Returning to the Front Lines

Veggie Tales

2009-10-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

Scene: Literacy and Media Studies class (Grade 6)
Characters: Mrs. Charron and two students we will call Ben and Ed

Mrs. Charron: Hi guys, what are you two doing?
Ben: We are working together.
Mrs. Charron: Really? This is not a working together thing.
Ed: But we work better together!
Mrs. Charron: (looking suspicious) Do I look like I just fell off a turnip truck?
Ben: (Looks confused) Huh?
Ed: (Looks confused) What is a turnip?
Mrs. Charron: (Sighs) My attempts at humor are being severely hampered by your lack of knowledge of vegetables.

NYT asks "Does the brain like e-books?"

2009-10-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

LOVE the article in the Times entitled "Does the brain like e-books?"

As a literacy teacher teaching sixth graders in a brand new, technology-rich school, one of the explicit goals of my Literacy and Media Studies course is to teach the skills needed for screen reading. We've actually used articles about e-readers replacing books as reading material for the course!

The experts cited in the article don't give e-books a clear thumbs up or down, but they do discuss how the act of reading electronically is in some ways fundamentally different from paper reading and, in some cases, more demanding. Love the way each contributor went at the topic a bit differently.

Lots to think about today.

What are the odds?

2009-10-13T16:55:00.001-07:00

If I were still a classroom teacher, I'd use The Book of Odds when I was teaching probability. Today's Freakonomics Review made me laugh out loud...

I need to find a place to put this stuff in the literacy class!

Leveraging vocabulary and word study

2009-10-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about ways to utilize word study with intermediate students as a vocabulary building experience. Many of the connections are natural, but it is not always easy to create deep, meaningful interactions with weekly spelling words. I love this readwritethink lesson, Flip a Chip, and think it could be integrated really nicely into the word study routine for syllables and affixes spellers. Lee's lesson plan was published in the September 2002 JAAL.

Coming around again...

2009-09-26T07:50:00.001-07:00

In addition to my new part-time job as a middle school literacy teacher, I am completing my final practicum hours for my reading specialist license at a local elementary school. Nothing like going from 0 to 60 immediately, I say.

This week I sat in on the elementary school's professional development program, centered on introducing differentiated instruction to the math curriculum. Now that I have been in and out of classroom teaching for 15 years, I am starting to see a merry-go-round cycle of education reform for myself. As I listened to the DI presentation Wednesday, I thought, "Wow, this sounds like the pretesting and grouping we were doing for math in the early nineties!" And I smiled when I saw today's ASCD blog post:

A Brief History of Differentiated Instruction

I like knowing that smart ideas in education cycle around again and again...I think it's good to look at reforms with fresh eyes. How did differentiated instruction (a good idea) in 1953 morph into tracking by the seventies? How can we provide kids with learning that meets their needs but doesn't lock them into a predetermined educational future by sixth grade? Maybe this time around we'll figure out how to do it right...

Sixth grade literacy course...where we've been going...

2009-09-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

We started the course with a series of lessons on reading with purpose. I drew heavily on Cris Tovani for lesson ideas, and we talked about how important it is to begin with a purpose when attacking informational text.

By the third class session, we examined the differences between narrative and informational text. I sent the kids on a scavenger hunt into the stacks of new non-fiction in the library shelves to look for "considerate text features" such as the index, glossary, captions, table of contents, fact boxes, etc. that informational texts often provide the reader to help him/her find what is needed. They used the text features to find a few interesting facts in each book. A nice side effect of the lesson was that I've noticed a few kids seeking out their books to borrow for independent reading this week.

The last two sessions, we've had a fantastic time finding data to support both sides for our debate on whether or not schools should go the way of Cushing Academy. The students read the Globe article aloud (which gave me a chance to do a quick fluency check) with a partner. They took notes from the text in support of, or against Cushing's decision to remove all the books from their library.

