Grammar Time!

Grammar time...take it down now.  You hear the song, too?!

I confess:  I love teaching grammar.  Very.  Much.

But.  Most students do not enjoy nor share the passion I have for teaching grammar, and, to be honest, my thoughts on the teaching of said subject has changed much over the past decade, for I have taught straight out of the textbook (these years taught me grammar, also), traveling so far that I no longer use the textbook (although one is needed at times), now creating most of what I do utilize.

To be continued...

To Speak...or to Listen

Just bless them!  My students can talk...and talk...and talk some more when I would they prefer not; but ask them to present, and every nerve in their bodies become agitated!

In my now 30 years of teaching and encouraging students to present, only twice have I had a student have to take a Take 2.  Oh, many have wanted to bow out, but my expectations will always excel their willingness to negate.  Those who needed those few minutes to remember to breathe?  Yes, they survived, and I imagine have told this story themselves numerous times!

Why require speaking and listening skills of students?  Not only are they a part of the Arkansas State Standards, every secondary student must enroll in oral communications class, as required by state graduation guidelines.  Why?  The answer:   A student's success rests on the foundation of communication.  One's successes and one's failures, all stem from that person's ability to relate, whether verbally or non, to those in his/her culture.

Unfortunately, for students?  Teachers love to talk.  So true.  As I reflect on just the previous three weeks, I know that shift needs to begin...and soon...from so much teacher talk to more student conversation and responses.  Yet...here we are in a pandemic, where social distancing necessitates our every move, yet where becoming even better communicators remains vital.

Where once my desks were arranged to create tables of five, now those desks are lined up in rows as far apart as the room's breadth and width will allow.  Where once these gatherings of minds planned, created, and presented group projects, now they sit apart...but...thanks to technology...Rona will be conquered.

So tell me...for this project, once completed as a group face-to-face, how might this same (or modified) project be achieved?

Not My Job...or Is It?

This week, the teacher interns and I have focused on reading, mainly how to engage students, draw them into conversations, and stimulate their thinking.  All the fun aspects of teaching literacy!  Right?  Except for that student who does not read on grade level.  As a teacher of English 11, I have to ask, "How does a student arrive in Cafe Gillmore and not read on grade level (or at least secondary level)?  AND...how do I teach reading?!"  

In Arkansas, all third graders are to be reading on grade level 2020,  with the hopes of increasing graduation rates, for not to read on grade level by third grade more likely means these students will not finish high school.  Quite the challenge.  Especially when one considers...

To be continued...

Write Right...or Wrong?

Originally posted at Secondary English Methods.
_______________________________________

From my student intern (and she is not the first) who questioned why seniors cannot...or do not...write better than they do.  To this observation, I have several responses.

The Argument

1. We teach the "regular" students, meaning that, because of advanced classes, more of the "better writers" may not be in our classes.
2. English teachers are not writers, meaning that we do not practice what we preach; therefore, teachers themselves do not grow as writers and prefer to not model this in front of their students.
3. Teachers continue to teach as they always have, resulting in their students learning (or not) what they have always taught.
4. Teachers do not assign enough writing, and, as the saying goes, "practice does make perfect"...or, at least, more perfect...or not perfect, in this case, as students then do not write much, if any.

Now...take a few seconds, and re-read 1-4.  With whom do lack of writing skills lie?

Your answer?

The answer:  teachers.

Agree?  Disagree?

Pause for a moment and consider...would you write much more for this class than what I have assigned?  Are you writing much now?  Have you grown as a writer because of your college classes?

Now, for the other side of the argument = 

Yes, The Counter-Argument

1. Too many students are happy with a 59.45%.  They truly do not care to learn enough to master any skill being taught.
2. Some students just truly do not like to write.  Yes.  Those beings are really out there.  (Here's where you reply, "Sure glad I am not such a student!")

The Rebuttal

1. Do students truly dislike writing...or have they just not been taught The How?
2. Do these students dislike writing...or have they just not written enough?  Please see #2-4 in The Argument Section.
3. Are we beginning to go in circles?  Not accomplishing much, are we?
4. Accomplishment then becomes the answer.  See below!

