst next year, and I would never want to relive the drama of the past month. But we showed our own strength this holiday season. And we are closer for it.

Another year over...another just begun....

2011-12-14T13:38:00.001-05:00

Here we are at the end of yet another semester. Time really flies--which is a good thing, since my state representatives have introduced a bill that would keep me working until I'm 62! But that's a story for another day.

I'm sitting on the tail-end of another semester and trying to recapture that excitement I had just 17 weeks ago. I'm feeling like I have fallen short of all of my idealistic goals. I'm doubting my own effectiveness. This is not a happy place to be.

So it is time to move forward with a new attitude, maybe some new goals, and a renewed sense of excitement. It is time to reexamine my classroom practices...which are for the best of the student? Which will help us find success on standardized test? Which standardized test should I even take into account? It's a lot to think about. And all I want to think about is the break. And how wonderful it is going to be. :)

Sometimes you just have it...

2011-09-18T18:14:00.002-05:00

Some days things just fall in to place. Apparently, some years (for teachers) do that as well. I've always heard teachers refer to those years, meaning the wrong kids in the wrong class with the wrong teacher. I may be at the beginning of one of those years, but in a totally different manner.

In around my 5th year of teaching, I hit my stride. I felt like things were really falling into place and I actually knew what I was doing. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a bad teacher to begin with. I had a particular gift in dealing with students. But if I had known then what I know now, I would have hit my stride a long time ago. During my 4th and 5th years teaching, I was hot. I had a gift.

And then I left the classroom.

I was given the opportunity to train to be a high school literacy coach. This opportunity involved leaving the classroom, but also involved a free education specialist degree. That is nothing to shake a stick at. So, despite the fact that I only wanted to teach, I left the classroom to become my high school's literacy coach. And I lost my stride.

The good thing about being a literacy coach is that I get to help my colleagues become better teachers. The bad thing is that all of a sudden students don't know who you are. You are just some lady in an office who comes in their classes every now and then. Those relationships that I had cultivated for years? Gone. They don't tell you that before you sign up to be an instructional coach.

I'm now at the beginning of my third year back in the classroom. This year is unique because I am both a coach and a classroom teacher. I can feel my legs stretching as I start to hit that stride again. One student told me that she loved the amount of choice she had in my class. We've had deep conversations where I've told students how much I value their opinions. Students have told me that they enjoy how "deep" the class is.

It feels good to be back where I was six years ago. It doesn't hurt that coaching gives me time to personally reflect on my own practices, which I didn't do much of the last two years. I'm starting to feel like I've got it.

Happy New Year!

2011-08-14T10:13:00.002-05:00

As a teacher, my new year doesn't start in January, but every time August rolls around and the back to school celebrations begin. Back to school, for teachers, is a happy new year. It is a new roster, possibly a new subject, maybe a new classroom, and definitely a new beginning.

For me, this year is all of those.

I have three new rosters. Since I teach freshmen, I almost never know the students I'm getting. Since no one in my building really does, I don't have to hear judgments made by other teachers. I get to form my own opinions.

I have a new subject this year. I'm teaching English II honors for the first time ever. The last time I taught English II, I taught it to repeaters and I was a third year teacher (infer that I didn't have a clue what I was doing). This will be my first foray into the honors level. I'm not a little apprehensive about dealing with this type of student. It will be a learning process for me.

I, and the rest of the freshmen teachers, have new classrooms. My school is the recipient of a school improvement grant, so we have an isolated freshmen academy, a literacy coach, a math coach, and a technology coach. What took me a month to pack up has taken me several hours to unload. But it may take me the entire first nine weeks to find a new home for everything.

This year brings lots of new beginnings for me, as it does for every teacher out there going back into the classroom. That is why we get into this business--no matter what happened last year, we get another new beginning. And if this year is a wash, we get another one. And another one. We get endless chances to perfect our craft and grow as professionals. Happy New Year to all teachers!

Just around the corner...

2011-07-25T18:27:00.003-05:00

It has been a long while since I've posted. Summer grabs ahold of me tightly and I am remiss to let go. Here I am, time for school to start again.

I always know that school is ready to start when the band camp starts. As if teaching English isn't enough, I design and teach high school color guard programs. My first camp is in Georgia and starts to third week in July. That makes for a short summer

So here I am, designing color guard shows and preparing for a presentation on reading and writing in the content area. And trying to blog more. In order to teach writing, it helps if I write. But that is all easier said than done.

So I'm lamenting my summer that is already over, but kinda enjoying the contact with kids this summer. After all, isn't that why I started teaching in the first place?

Riveting YA Lit

2011-04-29T09:03:00.002-05:00

I stayed in the bath last night long after the water ran cold in order to finish Todd Strasser's Blood on My Hands. It was phenomenal. While I had some ideas about the ending, it was still a compelling ride to see the story unravel.

The main character, Callie, is found leaning over the dead body of the "it" girl at her high school...with knife in hand...and then cell phone pictures were snapped. Add to all this, Callie's older brother is serving 8 to 15 for attempting to murder their abusive father. The natural assumption is that Callie is as guilty as they come.

What do you do in this situation? I'm not sure I would have the wherewithal that the main character did--she took off running. She felt as though her only chance would be to find out who really did kill Katherine, so she hides until she can do so.

Callie's foray into eluding the law and amateur detective work makes for a fascinating story. Strasser paces it well, especially for the short attention span of a teenager. For an adult, it's a quick read--maybe just a night or two. But definitely one worth picking up.

Hothouse by Chris Lynch

2011-04-26T13:11:00.004-05:00

Several years ago, I read Inexcusable by Chris Lynch--the story of a young man who is convinced that he is a good boy and did not do that which he actually did. (I'll leave you to read it and figure out what it is he did.) The book was written as such where you really felt you were in the speaker's mind. In fact, at times, you started to believe him because he believed it so much. Reading it was a powerful experience.

So I was happy to see a new Chris Lynch novel in my school library, Hothouse. This is the story of heroes and how hard they can fall when we lift them up high enough. It is a good story for your teenage boys sitting in your high school English class. You, however, dear teacher, might just struggle with it.

What came across as the narrator's stream of consciousness in Inexcusable comes across as a botched writing attempt in Hothouse. There were times when the writing got in the way of the story. There were times when the plot just drug along. Truthfully, the plot isn't action packed. The story is slow to develop and slow to resolve itself.

Would I recommend it? Definitely to a student. Their tastes are refined enough for a character's rambling to get in the way. But it isn't one I would read again.

Click, Clack, Moo and Follow-Up Questions

2011-04-19T08:54:00.001-05:00

Today was step one towards a successful podcast about our nonfiction texts. It is time to have meaningful conversations about literature. I feel that this will help me in my quest to create lifelong readers.

The first step to meaningful coversations is to create meaningful questions. When students are dropped into a discussion setting, they don't know what to say to one another. They know how to share answers, but they don't necessarily know how to ask for help from a peer. They know how to say that they don't get it, but they don't know how to vocalize what it is that they don't get. They have to learn how to ask good questions about their reading in order to take them to the next level of understanding and analysis.

To do this, we started by discussing characteristics of good questions. I have to be honest here--I tried to have the students generate characteristics, but it fell totally flat. They didn't have a clue what I was asking for or what I wanted. They knew what a good question was when they saw one, but breaking one down and explaining why it was good was a bit too much.

So I listed characteristics of good and bad questions on chart paper and we started by looking at that list. We contrasted the two. We looked closely at the pros and cons. We cleared up any confusion as to what was expected. After our brief discussion, we created a six-celled chart using a piece of notebook paper. The left column was for the start questions and the right column was for the follow-up questions.

Now for application. I decided to start with a brief piece by Pat Conroy. His writing is so deep and it is something that I want my students to be familiar with. They might not come Conroy lovers today, but I want them to see the goldmine that is in their backyard. After reading a brief, controversial piece that looks at a situation of spousal abuse, I gave them think time. They had to write down a start question using the characteristics of good questions. After everyone had a chance to write down a start question, I asked for one volunteer to share. We took that question and added it to the first cell of our chart. We discussed possible answers and the created follow-up questions based on those answers. This went on a for a few minutes, and we repeated the process with a new starter question. I pointed out how the conversation could only continue with a good question. Failure to ask a good question would lead to a dead end. I demonstrated this by asking a few bad questions of my own and showing that the conversation could go nowhere.

That scaffolding led to Click, Clack, Moo. Students used the cute children's book to generate starter questions that met the characteristics of good questions. It was a nice lead up to individual work. Just a little more scaffolding and we'll be having powerful conversations about texts that are meaningful to us.

I hope.

Finding time for a good idea

2011-04-01T07:42:00.002-05:00

Good ideas are not easy to come by. Let me specify--the idea is the easy part. The logistics are the hard part. I can come up with some ideas, but figuring out how those ideas are going to work in my classroom is something totally different. I have had the great idea that my students need to podcast about their newest literature circle books, a nonfiction text. I am sure that they have little to no experience with podcasting. This is something I will have to scaffold carefully in order to move them along at a good pace, but also ensure that everyone works in their ZPD. One minute of frustration and this balancing act can collapse. There are not a lot of lesson options with podcasting out there. I have experienced this before--I have an idea for a lesson, I know what I want it to look like, but I can't find exactly what I am looking for. I can get lost for hours on the Internet looking at things that don't quite do what I need them to do. I am not quite at ground zero with podcasting. I did fine a great PBS lesson that lays out great steps for scaffolding a podcast lesson. Now I just have to take my own materials and merge the two for the perfect podcasting book discussion lesson!

Like a well-oiled machine

2011-03-29T12:30:00.003-05:00

Some days just run that way. Things fall into place, students are agreeable, and good instruction takes place. Today was one of those days.

We are in the middle of several activities. Students are creating a photo challenge project, which involves finding pictures under particular categories and then writing about those pictures. We are also working on close readings of articles and writing article reflection essays. In addition to that, we are getting geared up for the end of course test by reviewing the technical vocabulary that they will need to learn. Lastly, students are reading nonfiction texts chosen during a book pass.

That is a lot going on at once. And it's the last week before spring break!

I have tried to scaffold the article reflection essays as best I can. We have read articles together to model annotating/marking up a text. I assigned articles related to their nonfiction text to push their thinking a little further. I wrote my own article reflection essay and we looked at it as a class, discussing what things the writer did while working on the essay. By doing that, we created sort of a recipe for the essay. With that recipe in hand and correctly annotated articles, they were set free.

While they wrote on their own, which they could only do through extensive scaffolding, I was able to hold conferences with each child on their project progress. We were able to talk one on one and they all got the attention they needed.

Sometimes, the chips just fall into place.

Sometimes, you get lucky.

Oh snow you didn't!

2011-02-01T21:22:00.003-05:00

At the beginning of the month, we had an extended Christmas break. Most have named it their snowcation. I have dubbed it Snowmageddon 2011. A week off from school was a bit much. I came back to that four day week like a gang buster. I was on fire...en fuego!

Since then, well, let's just say time has slowed around me to a crawl. The fact that I'm still sitting upright at 9:30 in the evening is an amazing feat in and of itself. I'm exhausted. I'm dragging my feet. I can't bring myself to read essays. I can't bring myself to plan. At this point, I can't hardly bring myself to lift my body from this chair to go upstairs for bed!

It's a sad state of affairs for me this week. There's no way I want more snow days.

But a long weekend would help.

Unplugged

2011-01-25T11:13:00.001-05:00

I wrote this yesterday after forgetting my purse at home.

It is not a lifestyle I'd choose.

I only happened upon it by chance.

Just a pen and a scratch piece of paper

And forty minutes to spare.

Usually I would tweet.

Read the news in less than 140 characters.

I'd curse my phone for being so slow

and snoop through pictures on Facebook.

But today I'm unplugged.

I forgot my phone.

No news, no Twitter, no Facebook.

No iPod, no music, no Angry Birds.

I've left myself with no outside entertainment,

Only this green pen.

I really thought time would crawl,

But I've only 15 minutes to go.

It's been a long time since my brain has worked,

instead of passively received.

Let me tell you about this "noble" profession

2011-01-25T08:25:00.002-05:00

"What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation?" -Marcus Tullius Cicero

So far this morning, I, this woman of most noble employment, have argued over ear buds, argued over a breakfast list, been ignored, snapped at, and summarily dismissed. When I tried to correct a student's essay by telling him not to add spaces between paragraphs and indent each new paragraph, he informed me that he was doing it the way his resource teacher taught him. To which I informed him that I was the one grading his paper, not his resource teacher, and it needed to be done my way.

All in all, another stellar morning.

The only nice thing I can say about teenagers today is that when I asked two of them to take off their hats, they said yes, ma'am and actually did it.

I read everywhere that teachers need to be paid based on performance levels of students. Let me tell you about 14-year-olds. They are unreliable. They are lazy when it suits them. They are hard-working when it suits them. It's all well and good to design creative lessons to grab their attention. If they aren't feeling it, then that is that. Oh well. They are still in the self-centered level of moral development. I'm going to do what I want to do because I want to do it and it makes me happy. Period. End of story.

Yet, politicians want to make teachers more accountable for what they are teaching and doing in the classroom. Not a problem with me. Not at all. But if you want to hold me accountable for what I am doing in the classroom, come watch what I am doing in the classroom. You can't judge me based on a 60-question multiple choice test at the end of the year. My door is wide open to anyone who wants to come and watch me teach. My door is open to anyone who wants to evaluate me.

But if you are going to administer a test that judges my abilities, this morning I would fail. These children are grouchy.

Writing Workshops with Freshmen

2011-01-21T08:24:00.002-05:00

I'm always looking for new ways to teach writing to young writers. I struggled with some of the formal writing assignments in college because I didn't have a strong background in high school. There's a fine line between teaching enough and teaching too much. Between giving them too little information and between giving them too much to handle.

My freshmen are working on literary analysis essays to end their reading of Romeo & Juliet. A ton of research went in to this lesson. I'm not sure that I've ever taught it well enough. Sure, graduates come back and tell me that I helped them, but I've never been sure of exactly what I did to be so helpful. I try to be reflective on my practice, so it frustrates me when I can't put my fingers on what I did.

After my tons of research, hours of frustration, and countless e-mails with no good responses, I came on a plan that just might work. We started with notes, of course. Probably too many notes. Definitely too many notes if you ask my kids. I know that I didn't give them enough time to think between each section. I fixed that with later groups, but my poor first period class kinda got the raw end of the deal.

After we took notes that defined a literary analysis, thesis, and textual evidence, we spent some time thinking about the topics for our essay. We wrote thesis statements together, we shared them, and then improved them. Again, this part got better as the day went on. I learned from my mistakes very quickly. We spent time creating topic sentences for the body paragraphs. We spent time looking at examples of textual evidence. I know without a doubt that we didn't spend enough time with shared writing. Shared writing would have made the whole thing easier, but then you have to deal with students who only want to take what you wrote and copy it. There has to be a better way to do shared writing, but I'm still looking for that part.

Today we are drafting. I didn't plan enough time in the classroom to get through everything, and I booked the library for today. Everything is booked for Monday so I can't even push it back for another day in the classroom. However, my hastiness is going to come to my rescue.

Students are often hesitant to come to a teacher's desk when they seem to be working. And they also sit in those tiny student desks all day long. So we are in the library. We are spread out and I am by myself. I laid out the rules before we came in. Students can sit no more than two to a table or can work on the computer. I have to be left at a table by myself. If I'm alone, then I am available to help and answer questions. If I'm with another student, we are not to be interrupted because that is there time.