For the second class, we organized a debate where each student got to make their argument. It was great fun and I was impressed with the depth of analysis from some of the kids. They talked about how reading a book is sometimes a physically satisfying process for them and how seeing the books in the library makes them want to find something to read. Others made the argument that it would avoid a lot of back-breaking backpacks if their reading and writing was all contained electronically. They talked about how beneficial it would be to access a wider array of literature than is available in the typical school library. The cappuccino bar that Cushing has set up was the source of a lot of heated rhetoric! Class finished off with a quick write. While originally students had been assigned which side of the argument they had to make, I asked them to express their own opinion after reading the article, taking notes and having a debate on the topic. Just browsing as they wrote, I admit I was heartened to see that most of them thought the books should stay. I'm with Cushing's librarian...losing books would make me sad.

We're back!

2009-09-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

This was my first professional back to school in eight years. It is a thrill to be back in the classroom again. Seriously, I had forgotten the adrenaline rush that comes when a sea of fresh faces comes streaming through your classroom door; it is a fantastic thing to share in the learning of children. Of course there is the utter exhaustion, too... I am really feeling that at the moment.

Wow the NYT hit a hot button with that article!

2009-09-01T17:11:00.000-07:00

I was surprised to check blogs tonight and see that yesterday's NYT article on Readers' Workshop in middle schools had hit hot buttons with so many people. Including Lois Lowry, who writes in her own blog that she's a bit ticked off to have her book being retired to some closet. She also makes a number of really salient points about teaching and reading literature.

On the other hand, I loved the response from sixth grade teacher and author of The Reading Zone blog disagreeing with Lowry.

Many others have weighed in on the NYT article webpage. It really provides a ton of food for thought. I love that Mokoto Rich, the author of the NYT article, has been such an active participant in the commentary attached to the story...you really get a flavor for the research that was conducted in preparation for the story.

Anyway...thoughts?

back from vacation

2009-08-30T13:38:00.001-07:00

I've been on a blogging hiatus. Part vacation, part needing to take a break and deal with my brand new, real life job as a middle school reading specialist. I am back. I am very excited to see that this is the most emailed article in today's New York Times. Very motivating, don't you think?

Read Around Groups

2009-07-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

I love this idea for organizing peer editing within the limited time frame of the middle/high school classroom.

Back to that Literacy and Media Studies Course...

2009-07-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

Since the Literacy and Media Studies course is no longer a hypothetical project (I got the job!), I am thinking more about it. Any course plan we make needs to take into account the NCTE's recent Framework for 21st Century Literacies.

Geography will never be the same....

2009-07-07T12:04:00.001-07:00

Have you seen kmlfactbook?

It is a website that merges the data from the CIA Factbook (which I never even knew existed until this moment...World Book Encyclopedia, step aside) into Google Earth.

My mind is racing with what we can think about and teach about with access to such interesting, powerful data....

Any thoughts?

The perils of Facebook for teachers.......

2009-07-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

Joanne Jacobs' blog has a great discussion going on about this story from last week's New York Times about an eighth grade teacher's experience when her students "friended" her on Facebook.

I'll admit it, I love Facebook. It keeps me in touch with my friends from our old hometown. It made moving so much less isolating and now that I have FB friends from my new town, it keeps me in the loop on what's going on with them. I've found old friends from high school and college. I now regularly correspond with a dear friend from my college semester in Scotland and I love seeing that it is raining, or that the sun is shining or that her kids have the chicken pox. I, however, have no desire to be FB friends with my students, and I avoid "inter-generational" friends (i.e. my kids, their friends, my nieces and nephews, etc.) in most cases for all the reasons discussed in these two articles.

Kids, especially younger adolescents just entering the spaces of social networking, do not usually have the same understanding that adults (hopefully) do that what they post online is not private. As teachers and parents, we NEED to explicitly teach our kids about the perils AND benefits of networks like Facebook. Online literacy is going to be a key component of a comprehensive literacy program in tomorrow's schools. Sharing these stories with our students and families might be a good start.