The Gillmore Answer

1. Teach the kids to write.  Sentences.  Chunks.  Paragraphs.  Essays.  Just have them write!
2. Find a method that speaks to you, that drives your writing, that helps your students master The Unknown...aka The Land of Writing.
3. This happened for me when I attended my first Step UP to Writing workshop.
4. This continued when I learned about Jane Schaffer's Model.
5. This continued as I read...and read...
6. Are you reading?
7. Interesting, isn't it?  Good writers are good readers.  OR are good readers just good writers?  AND great writers are tremendous readers.  OR are write-beside-them writers absolutely the most ferocious readers? Are we going in circles again...OR are we witnessing a pattern that is true?

The Model

When all is said and done, YOU are the model...every day...from bell to bell.  Your writing skills, with a doubt, directly impact your students.  Every day.  Therefore, be a writer; assign writing; write with your students.  Just write right.

Good luck!

Why I Am Who I Am...Yet

Set the Scene

Many people could and should be thanked for their assistance in my becoming who I am right now in my career, for as Hillary Clinton's book persuades...just as it takes a village to raise a child, so it takes a conglomerate of individuals to build a twenty-nine year career.  Thus, the scene is set:  time to reflect, ponder, think.  If I were awarding those who developed my teacher persona and had to narrow to three, who would I hone in on who have so dramatically affected my life's goal to be a teacher?

Develop Your Thoughts (Previous Thinking v. Current Thoughts)

First, to my high school English teacher Mrs. Smith, my heroine, absolutely without a doubt, I would not be an English teacher had it not been for the example she sat every day of every week.  She worked us, holding us to higher expectations than most of us wanted, yet she loved us, and we knew it.  With her, I ventured into my first college class, quickly learning that I did NOT want to be a lawyer, as I dove into texts and reflection to write my first college research paper.  Perhaps, I learned as much from her disappointment in me as any of my many positive ones.  For some time, I was a library aide for her in the elementary.  Due to my heavy load of classes and my not-quite-in-love-with-elementary-age kiddos, I asked to not be an aide.  For this decision, she used the word disappointed and tore to my student soul.  Yet.  From this, I learned that I have to be true to me, to my inner voices, who guide and lead, whether through affirmation or frustration, and stand by me, even if I have to stand alone.

Second, to my college instructors Dr. Tebbetts and Dr. Wray...one being the extreme: energized, definitely a sage on the stage of my life; the other: solid, direct, forcing our writing styles to become what they were not. Picture it:  Dr. Tebbetts standing on a desktop reading vehemently from whatever text of the week, with passion and fortitude, like no other.  Picture it:  Dr. Wray's handing back our first essay.  The English majors making the lower grades; the basketball/track athletes scoring the higher ones.  No fluff, people.  Just the facts!  Yet.  Because of them, I inherited a much more solid literary background, one recognized when I later attended grad school and was told that I must have graduated from Lyon (or some high quality program) because of the caliber of my work.  Yes, I stood a little taller!  Thank you, Dr. Tebbetts, Dr. Wray...and the late Dr. Oliver.

Third, to my former peer Lisa Huff who shared her love of technology as a tool, which then began the big change in my presentation methods.  This blog (and several others) and multiple wikis and now websites are a testament to her. Professionally, I have grown and now freely assist my peers as they take baby steps, steps that, to them, feel like giant leaps at times, all in an endeavor to better prepare all our students for the "real" world or, as the latest jargon encourages, to be "college and career ready."  Yet.  Mrs. Huff and I did not always agree.  What?  Her philosophy of education and mine differed.  I gaze back now through my 20/20 lens and realize that from those differences...maybe primarily so...I learned me the most.  Remember, remember...two do not have to agree to reach the same end in mind.  Each just needs to remain true to self and better then teach and reach with passion.  (Reread paragraph three for further support!)

Draw Conclusions

Many more names should be mentioned here.  Definitely.  Maybe I can best be summed up by this quote I recently read in Brad Montague's awesome book Becoming Better Grownups:  "Everybody is getting older.   That's not an accomplishment.  The trick is to get elder."    In this all this elderness, please allow me to say:  Thirty years from now, you should hardly resemble your first year teacher.  Yet.  Running through your veins should be a determination to be ever learning and sharing and remaining true to self.

Why I Am Who I Am

First, welcome to Secondary English Methods...the beginning of the end of this journey entitled undergraduate work!

This fall, we will learn together and, hopefully, better prepare you for the "real" world, the world of teaching, of stamping out ignorance in our particular curriculum area.  Today, we begin that journey as we stretch our minds a bit, readying for the various avenues that this job entails.