It's working.

They are writing. They are coming over and getting help. I'm getting to do differentiated instruction by talking to each student as an individual instead of addressing the whole class. Everyone is getting what they need. Including me. I'm getting time to write.

This changes things for next week. But it's also feeding my instructional plans. We took notes on introductions (so very effective, I know) and we looked at some examples. But they have no clue where to start. It shows me that we need a mini-lesson on introductions next week. We all need it. What we're going to do, I don't know. But I have a weekend to figure it out.

Twas the night before break...

2010-12-17T20:03:00.002-05:00

The last day of school before Christmas break is a special day that cannot be replicated no matter what.

Freshmen finished exams yesterday, but we still had school today. A half day would have been ideal, but that was not to be. So instead there was movie time. Lots and lots of movie time. And students got to play Santa between teachers who did not have the chance to leave their classrooms. And there were Christmas parties. Oh the parties...

I only allowed one class to throw a party and that was my dual credit Teacher Cadet course. We had some good discussions and they finished up a major project today, so the class wasn't a total waste. And the food was terrific.

When you give kids a free hand, it is amazing what they will come through with. We had pizza, bugles and dip, crackers and dip, brownies, cookies, and cupcakes. For my part, I gave out Christmas cards featuring pictures from our class.

The day before Christmas break is a day like no other. Teachers have the same fever that students do. You can't hide it. There is a feeling in the air. As the students deliver cards and gifts from teacher to teacher, they have to know that we feel it to. That we are ready for a vacation too. It's a bonding experience. Like the song? Everybody's waiting for the man with the bag.

We were all waiting for the man to ring that bell.

When he finally did, we all knew that the next two weeks would be like heaven. Like a little reminder of summer and the feeling of nonchalance that comes with it. Just a taste--just enough to remind us it is coming.

Who's to blame?

2010-12-14T13:04:00.002-05:00

Sixty-eight percent of adults believe parents deserve the most blame for students failing in school. That's according to a recent poll done by the Associated Press and Stanford University. Parents. Not teachers, not principals, not the schools themselves, but parents.

At a time where most teachers feel scrutinized and unappreciated, it is refreshing to know that an overwhelming majority realize where the blame actually lies--in the home. And education, undoubtedly, begins in the home.

I spelled "Alaska" for the first time when I was three. I was curious. I wanted to learn. My parents encouraged me. They read to me. They showed me, in actions and in words, that learning was something to be valued and to be held near and dear to the heart. As I grew older, I was expected to do well and be respectful. My word was never taken over the word of an adult. What the teacher said was as good as gold. Teachers were to be respected and listened to and supported. Whenever my parents did have a disagreement with a teacher, it was handled behind closed doors and I wasn't a witness to any sort of disharmony.

Nowadays, many parents don't seem to see any wrong in their children. The teacher is always in the wrong. Recently, a student's cell phone rang in class--something that is forbidden and we constantly fight over in school. Turns out, it was the student's mother. The teacher called him to the front of the room and explained that he couldn't answer his cell phone, but he was more than welcome to use the classroom phone to call his mother back. When the student called her and told her that he couldn't use his phone during the school day, things got so heated that she was clearly heard across the room. Nobody could tell her when she could and could not call the phone that she paid for! Who did we think we were?

Well, let me tell you. We are the people trying to teach your child good manners. We are the people who are trying to show your child how to follow rules and guidelines so they are guaranteed success as an adult. We are the people trying to teach children how to work well with others.

And apparently we are doing these things in direct opposition to the example you are setting at home.

This is not always the case. Lots of parents still support teachers and the rules set up for student safety. But those parents aren't always the ones that get the most attention. The parents that demean us and argue with us and are convinced we are out to get them and their children are the ones that get all of our attention. Those contradictory few are the ones that seem to set the tone.

I'm glad that sixty-eight percent at least realize that we do all that we can with what we are given. We need some support from home to seal the deal.

The daily prayer of a teacher

2010-12-12T08:37:00.001-05:00

St. Jude, bless me in my work today. Help me to demonstrate my solidarity, love, patience, compassion and service toward others.

When exactly is less more?

2010-12-10T13:01:00.002-05:00

A South Carolina Republican is introducing a bill to reduce graduation credit requirements. Right now, students are required to earn 24 Carnegie units and pass a state standardized test. Thanks to NCLB, the test isn't going anywhere, but in their ongoing quest to cut from public education, Republicans may lower credits from 24 to 20.

Representative Dan Cooper believes that by lowering requirements, we could save money and raise the graduation rate! Yay! But what about educating children? What about improving our economy by improving our workforce?

I think that by lowering graduation requirements, we are once again lowering our standards. It is bad enough that schools are forced to use remediation techniques such as credit recovery because we are under the gun to graduate 100% of our student population in four years or less. This will just be one more jab to the heart for actual learning in schools.

When Kids Go Good

2010-12-10T12:24:00.007-05:00

Most of the news about teachers, students, and education in general is pretty negative. There is usually some sexual misconduct or gangs or lack of money or just general disarray involved.

But every now and then, kids go good.

Our school does an Angel Tree for children in need every Christmas. Since most of our students are in need, it's hard to find people who can afford to give what little they have to someone else. The Angel Tree is still pretty full and we are getting closer and closer to Christmas. The economy is bad and times are hard for everyone. But, today, the Newberry High Student Government made a sizable dent in the number of needy children still listed on that tree. They did what they could to fulfill wishes for the upcoming Christmas.

As a class, without telling them what we were doing, we all went down to the guidance office and I showed them the tree. In pairs, I had them each pick one child off the tree. Then I gave them the Wal-Mart credit card and told them that each pair could have $30 out of the SGA accounts to make wishes come true. The excitement is something serious! Sure, they aren't giving of themselves, so to speak. But it is giving. And that is what the season is all about--doing for others.

So they went off to Wal-Mart as a class with their instructions to do good for someone else today. And they went above and beyond my expectations. They came back with bags and bags of clothes and diapers and dolls and games. The excitement of doing good for someone else was palpable.

Today we are spreading Christmas cheer by doing good. I believe that we are all innately good creatures...we just need some prodding and assistance. And sometimes teenagers will surprise you. One of my kids chipped in $40 of his own money to buy diapers and bath stuff for a little boy. It's sad to me that a parent needs diapers so bad that they make a Christmas list, but my heart swells with what this young man did today. On his own. In the true Christmas spirit.

So the next time you read about gangs and drug busts and violence, remember that with a little guidance, we can take the average teenager and turn them into a modern day Santa Claus.

Making a list, and checking it twice...

2010-12-09T12:49:00.002-05:00

And the list of naughty students is doubling! Where did all the nice ones go?

We have one more day this week and sometimes I wonder if I'll make it. We are in the midst of a deep freeze, exams are looming, and my students either don't care or are so overwhelmed that they can't possibly juggle everything that has to be done.

'Tis the season, eh?

I am noticing that students are snappier than they typically are. They have been quicker to be disrespectful and not near quick enough to back down and say "yes, ma'am." Where is the Christmas spirit?

I'm going to join in this Grinch-ish behavior by giving a vocabulary test tomorrow. Let's keep them busy on the Friday before exams. Hopefully the weekend will get them settled down for one more week.

My Grown-Up Christmas List

2010-12-08T20:44:00.005-05:00

Here is the newest scenario that is making public education look ineffective. Instead of counting students who enter in ninth grade and graduate in four years, the powers that be are counting students in the eighth grade that graduate in five years in order to calculate graduation rates. Fair? Before you jump to say yes, of course, think about this...

If the student moves between 8th and 9th grades, he/she is considered a drop out.

If the student has to take a year off for one reason or another--pregnancy, illness, car accident, anything--he/she is considered a drop out.

If the student screws around during the freshmen year and takes an extra year to get out of high school, he/she is considered a drop out.

Public high schools are ruled ineffective on a daily basis by people who believe that they know what is best. Many of these people have never stepped in front of a classroom. In fact, Bill Gates even weighed in recently on how public schools should pay teachers. (FYI, it wasn't favorable for teachers.) Everyone believes that he/she knows what is best when it comes to educating children. None of these people have stood front of the classroom.

The sad fact of the matter is, there are kids who aren't cut out for the public classroom. For some reason or another, the four walls and desks don't mesh with some students' personalities. These students need an alternative form of education. These students may need to learn a trade in order to contribute to society. We want to believe that no child will be left behind, but the fact is that every child on this earth is special and unique. As a classroom teacher, it is my job to reach them all. All 150 of them that I may teach in any given year.

Where are the educators running education? Too often, administrators spend very little time in the classroom in their rush to get to the top. Elected education officials often have NO EXPERIENCE in public education at all. When they do, which is rare, it is typically less than ten years.

This Christmas, I wish for the pendulum to swing back the other way. I wish for teachers to once again join the highest echelon of respectability. I wish for people to understand that, while you get to check in to your nice cozy office, I get to teach in a coat for most of the day because the thermostat is turned low enough to save money. Understand that over the course of the day, I serve breakfast, clean up breakfast, mediate arguments, supply peppermints and tissues to sick children, dry the tears of broken hearted teenage girls, keep lunch detention for unruly boys who need attention, guard the halls against students looking for a place to hide out, discourage loitering, take cell phones, pull down hoods, and try to be engaging and entertaining. On really special days, I get to jump in the middle of actual fist fights.

All the while, people like Bill Gates get together and try to find reasons to pay me less.

For Christmas, I want us all to remember that none of us would be where we are today if it weren't for a teacher in the background, juggling all of her responsibilities and still finding time to tell us that we can do it. We can do anything we put our mind to.

Nearing the end of the first semester...

2010-12-07T13:25:00.002-05:00

I have been a slack blogger. It's been since October 30th since I've blogged at all. I haven't been near as slack of a teacher as I have been a blogger.

At least I don't think that I have been.

We are nearing the end of first semester. Yay! Although I despise cold weather, I do love the Christmas break that inevitably comes along with it. It will be nice to sit at home for two weeks and NOT think about lesson plans or engagement or reading logs. And, it must be said, at this point, we all need a vacation from each other.

At this point last week, I could feel the thunder clouds growing over my head as soon as I got out of my car. I could feel by brow tense up. I've been wound so tight that I should go ahead and start saving for the botox that is going to be inevitable if Christmas break doesn't hurry up and get here.

Just when I think I'm going to spend my life in jail for murdering some innocent child that made me repeat myself for the upteenth time, something funny happens to remind me why I got into this biz in the first place.

Have you ever sat in a classroom with food and the teacher asked you if you had enough for everyone? Of course that means put it up, put it up now. But I'll think twice before I assume that I'll get what I want when I ask that question. This morning, the student picked up his bookbag, dug around, and pulled out a sucker for everyone.

Yes, he did have enough for everyone. And he was willing to share.

It's been 6 weeks, but I'm still alive!

2010-10-30T12:25:00.002-05:00

I've had several thoughts recently about what I could post and talk about. But instead of posting my brilliance, I've kept it to myself. But today I sit, watching Carolina football, and thinking about the impacts of social networking on education.

I have to make a presentation Monday on new technologies that teachers can use to help increase student engagement. I've used Facebook myself--I have two pages for students and parents to use for communication and current event announcements. Now I'm venturing into Edmodo and Glogster, two sites that are very new to me. These sites have great potential for improving student engagement in our classrooms. We are moving away from pen and paper and getting students to interact with their knowledge through the use of authentic assessments.

So I'm expanding my repertoire and trying to take some of my colleagues along with me. More authentic assessments lead to more authentic learning, right?

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

2010-09-11T06:11:00.003-05:00

Nine years ago, I was not in the same place as most of my fellow educators. I was at home. Sleeping.

You see, on September 10th, I spent most of the night in the emergency room.

Just as I was drifting off to sleep that evening, my house phone rang. It was late and I ignored it. My roommate did not and was soon banging on my door to get me to pick up. Some lady, whose name I will never remember, was on the phone asking for me. And then my sister got on the line. My hysterical sister. There had been an accident. A car accident. I had to get to Columbia College. Now.

This was Audrey's first year at CC and I didn't really know my way around that end of town. I called a friend and got vague directions and headed that way, only to be stopped at the end of the block by an officer. Apparently the wreck was so bad that the entire block was cordoned off. All passengers had been taken to Richland County Hospital. One more place for me to try to find.

Did you know that when they bring in victims of auto collisions, they don't automatically get their names entered in? They get trauma numbers. My parents were on their way (I had to call them immediately, of course), so I was in the waiting room by myself. With the family of the driver. So I waited. Alone. Not knowing anything except that this family's daughter had landed my baby sister in the hospital.

About the same time my parents arrived, the hospital figured out who Audrey was and we were able to go back to her. She was on a body board, with a neck brace, covered in dirt and twigs and broken glass. But she was alive.

There was a lot of sitting around that night. Lots of waiting. All three girls were basically okay, although one didn't have on her seatbelt and had a nice, long ICU visit. But all three eventually walked away. Audrey walked away around 3:30 or 4 that morning.

I only woke up to call in sick the next morning. I rolled over and attempted to sleep some more. The all-nighter in the emergency room was too much for me. And sleep was good until my phone started ringing again. And again and again. It rang until I picked it up and a friend told me to get to a TV. I was appalled and in shock at how such an accident could happen. I was sure it was an accident. Then the second plane connected and I knew this was no accident.

I wasn't with my kids on September 11th. I was glued to the TV wondering how something like this could happen. September 11th will always resonate within me--I'm an American, after all. But it will always be linked to that fateful night near Columbia College for me too. I can't think of 9/11 without thinking about what happened the night before.

A new school year! A new opportunity!

2010-08-29T17:46:00.003-05:00

We have been back at school for 8 days. Eight whole days. Already I feel so much better than I did at this point last year. Last year, I was making the transition from coach to teacher. I was putting ideology into practice. I was coming off of my mountain.

This year, I am so much more in control. I can see things falling into place like never before. It is like I've embedded all the things I've learned and I've made them my own.

I can not believe the new place that I'm in. I actually planned lessons this weekend. :)

This week, we are going to use "The Necklace" to cover some basic English I standards that will later be reinforced by Bronx Masquerade. I am planning with my fellow English I teachers and we are piggy-backing better than ever before.

Needless to say, I am excited. I have great kids. I have great partner teachers. I have a great schedule. I work in a great school. I still have a job.

And every day, I get to wake up and teach children. I love them more than they could ever imagine. I know that I am molding and shaping them into something new everyday. They will look back on their high school experience and remember me. Their ninth grade English teacher.

People ask me how I can get up so early in the mornings. They ask me how I deal with 14-year-olds. They ask me how I work in education. The rewards are intrinsic. And they are never-ending. I'm so proud to say that I am a teacher. With all that that entails.

Still need a book...

2010-07-17T20:02:00.002-05:00

I went from reading several things at once to reading nothing. NOTHING. I am in a reading funk and it's making me spend hours and hours on the Internet doing nothing. Except reading tweets and news articles and other stuff.

I realize that that is reading, but I need a book.

I read a great espionage novel by Steve Berry earlier in the summer and I read/edited the novel my uncle wrote. I also read a great low country novel on sweetgrass baskets. Other than that, my summer has been replete with technology but shockingly void of good reads.