Guys Book Club... how cool is that????

2009-06-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

What a story!!!

Teachers start a book club for adolescent boys who are struggling readers, then explain the pros and cons of the program in a completely thoughtful way. I am verklempt...

Reading is like basketball...I love it!

Comprehension Strategies

2009-06-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

Comprehension Strategies...such a hot buzz word right now!

I know this because today I got email from the IRA announcing the release of the second (combined) edition of McLaughlin and Allen's book, Guided Comprehension Grades 3-8. Without missing a beat, I ordered it before I even noticed that I already have at least a dozen books on my shelf on comprehension strategies. Did I really need another? (Could I have a comprehension strategy book hoarding issue?)

I think that before we all get too carried away with strategy instruction, it might be good to consider Tim Shanahan's thoughts today in Why Teach Comprehension Strategies?

I need to remember restraint in all things, even venerable "strategy instruction." I love Shanahan's take on the topic because he really digs down and asks us to question why we are doing things and exactly how what we are doing is working to help students become more literate. Which camp do you and I fall in with regard to why, how and with whom strategy instruction is effective and necessary? I am so curious to see how he explains "Shanahan's Surmise" in his next post.

Vocabulary Their Way just out!

2009-06-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received a delicious gift in the mail, Templeton, Bear, Invernizzi and Johnston's Vocabulary Their Way: Word Study with Middle and Secondary Students (Words Their Way Series)
. I only have had about an hour to look through it, but it is a gem. I can see this book as the basis for a middle or high school faculty study group that might end with a multi-disciplinary word study protocol.

Planning a hypothetical sixth grade literacy course...

2009-06-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

Personal life and its many complications have taken me offline the past couple weeks. Currently I am thinking about what I might include in a one-trimester course for sixth graders that combines a crash course in strategic reading as well as media literacy. I am going to list some of what I've found here as sort of an annotated bibliography I can return to if I (or anyone else) needs it in real life...

James McKenzie's E-Zine, From Now On is listing his new (looks like self-published) book, Beyond Cut and Paste, which seems to really pinpoint the essential ideas teachers need to think about when attempting to increase the media literacy of middle school students. This blog and book would definitely be important resources for my planning.

The Center for Media Literacy provides some really high quality stuff for planning and delivering instruction for kids on media use and evaluation.

PBS provides a useful resource on their website about media literacy. It is kind of general, but sources have been vetted and are reliable.

A second part of the course will be devoted to strategic reading skills. In reflecting on what sixth graders need most, I am thinking about non-fiction reading. Kids who come from balanced literacy classrooms in elementary schools often arrive in middle school very well versed in fiction reading and analysis. On the other hand, these students often need more information about ways to break down and use non-fiction. This might include periodicals, online resources, informational trade books in addition to textbooks.

This portion of the course might include instruction in notetaking strategies. Ironically, when I google searched divided page notetaking, I was directed to the classroom webpage of a talented teacher I co-taught for a couple of years with in Franklin, Joe Corey. If I ever teach this course for real, a call to Joe is in short order! I am partial to the divided page form for taking notes advocated by Kathy Porcaro. She is an educational consultant who I was fortunate to take a number of classes with years back. Her LINKS strategies might be very helpful as part of this course. I'd do some modeling of textbook reading and notetaking with students, preferably using books they already use in science or social studies.

I'd like to include reading of periodicals as part of the course. Issues might be discussed such as evaluating bias in newspapers and magazines. Periodical articles can also be a great way to meet the varying needs of diverse learners. USA Today articles are usually short and sweet and written at a fourth or fifth grade level, while New York Times and Newsweek articles are more difficult and Wall Street Journal articles more challenging still. Providing the same story as written by several papers allows students practice reading at an appropriate reading level as well as practice discussing bias and unspoken political agendas of different authors and publishers...rich stuff. When teaching fifth grade, I often used the small sidebar articles in USA Today as text for students needing fluency practice.