A blogger already?   Yay!  If not this is the first place we will explore.  Our first assignment requests we reflect on who inspired us to the point that you are setting in this class, viewing this document on this screen. In other words...Why Are You Who You Are?

Here are my thoughts on this question...

Many people should be thanked for their assistance in my becoming who I am right now in my career, for as Hillary Clinton's book persuades...just as it takes a village to raise a child, so it takes a conglomerate of individuals to build a twenty-one year career.

First, to my high school English teacher Mrs. Smith, my heroine, absolutely without a doubt, I would not be an English teacher had it not been for the example she sat every day of every week.  She worked us, holding us to higher expectations than most of us wanted, yet she loved us, and we knew it.  

Second, to my college instructors Dr. Tebbetts and Dr. Wray...one being the extreme, energized, definitely a sage on the stage of my life, the other, solid, direct, forcing our writing styles to become what they were not. Because of them, I inherited a much more solid literary background, one recognized when I later attended grad school and was told that I must have graduated from Lyon (or some high quality program) because of the caliber of my work.  Yes, I stood a little taller!  Thank you, Dr. Tebbetts, Dr. Wray...and the late Dr. Oliver.

Third, to my peer Lisa Huff who shared her love of technology as a tool, which then began the big change in my presentation methods.  This blog (and several others) and multiple wikis are a testament to her. Professionally, I have grown and now freely assist my peers as they take baby steps, steps that, to them, feel like giant leaps at times, all in an endeavor to better prepare all our students for the "real" world or, as the latest jargon encourages, to be "college and career ready."

Many more names should be mentioned here, for I have many to thank for the gift of my career, for without them all, I would not be who I am today.

End of the Semester Reflections

As the fall semester of senior year draws to a close, I cannot help but think back on the semester as a whole from my first day in my classroom placement to the projects in Methods to the ARA conference presentation to my last week in the classroom for this semester. I definitely went through phases that got me to the point I am right now where I am wrapping up my fall semester and preparing for my spring semester of internship.

At the beginning of the semester, it was an understatement to say that I was overwhelmed with classes and the responsibility of teaching four classes a day. I was not prepared for it by far. However with a patient mentor teacher and a great deal of strength and determination, I stuck it out and put my nose to the grind. This sometimes meant putting internship on the back burner to take care of a paper or putting internship ahead of a smaller assignment that was due. Eventually I found a way to balance the two.

Now I'm to the point that I have practiced methods and thrown out some that I found unsuccessful and saved others I felt where helpful. That being said, I have learned a few things that I want to share here as I reflect back on my first semester of internship:

1. Consistency in classroom management is key.
2. Always assume the best about students.
3. Never be afraid to take on the basket cases.
4. Keep your classroom fun and inviting.
5. Praise the good things students do.
6. And most importantly, remember to use resources available to you in order to prevent burnout.

This semester has been fun and nerve-wracking at the same time. As I see the light at the end of the tunnel, I wanted to take a minute to share these important things with you all. For those entering internship next semester, keep these in mind and do not hesitate to ask those of us who have been there if you feel a bit overwhelmed and in need of assistance. This is one lesson I wish I would have learned earlier. 

ARA Conference

My time at the Arkansas Reading Association conference was invaluable. There are several things that I felt like this conference afforded me the opportunity to do. Over the course of the day that I was there, I was able to:

• Connect with future colleagues,
• Take advantage of the resources offered by several companies present,
• Learn about new methods of teaching literacy in the classroom,
• And connect with an enthusiastic keynote speaker who has great resources on keeping students engaged in the literacy classroom.

I feel as though I have been armed with more resources than I was before I went to the conference. I was able to meet new people and see educators discuss what they were passionate about. Working with Mrs. Gillmore and Becca on the conference presentation that we presented gave me a renewed look at the work that Becca and I are about to engage in. This conference afforded me an opportunity that I would not have had had I not attended it. I know moving forward that I will continue to attend the Arkansas Reading Association conference and participate in the mission of the ARA.

Teaching to Multiple Learning Styles

Since we have talked several times in class about modifying teaching strategies to accommodate multiple learning styles, I decided to do a little research on my own.  I was able to compile a list of tips from multiple articles and blog posts to help alter teaching to connect with each student, regardless of their learning style!

·       Provide a learning style test as soon as possible!