As summer comes to an end for me, I am in need of some good reads to take to the mountains with me. There's nothing better than the cool mountain air and a good read in a rocking chair.

I need a book. Stat.

Promoting Professional Advocacy amongst Educators

2010-07-14T14:16:00.003-05:00

I was met with a disturbing comment from a colleague this year.

Let me set this up properly. My state is undergoing serious budget cuts this year, as I'm sure others are as well. This lead to me getting hot and heavy with some e-mail accounts. I sent several e-mails to the local senator and representative, as well as those for whom I am a constituent. I also sent out the links to all faculty members. My e-mails were pretty informative--a link to the e-mail forms, key items up for debate that week, and some talking points to use. Doesn't get any easier than that, does it?

I had good response from several teachers. Lots of "thank you!" and "I e-mailed today!"

This is what we need to do. We need to remind these politicians that we vote and we matter. What we do everyday affects kids, which affects this state's future economy. We want this economy to turn around? Whose shoulders do you think our future rest on?

Now to the disturbing part. In conversation with a few colleagues, the e-mail campaign came up, to which the youngest in our group responded that she hadn't sent any e-mails. What was the point? She just didn't do stuff like that.

How can you NOT do stuff "like that?" We voted for these people. They change platforms and loyalties like the rest of us change underwear. It is our responsibility to remind them who they work for. We can't just turn them loose and hope for the best!

So how do we encourage teachers to take the extra five minutes it takes to be politically active? How do we convince them that their five minutes are worth it? That's what I'm working on with my new committee members. As a part of CERRA's advisory board, we want to make advocacy as simply as possible.

Input is most definitely welcome.

One last, lazy day (Hey! Alliteration!)

2010-07-14T14:06:00.003-05:00

I'm enjoying what will be my last weekday on the couch with the dog and the DVR. Tomorrow, it is back to work.

Tomorrow, I have to start thinking about SGA (and possibly kicking myself for agreeing to take it). I head to Newberry to meet with the student body president about registration and then pick up the notebooks, aka instruction manuals, from the outgoing sponsor.

Tomorrow, I have to do a two hour driving lesson for a friend's son. It will be an exciting trip down to Newberry to run the road test and back.

Tomorrow, I will have to get up and shower and get dressed and wear shoes.

Tomorrow, I will have to eat breakfast on a schedule and not whenever I want to.

Friday, I have an 8 a.m. tee time and then scheduled pool time.

But, tomorrow, I'll feel the pressure that starts as summer ends.

I feel you slipping away, slipping away...

2010-07-11T18:00:00.003-05:00

I feel the end of summer is nigh. (Just the use of nigh makes me giggle.)

Now most of you teachers may be looking at your calendar and thinking, it's only July 11th. There's plenty of summer left! No, there's not. Not for me anyway. This is something I do to myself. I have so ingrained myself into extracurricular activities that my summer is over in approximately one week, 14 hours.

That is when I will get in my car and drive five hours to Georgia.

To teach color guard.

To end my summer vacation.

Color guard is the visual aspect of the marching band. It's the flags, rifles, sabers, and dancers. Basically, it's the fun stuff. And it's something I've been doing for the past, oh, fifteen years or so. It eats into my summer, but it's also something I enjoy. I get to be physical and really stretch that creative muscle.

So summer vacation will end in approximately one week, 13 hours, and 56 minutes. But I guess it's my own choice. Although it does have me thinking now about what I will be doing this time next month.

Summer Reading and Commitment Issues

2010-06-14T15:31:00.005-05:00

I often have commitment issues in the summer. It's too hot to go outside. It's too hot to do anything inside. And I never can find anything to read! Or I can find too much to read. Whichever.

So I'm having some reading commitment issues. I have about four things going on right now and I'm not making major headway in any of them. I'm editing a book for my uncle (I'll be shamelessly plugging it here later so I can make some money off of it) and that is the only thing I have focused on for longer than five minutes this week.

Have I mentioned it is HAWT? Like, over 100 degrees hot. Welcome to the South! This is what summer is all about. And since I can't go outside, I'll just juggle my editing assignment and my three summer reading books.

The first of my summer reading books is
the well-known, best-selling Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. I've read this book before. In fact, I've read all of the books before. But the movie comes out at the end of the month. I struggle to remember what I ate for lunch yesterday, much less what I read two years ago. Ergo, I'm rereading.

Now, I must say, the whole teenage angst thing gets old. It is more about the creatures for me than it is about Edward and Bella. In this one, he won't even let her out of his sight for heaven's sakes. Is that really the type of relationship we want our teenage girls to think is okay? It's quite sickening to me, but I love my personal freedoms more than life itself. I enjoy being able to go and do and be and whatnot. (Sidebar--I'm looking for somewhere to be in the water tomorrow, so...any suggestions?)

But I am enjoying my reread of Eclipse. I sometimes read things so quickly that I skip parts. When I reread, things are like new again to me and I love that part! Now I'll be ready when it's movie time. I'll know exactly where the teenage angst will be overwhelming...and I'll escape for a popcorn refill.

I'm also reader Jen Lancaster's newest memoir, My Fair Lazy. I am a huge Jen Lancaster fan (check out her blog at www.jennsylvania.com). I read two of her other memoirs last summer and I've passed them on multiple times to share with other people. She has a great voice that is laugh-out-loud funny.

This newest memoir is especially meaningful to me as a reality show junkie. Yes, I admit, I have a problem. My name is Dianne and I love trashy reality TV. In fact, as I type this, Tyra is interviewing teenage girls who beat up their mothers. Trashiness! I still love all the VH1 dating shows and "Real World." What can I say? They make me feel good about myself!

It seems Jen and I have this in common. She, too, is a self-confessed reality show junkie. But in her newest memoir, she makes an honest effort to get out there and change how people see her by becoming more refined and knowledgeable about current events, politics, and the arts. So she embarks on a Jenassiance, to remake herself. This book is F-U-N-N-Y! She has a voice that is going to pull you in from the start and totally entertain you. Check it out. It's worth it.

Finally, I'm reading You Can't Drink All Day if You Don't Start in the Morning by Celia Rivenbark. Buy it for the title if nothing else! Seriously, though, Rivenbark, a columnist for The Sun Times out of Myrtle Beach also has a light-hearted voice that is entertaining and easy to read. Her books are more like a collection of her columns, just slightly longer. And this one includes recipes! The chapters examine things like over-zealous moms that try to make slacker-moms feel bad. I'm not a mom, but I imagine I would fall into the latter category.

So I technically have four books going on at once. It's like summer reading ADD. The editing job gets the most attention--the quicker I'm done, the quicker it's released, and the quicker I get paid! The others get picked up here and there. I have a few others that are currently laying around the house dog-eared or open and face-down on an arm chair. Hopefully, I'll wind down soon and get settled into some long-term reading. I have a lot of books to knock out this summer and it will be over before I know it!

A month later...

2010-06-08T19:02:00.003-05:00

I'm still alive. I finally made it to summer vacation and today is a MAJOR day. Our state's primaries are today and the polls are rapidly reporting results.

I did something today for the first time--I voted in the Republican primary. A fellow educator is running for state superintendent of education on the Republican ticket and I cast my vote for him. I also cast my vote against Nikki Haley. She seems to be the Republican forerunner and also the strongest candidate. Since I'm crossing my fingers for a Dem governor in this Red State, I would prefer a weaker candidate.

Elections are interesting times. I try not to talk politics at home--one set of grandparents is hard core Republicans; the other set is hard core Democrats (almost yellow dog, if you know what i mean). My dad never talks politics and my mom is slightly, or maybe largely, more right than I am. I don't like Sarah Palin, so anyone who gets her vote is not for me. A la Nikki Haley.

Elections also tell you who knows you and how definitely does not. I am constantly getting invitations to join groups for Andre Bauer and other right-wing folks. There is no way I, a public school teacher, is going to support the same people who are proponents of school vouchers and privatization and so forth.

Elections are an interesting time. They bring out the best and the worst in people. And some days, it is hard to be a public school teacher in a Red state.

Down to the last few Fridays

2010-05-14T16:35:00.002-05:00

In just a few short weeks, Fridays will be meaningless. For now, though, they are treasured.

The end-of-school fever has set in. We have end of course tests next week, followed very quickly by final exams. Are the children worried about those? Of course not. They only know that summer is near enough to sniff out and that they are ready for it.

The end of the year means some different things to me. At this point, I have hopefully covered all the standards tested next week. This is a chance for me to look back at the year and decide what worked and what didn't. This is a chance for me to start planning ahead for next year.

Next year, I will go in with a concrete plan. I will go in ready to tame the freshmen beast with daily routines and procedures that will ensure safety and comfort.

Next year...I think I said that last year.

One year, I'll actually get it right.

Gallery Walk and Mentor Texts

2010-04-29T09:14:00.013-05:00

Today we studied subordinating conjunctions in English class. Sounds exciting, huh? If I had introduced the lesson as that, they would have revolted. People assume that just because I'm an English teacher, I love grammar. I don't. It's as big a pain in the butt to me as it is to my kids.

To start our conversation about subordinating conjunctions, I set up a gallery walk. I chose several sentences from different novels that use subordinating conjunctions. Their only instructions were to walk the room, read the sentences, and notate things that they notice and/or think of on post-it notes. Once they finished the walk, we talked about what they noticed. I pushed them to find what the sentences had in common. They noticed commas, a few literary devices, and that several sentences started with "if." So I introduced them to the AAAWWUBBIS.

AAAWWUBBIS is a mnemonic device for some of the most common subordinating conjunctions. According to Constance Weaver, it's also one of the most commonly assessed errors on standardized tests. I know I've seen it in my students' writing all year long--even in my seniors.

Once they knew what they were looking at, we were on a roll! We talked about punctuation and how using a period instead of a comma lead to fragments. We talked about removing the conjunction and making two short sentences. We talked about using conjunctions for sentence comining because the short sentences were "baby" sentences.

After theorizing why authors would use subordinating conjunctions, students went to other mentor texts--children's books. They mined those books for
sample sentences. Not every book will have them, but many of them will. We looked and shared aloud and broke the sentences apart and put them back together.

To sum it up, students worked in groups to write their own sentences with subordinating conjunctions.

We aren't done with subordinating conjunctions. As we work in literature circles, students will continue to look for them in their young adult books. We'll compile examples in group folders. We'll examine subordingating conjunctions in our own writing. We'll experiment with sentence combining.

And, hopefully, along the way, we'll remember how much fun writing can be. It's not all about correcting papers after all.

When they won't stop reading...

2010-04-28T08:07:00.001-05:00

My students picked out their literature circles books last week and were able to start reading them this week. Today, I couldn't get them to stop.

I have trained my students to start class with independent reading time. I set the example; I don't assess their reading comprehension; I supply a literacy-rich environment.

But I never expected to see the reaction to the literature circles books that I have seen today.

They didn't want to stop reading. They wanted to take the books home (we don't have enough for that). There was nothing more they wanted to do than to read their new books.

Teenagers reading is an awesome thing, especially when that teenager doesn't fit the mold of a high-achieving student. What else can you do when they won't stop reading except...let them read?

Kids Talking about Books

2010-04-27T20:04:00.002-05:00

I stumbled upon the website, Awesome Things, today. This has inspired me to focus on awesome things in my life. Today's awesome thing: Kids talking about books.

I haven't gotten very deep into the literature circles. We've done the book pass. I've told them what their books are. But we haven't met, we haven't discussed jobs, we haven't even really set goals. (They were supposed to yesterday, but I didn't structure it well and I suspect that they didn't.)

But today. TODAY. Students pulled their new books out of the crate. Not everyone chose to read their new books during SSR, but some of them did. And then the magic happened. I noticed some movement from the back of the room and realized that one boy was passing his book to his neighbor to share what he had read. Then, at the end of SSR, one student turned to another student--not a friend, not even an aquaintance--and asked him about something he read in his new book.

My awesome thing today is students talking about books. My main goal is to churn out literate adults. I want children to remember the magic they used to find in books. There is something amazing about teenagers talking to one another about books. I'd like to bottle that so that I could take it out every October--after the newness has worn off and before they are properly trained. I could take out that bottle and remember the promise, the awesome thing, of teenagers talking about reading.

Website of the Day

2010-04-27T12:02:00.003-05:00

I love stumbling upon new websites that inspire me to create new lessons. I found one today. 1000 Awesome Things started when the author was feeling really down and decided to write about an awesome thing every weekday. What an inspiration!

What if we started every Monday writing (and maybe posting!) about an awesome thing? Students would get practice with authentic writing. For a year-end project, students could choose the top ten and piece together a book, complete with illustrations. I'm brilliant!

I think I see it like this...

First week of school--explore the site as a class. Brainstorm awesome things. My own list would include puppy breath, fresh cut grass, wisteria, rain...I'm big on smells...Maggie curled up on her bed, my sister in the pulpit, Fenway Park. I could list things forever!

First Monday--shared writing about one awesome thing. Creation of Wiki and all that entailed with getting students started with it.

Second Monday--partner writing and illustration.

Third Monday--We are rocking and rolling at full steam ahead! We will be writing as individuals on Monday, getting a peer review on Tuesday, and posting to the class wiki by Friday! Woo hoo!

Isn't it amazing how much optimism I have for NEXT year's kids? I know. We are three weeks out from the end of course test and literature circles are my only adventure right now.

BTW...post on literature circles coming soon. Perfect? Nope. But I heard kids talking and asking questions about their books and we haven't officially started yet! Yay!

The Book Pass

2010-04-23T09:08:00.003-05:00

My ninth grade babies are getting ready to embark on a literature circle journey. One of my colleagues snickered when I told her this and then told me to let her know how it went. I have faith. I've trained them well, right?

So today, we started with a book pass. I have thirteen books. I have no intention of having thirteen literature circles. They need to weed out the good from the bad. We did a book pass instead of sustained silent reading today.

If you're unfamiliar with a book pass, it is a chance to teach students to process for choosing a book to read. It's a great way to start an independent reading program or a literature circles program. Students often don't know what they are looking at when they decide to check out a book. They just know that they have to take one with them when they leave. The book pass lays out the steps for them. Students are instructed to start by looking at the book--the title, the print size, the cover illustration, etc. You want them to just get a feel for the book. Then you want them to read some. The back of the book, the first chapter, even the end if that's what they usually do. Students need a time limit. After only a minute or a minute and a half, they need to rank their book and pass it to their neighbor.

You could have heard a pin drop this morning. We were reading and ranking and passing. Everyone found three books that they thought they would enjoy reading. Now I've got to put them into groups that will work.

Next week, my students will experiment with literature circles for the first time. This should be a great way to end the year. But if I don't plan it right, it could be a disaster. My goal? Let's end the year with adult discussions about reading. That's not too much to ask for, right?

An EOC Plan

2010-04-21T21:19:00.003-05:00

So...I am in a state that gives End of Course Tests for certain subjects. And I teach one of those subjects--English I. Now. Please believe that I am on a personal crusade to end these tests. The legislature is talking about freezing the step raises for teachers, and I would much rather them do away with these ridiculous standardized tests. I have e-mailed several times. Needless to say, I haven't gotten a response. Yet.

But I have a plan to end the year. My colleagues do an EOC boot camp, but scores haven't exactly been stellar the last few years. (This isn't exactly a valid assessment.) So I'm trying out my own plan for the last three weeks before the test.