Finally, I'd turn to some of my favorite professional texts as part of my course planning....

Both of Cris Tovani's:
Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?
I Read It, but I Don't Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers

I also love these from Scholastic's Professional Book Series:
Teaching Reading in Middle School (Grades 5 & Up)
Critical Literacy: Enhancing Students' Comprehension of Text

Well, it is not a plan, but it is a start. Any thoughts?

Inspiration and practical advice for getting back into the game

2009-05-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

When I first started teaching I looked on the book from Harry K. Wong, The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher, as my teacher-bible and it was a big part of how I was able to survive the first couple years in the classroom without losing my mind or my reputation. I took it out and dusted it off recently, then was pleased to note that there is a new edition out there. Today I came across a blog that serves a similar purpose in the virtual world, So you want to teach: Providing hope for educators. It's here so I remember to use it when my time comes to go back and for anyone else out there who is faced with the reality that it is almost showtime for them, too. Break a leg!

Summer Reading

2009-05-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

Summer reading continues to be on my mind. We want kids to keep reading over the summer and yet many of the things that we do to encourage (force) kids to read ends up making them avoid (dread) reading. What to do? Although it is not convenient, I think that the reality is that there is no "one size fits all" solution to getting kids to read. As teachers and parents, we need to see what motivates our students and gently challenge them with building their literacy. For some kids, a reading list is motivating. For others, it might be listening to what their friends and classmates are reading and loving through book talks. For others, it means helping them to find a magazine, a newspaper or something online that catches their interest.... I had an interesting talk with a friend the other day about our internal desire to censor our kids' reading...we want them to read wholesome classics while they want to read about the boy who put gum in his teachers' hair. It takes all my self control to let them read stuff that makes me cringe, but I do it because kids need to experience reading as something that makes them laugh, makes them relax, makes them happy. That is the way they'll build the skills they need to read what's coming at them when school starts again in the fall. That often includes graphic novels, re-reading books from grade one, and books with pictures of cartoon characters on them. I loved Tim Shanahan's suggestions for parents and teachers regarding summer reading, Encouraging Summer Reading. I am going to print it out and post it on my bulletin board, I think!

What's for lunch, Mom?

2009-05-20T06:52:00.001-07:00

Today I'm writing a little off topic...it is all about school lunches. I was heartened to read earlier this year in a school newsletter that my children's elementary school was looking at their school lunch offerings to increase the nutritional value of the meals they serve. Who can argue with the idea of providing kids with a healthier lunch, right? But then, as the weeks went on, I began to get grouchy about the healthy lunch initiative. Why? Well, because my kids stopped wanting to eat a school lunch! Now, each morning, we are running around putting together lunch foods for them to bring since they are rejecting the school's healthy choices. I am grouchy because packing their lunches has become a pain in my neck. Selfish, I know. Lately I've been harboring a secret desire that the "bagel bag" could just go back to its plain old fluffy white bagel and cream cheese.

That is why, I think, this video really got my attention this morning.

I take it back. I do not want my own, my students (or anyone else's kids) eating pizza, fries and Pepsi every day at lunch. I wanted school to provide food my kids liked, but I am completely DISGUSTED by thinking about the fact that the way the food gets all the way down the "food chain" into a public school cafeteria is dominated by lobbyists more than nutritionists. Maybe I could help by getting rid of the "Sara Lee" plain bagels in our fridge...and I can hope that my own kids will eventually lose their craving for a daily pizza and fries.

New book on non-fiction mentor texts!

2009-05-19T04:12:00.000-07:00

Introducing and using more non-fiction with students is something I have always attempted to do in my classroom. There are so many reasons and ways that non-fiction can be part of the reading curriculum, but today I came across a great way to add non-fiction to my writing program. Stenhouse has just announced publication of a new book, Nonfiction Mentor Texts and one of the fantastic things about Stenhouse is that they make the ENTIRE text of their books available online for you to preview before you decide to buy. (Thanks, Maureen, for cluing me into that!)