·       Explain the meaning of the learning styles to students as well as the significance of knowing what type of learner you are! Encourage students to become familiar with what works best for them so that they can use similar strategies when studying, doing homework, or even while in other classes.

·       Group students by learning styles! This will allow students to work with peers who learn the same way as them; if they’re struggling to grasp a concept, there will be someone there who knows exactly how to explain it in their language.

·       …Group students by different learning styles! This will help students learn to play to their strengths and work with others to achieve a common goal.

·       Offer choices in the classroom! It doesn’t have to be an expansive creative project for every single assessment, but offer students multiple small choices and they will automatically choose to do what has worked best for them in the past.

·       Abandon the teacher centered approach to teaching (lecture), and incorporate a student centered approach! This teaching style puts the students and teacher on a more equal playing field where the teacher performs more of a facilitator role. The following are two variations of this style:

o   Cooperative Style: This encourages student independence and autonomy, and includes mostly hands-on activities.

o   Inquiry Based Learning: {MY PERSONAL FAVE} This style focuses on group work and social growth in the classroom. This method also encourages student independence and hands-on activities, the only difference being that students rarely work alone.

I like the idea of modifying teaching to accommodate to different learning styles, but I would like to venture one step further by possibly having students learn about and optimize their strengths by taking the StrangthsQuest test. I’d like to get some feedback on this about how I could utilize it in the classroom, and I would like to do some research to see if someone else has tried this!

Christmas Book Party

I found an awesome blog post (http://bsbooklove.blogspot.com/2016/11/laughingalltheway.html) about Christmas activities to use in the classroom that are both fun and content oriented! One activity that I definitely want to try is to have a “Book Party” the day before Christmas break. This holiday party is unlike any that I have ever heard of. Each student chooses their favorite book, short story, poem, etc. that they have read over the course of the semester. They then determine what aspect of the text stood out to them the most: the setting, a theme, a character, the tone. Students then bring a food to class on the day of the party that represents that aspect of their chosen text!

During the party each student presents their text, their favorite aspect of it, and the food they brought. The class samples the food as the student describes the relationship between the food and the text. I think this is a great way to encourage reading and to end a semester with a fun twist. It’s creative and unique, and I think that students would love it because it’s unlike any classroom Christmas party they’ve attended in any other class! The blogger uses the picture below to provide inspiration for students. 

This party would allow students to make connections with a text beyond the usual confines of language and would require students to think critically and creatively about a text. I think that this celebration of the holidays and of reading, paired with yummy food and students sharing their ideas with peers would be the perfect way to end a semester!

 

Can we understand the truth behind fiction?

In my internship class, we have just finished reading Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. One of the interesting things about this is book is that O'Brien explicitly states that some stories have true bases but fictional tellings. He discusses, just underneath the surface, that his book is about how and why we tell stories.

My students seem to struggle with the concept that books can have true aspects intermingled with fictional details. So I have decided to make that my culminating project for the Heroes unit I taught. We have discussed the nature of heroism and how literature portrays heroes.

In this project, I have provided them with a guideline of a PowerPoint project that I'm assigning them to work on. They will choose nine stories from different chapters and discuss how those stories serve a purpose or are important to the narrator, author, or reader. Through this, I am forcing them to work look at the fictional details O'Brien uses and think at length about how those serve narrative and authorial purposes.

This is also my final observed lesson (today 11/8/2017). I'll make sure to update you all on how this lesson is received!

Blackout Poetry

I’ve spent even more time on Pinterest lately (which is quite impressive) compiling a list of activities that I would like to try in my classroom in the future. I have been especially focused on poetry because I. Hate. Poetry. I have never enjoyed learning about--and did not expect to enjoy teaching--poetry, so I wanted to find some extra fun and stimulating activities to get both my students and myself involved. As always, Pinterest did not disappoint, and I discovered an activity that I cannot wait to try: Blackout Poetry!

You can read the article that I found and check out some really awesome examples of student work here: http://thedaringenglishteacher.blogspot.com/2017/04/make-poetry-fun-with-blackout-poetry.html

I have outlined the steps for this activity below:

1.     Students choose one page from a novel or short story that has been covered in class over the course of the school year. The passage should be meaningful to the student in some way.

2.     They then choose a handful of words (you can’t choose to many or too few) that stand out to them from the passage.