We are going to continue our vocabulary on Mondays. Only our vocabulary will consist of words from the standards that students need to know. I should have a lot of As on tests, don't you think? I mean, I've taught these things all year. Hmph.

Tuesdays will consist of a focus lesson--such as propaganda and bias and craft. These are still under construction. I only have a few days to perfect the first one.

Wednesdays and Thursdays will consist of literature circles activities. Students will use their novels to study author's craft.

Fridays will be reserved for vocabulary tests and articles of the week. I've been inundating my freshmen with nonfiction texts recently and now it is time to step it up a notch. In addition to the nonfiction text, they will have a poem to compare it to in their reflection.

This is my plan. Foolproof? Heavens, I hope so. But only time will tell. We are taking the tests on computers this year. My children have no experience with computerized tests, but we'll do anything to save a buck and save a test. We'll see how things go the next three weeks.

Spring Break, Allergies, and Grammar Instruction

2010-04-05T19:26:00.002-05:00

It is finally spring break and I am down for the count with allergies. I had a lovely day off Friday and went down to the beach for the day. It was ideal, but this 90 degree weather and coats upon coats of pollen is not ideal. Not at all.

So I am sitting here, eyes puffy, tissue stuffed up one nostril, spending time with Constance Weaver's Grammar to Enrich and Enhance Writing. I have spent a lot of reflective time with my writing instructional practices this year. I am trying to use only best practices (although I'll admit to not using vocabulary best practices--it's hard to be on ALL the time). In order to improve writing, we are not doing "daily oral language." I am adamantly against it, always have been. First of all, it isn't oral. Secondly, I've never seen the benefits of copying down incorrect sentences. Don't you remember more what you copy down? Then wouldn't it make sense that students are learning incorrect writing skills?

Constance Weaver is only supporting my beliefs that teaching grammar in isolation is not beneficial to student learning. Weaver's research shows that grammar study in the Middle Ages was a study of what not to do, instead of what to do. Think of your own grammar lessons in schools. There was a lot of labeling parts of speech and rectifying errors. What not to do. Towards the end of the 19th century, the teaching of grammar was designed to move lower class citizens up the class system. The teaching of grammar was also used as ammunition for the middle and upper classes to use against those who did not change their use of language. This hasn't changed in over a hundred years. We still expect students to memorize grammatical rules in order to be successful in the workplace. Instead of teaching code-switching, we expect students to leave their inherited linguistic practices behind. We teach grammatical rules in order to help students move up in the world. Nothing else that we teach is the same--why do we believe that grammar is different?

I remember grammar being taught to me in a separate class. It worked for me...I guess. I'm obviously a verbal/linguistic-minded person. I feel like it probably worked for most English teachers. And since it worked for them, they perpetuate the ineffectiveness on their students now. Weaver points out, however, that studies show that grammar in isolation has a NEGATIVE effect on student achievement. A negative effect. Read that again. Grammar in isolation has a negative effect on student achievement. Yet, here we are in 2010, using daily oral language in English classes. In 2010, we are still teaching students to label the parts of speech. Just as they did in the Middle Ages.

In this age of instant gratification, YouTube, Facebook, and, obviously, blogs, do we really need to teach something the same way we did in the Middle Ages? I'm not comfortable with that. If I want to do the best job that I possibly can, then I don't want to teach things the same way we did hundreds of years ago.

I think I'll go back to spring break. I'll keep reading Weaver's book and contemplating the best way to teach effective writing skills. I'll also be contemplating how to tactfully share my findings with my colleagues. It is a lot to think about. Right now, I'm just hoping a little rain will fall and I'll finally be able to take this tissue out of my nostril.

A Nice End to a Long Week

2010-04-01T20:24:00.003-05:00

It is finally officially spring break. I am headed to the beach first thing in the morning. It's just for the day, but the beach is the beach. And I can't wait for it.

Overall, it was a good week. There was a beautiful full moon and it was the week before vacation and the sun was shining and hot...but it was surprisingly a good week. My freshmen are taking their writing seriously. Slowly, but seriously.

We are STILL writing about Romeo and Juliet. We've settled into a nice rhythm this week, but it's enough already. I'm ready to be done and to move on! But they are taking their essays seriously. And when we get done, they will have a polished, published essay. They will understand analysis. They will understand the use of quotes from a text and the importance of commentary in an essay. They are learning valuable writing techniques. But I want them to floor it. I can see that they are writing and I can hear them discussing their essays together and I am enjoying the one on one instruction.

But come on...step on it.

When we come back from spring break, come hell or high water, we'll be typing up our essays. We'll be completing peer reviews and we'll go to the library and they will have what they think is a final, published piece. Of course, that's when the markers come out and I get to do my handiwork on it, but we'll be one step closer.

Next, we are on to multigenre units and literature circles. But for now, bring on the beach.

The Sound of Success

2010-03-24T20:14:00.002-05:00

I've read lots of thoughts and research on grouping strategies, but I've never actually assigned my students roles during cooperative learning tasks. Today, I went there.

My seniors are starting a new group project as a culminating assessment for Macbeth. We've done group projects before and I've let them choose groups, I've assigned groups, and I've randomly picked groups. But I've never done role assignments.

Today's assessment dealt with creating movie components a modern-day Macbeth. To start, students had to assign roles for their group members. There were six roles--each role had to be covered and each student had to do at least one. After that, it was up to the student. Here are the roles I decided were most important to our assignment and my class:

Group Manager (in charge of all group activities and ensuring that all are on task)
Recorder (responsible for written portions of the project)
Reporter (responsible for presenting material to the class)
Materials Manager (responsible for getting materials and also for cleaning up materials)
Time Manager (responsible for deadlines and ensuring everyone stays on task)
Encourager (responsible for group morale)

Once students studied the roles, they assigned the roles to their group members and then brainstorm additional responsibilities for each role. As I sat back to watch students get started, conversations were hushed and groups got started immediately. I was able to go from group to group without having to harass people about getting on task or holding their voices down. Students were working. Genuinely working.

At the end of the class period, students had to complete a daily reflection log. This was, perhaps, the weakest part of the assignment. The questions did not really inspire the amount of reflection that I was hoping for. This will need some tweaking for next time.

My seniors still pack up early, no matter what I say. They would much rather complain about a lack of time to complete the assignment then they would work. But they got off to a great start this afternoon. Assigning roles within the groups helped students with self-responsibility.

Monday, Monday

2010-03-22T13:34:00.002-05:00

The daffodils are blooming outside my classroom window. Every now and then the sun peaks out from around the clouds. I can imagine how wondrous the air must feel. Spring is definitely here. But do I get to enjoy it? Of course not.

Spring also means the end of the third nine weeks. All of the grading that I've put off is catching up with me. (Of course I keep up with my grading--this is merely make-up work. What teacher doesn't keep up with her grading?!?!?) Students want their grades and they want them now! I simply want to coast until spring break. I got the fever.

The kids have it, too. They are a little more rambunctious than usual. A little louder. A lot slower. The vocabulary that took us one day to do is being stretched to two and three days. They're working, but it's like pulling teeth. They're on task, but they are stealthily dragging their feet. Like I wouldn't notice. I want to drag my feet, too.

Do they know this? Do they know that teachers get spring fever just as badly as they do? Do they know that we would love a free day?

Don't tell them. It would just be more ammunition.

Mentor Sentences

2010-03-21T12:26:00.004-05:00

I've been mining my books for mentor sentences to use for writing lessons in English I. I just started a new book by Karen White, The Memory of Water, and it is rife with beautiful sentences. Here are just a few:

For thousands of years, the Atlantic Ocean has beat against the beach of my childhood, its watery fingers stealing more and more of the soft silted sand, grabbing at the estuaries and creeks of the South Carolina Lowcountry, leaving us with the detritus of old forests, battered dunes, and bleeding loss.

I feel this sentence is long and complex. There is beautiful imagery, alliteration, and personification. When discussing this line, I think I would focus on the personification. This will be a hard sentence to use as a model, but there are wondrous words.

I'd never tattled on her. Looking back, I suppose that even then I'd known that her self-destructive behavior would simply find a more dangerous outlet.

The language of these two sentences is not what I would want students to mimic. In this case, the author has used a short sentence followed by a long sentence, which students need to be able to do in order to create rhythmic writing. The simple followed by complex is an ideal pattern for young writers to learn.

So far, using mentor sentences to teach sentences structures and literary devices has been very successful. Students are writing wonderful, diverse sentences and are experimenting with commas and other punctuation styles. The conversations have been ideal. I can only hope that teaching grammar and sentence structure this way, instead of though DOL in which students copy down incorrect sentences, will transfer to their standardized tests and writing samples. I've got my fingers crossed.

Looking for a Few Good Lines

2010-03-15T19:01:00.002-05:00

Grammar is one of the hardest things to teach high school students and there are differing opinions on what is effective. I don't know much, but I know that worksheets and rote memorization are not what works. If it did, then high school freshmen would come to us knowing their parts of speech and we wouldn't need to reteach a thing.

But they don't, so we do.

So I'm taking a note from Jeff Anderson's playbook. He was in South Carolina recently and spoke to the teachers of a neighboring district. I didn't get to hear him speak, but I have a copy of Mechanically Inclined and I have friends that had front row seats. So I am incorporating his strategies into my freshmen English class. Please remember that I'm looking for anything and everything to help prepare them for the End of Course exam.

We started incorporating a sentence of the day today. In order to teach sentence structure and punctuation, I'm using mentor texts. My first one was not all that great, but I have every intention of improving. Today, we discussed commas in a series. I used a mentor sentence on the SmartBoard and simply asked students what they noticed. I got some good answers. I got some rotten answers. But I did get the words "commas" and "list." After we talked about the mentor sentence, we wrote a sentence together as a class following the example that the mentor sentence set. Then students wrote their own sentences incorporating the same techniques. They shared their sentences with their neighbor to check for accuracy. I circulated the room to check sentences and all students were 100% right on.

We didn't discuss rules. We didn't label sentence parts or parts of speech. We just looked at a good sentence, albeit not all that creative, and examined what the writer did.

So now I'm on the hunt for good sentences from good writers. I have a little Pat Conroy, a little Sharon Draper...I just need, oh, about 175 more sentences. That's not too much to ask, right?

Using Interest Inventories to Group Students

2010-03-15T11:23:00.002-05:00

Most teachers use some sort of learning style/interest inventory at the beginning of the school year. Having students complete the inventory is not the problem--using that information is. I have to admit that I used a learning styles inventory at the beginning of the year, marked the styles for each student next to their name in my gradebook, and promptly went on with my life.

That is not what was intended.

Once we determine students' learning styles, we have to use that information to better their learning in our classrooms. One of the best ways to utilize this information is when grouping students. As we strive for differentiation, learning styles can help group students in two ways--homogeneously and heterogeneously.

Students can be grouped homogeneously by learning styles. Students would be surrounded by other students who learned in a similar manner. This could lead to reflective learning--students could really examine where their strengths are and how they need to address those strengths in class. If assigned a project that allows for choice, the homogeneous group could choose the task that most addresses their style and be highly successful at it. The homogeneous group could work well to strengthen each other.

Students can also be grouped hetergeneously. Students can work with students of varied learning styles in order to address their own weaknesses. Multi-genre projects might be more accessible to students if addressed through a heterogeneous group.

Learning styles are not a new concept by any stretch of the word. I've issued inventories for years. However, teachers have to do something with those inventories. Having students complete them isn't enough. Teachers have to use learning styles to guide their instruction and better student achievement.

Differentiated Instruction

2010-03-11T11:37:00.003-05:00

I'm taking a class on differentiated instruction. I am for real serious about this class...I'm not even doing my chapter reflections in groups because I really want to read each chapter myself. I'm so hoping to get something out of this class that I don't have yet.

I've been doing some baby DI this week. We are working on character analysis essays for R&J and students are working with partners while I go around and work with each student on where he/she is. This is baby stuff. It has taken me all year to get my ninth graders to the point where they can work on their own without me. My seniors aren't even there yet.

My goal for my class is to learn how to incorporate DI in every lesson. I'm getting better at addressing students where they are on an individual basis, but I can't run my class with no whole group instruction. That doesn't lend itself well to classroom management.

So how do teachers do it all? How do teachers work in multiple intelligences into every lesson and still meet standards? How do teachers do all this magical teaching and still prepare students for standardized tests? I'm hoping that by the end of April, I'll have all the answers.

Role Reversal: The Teacher as The Student

2010-03-05T14:18:00.003-05:00

I've enrolled myself in another graduate class this spring. I feel like differentiation is my weakness and I'm looking for new ways to improve. So I entered the library yesterday as a student.

I witnessed some disappointing behavior. I learned a long time ago that teachers are the worst students. We do things that we would maim students for. But we go ahead like it's no big deal to talk or text or spend more than half the class on the phone. When I was a literacy coach, I witnessed this behavior from the lecturn, so to speak. It is horrifying. If you ever want to feel belittled as an adult, stand up in front of teachers and try to teach them anything. It is the worst feeling in the world. At least with kids, you can write their behavior off as them just being kids. What is the excuse for adults?

So I have modified my meeting behavior. I may not always be paying attention, but I sure do look like I am! And my cell phone stays in my purse. On vibrate. I don't talk to my neighbor, I make eye contact with the presented, and I interject long silences with comments. It's hard to be the "sage on the stage." We all need some good students to make the job a little easier.

Something to think about...

2010-03-01T12:33:00.001-05:00

Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own tail. It won't fatten the dog. ~Mark Twain

On Writing...with Freshmen...

2010-02-18T19:51:00.003-05:00

So my freshmen are finishing Romeo and Juliet right now. Before this year, I hadn't taught the play since, well, let's just say it's been a long time. This has been a totally different unit for me. I went in with solid goals for the end (not necessarily assessment goals, but goals, nonetheless). It's my version of beginning with the end in mind. I look at my seniors and see how deficient they are. Then, I look for lessons that might close that deficit with my freshmen. Analysis is a problem with my seniors. Writing stamina is a problem with my seniors. Let me rephrase that; writing is a problem with my seniors.

As we near the end of our Romeo and Juliet unit, I want my students to write an essay that incorporates their new knowledge about star-crossed lovers and gives me an opportunity to teach solid technique. So I'm slowly developing a plan in my mind. A week of rough drafts.

Here's my thinking. We often give students a list of essays to choose from, have them pick a topic, and start writing. I've seen some students get frustrated with their choice and discard it halfway through. What I can do instead of overwhelming them with choices is offer them a different type of choice. We can spend a week working our way through different topics in prewriting and rough draft writing. I have a list of topics in my mind that we can work our way through:

Compare and contrast what you desire in a mate with what you parents desire in a mate for you. (Brainstorming already done on both.)
Who killed Romeo and Juliet?
A character analysis

And that's all I've got.

But each would require brainstorming, prewriting, webbing, and mini-lessons. And at the end of the week, they would have a series of rough drafts to work on. They can choose which one they finalize.

That's my idea. I'm dragging my feet about really putting my lesson together, though. The Olympics are on. And begging me to watch.

A New Computer on a Snow/Furlough Day

2010-02-12T16:13:00.002-05:00

It's snowing in South Carolina! Woo hoo! I'm sure kids are going crazy right now, but we are out today. Like many other states around the country, we have no money. My district alone has furloughed teachers for two days and administrators for four. We may be looking at as many as three more days. Part time job, anyone?