This book intrigues me because it is the first time I have seen expository and persuasive writing taught by way of mentor text. I am a veteran of the "graphic organizer" approach to teaching essay writing. While there are many great things to say about using graphic organizers to help kids develop organization and clarity in their writing, it removes a bit of the organic development and a lot of the joy from their writing. I am hopeful that using mentor texts from compelling writers, the way that the 6 Traits folks do for fiction, I might model for students how to interject their voice, themselves into their nonfiction work. What do you think?

Why I will return to teaching with a greener attitude...

2009-05-09T06:39:00.000-07:00

My daughter had a remarkable kindergarten teacher. She was special in many ways. Among them, she shared her reverence for nature with her class and made a lifelong impact on Sophie's understanding of the natural world. In my former life as a classroom teacher, I admit to only very reluctantly embracing things that involved dirt or ponds or insects. Now, armed with my experience and understanding as a parent who has observed the profound effect a teacher can have on one child's view of the natural world, I promise that I will embrace nature when I return to teaching.

In May's Educational Leadership, Mike Weilbacher writes a fantastic article about teaching kids to be environmentally literate, The Window Into Green. I loved the clear and common sense sythesis of current wisdom and research on why we need to embed environmental literacy into all children's classroom experience. He provides fantastic examples of current practice that promotes understanding of our natural world. I wonder what my son would do if I sent him to a "wood kindergarten?" Weilbacher said it all better than I ever could. For more on Mike Weilbacher, check out his website or blog.

And, Mrs. Lambert, you have my eternal gratitude for giving Sophie the gift of loving nature.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone....

2009-05-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

Last year we picked up our three children and moved to Massachusetts so that my husband could live a reasonable distance from his work. The three-hour a day commute finally got the best of both of us. The discernment process and ultimate decision to uproot our family from the home and community where we had lived for over 10 years was long and hard. Now, a year has passed and I can see positive and negative consequences of our decision with more clarity.

One of the side effects of the move was the opportunity for me to compare my kids' educational experiences in two different schools. While house hunting, we looked long and hard to find a good school system for our kids, and we are really happy with their experiences so far this year. Still, there were a few curriculum initiatives that they had in our old school that I miss (and they miss, too). Chief among them...

Scientists' Notebooks

I had forgotten how incredible this program was until one of my classmates in my grad school reading course talked about a conference she had recently attended on the concept of Scientists Notebooks and how intrigued she was with the program. It caught my attention immediately...I knew the gentleman who had been the presenter at her workshop, he was a former teacher in our old school district and now is a mentor for the the East Bay Collaborative that has developed the Scientists Notebook protocol. That night I went home and dug through the girls' old papers, finding the eldest's fourth grade Scientist Notebook. I brought it back to class to share with my colleague the next week. Through her eyes, I saw the work in a new light. We were both amazed at how much analysis the teachers had elicited from my daughter using this format. Her work was rich and her observations were detailed and specific. I remembered how her teacher expanded on the idea of "claims and evidence" when teaching the students' expository writing and loved how content-area work has cross-pollinated directly to the students' writing curriculum.

East Bay Collaborative makes a lot of the information needed to implement the Scientist Notebook model available directly on their website, which is fantastic.

My classmate is working to bring this model to her school next year. I will keep this in my back pocket, and remember it when I return to the front lines myself sometime soon...

Once upon a time....

2009-05-05T06:59:00.000-07:00

This week the ASCD's blog published a story about a Harvard research project that measured the effectiveness of summer reading on kids' reading levels.