3.     Next students begin to “black out” or color over the rest of the text in a black marker so that the words that stood out to them (and likely a few more for the sake of making the poem make sense) are the only visible words. The students are encouraged to create images or patterns while blacking out the text, and they may be as creative as they would like.

4.     Students then write a short response to answer each of the following questions: Why did you choose you passage? How is it meaningful to you? Why did you choose the specific words that you did? What made them stand out? What does your poem mean to you? Explain the visual elements of the project.

5.     Once the above steps are complete the students present their poems/artwork to the class and use the short response questions above to structure a 2-3 minute presentation of their project.

I love this project because it allows students to be creative, ties in previous texts, requires the students to choose meaningful passages/words and to think critically about them, and allows them to practice their public speaking skills! I would definitely be excited to teach this poetry lesson!

In Response to Nate's ACT Prep Post

I found Nate's post about ACT prep at his school to be quite interesting. He seemed to be arguing that the program his school uses, the John Baylor Program, is an effective one, but students don't seem to take it seriously. I'm not familiar with this program, nor do I know anything about it. But, I believe as educators it is our job to make sure that the ACT prep works. Students will, of course, not take something seriously that we do not help them see the importance of. 

In my own internship, I have heard other people in the professional community say that they feel the students are over prepped for the ACT, leaving them exhausted and uninterested in the whole matter before the actual exam is ever delivered. I could certainly see this being the case. Students are prepped and given practice tests multiple times throughout the year, and by the time they take the actual exam in the spring, they have lost interest and are tired of trying. 

So what could combat this? Perhaps there is less importance on which particular ACT prep program is used, and there is more importance on how the prep is delivered. Perhaps the students should not be tested quite so much leading up to the actual exam? I believe that if educators spent less time practice testing and more time simply teaching students what they need to know for the exam, they might have better results. Perhaps one practice exam before the real exam would be enough to show the students what to expect without tiring them of the entire matter. 

Are high school students sometimes lazy? Yes. Do they sometimes take ACT prep less seriously than they should? Yes. But, we adults are guilty of the same -- everyone is. Therefore, knowing human nature, it would seem that educators ought to not worry so much about which fancy ACT prep program they use, and more about how they use it. 

Is ACT prep really helping?

Typically I am all for using techniques and programs that will help students prepare for their futures. However, the school I am at for my fall teaching internship is using the John Baylor Prep programs, and I am finding, as a teacher in the field, that it would be much more effective if students would take the prep program seriously.

I have heard from the bulk of my students that they don't really try when we do JB Prep. For the month of October, we set aside 3 weeks worth of Thursday/Friday combinations for the ACT preparation program. As a whole, it seems as though the students are burned out on standardized test taking. This is my main issue with the whole thing. It seems like a rather large price to pay for a program that students will do because they are told to and not because they see the value that such programs hold.

After reviewing the program myself, I think that the way John Baylor teaches students to approach the ACT is helpful. He provides tips on taking the test that will help students earn at least a 20 on the ACT. He breaks down the sub tests in a manner that help students better understand how to take the tests and understand the material that they will be tested over.

Overall, this is a great program that my school is choosing to use. The effectiveness, however, will be gauged by how well students perform on the next ACT test they take, which may not be at all for some of my students. If students would take a more serious approach to this preparation, I wouldn't see this as much of an issue. That being said, I think there needs to be a reevaluation of this method's effectiveness before the school renews its license to use this prep system.

Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles

I LOVE to read, and it makes me super excited to think that I can influence how my students feel about reading! I learned a lot of simple strategies and activities in the “Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles” reading that I would like to implement in my classroom to hopefully encourage students to become active, interested readers!

Book Pass: I always hated when high school teachers assigned the entire class the same book to read because it always ended up with half the class hating the book and therefore not contributing to class discussion and activities. I really like the idea of allowing students to choose books that they really enjoy and can connect with, and a book pass is the perfect way to showcase all of their options because most high school aged kids do not know how to choose a good book (many go by the pictures on the cover, the paragraph on the back, etc.). I also think that having students fill out book review sheets for each book they preview is an excellent idea! I 110% want to have groups of students reading different books throughout the school year and I think a book pass would help to start the routine!

Drawing: For me, the most captivating part of reading a book is the stream of images that flash through my mind as I read. Therefore, I think that encouraging students to draw their thoughts about a book rather than write about them could drastically change how much they enjoy reading and analyzing texts. I liked the idea of modeling a “draw-aloud” to familiarize the students with the process, and I love that the reading offers additional avenues of visual expression than just pictures such as patterns, abstract things that represent a feeling/character/situation, a diagram/flow chart/story map, images from your life that the text reminded you of. The options are endless!