So I decided to celebrate the pending snowstorm and cut in my paycheck by going out and spending the tax return that hasn't come in yet. I have fourteen days to decide if I like this or not--I went with a brand that I was not familiar with, but had the lowest PC return rate--and so far me likey!

So on this furlough day, I'm sitting in the corner of my couch with the DVR showing this week's Private Practice and watching the snow dance down from the skies and land lightly on the tops of the privacy fence outside the window. Snow is so quiet...so peaceful...and at this stage, so clean. I know that I only love it because it has been nearly seven years since we got any decent snow in this part of the state. It's a good day. The economy sucks, but maybe the snow will come down and wash all worries away...

This post is just to say...

2010-02-08T12:29:00.001-05:00

That I don't have time to post! Rather, I don't have time to come up with anything witty to post and I might as well not post at all if I can't be witty!

My computer died at home and I have so many things to do at school that writing on my blog takes a backseat. How often does that happen? We have so many things to cover that something as important as writing takes a backseat? I'm trying not to let it happen, but it definitely is in my personal writing life.

So, with that, I'm back to planning. I'll post soon. I promise! I hope...

So, today was a total crapshoot.

2010-01-07T15:31:00.004-05:00

Before I start this rant, my freshmen were awesome. Really, really good. They are really getting in to what they are doing. More on that in a future post.

My seniors, however, are another story. We're doing pastorals and sonnets, which I realize are archaic and a little complicated. And some of them are a little boring. My goal here is to expose them to universal literary themes. These guys were struggling with the same things they are. Love lost, unrequited love, love, love, love. All you need is love.

In order to balance things out, the class sat in pairs. Hard literature is sometimes easier with a friend, I think. We started with a review of the pastorals we covered on Tuesday. They charted each of the shepherd's stanzas and then looked at the nymph's reply. There were a lot of light bulbs. The poems got the attention they deserved. No one was glossing anything over.

Then we moved into sonnets. A little background notes and then some translation. And this is where I lost them and my headache came back. There was talking and texting and daydreaming. There were very few giving me or the sonnets any attention at all. We got through one translation before everything fell apart and I gave up. Luckily, I did make it to the last ten minutes of class and pretty soon the announcements were on. Not much time wasted. Now they have a homework assignment over the weekend. And I still have a headache.

Once again, I'm left with the question, what in the world do I have to do in order to get these kids to pay attention? They don't want to do the work in class and they don't want to do the work outside of class and sometimes I swear they don't want to be taught. So I'm sending home six Fs next week on the report card. Six Fs. Seniors. They need this class to graduate. I think I care more than they do.

Two days down, three to go

2010-01-05T21:01:00.002-05:00

11:30 a.m. will mark the middle of the first week back after Christmas break. And since my teacher cadets are going out into the field for research, my day will technically be over. You can color me excited.

This week has been better than I expected, and just as hard as I expected. I am immersed in Shakespeare and Elizabethan England. Lovely, ain't it? The ninth graders are starting Romeo and Juliet and the seniors are starting the English Renaissance in order to move into Macbeth. The lessons have gone well, but every spare second has been spent trying to decide where to go next.

Romeo and Juliet has been my challenge. I haven't taught the play in eight years and I didn't know ANYTHING eight years ago. I thought you taught things like Shakespeare because it was what was taught to you. I thought kids HAD to read Shakespeare, like it was law or something.

The truth is, it's not. There is no law that kids have to read Shakespeare. However, they do need to learn how to struggle with a text and come out the other side successfully. And that is was we are going to do. That is what is feeding my plans for this play. I need for my students to experience the Prologue in it's original language. I need for them to study the balcony scene and recognize it's beauty. I may even want them to study the death scene and understand the conclusion. Other than that, what do they really need? There's a lot to R&J that is extraneous and causes excess pain. So, we'll read certain sections and then study other texts that represent the universal theme of the play. They will have their Shakespearean experience. They will deal with a difficult text and be successful.

I hope.

That's the plan anyway.

The end of books?

2010-01-03T12:30:00.002-05:00

I adore Jenn Lancaster! She is one of my favorite authors and really turned me on to memoirs. I used to hate reading true life--even though I adore trashy reality TV shows and really like it with Law & Order is "ripped from the headlines." But memoirs were never my cup of tea until I read Jenn Lancaster's Such a Pretty Fat. Now I follow her blog fairly regularly and keep up with her antics online while I wait for a new memoir. Today, she posted a link to this. And it got me thinking.

I don't have a Kindle. Nor have I looked at a Nook. For starters, I try to stay away from technology in it's first generation. There will be bigger and better versions soon to follow. But more importantly, I love books. I love the crack of the spine. I love that my shelves are bulging, both here and at school. But the Kindle might have some merit for me, if Jenn is telling the truth.

See, about two days ago, I finished every book that I brought home for the break, plus one that I bought at B&N. So I'm in a lull. I haven't picked up anything new. I sometimes go through these commitment issues. I just finished the House of Night series and I'm anxiously awaiting the newest installment. None of my fave authors have anything new out. So I'm in a rut. According to Jenn, this wouldn't happen with the Kindle. There would be another book at my fingertips, some of them free, and I would be a happy reader once again.

Some may think that the Kindle signifies the end of reading as we know it. I'm not buying into this. There are enough of us that still have to have that paper/hardback feeling at our fingertips. But the Kindle might be a little bit more convenient. It surely would stop all that fussing that my kids do when they get their 30 pound textbook at the beginning of the year. And if all of their textbooks fit in one place, they might actually bring them to class everyday.

Imagine that? Students WITH books EVERY day. That doesn't sound too bad to me at all.

It's a New Year! Time for a New You!

2010-01-02T13:11:00.003-05:00

I've spent a lot of time on the couch this break and it has been wonderful! I believe that it will make me a better teacher and colleague in the coming weeks. I've seen a lot of weight loss commercials the last week or so. Since the new year is here, people are vowing to improve themselves. I'm vowing to improve myself, too.

I resolve to continue to perfect my pedagogy every day. I'm not going to stop trying new things until I find something that works.

I resolve to use my inside voice with my sweet little children. Even when they aren't being so sweet.

I resolve to remember my student's learning styles and personal interests when planning our units. Since I have 50 freshmen, that can be a little difficult. But I resolve to try.

I resolve to stop focusing on these tests so much and just focus on good teaching. If I am a good teacher, surely they will learn the reading skills they need in order to find success on standardized tests.

Finally, I resolve to be on time. Even early. Our school day begins at 7:40. That is SOOOOOO early. If I had thought this out, it is possible this would have been a deterrent to the field of education. 7:40 is really early. My new goal is to leave my house by 6:50 in order to have a few extra minutes to myself before the day starts.

That is easier said than done. If I know me, by the end of the month, I will already have been late at least twice and I will have yelled at least once. Each week. But I know that I will continue to work on my pedagogy. That is what I have set my sights on from the very beginning of the year. It isn't easy coming back into the classroom after three years in coaching. But reflective teaching is something I am committed to. It's a resolution that I can keep.

All I want for Christmas is a working plan of action!

2009-12-22T16:54:00.003-05:00

It is three days before Christmas. Exams are done and scanned. My computer and Smart Board are unplugged and safe from surges. The desks have been rearranged and the floors should be waxed by now. I'm enjoying my break and reading The House of Night series (totally awesome and kinda hot, fyi).

My presents are wrapped (for the most part) and my yearly Christmas gathering last night was a huge hit (as is usual). There's just one thing on my Christmas list and I'm hoping Santa will help me out with--I need a working plan of action.

Test scores for the freshmen babies were not good. They said that they tried. They looked like they were trying. But it was more of a holy-crap-what-is-all-this-text-look that crossed their faces at sight of the benchmark exam. I think I had six or seven pass the test. That is pretty much on par for how our students have done on this benchmark the last several years. This is, of course, not good enough for me. So I need a plan.

I started working on my POA before I checked out for the holidays. We'll be starting Shakespeare when we come back (both in freshmen AND senior English) but this is not where the POA lies. No, it lies in the day to day activities that will lead to stronger reading and writing skills. Here's what I have so far...

We already read daily. And my kids are pretty good, for the most part, about reading, really reading every day. But that is the extent right now. So, for the New Year, we'll add in a reading response log. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, students will work on making connections to what they've read. This will require a brief mini-lesson on making connections and the different type of connections. On Thursdays, students will respond to their reading in the voice of a character. And Fridays will be all about summarization. (Oh by the way, I need about 50 folders with prongs to keep all this good stuff in--expecting them to keep up with something is like expecting South Carolina to have a white Christmas.)

So, I'm adding in a reading response log. This will be followed by a daily poem. Our poet laureate has a wonderful website that features 180 poems aimed at high school students (please infer, easy to understand). We will follow our reading response logs with a brief discussion around the poem of the day. This should expose them to more poetry, and give them a chance to dissect without pressure.

The last leg of my POA, right now, is an article of the week. Kelly Gallagher has his students read and respond to an article each week. He also puts these on his website (kellygallagher.org) and lucky for me, he has freshmen this year. So we'll have exposure to informational text and a chance to practice reflective writing.

Right now, that's my plan of action. In addition to our daily and weekly activities, we'll be reading Romeo and Juliet and maybe doing literature circles. Consider my English classes a science lab...I'm looking for something that will work magic.

'Twas the Night Before Exam Week

2009-12-14T13:26:00.004-05:00

'Twas the night before exam week,
and all through the school,
students were cramming
and acting a fool.

They all want extensions!
They need it, they swear!
If only they'd been concerned,
instead of brushing their hair.

The calculators are clicking
as they average in haste
and wondering how
such a low grade did they make.

"How will I ever,"
they exclaimed all distraught,
"Memorize this stuff!
This is all for naught!"

You should have learned it,
as we went along.
Then you wouldn't be stuck cramming
all evening long.

Instead you could relax,
leave your boots by the fire,
instead of feeling as though
you were stuck in the mire.

So while others are laughing
and kissing under mistletoe,
you, my dear student,
must figure out what you know.

For it's exam week for you,
This last test of the year,
and you can show all your teachers,
that sometimes you do hear.

Analyzing Bias in Fairy Tales

2009-12-13T18:25:00.001-05:00

Bias can be one of the hardest lessons for high school students to truly grasp. Unfortunately, it's everywhere. If they don't really understand it, they'll miss the sly nuances that are slipped into our daily news. If they can't recognize it, they'll be more likely to believe what they read. They'll take things at face value. They won't question the world around them. They'll be sheep. And we don't want a nation of sheep.

At least, I don't.

So we've been doing bias for what seems like forever, when in actuality it's been a week and a half. We've finally reached the final project.

To introduce bias in the media we defined the term and looked at clues for identifying it. Then we picked through examples. In the week of our lesson, Bobby Bowden retired from college football and President Obama announced the surge into Afghanistan. News sites were rife with opinions and my students had ample opportunities to examine word choice, tone, and hidden bias in headlines. Using my Smart Board, we analyzed headlines that looked at different sides of each story. We looked for emotions and discussed word connotation.

After thoroughly examining tone and word choice, students read "The Three Little Pigs" and highlighted words that showed the writer's bias for or against different characters in the story. All of that detailed analysis led us to a rewrite of the story, "Wolf Takes the Stand." Students were tasked with identifying bias in parts of the story and also examining how the wolf argues against stereotypes. We summed this up with a Venn Diagram on the two stories.

Now students are finishing up the lesson by rewriting another folk tale from the antagonist's point of view. The witch in "Hansel and Gretel" claims she cooked the children because they wouldn't do their chores. The wolf in "Little Red Riding Hood" proclaims his innocence because Red was a little brat that wouldn't give him anything to eat and he was just really hungry. They've come up with some great story lines. As we enter exam week, we'll finish up our stories and hopefully they'll demonstrate mastery of bias on their semester exams.

Fear and Loathing in Grammarville

2009-12-09T14:43:00.000-05:00

Grammar. It’s a word that causes most high school students and younger to shudder in fear. It’s a weakness. Sally is a poor speller, Mark can’t get his subjects and verbs to agree, and Shana just runs on through the sentences.

As a junior high school student, grammar was as unrelated to reading as it could possibly get. There were two separate classes with two separate teachers to cover the grammar and reading lessons. God bless Mrs. Wall—she had the most hated job in school. She drilled grammar into us on a daily basis through 7th and 8th grades. She was unrelenting. She was the grammar drill sergeant.

But I know my grammar. Is it because it was kept separate? Is it because grammar was drilled into my head for an hour every day? What makes my grammar abilities stronger than those of my students whom I teach? Is it the way it was taught or is it because I was an honors student? And could it possibly be that I am better at grammar after my college grammar class than I ever was in high school? Shudder at the thought, but could I have possibly been as bad as the students I teach at naming nouns and pronouns and verbs.

The times have changed and high school teachers often see freshmen that cannot tell the nouns from the verbs. (I love the commercials: Verb, its what you do.) The current generation of high school students are media based. They are thrill-seekers. They are looking for the easy way out and rote memorization and knowing-it-for-the-sake-of-knowing-it just will not do. Grammarians must look for new ways to pass on their love of the standard written word. While they may shudder at making grammar lessons fun, surely its better than hearing yet another politician butcher the pronoun “myself”. It is time to change grammar lessons. Out with the DOL! Out with the memorizing! It is high time to relate grammar to the students and the reading that they are expected to do. It’s time to make grammar more accessible to all students—even the ones that aren’t honors level. So be proud, grammarians. Make your lessons fun and spread the grammar love.

Why is it not working?

2009-12-08T16:11:00.003-05:00

Have you ever had one of those years (yes, years, not days) where nothing you try seems to work?

For heaven's sake, I am a trained literacy coach. I know how to teach. I've taught all levels. I've taught all kinds. I've taught kids who are now serving 25 years for serious crimes. And we got along fine! But I am very close to throwing in the towel because of one of my classes.

I've heard about "that" year. I've heard teachers refer to years in their careers that were horrid. I never thought I would have one...until I realized I was in the middle of one. And now what do I do?

So I've tried projects, busy work, tons of quizzes, group work, individual work, lecture, whole group instruction, and one on one instruction. Today I tried writer's conferences. I know what it takes to make them better readers and writers, but if you can't get through a paragraph without stopping to call down five students for noise, then you can't really get your point across. My conferences were totally ineffective today. I know that because I couldn't focus on one paper to give it justice without having to turn my attention to someone else.

I've tried strategy lessons. I've tried packets of activities that allows them to find their own answers. I've done just about everything that I can possibly think of. So now I'm contacting parents and about to get the administration involved. For some of these kids, it might be the first time they've ever been written up. I'm sure it won't be the last. But for my own sanity, I need some help.

I feel totally ineffective today. Even though my freshmen were little angels all day long, I've ended my day on a sour note. I sometimes understand why people drink themselves into oblivion...I'd give anything to forget.

Two Weeks to Go

2009-12-06T18:52:00.002-05:00

Two weeks to go...only two weeks. I can make this. I can do it. I won't lose my temper. I won't yell at the sweet children. I'll be smiles and mistletoe and everything nice.

Who am I kidding?

I'll yell and carry on and give lunch detention--whatever it takes to make these last two weeks semi-peaceful. Luckily, the last week before break will be taken up with exams.

So, really, I have one more week. One more measly week to be interspersed with happy hours and Christmas parties to make me more festive and bright.