It reminded me of one of the best projects I ever implemented while I was in the classroom. The kids were fourth graders, heading into fifth. I was looping,so they were going to be my students again the following year. The last week of school, I gave each of my students an invitation. I'd chosen a book, Sharon Creech's Chasing Redbird, and I invited the students to read the book and join me on a Thursday morning in August for juice, donuts and a book discussion. On the appointed day, I came to school, donuts in hand, and had no idea what to expect. I was shocked when of my 24 students, 17 showed up at 10, book in hand. For the next hour and a half, we caught up on our summer activities, enjoyed breakfast together and then had an animated discussion about the book. It was delightful to hear the kids had been motivated to read by the promise of a summer meeting with their teacher. It was so easy. I ran into one of those former students last year. She is in college now. When I asked her what she remembered from my class, she said that the best memory she had was the invitation to the summer book club.

School, meet Survivor

2009-05-04T16:58:00.000-07:00

One of the blogs I follow posted this "modest proposal" this morning:
http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2009/05/survivorwitchhunts.html

I posted a link to it on my Facebook page and asked for feedback. Surprisingly, of the five who weighed in on whether it was a reasonable idea for teachers to annually vote their weakest colleague "out of the schoolyard..." the three who thought it was a potentially reasonable way to deal with incompetent teachers were themselves teachers, while the two who were upset with the idea of such Darwinian self-selection were parents.

Interesting. I would have thought that the opinions would have been reversed. On the other hand, as a teacher, I am acutely aware of how the lowest performing teachers in public schools affect my own professional reputation. When nothing can be done to remove them or improve them, we all suffer. I don't know if "Survivor" is the answer, but I do feel that more time needs to be spent solving the problem of how to deal with underperforming teachers. Our kids' futures are too important to sit back and accept the status quo.

Am I ready to teach in the digital age?

2009-04-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

This is the first post of my brand new blog. As you can see from my bio... I am wrapping up a post-grad program that I began three years ago as a way to stay connected in education while I was taking a break from paid work to be home with the three children who inhabit the bedrooms (well actually all the rooms) of our house. Before we get into the "meat" of the blog, I'll share a little about me...

I had really mixed feelings about the decision to stop working, especially the one to leave working in my school. I left in 2000, after my second child was born. The initial plan was to take a year's leave of absence, but by the time spring came around, we all noticed that there was something awry with offspring #2's development. That made the decision to resign kind of a no-brainer, and sure enough, within the year, she was diagnosed with a mild case of cerebral palsy and I began the journey as the person on the OTHER side of the conference table during the IEP meeting. Offspring #3, The Boy, came along in 2003 with his own set of health issues and before I knew it, my BRIEF, TEMPORARY break from work had lasted nine years, except for a few stints as a professional development consultant...work I really enjoyed and am still thankful for to this day.

As I said, the decision to leave was hard. To this day, I don't know if I did it right. At the time, I was overwhelmed by the demands of two, then three kids, one with special needs that necessitated many doctor, therapy and other appointments each week. On the other hand, I feel to this day that I was much better at the job I did as a teacher than the one I do as mom-in-chief of this house. It was, and remains difficult to have traded in work I loved and was feeling good about to be home with the kids full time. Since I can't do it over, I'll never know if there would have been someone I could have found who might have done it all better than I did, but there isn't anything to be gained by spending too much time thinking about all that, so we will move forward from here.

My youngest will be heading to Kindergarten this fall. With any luck, I'll be marching off with him. I am scheduled to do the practicum for my Reading Specialist program this fall, and am really excited about the prospect of regularly working in a school again after such a long hiatus. While I worry about juggling everything (my oldest hopping on the middle school bus for the first time...yikes), I am hopeful that there will be enough time for me to finally return to the world that I love...teaching and schools.

One of the women in the class I am taking this semester described how she used her blog to organize her thoughts and observations about what we are learning in our classes. That was an idea I loved, and she has inspired me to start my own. Thanks, Maureen.

So here's to the next chapter of my life, returning to the front lines. Thanks for coming along for the ride.