Save the Last Word for Me: Wow! I’ve never thought about this before, but the example in the reading where the teacher explains why he/she chose a passage first and then asks for student feedback really stood out to me. The students think that the teacher already explained the right answer, so they completely shut down and do not offer any additional ideas. This can happen not only when choosing a passage, but at any time in class! This section of the reading really intrigued me because it showed how strongly teachers’ can unknowingly keep their students from contributing to class and shutting down their ideas. I love the idea of “Save the Last Word for Me” in all aspects of class discussion so that students can first give their ideas without being made to feel like their answers are incorrect.

The Power of Reflection

As I sat grading 9 weeks tests this weekend, I saw another clear reason to reflect on my teaching, especially in using assessments to determine what students still struggle with. My test consisted of two components: 1) Writing a memoir with fictional aspects (80% of the grade) and 2) multiple choice questions related to the material covered in class (20% of the grade).

Since we have covered MLA a couple of times over the course of the 9 weeks, I figured students would have no issues answering a couple of questions about the structure of citations they have frequently used and works cited pages they have frequently created. However, I was incorrect. The multiple choice was low-stress, so I'm not sure whether to attribute that to sheer lack of focus or if students genuinely had a difficult time with it. That being said, I'll probably review that before too long.

Another thing that my students really struggle with are the use of commas. They do not seem to understand when they should use them. I would expect to see students using commas unnecessarily as well as using them too little. Again, I'm incorrect. I am in the process of creating an instructional activity to use to teach them how and when to use commas. I'm absolutely open to suggestion on this.

These two things are just a couple of examples of things I've noticed while reviewing the results of the nine weeks tests. As a pre-service teacher, I have been increasingly conscious of the need for constant reflection. In the near future, I will be acting on the results of my reflections. More to follow soon.

Reading Like a Writer

I started reading “Live Writing: Breathing Life into Your Words” by Ralph Fletcher (the book we all got in our last class), and I already learned something really cool by the time I finished chapter two. Chapter two is titled “Reading like a Writer” and it proposes an idea that I never really considered before now. I would like to share some of the main points the chapter makes in hopes that it will enlighten each of you as it did me.

·       Most people read a fantastic book/poem/short story and think “That is so good! I could never write like that, no matter how hard I tried!”

·       The typical reader reads either 1) for entertainment, or 2) for information

·       Most readers focus on what is going to happen next in the story

·       A writer, on the other hand, reads to discover how the author created a specific effect

·       A writer will read a terrific piece of text multiple times to uncover author choices such as word choice, word length, sentence type, sentence length, point of view, the use of adjectives/adverbs, etc. They will then attempt to determine how the combination of these factors creates a specific tone or emotion.

The author provided an excellent example that I want to share for lack of a better way to explain the process, and because I think this example would translate well when explaining how to read like a writer to students!

Reading like a writer is like watching a magic act. The magician throws a piece of cloth over an empty hat, waves his hands around, and whips the cloth off to reveal a fluffy, white rabbit perched inside the top hat. Our first reaction is “Wow! That was so cool!” Our second thought quickly pops up, “How did he do that?” Within seconds we usually say, “Wait! Do it again so I can figure out how to do it myself!” This mimics the reading like a writer process perfectly, and shows that re-reading a text is essential in the process!

Journaling

I was intrigued after our last class with journaling every day as bell-work. In high school, I never had a consistent type of bell-work presented in any class, and they were only assigned sporadically with no reliable pattern established at any point in the school year. I think that bell-work sets the tone for the class and serves to put the students into an English-centered way of thinking. SO I looked a little deeper into journaling daily for bell-work and I found an awesome resource I would like to share!

On Teachers Pay Teachers, I found a bell-work journal with prompts that last the entire school year. The prompts cover various types of writing including responses in the form of letters, journal entries, poems, bulleted lists, paragraphs, pictures, and social media posts. Sadly, it’s not free… but it is cheap ($16) considering how much you’re getting with the product. The packet is organized by month with twenty-five worksheets per month (275 total)  and is designed to last the entire school year. The template is also editable and provides practice for writing, brainstorming, proofreading, planning/outlining, and gives the students the opportunity to respond to controversial topics. Each worksheet provides a writing prompt, a space for the student’s response, a place for an additional picture if the student wishes to include one, and various other components depending on the type of prompt/style of response.