I can do a week. Granted, I have a skeleton of a lesson plan for tomorrow because I spent today watching Falalala Lifetime. And it was awesome. It had to happen in order for me to make it one more week. So tomorrow, we'll wrap up the oh-so-awesome bias lesson I came up with and I'll plan tomorrow afternoon.

That's what planning period is for, right?

When is Christmas break again?

2009-11-30T21:17:00.002-05:00

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...

2009-11-29T10:48:00.003-05:00

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!

2009-11-22T15:43:00.004-05:00

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

2009-11-17T20:47:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-14T16:59:00.002-05:00

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...

Test Anxiety

2009-10-07T15:27:00.002-05:00

I am having test anxiety. I teach ninth graders and there is an end-of-course test in May. It's in May, but I'm having nightmares now. How am I preparing them? Am I teaching them the right thing? How can anything prepare them for a standardized test? How will tomorrow's lesson effect their scores?

This is a problem. I have a problem. I'm not thinking of teaching them to be lifelong readers and writers. I'm thinking of teaching them to be good test-takers in May. It's almost as if I've bought into the hype that says that test will show how good of a teacher I am.

And it won't.

The lives that I touch may or may not do well on that test, but they'll remember the lifelong lessons from my class. They'll remember that we start each day with a little reading, because reading is like a muscle and you use it or you lose it. They'll hopefully remember that they shouldn't "think" in their writing--they should just get to the point and know. They'll remember their ma'ams and pleases and thank yous. They'll hopefully be more likely to pick up after themselves. And there is no doubt that they'll remember that there is a book out there for them. They just have to know how to look for it.

The test in May won't show all the little lessons that we've covered so far this school year. It won't measure my impact on their lives. But for someone on the outside, it will measure my effectiveness as a teacher. And that is what is giving me nightmares.

A New Type of Write-Around

2009-10-02T11:28:00.004-05:00

I love doing write arounds in class. It's a chance for students to get their thoughts on paper. It's a great quick assessment for me, the teacher. I can check for comprehension. I can check writing skills. I can check for a pulse.

So I tried a new write around today. I gave students a topic and had them start at their desk. Then, instead of having them pass their papers, we passed their bodies. Consider this write around meets musical chairs. Except I didn't take away any chairs. They left their papers on their desk and took only their pencil. I played some music and they roamed the room. Once the music stopped, they had to sit, read, and write.

You would think that having them get up and move would cause chaos. It didn't. They loved it. They jumped in a read what their peers wrote and responded. Some are still getting used to writing under pressure, but others wrote lengthy responses. All in all, huge success. They liked it, and I got my write around done in a new and engaging way!

"I like this!"

2009-09-18T13:02:00.002-05:00

You know you've reached high engagement when you hear a high school senior say that she actually likes the assignment you gave her. It is a rare and beautiful thing.

So what, you may say, illicted this nearly extinct response? A Facebook feed project.

Facebook has taken over the world. Even my parents, nearing their 60s (although I hope they don't read this since they aren't there yet and will not like that wording), have gotten on Facebook and reconnected with dear old friends. I check mine several times a day. I'm addicted, I can't help it. I've even created a Facebook group for one of my classes--although not many of my students have joined. I think they're scared I'll see their pictures. And they probably should be.

So I wanted to incorporate Facebook into an assessment for my seniors. We are halfway through Beowulf and I want to check their understanding so far. I'm trying everything that I can think of to make the text accessible. I have a variety of levels--academic and initiative. We have read the poem out loud and used post-it notes to summarize in little chunks. We've identified literary devices and labeled them within the text. But how do I know that they know it?

Today we started a Facebook feed project. Students had to create a Facebook status page that reflected the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the first few sections of Beowulf. They had to incorporate an allusion, an example of personification, similes, and alliteration. They had to have at least 16 updates from 4 different characters, three of those being Beowulf, Grendel, and Hrothgar.

What I saw as I roamed the room was success. Students were engaged with the text, demonstrating high levels of understanding, and making the text their own. It was a beautiful sight! And it illicited that much-needed comment--I like this!

Making SSR Work

2009-09-13T19:56:00.002-05:00

We have sustained silent reading in my high school, but it is not an ideal situation. We have SSR during our breakfast in the classroom. Right after the announcements. Once we get started, the breakfast comes in. It takes a few minutes to get started again. Just when we are good and settled, it's time to stop. I only have 60 minutes and we can't really give more than ten or fifteen up for reading.

It isn't an ideal situation, but I'm making it work as best I can.

There are two musts to making SSR work with high school students. The first is setting an example as a reader. Most students haven't seen a reader in their home. They don't know what a reader looks like, talks like, or thinks like. It is important for them to see someone who does read.

The other must for SSR is good books. Students will read if they have the right book. They will beg for more time to read. They'll even ask you if you will let them read the whole period. They think they're getting a free day. You'll have to fuss at them for reading during class. It is heaven on earth.

I don't have an ideal situation but it's a situation that I have to make work. I know that only by reading more will students improve their standardized test scores by building comprehension and text stamina. So I'll have to shhh them a lot and be a good example, but it is something that we'll keep doing.

Teenage Pride

2009-09-07T09:35:00.002-05:00

I've read about ways to get your students to take pride in your classroom. I've walked into other classrooms, with all the clutter threatening to fall over and maim a poor freshmen, and wondered how anything got done at all.

Now I am not a neat person by character. I'm spending my day off catching up on housework that I have put off since July. (I was busy!) But I try to keep the majority of my classroom fairly wide and open. Only my desk bears the brunt of my pack-ratish self.

But I was still surprised by what happened Friday in class.

We do breakfast in the classroom during first period. It has turned into a time for SSR as well, which the literacy coach in me screams out that that is SO WRONG. But I'm making it work. We have a separate trash bag for breakfast trash so that it doesn't sit in the room all day. Friday, someone put their milk in the bag and it started leaking. One of my girls in the class pointed it out, and then immediately moved to put the trash can under the bag. Smart girl! I was impressed enough then.

But that wasn't all.

I left the room to get some paper towels to mop up the milk. I was gone for all of 30 seconds. By the time I came back, she'd cleaned it up already. She grabbed a clorox wipe from the top of the file cabinet and wiped up all traces of the milk.

Wow.

They tell you to build a community in your classroom so that students will take pride in it. I've tried to build a community and I've tried to make my classroom a welcoming place. This young lady showed more pride in her school and in our room than I have ever seen exhibited before. I was awestruck.

Needless to say, Friday was pretty good.

Worthy of a Read Aloud

2009-09-01T20:07:00.005-05:00

I'm Southern to a fault. Born and raised in South Carolina and will probably die here too. My state has a lot to offer me--the mountains AND the beach and some of the greatest barrier islands in the world. South Carolina also has Pat Conroy.

Conroy has lived all over the world and had 22 addresses before he found himself in Beaufort, SC. But he, like I, is proud to call South Carolina home. I, however, haven't lived all over the world. I haven't even really lived all over the state. But that is neither here-nor-there.

In my quest to use read-alouds with my students, especially with my freshmen, I am constantly racking my shelves at home and at school for interesting texts to share with them. In my attempt to use the textbook that we are paying a small nation's yearly budget for, I have started a unit on author's purpose. To relate to Jamaica Kincaid's "Island Morning," I pulled out The Pat Conroy Cookbook. It was good to identify the purpose of cookbooks, but also to look at what Conroy did with a cookbook. Just by sharing the first two pages of chapter 4, "A Home in the Lowcountry," I was able to think-aloud a few inferences, identify a different perspective of author's purpose, and share some amazingly beautiful writing. His comparisons between the salt creeks and a woman are amazing, and yet also amazingly simple. They got it. They may have missed most of the beauty in the writing, but one student said, Hey, that's a simile. Yeah, it is, kid. Yeah, it is.

So through a beautiful read-aloud from a cookbook I already had at home, my freshmen were exposed to what words can be when coming from the right brain. They were exposed to an author that I am positive they had not considered before. While they may not be rushing out to check out The Prince of Tides or Great Santini, I've exposed them to something that I think is great. And they'll see that piece again. It is so rife with imagery, metaphor, personification, and eloquence that there is plenty to learn from it.

So learn from it we shall.

Too much wildlife in my life!

2009-09-01T19:51:00.002-05:00

There is officially too much wildlife in my life. Last week there was a snake in my classroom. This week there are definitely some wild animals and the mice are taking over my pantry at home!

There is going to be a full moon this Friday, but I think it's hit room 303 early. There isn't any one thing that I can put my finger on. There isn't any one person that I can pull aside and deal with. My students are just all over the place. I'm doing my best song and dance to make author's purpose engaging, but I feel like it's in vain. There's a better show going on elsewhere in the room than the one that I am putting on. And it is really frustrating.

I've called the parents. Or at least I have called the ones that I have names and numbers for. I had to call one back today--after calling home and saying such wonderful things about little Billy--to tell her that little Billy was being a big pill. Shame on me for not letting the poor child put his head down and do nothing.

The one highlight in my hump day tomorrow is that I am leaving school early. I have last block planning and I am coming home to meet the exterminator! There are mice in my pantry--I swear when I opened the door it was going to sprout wings and fly into my face this evening. They are ignoring the trap and getting braver by the day. So I'm calling in the professionals.

Too bad I'm supposed to be the professional in room 303. It might be nice to have some backup.

I'm sending them the bill from my colorist...

2009-08-26T14:27:00.003-05:00

Today was a hectic day. We are giving out textbooks and that always makes things crazier. Of course the freshmen can't believe how thick the books are and how are they to ever carry it around? Half of them claim that they'll never take it out of their locker.

I was hoping that with this being the second week of school and with there being no more homeroom, things would settle down some. I think I hoped in vain. If nothing else, they were more hyper than usual. Some of that was probably my fault. Looking back, I made some first year teacher mistakes today.

Second period was particularly annoying. I am trying to train them in protocols to help with peer editing. I didn't have their groups ready. Did I say earlier that we only got through half of the activities in first period because of textbooks? I apparently wasn't ready. They formed their own groups and it will be the last time that it happens. During third period, I formed the groups and things went a lot smoother. See? First year teaching mistake.

I'm also back to planning day to day. This doesn't make my days easier. Planning from the end of the unit sounds good, but it is hard! I don't even know where we'll be on Friday, much less where we'll be in a month! I need time, but there is still only 24 hours in the day. For the 14 hours that I am NOT in school, I'm pretty exhausted. Is it Labor Day yet?

A New Week and Some New Wildlife

2009-08-24T19:38:00.002-05:00

So it's our first full week of school. It is definitely a Monday. But this Monday comes with a twist.

There was a snake in my classroom this morning. That's right. A snake. I walked in as normal and put my personal things away and went to prop the door open. (Luckily it's my new thing to get to school as early as possible.) I saw something on the floor and stepped to get a closer look. That is when it slithered.

I do not like snakes. Not in the least. Luckily another teacher, armed with a tennis racket, was willing to come to my rescue. Otherwise I may not have been able to function today in the snake pit.

So think your Monday was rough? How many snakes were in your classroom?

Putting Best Practices into Practice

2009-08-20T10:42:00.002-05:00

I've spent the last four years learning what to do and how to do it. It's a different animal when you get in the trenches and do it, though. Since I'm back in the classroom, I'm making a conscious effort to to do all those things that I learned about--read-alouds, mini-lessons, embedded grammer instruction, modeled thinking...the list goes on forever. So what do these things look like in REAL classroom? I'm not talking about the ideal situation of a reading lab like a lot of experts have. I mean a room full of real ninth graders on as many different levels as there are bodies in the room.

Yesterday was day one and I started with a read aloud. I decided to do Duck on a Bike as a little lesson that you can do whatever you believe in. I will say that the reception wasn't hostile. They weren't exactly clamouring for more, but they were attentive. Today, after bellwork, I read Incredible Me! to help kick off our "Who am I?" unit. I was very impressed by my connections. They were present. Slightly quieter than yesterday. Still not overly ecstatic.

Will read alouds work for us every day all year? Sure they will! All great classes start with a read aloud. But all of them can't come from children's books. I'm on the lookout for blogs and columns to share with my students. I like starting the class with a read-aloud. It gives me structure. And since I don't believe in DOL, it gives us a way to start class.

Next time, embedded grammar instruction. We started today and will continue as we go. We'll see. This afternoon, I'm going to model thinking in front of seniors. Wish me luck!

Planning to Plan

2009-08-17T20:35:00.002-05:00

Right now, I am planning to plan. That's right. I haven't actually planned anything yet, except two cool community builders for the first week. But I open my new teacher's edition nightly and then shut it with disgust. It isn't the book I wanted and it isn't the book that I like. I won't name any names, but I want a textbook to be organized around universal themes...like Monsters and Heroes and Unrequited Love. I don't want a book organized around The Narrative Structure, which just so happens to be unit one of my new book. It's frustrating.

So I open it nightly and shut it in disgust nightly. I'm planning on doing some planning later on. (Did I mention that I am the world's worst procrastinator?) Getting started is the hardest part. I have some older curricula to guide my thinking, but the kids are going to show up on Wednesday, whether I have the first lesson planned or not.

But I am thinking about it. It's constantly on my mind. What to teach, what to teach? I think I'll open up with one of Stephen King's most recent columns for Entertainment Weekly about screen addiction. That will be a nice introduction into reading strategies. From there, who knows? The Most Dangerous Game? The Cask of Amontillado? Both great stories, but likely to lose freshmen if I don't find some catch for them. Any suggestions? I'll take them all.

Until then, I'm going to turn in and dream about perfectly designed units.

A Love Affair with Real Life

2009-08-09T18:49:00.003-05:00

I've been a fanatical follower (albeit an embarrassed one) of reality. I love reality television. It's quite embarrassing when speaking to adults, but I still watch The Real World and I immediately get sucked into all the new ove reality shows. Now, please understand, The Bachelor/ette is not trashy enough for me! I prefer Rock of Love and Real Chance of Love and, most recently, Megan Wants a Millionaire.

You can imagine the looks I get from self-respecting adults, but I have no shame.

My love for the real life has never bled in to my literature life. I have looked at reading as my change to escape the real world, not an opportunity to study it. I don't even like documentaries. The real world in literature and in movies bore me. Literally, they put me to sleep.

That was until this summer. I stumbled upon a new author (new to me)--Jen Lancaster. My first memoir by Jen was Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big or Why Pie is Not the Answer. You can see how the title made me pick it up immediately. And the memoir did not disappoint. It was funny (often laugh-out-loud funny) and light-hearted. I didn't get the typical happily-ever-after-once-you-are-skinny ending, which I really appreciated. Lancaster made me hunt for more.

The next week in Target, I picked up Lancaster's Bitter is the New Black and another memoir--If I am Missing or Dead. The former was just as funny as the other Lancaster memoir and the latter was a heart-wrenching tale of long-term abuse. If you ever wonder how smart, emotionally-centered women become the victims of abuse, If I am Missing or Dead provides some heady insight into the answer.

And today I have found three documentaries to be more interesting that my Law and Order marathon. I started with Prom Night in Mississippi, which had to be followed up with Prom Night: One Year Later. I was appalled at the fact that segregation was alive and well just a year ago. I finished up my documentary afternoon with a moving documentary of what drives a 15-year-old to commit suicide. Boy Interrupted studies how bipolar disorder drove one young boy into so much self-hatred that he couldn't find his way out.

So today I have had a love affair with real life. Now, it did start with Megan Wants a Millionaire. Reality TV makes me feel good about myself. Don't hate. We all do what we can.

