I feel you slipping away, slipping away...

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

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...

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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.