While I love the idea of free-write time, I think that students will likely need a little more structure, especially if they have never experienced this routine of writing in another class, to perform best during bell-work time. Maybe after the first semester of directed writing time using this resource or a similar one I could transition into free-write once the students are in the habit of coming in each day prepared to write a short response of some type. I think that this would actually work best because students would not only learn the routine, but they would gather ideas about appropriate topics to write about the various formats that they may use to communicate their ideas.

I’m not sure if writing for bell-work would necessarily be the one thing I fight the hardest for… but I definitely think this is an excellent way to get the creative juices flowing and to simply get students interested in writing so that they may perform better on other writing assignments in the class!

 

Chaos in Life -- Normality in The Classroom

Our personal lives do not always allow for peaceful repose upon walking into the classroom in the morning. My mentor teacher and I can both attest to this recently. However, in several ways, walking into that classroom does bring me a sense of normality and structure which helps me thrive and love what I do, allowing the outside world to fade away while fulfilling that glorious role of educator. 

"Time is nothing": a quote from one of my all time favorite novels, The Time Traveler's Wife. And while I agree with this statement in so many respects, time is everything in the classroom. I cling to this time; I marry it; I follow it religiously. Ten minutes for bell work -- thirty minutes for grammar -- thirty minutes for literary analysis -- remaining minutes devoted to finishing up individual work and assigning homework. Aah, so structured. So sure. 

Relationships -- so messy, aren't they? Well, not in the classroom. I am the teacher; you are the student. There is no gray line there. There is no question of roles or status or hierarchy. I want the best for my students and will do anything in my power to help them along their path to success, and my students respect me. Of course, the daily goings on and hashing out of this are not always so clean cut, but the understanding is always there, underlying everything we do and say. 

White paper. Black ink. Words which bring inanimate pages to life. Words which have meanings and correct spellings. Sentences which have correct structures. Paragraphs which have correct formats that funnel and flow and connect. These are the clay to my potters hands. These are my forte. These are unchanging. These I know. These I understand. These I can teach. 

Yes, my life, our lives, are messy, unstructured, riddled with difficult relationships, straining situations, ambiguous futures. However, as educators, when we step into that classroom, all of those things should fall away. These things should fade as we enter the classroom and put on the apron and begin molding young minds. We need not only to find our repose and peace and strength in the structure of our classrooms, but we should provide this stable environment for our students as well. We should foster it, grow it, allow its aroma to fill the room in such a way that when those students enter, there is no question what is expected of them and how the class period will play out. 

Proud Teacher Moments

This week has been great in terms of teaching moments. There are three major ones that stand out to me.

To start off, my classes and I are really starting to gel (after two and a half weeks of awkwardly silent one-sided discussion). They have gotten really involved in the discussions this week. I don't know if the material that we are covering are just more interesting to them or whether my excitement about the material is rubbing off. Hopefully both!

On another fun note, I have a student, X, who has been doing quite poorly lately and seems to be a bit of an self-isolating student. Well after we started Beowulf last week, he has participated in and contributed to every lesson since last Friday. Since he has been participating more and turning assignments in, his grade is now borderline "D" instead of so far entrenched in "F" territory that he won't receive a passing grade for the nine weeks. I found out today from a colleague in the science department and the 11th grade English teacher that student X acts and performs better in my class than he does in their classes. While this confuses me some, I am glad that I have made a connection with this student. Maybe he'll end up passing this semester of English 12.

On my last note for this round, I have taught two lessons back to back that I thought would end up being total flops that have ended up going far better than I thought they would. We looked at two excerpts from John Gardener's Grendel which is a story written from the perspective of Grendel. We used this Wednesday to discuss point-of-view and perspective by comparing the Grendel excerpt to what we get of Grendel in Beowulf. The end of the lesson on Wednesday was used as a primer for yesterday's lesson. We took an excerpt toward the end of Grendel when he bursts into Herot for the last time and analyzed the types of sentences and how they reflected the mood and action being observed in each sentence. I thought that this would be utterly confusing, but I thank my heavenly stars that the students in class got the concepts we were working on without needing much extra assistance.

Overall, this has been one of the best weeks I have had so far. This week helps make the dull, slow weeks worth it.