Back to school!

2009-08-09T15:24:00.002-05:00

August is here and that can only mean the start of a new school year! As for me, I'm shaking in my metaphorical boots (cute, ankle boots from Target that are on the way as we speak). I have been out of the classroom for 3 years and this will be my foray back into it. I'm making big plans, of course. I bought 4 cute summer tops to wear with my dress slacks this afternoon. It's tax-free weekend and they were $9.99 a piece! Can't beat that.

In addition to that, I'm working on syllabi and trying to remember what the first day looks like from the podium. Two of my classes should be no problem--Teacher Cadet and English IV. However, it's those three classes of 9th grade English that are a little daunting. I haven't taught English I in seven years and it has changed a lot since then. I have changed a lot since then. Through my experiences as a literacy coach, I'm not the same teacher I was when I left the classroom. Now comes the time to marry the coach I am to the teacher I was. Now is the time to find the happy medium between that ideal situation in an English class to the more realistic situation that occurs. Basically it is time to put my money where my mouth is.

So tomorrow I head back to the classroom. Have to unpack and clean and rearrange. Have to start planning. Check in on me often. In the past I used this blog as a place for my students to comment on classes and projects. This year, I think I'll use this as my own personal sounding board. Let the games begin!

MySpace strikes again!

2009-06-17T12:05:00.003-05:00

Last week, a gorilla briefly escaped from the Columbia, SC zoo. There doesn't seem to have been many injuries (certainly no unfortunate mauling of any innocent bystanders) but the ramifications aren't quite over for a former elected SC official.

If there is one lesson that we must teach our students, it is to use networking sites responsibly. We have conversations about online predators, but we also need to talk about how what we post on social networking sites can effect our livelihoods and relationships. Just ask Rusty DePass.

Now I don't know Rusty personally. In fact, I've never heard of him. But I'm going to gander that he isn't too terribly bright. After the gorilla escape, he posted on his MySpace page that he was sure "it's just one of Michelle's ancestors — probably harmless." The posting then was publicized on a state politics blog. Now he is making public apologies and I would gander that his political career has ended, whatever it may be.

We have to talk to our students about the things that they say to others, so why aren't we talking to them about their Internet postings? This is a valuable conversation to have, no matter the age. What you put on the Internet is out there for everyone to see and share. It is in permanent publication and can really hurt you if you aren't careful. As we address media literacy in our English classrooms, we need to address social networking sites. They aren't going to go away and almost all of our students participate in them. It is a conversation that has to be had.

Five Things I've Gained from Reading Literature

2009-04-30T09:33:00.002-05:00

What to Do
Copy the questions and instructions below, and paste them into a blog entry, a note on Facebook, or a discussion forum—anywhere that you can reach the people you want to. You can use the comments area on this blog entry if you'd like as well. Delete my answers to the questions, and add your own. Feel free to any extra instructions or invite specific people to answer the questions when you post them. You might ask all the students in your class to complete the questions in their journals or as part of a exam review activity, for instance.

The Questions
Think about the literature you've read—short stories, novels, plays, memoirs, and poetry. Any literature counts, from picture books to epic poems, and from romance novels to sci-fi fan-fiction. Answer each question, and explain your response in a few sentences. Just copy the questions, remove my answers, add your own, and then invite others to respond.

What piece of literature has stayed with you, even though you haven't read it recently? This would undoubtedly be Gone with the Wind. It was the first piece of true literature that I ever read--my first foray away from Sweet Valley High and Nancy Drew. I still have the tattered first copy I ever owned. There's a little duct tape on the spine, but it was definitely handled with love.
What character or story has influenced something you've done? Well this one isn't necessarily literature, but there's a link. I can't remember the exact date that I first saw Dead Poet's Society, but I knew right away that I wanted to be that English teacher. I knew that I wanted to influence students to make a difference in their world and to really appreciate the universal themes in literature--instead of just rhyme schemes. Robin Williams made me want to help high school students enjoy reading as much as I do, and to enjoy it without all the technicalities that we sometimes kill it with.
What character or piece of literature seemed to relate to a recent news story or personal experience? I recently linked a Sports Illustrated column about professional athlete Joe Delaney with "To an Athelete Dying Young" by A. E. Housman. This also relates to Brett Favre's recent fight to stay on past his own prime. Using the prose examples help to take some of the sting out of the poem itself--just the short lines and stanzas seem to give some students hives.
What character has made you wonder why he or she did/said something? Which one hasn't? I spent most of my time during the Twilight series wondering why in the world Bella Swann thought true love was hers. More specifically, though, might be Elizabeth in Alexandra Ripley's Charleston. I deeply wanted her to see through her suitor's (his name escapes me) charms before it was too late. Would the story have been as good if there was no murder, though?
Name something from a work of literature (such as a character, setting, or quotation) that you find beautiful or vivid. The most beautiful thing I have read recently comes from Cynthia Rylant's book, God Went to Beauty School. The idea of God coming to earth and living life as a human being in this day and age is amazing to me. The poem, "God got a Dog" is particularly beautiful and sad all at once. God sees the dog, lonely and hungry, and realizes that He made it and feels that He has to take responsiblity. The compassion is heavy on the reader. The entire book is well written and enjoyable--but also deep in philosophical thought.

It might be swine flu...it's probably just spring fever...

2009-04-30T08:49:00.002-05:00

So I actually live in the little town with two "probable" cases of swine flu. A neighboring school cancelled a soccer match with us because of the fear of flu. I feel an aching right now deep in my bones--a deep desire to be at home on the couch or out in the yard or even on the beach. I don't think it's swine flu--I think it's spring fever.

It is as hard for the teachers as it is for the students to stay motivated at this time of the year. The weather is nice; things are winding down. There are better places to be than in a building with 800 teenagers. I wish they would realize that we struggle at this time of year to. It seems that teenagers believe that just because we teach, we love being here all the time and have no other life. Seriously? I miss the beach! I wanna lay around and do nothing.

Oh well. It's not swine flu, so I guess I'll tough it out. A little spring fever never killed anyone, did it?

Yay, spring break!

2009-04-09T21:12:00.002-05:00

Is anyone else enjoying spring break as much as I am? So far, I've visited Sullivan's Island and Garden City. I'll redo Sully's this weekend. I'm thoroughly enjoying this break and looking forward to a four-day work week when we return. What is it about this time of the year that makes no one want to go to school? Students just think that they are the only ones that struggle during this time of the year.

My favorite thing about spring used to be teaching Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. There's a lesson for everyone...but especially high school seniors. They have a lot to learn from the elderly and this book helps them be ready to receive it. I loved the warm weather because I was able to teach it and be outside at the same time. High school seniors will listen to anything if you can sit outside while you do it.

So enjoy this warm weather. Read a book. If you haven't read something by Mitch Albom, check one of his works out immediately. He's awesome.

The SSR Breakdown

2009-03-05T09:28:00.004-05:00

So I'm crunching surveys from our tenth graders on reading. I really want to honestly know if they are reading and if their attitudes are changing. I don't want to bust anyone. I just want to know...and boy am I starting to know...

The most interesting insight from these surveys so far is the students who believe that SSR is a good thing. They believe that SSR will improve their vocabulary. They don't read outside of school. SSR is their big chance to spend time with a good book, yet they aren't doing it. They are missing their golden opportunity because their teacher doesn't particpate/believe in SSR. I thought the teenagers were supposed to be the hard ones to win over.

I find it heartbreaking that students see the good in a practice, yet the teachers aren't willing to take the time to invest in it. Students that obviously would not be readers outside of school aren't being given the chance to be readers inside of school. Now that's malpractice.

Gratitude

2009-02-09T09:20:00.000-05:00

No one goes into education for the money. Sometimes, they do go into it because they love history or they love English or they love chemistry. Most of the time, though, they love kids. They love learning. And they love to see kids learning. And the bonus at the end of the day is a student's gratitude.

I taught Terrance many, many moons ago. I'm pretty sure I had him in English I my first year at Newberry. Oh good heavens, I had no idea what I was doing. I keep thinking of those poor kids and thinking, if I only knew then what I knew now. If only.

But I did the best I could. And that was more than enough for Terrance. When he was a senior, in the spring semester, he came to visit me. We both had long moved on--he to other teachers and I to other students. But Newberry is a small school. You always see each other. You always speak. So when Terrance got to the spring semester of his senior year without passing the exit exam, he came knocking.

I didn't know a whole lot about the test back then. I didn't know how important authentic reading activities were. But Terrance had a weight-lifting class and I had planning and some workbooks. So we sat down together and practiced. We worked on very basic paragraph structures and multiple choice questions.

Our hard work paid off. On the last day of school for seniors that year, Terrance came to me, with tears in his eyes, to thank me for all my help. He was going to be able to graduate.

I ran into to Terrance at the gas station this weekend. Once again, it's Newberry. These things happen. I look back at our time together and think that I could have done so much more. Terrance was the one who did all the hard work. But when I see him, it's the same refrain. Thank you. Thank you for everything that you did for me. Thank you for being there. Thank you for your help.

It's gratitude. That's what makes us come back every day. That's what makes all the headaches worth while--a lifetime of Terrances.

Tips for a Successful Read Aloud

2009-02-06T13:20:00.001-05:00

You’ll need to start by selecting the right text for your class. Always, ALWAYS, read your selection in advance. You need to ensure that what you are reading is appropriate for your students and your lesson. You also need to decide whether or not you are enjoying the text yourself. You can’t fake enthusiasm with a bunch of teenagers. They won’t buy it.

When choosing a text, think carefully about what purpose you want the read-aloud to serve. Is this to introduce a new chapter? Do you want to make sure that they know the current events in your content area? Do you want to provide them with an example of your content area in the real world? Choose your text wisely for the most success.

The best time to read to kids is at the beginning or end of class. Read alouds are perfect transition activities. They don’t need to be longer than about 15 minutes—students get antsy if you go longer than that. If you’re reading a novel or other lengthy piece, you may want to plan to end your session at an intriguing point—leave your audience begging for more! You can follow your read aloud up with discussion, journals, write-arounds, written conversations, etc., but don’t feel that you need to grade them.

Reading aloud to teens can make a profound difference in their lives as learners and as readers.

Something I've Never Considered

2009-01-22T16:23:00.010-05:00

What in the world is a graphic novel? Maybe you spent time as a teenager collecting comic books—stories of superheroes and villains where the good guy always wins and gets the super-hot girl. If you did, you may even be a self-proclaimed dork. Your mom may have thrown them out, much to your chagrin. But don’t worry, they are making a comeback in a much larger form.

While comics were typically a series of stories, the term graphic novel refers to a format, rather than a genre. They are often independent stories, instead of a series. And the content is vast, and sometimes mature. Graphic novels have a lot of potential for reengaging marginalized readers and engaging reluctant readers. Their popularity is on the rise in recent years. In 2006, consumers in the United States spent nearly $330 million on graphic novels and comics. Librarians only counted for 10% of those purchases. Graphic novels are a popular format that can pull advanced readers, who often don’t have free time to read, back into the joys of literacy. The format can be very time-friendly to the overworked AP student, but can also be very nonthreatening to a more struggling reader. Studies have shown that graphic novels often attract male readers who are reluctant to read much else.

So what do you look for and where do you start? Some graphic novels have great content connections. Nat Turner by Kyle Baker is very nearly wordless. Some primary documents are included as Baker tells the story of Nat Turner’s 1831 slave rebellion, beginning with the Middle Passage. There is no doubt that the message is conveyed through powerful images that will keep you turning each page. And yes, looking closely at pictures is reading.

Confessions of a Blabbermouth includes a teenager’s blog as central to the plot. She uses her blog to vent about everything—including her mother’s boyfriend and the secret he allegedly has with his daughter—in the most public manner possible.

As Jane, of The Plain Janes, walks past a sidewalk café in Metro City, a terrorist’s bomb detonates. Her parents are overtaken by their fear and immediately snatch her to the suburbs, where surely they’ll be safe. She befriends three other Janes and they commence to make “art attacks” on the city. All the while, Jane keeps in touch with a mysterious man who she rescued from the explosion, and slowly comes into her own.

Finally, The Professor’s Daughter examines the true spirit of Victorian London through the eyes of a mischievous girl and a mummy who has opened his eyes for the first time in 3,000 years. He, of course, instantly falls in love with her. But how can their love survive their fathers, the London Police, and even the Royal Archeological Society?

Graphic novels have a great deal to offer our students and young readers. It has been suggested that reading graphic novels may require more complex cognitive skills than the reading of text alone. If you aren’t convinced, visit the media center and ask for a copy of manga—Japanese graphic novels that read from right to left. You will quickly see how demanding these can be for our students, but our students will rise to the occasion.

Like Riding a Bike

2009-01-22T12:13:00.002-05:00

As a coach, it's not often that I get put back into classrooms to work my own magic. I'm usually there as a support for the teacher and I like to stay in the background and let his/her magic shine through.

Today, though, I had the rare occassion of being pulled to briefly cover a class. A science class. This might normally be scary for me, but today's science lesson dealt with reading an article and determining pros and cons. And that is something I know a little bit about--reading.

Getting in with the kids and pushing my sleeves up is not assimilar to riding a bike (which I can say since I recently started riding a bike again). If you've got the knack, you've got it. It doesn't get real rusty. You don't forget how to do it. It comes right back to you right away. And that was the way it worked for me today. I enjoyed those kids. I didn't even mind that they were freshmen! I was able to help them find word cues that would guide them towards filling in in their T-chart. And I was really proud of my science teacher for using literacy in her classroom.

When Technology Goes Awry

2009-01-21T16:39:00.003-05:00

I've found myself with very little to say these days. But today, my temper got the better of me and my printer took a licking for it.

The long and sordid tale began last week. I installed new ink cartridges. They seem to run out so quickly these days! After I put in the new ones, I noticed they were a little more noisy than usual. To really spell it out for you, I felt like a machine gun was shooting right beside me and I found myself cowering in my chair for fear that it would take me out. Once I got used to it, I was then subjected to the embarrassment as people wandered by my office door and wondered what in the world I had gotten into now. One student insisted that it would go away with time. The same thing had apparently happened at her house. Well it didn't just go away.

In fact, it got worse. No, it didn't actually start shooting at me, but it did start to take paper in. Over and over and over again. Let me go in depth here--if I tried to print, it would pull the paper halfway through the printer and then stall. I would press the resume button and it would take off. It would just pull through piece after piece until I either took the paper away or pulled the plug. (At one point I thought it was possessed. I swear it was working without the plug, but no, I had pulled out the computer cable. That would make for a better story, though.)

This went on all day today. Not even the person at HP Tech Support had any idea what would cause this poltergeist to attack my printer. So I did the only think I could do--I went a little Office Space on it. Nothing actually broke, although I'm not beyond that yet. But I did slam it around a few times. Surprisingly enough, this did not make it want to work for me! I know, the mind reels!

Luckily I had a back up and we are up and running. It's tempting, though, to take that ol' printer out to a field with a baseball bat and give it a piece of my mind.

Happy holidays!

2008-12-29T16:35:00.002-05:00

The only way to spend New Year's Eve is either quietly with friends or in a brothel. Otherwise when the evening ends and people pair off, someone is bound to be left in tears.

~W. H. Auden

For the vampire in you...

2008-12-15T08:20:00.012-05:00

I was never a vampire-lover growing up. If truth be told, I don't think I ever saw Interview with a Vampire; I wasn't a Buffy-groupie; and Ann Rice did nothing for me. So when a student insisted that I read Twilight, I broke one of my own rules--I ignored her. I hemmed and hawed and claimed that I would...and I didn't.

Rule #4 to building a reader--Take his/her recommendations to heart and give them a shot.

So I finally got around to reading Twilight last spring--actually I listened to it on tape in my car. I liked it. I wanted to find a copy so that I could read in addition to listen (now wouldn't that have been interesting?). I devoured the other two and of course snapped up Breaking Dawn immediately. I've since reread Twilight and seen the movie twice. Right now, I'm listening to the soundtrack. Hmmm, me a vampire-lover. Who woulda thunk it?

So now that I am intrigued by this world and want nothing more than to be bitten so that I too can possess ethereal beauty and super powers, I find myself looking for other fixes. I've had a hard time reading anything to completion since the end of Breaking Dawn. Maybe I'm making bad choices, but I've really struggled. Until now. My struggles are over. I have met Melissa de la Cruz and Schuyler Van Alen.

Melissa de la Cruz is the author of lots of teenage chic lit. But her Blue Bloods series is what has gotten me back in the saddle again. So far, there are three novels in the series and she promises to write at least 6. In the first, the reader is introduced to Schuyler Van Alen, a thrift-store shopping outcast at a ritzy, ultra-exclusive private school in Manhattan. She and her sidekick, Oliver, stick to themselves and try not be trampled on by the elite. However, she soon learns that her fate is intertwined with those that she tries to avoid. Schuyler is one of the 400 Blue Bloods, a vampire who recycles in and out of the Red Blooded world for all of eternity. As they reach their mid-teens, Blue Bloods begin their Transformation and begin to come into their memories--all of them.

The books are fast-paced and easy reads. There is some vocabulary that seems a little extraneous (isn't that ironic?), but for the most part, the reader can skim right over them. I did. The characters are both likeable and detestable. Schuyler makes a great protagonist, even though her fashion sense apparently leaves a little to be desired. Her direct antagonist, Mimi, hates her for not fitting in, but then learns to hate her for many more reasons. The book has the typical teenage drama--puppy love, school dances, and clubbing--but also deals with heavier vampire issues--immortal bonds, the Sacred Kiss, and age-old battles of good and evil. The books mix in a great deal of history--more so than the Twilight saga. Whereas the Cullens were turned, there are only 400 Blue Bloods. And that's it. So if something happens, they decrease in number. Period. No do overs.

I've really enjoyed to books. The only downfall? The 4th one doesn't come out until next fall. Maybe. :(

Re-Engage Adolescent Readers

2008-12-04T14:04:00.000-05:00

No all secondary students who fail to read do so because they can’t read. Granted, there is a certain percentage who lack the basic skills needed to decode. And there is a larger group who do not read because, while they can “sound words out”, they can’t make sense, comprehend, what they read. But the largest majority choose not to read. In fact, their interest in reading lessens with the passing of each school year.

Yet the necessity of reading does not pass with the handing out of diplomas. High school graduates have to be able to read a wide variety of texts. It’s not just about literature and poetry—it’s about charts, ballots, internet information, maps, graphs, applications, warranties...the list goes on and on. Yet many of our students lack the sheer motivation to pick up a book and become a stronger reader.

Motivation can be described as a student’s willingness to read when he/she is not compelled to do so by academic assignments. High school students are not typically readers of habit. There are plenty of programs at the lower-levels that are designed to motivate them to read, but the results rarely last past the end of the program. In order to truly change reading habits, the reader must be intrinsically motivated. Therefore, the opportunities for choice and self-selection play a vital role in in developing a desire to read outside of academic assignments.

In order to generate intrinsic motivation to read, we must offer two things to our high school students: time to read and interesting texts. Providing opportunities each day to read texts of their own choosing can energize readers. This is where SSR fits into the scheme of things and how it can promote healthy reading habits. Students are more likely to finish reading a book that they started at school. Many times, without that chance to read at school, the book won’t get cracked open at all.

Student interest is another factor in creating intrinsic motivation. When it comes to voluntary reading, the subject of the text is critical. A book or article that matches a student’s interest is more likely to be read. In addition to giving the book a chance, a reader is apt to comprehend more when he/she is interested in the text. The interest level causes the reader to attend to the text more closely. A book or article of interest is more like to be read, and more likely to be understood.

Ultimately, the re-engagement of adolescent readers requires that they discover how meaningful reading can be in their own lives. This is only a few books, songs, audiobooks, or graphic novels away.

Rights vs. Responsibilities

2008-11-24T10:49:00.003-05:00

A public university recently banned a website, juicycampus.com, from its campus servers. This is similar to what public schools try to do with social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace. There are groups of people who want to cry "Free Speech" at the university and insist that it violates their Constitutional rights.

But where do our rights begin and end? What are our responsibilities as public institutions? The website in question is quite controversial. Students can basically write whatever they want, and they don't have to put their name on it. In fact, when you visit the site, here is the banner at the top of the page:

This is the place to spill the juice about all the crazy stuff going on at your campus. It's totally anonymous - no registration, login, or email verification required.

The posts range from the mild to the XXX. Some posts even have students' names as the subject line. Now I love a good story. I've been known to engage in a little tell-all. But, with verbal gossip, there's accountability there. When it comes out of your mouth, people can see your face. They can repeat it with your name attached. But when you log online, anonymously, it's out there for everyone and there is no accountability.

I think I applaud the Texas school for banning it from their servers. I think that young people need someone to lay down control once and a while for them--they often make decisions that aren't in the best interests for anyone. I'm all about free speech, but students and adults alike have to remember that with that right comes heavy responsibilities. And using this site to shirk those responsibilities is not good.

You are what you type.

2008-11-14T15:42:00.005-05:00

We all grew up knowing that you are what you eat. Everything that you put in your body makes up the magnificent, or otherwise, temple that it is. Likewise, if you are a teacher, you are what you type.

There are a group of North Carolina teachers who are in hot water right now over their Facebook status postings, pictures, and other comments. Basically, they are learning a very hard lesson--what you put out into the world will come back to you ten-fold. Did no one sit these children down and explain to them that you don't even talk about students in the check out line at the Publix, because there may be ears listening to you? Did no one sit them down and tell them to keep their mouths shut?

The answer is, apparently not. In this world of media, our personal thoughts are out there for everyone to see and read. Right now, anyone visiting my Facebook page knows that I'm contemplating the lit review that's hanging over my head. What they won't read is about the more adult activities I might wander into later on this weekend (all of which are perfectly legal, FYI--so stop imagining the worst!). Do I edit myself when I visit my page or even my friends' pages? Of course I do! I'm a public educator. The key word is public. We are public servants and we must set an example for children that is above reproach, for the most part. We do have private lives, but when you post those pictures on the Internet for everyone to see, those lives aren't private anymore.

These young people made some unfortunate decisions. They made their private lives public. They invited people to search for them and read their personal thoughts about their jobs and their lives. But the fact remains, they chose to put those things out there for all to see. I leave school frustrated every now and then (and sometimes more now than then), but I don't vent about my children on my networking sites. I don't call my school "ghetto" or the children I work with "chitlins" (as they chose to, in very poor taste). Nor do I think that these thoughts are anywhere near appropriate for public posting.

It is a hard lesson for young educators to learn. They have to leave the wide open world of college, where just about anything is okay, and come to a society that expects you to be perfect and chaste---or at the very least to not have a life outside of school at all. It is the sacrifice that we make. It isn't easy. It's why I choose to live in another town from where I teach. But it is what we must do.

Podcasts in Education

2008-11-14T11:38:00.001-05:00

I worked with a new tool recently. Podcasts. Sure, I'd heard of them and even subscribed to Robin Meade's for a while--though I never really listened/watched. So I was intrigued at how Podcasts could be used in education.

Basically, a podcast is a series of audio or video digital media files, distributed over the Internet through syndicated download. Students can use programs such as Audacity to create their own audio file, upload it to the internet, and then send it out for public sharing.

What a great way to do book talks! Students can prepare their book talks, and since teens so often don't want to get in front of their classmates, they can get on a computer and create their own podcast to be downloaded. Also, what a great way to record book club conversations. Students can plan out the skeleton of their conversation and then record the meat of the talk. It's a great way to increase accountability.

Podcasts are easy to use. If they're easy for adults, then no doubt students will be able to figure them out with little to no guidance. This is just one more thing for students to run with and showcase their learning.

Creating a Culture of Literacy

2008-11-13T11:27:00.005-05:00

What happens to a school when it becomes so immersed in literacy that reading is a part of every child’s every day? What does that school look like?

Studies show that those schools find success in test scores—exit exams, end of course exams, college entrance exams. Studies show that those schools have higher graduation rates. And studies show that those students, those that become lifelong learners and readers, have
more success in their lives and become beneficial contributors to our democratic society.

Creating a culture of literacy is something that we have worked on here at Newberry High School. We have implemented sustained silent reading into our daily schedule. We have used book clubs, not only in English classes, but in human growth and development classes as well.
Teachers are using read-alouds to help students anticipate subject matter and build background knowledge. And the library has become a happening place to be. So what are you doing to help promote this culture we are striving to create? What more can you do?

It’s quite simple. You can promote literacy by using read-alouds in your classroom daily. Use picture books, newspaper articles, essays, or even primary documents to engage students in your lessons before you begin. Offer students time to reflect on reading and learning through a learning log, a journal, or an exit slip. Move away from your text book and make learning more authentic by offering authentic texts for students to sample from. And, lastly, show students what an adult reader looks like. You may be the only one he/she knows.

Book Club Fever

2008-11-13T11:11:00.004-05:00

I've caught it. It's highly contagious. And I've got the fever. Book club fever, that is.

Everything that I read and breathe these days deals with book clubs. I'm in the middle of a major review of literature for a grad class, and I am proud to say that I chose something that I can truly enjoy. And I chose something that has widespread ramifications for the high school English class.

Good books demand good talk. Marginalized readers often do not understand how to find a book and a library, even a small classroom library, can seem very daunting. But get kids talking about the last book that they enjoyed and someone will surely step up and say, "I'll give that a try!" Book clubs engage student in that necessary talk.

The more I read and the more I see, the more powerful I realize book clubs are. And I've got the test scores to prove it. Students engaged in authentic book clubs are more likely to have significant gains on Measures of Academic Progress tests. Students grouped by like levels and then given a high-interest appropriate leveled book are even more likely to have significant gains. This shows great promise for our lower-level students. If structured correctly, I believe that they could improve grade levels over the course of just one school year. And that improvement is invaluable.

Working Translation Magic

2008-11-06T11:11:00.002-05:00

Students who work their way to the higher levels of foreign language classes will find themselves faced with a translation nightmare. They are often handed packets of papers with the expectation that they will walk away with an understanding of the main ideas of the packet.

Many students attack this challenge the best way that they know how--word by word. They read and understand each word as they come to it, but they don't look at the piece as a whole. Each word has it's own meaning, but doesn't necessarily contribute to the overall meaning of the piece. The task is to understand the words first, and put meaning to them later.

I imagine this is not so different from the way that a struggling reader attacks a difficult piece of literature. Or that some of our AP students go about reading their AP assignments. They all become struggling readers at some point, no matter their age or reading ability level. We have to remind them to use context clues, connotations, and the basic vocabulary that they do know in order to figure out the rest.

This was my task in an advanced Spanish class. Filled with honors level students, they weren't used to struggling with reading and I heard more than one willingly give up the fight. The Spanish teacher came to me after a recent assessment and wanted my help figuring it all out. I took an old reading strategy that I'd had some success with, and revamped it to guide the students through the piece. And it worked. It worked well. The students used for boxes to organize their knowledge: 1) what they know for sure; 2) what they are still unsure of; 3) what assumptions or inferences they can make based on their knowledge; and 4) what words they have figured out by piecing the puzzle together. Of course this new strategy was heavily scaffolded. We did several paragraphs together--filling in the boxes and then writing a 2-3 sentence translation of the paragraph. Then I let them go just a little bit. They did the boxes on their own and we shared. Then they wrote their translations based on the combined knowledge. Finally, they were on their own to do the last two paragraphs. The teacher was thrilled at the results and the kids really understood the art of skipping words you don't know and using context clues to create meaning from the piece.

I imagine that this could be used with any "translating" that students are being asked to do. Remember, we ask our marginalized learners to translate every day that they enter our classrooms. We ask them to internalize our particular vocabulary and be able to use it effectively. And we forget that there are 7 other teachers doing the exact same thing.

Click here to visit my literacy page and see a copy of "Say Something" for the translation exercise.

Reaching a Reader

2008-10-24T08:58:00.002-05:00

Let's call him Daniel. Protect the innocent, so to speak.

Daniel is not a reader. In fact, he is a senior that still hasn't passed the exit exam, a diploma requirement here in South Carolina. He's close--last spring he scored a 197. He has to have 200. And he wants nothing more than to be done with the test so he can enjoy the rest of his senior year.

He came to me at the beginning of the year, wanting help for his fall administration of exit. We wrote and went over rubrics. I used every trick in my bag. And I asked him what he was reading during SSR. He wasn't, and that was a little bit of a problem. He was reading the exit exam workbook during SSR--his choice, but hardly building a healthy reading habit.

At the end of one of our study sessions together, he handed me an open door. He apparently heard on the news that if you don't learn to really read by third grade, then you'll struggle the rest of your life. He felt like he was struggling and was doomed to continue to do so. It was the opportunity I had prayed for. Someone on the outside was telling him what his teachers were telling him--you have to be a reader. So we talked about what he was reading and how boring he thought it was. We left the conversation without true resolution to our problem--just with me telling him to read a book and him saying sure, whatever.

Fast forward to the following morning. He's in math class across the hall from me. His math teacher does SSR during first block, just like all first block teachers have been asked to do. Even though I'm on my way out the door to yet another meeting, I grad Day of Tears by Julius Lester off my shelf and thrust it at him. "Trust me," I say. "It's great. You'll really like it." Not much of a sale, but apparently enough of one.

Daniel read that book. In fact, one teacher told me that she couldn't get him to do anything else but read that book. And the next time that we met for test prep, he had finished it and we used it in our test question examples. He got it. He really got it.

He took the test this week. Now we are playing the waiting game. But I'm going to grab the chance to give him another book, and another, until the day that he walks across that stage.

Need a real good story?

2008-10-21T08:38:00.006-05:00

Sometimes you just want to escape. You don't want to read what the kids are reading. You don't want to read what you SHOULD be reading. You just want a vessel to escape in.

I highly recommend Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Gruen has created two settings in her novel that completely envelope the reader--a nursing home and a 1930s circus. She switches between the two as the circus arrives in town, sparking the narrator, Jacob Jankowski, to remember his days with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. As the reader soon learns, the show is hardly spectacular behind the scenes.

I'm not a huge fan of the circus. I went when I was a kid. Loved it. But, now that I'm older and oh-so-much-wiser, I can see the circus for what it is--large animals in tiny crates, traveling on cramped trains and trucks, only to be poked and prodded into showing off for a crowd of cheering humans. I think Jacob would have shared my views.

Be warned--there's a twist in the novel. I didn't think a novel with a prologue could throw me a curveball, but it did. I couldn't put this one down. I loved it from page one and was totally enthralled in the picture that Gruen painted of a Depression-era circus. Great, great read!