Pushing Through

So the fifth week of school has done me in. I feel flat. I feel like every day should definitely be Friday. My body is saying, "This is for real? Summer is done??"

I can only imagine how my students are feeling if I feel this way about a job I love. Note to self:

• Be gentle with them. Maybe even be gentle with yourself.
  
• Do what you can to make class interactive to wake us all back up.
  
• Remember this too shall pass.

Anyone else feeling it? Anyone have wisdom to share?

Real Life Authors

I am really excited (a dorky teacher level of excitement) about the next week with my freshmen and their study of short stories. Our course, Introduction to Genres, focuses on two essential questions:

• What do we learn from the "masters" about how to write well?
• How can you use these tools to make your own writing "masterful"?

With each genre, we read "masterful" examples then the students write their own, using the techniques they have seen in action. Our first genre study is the short story. I wanted to put the connections I have developed through Twitter and the English Companion ning to work to push my students' writing even further this year. Enter: two real live authors.

I learned about Australian author Margo Lanagan's thought-provoking story "Singing My Sister Down" when I put out a request on Twitter about stories people taught that their students loved. Come to find out, Margo Lanagan has her own blog ... and my students are blogging ... so two plus two equals four! My students are reading her story this weekend, and we will discuss it tomorrow. Then we will look at her blog together with their homework being to write to her -- to comment on her blog like they hope people comment on theirs. I hope some of them are proud of enough of their own blog posts about her story to share the link with her and invite her to comment. Writers sharing their blogs ... perfect.

Then later in the week, my students will participate in a Skype call with author Clyde Edgerton. This is a contact I made through an EC ning friend Yvonne Mason. Yvonne shared with me that she knew Clyde Edgerton and offered to contact him on my behalf. Clyde graciously accepted my invite to talk to my students about how he crafts short stories. My students will have read one story by him and talked about what they see in his writing style. They will also have completed a first draft of their own stories and be ready for revision tips from him. Writers talking together about how they write ... perfect.

Yes, I am excited to a silly degree ... I hope my students are at least half as excited :)

Thinking (Both Mine and Theirs)

Without my planning this, I focused on thinking with both of my classes today. It turned out to be an interesting pairing of lessons for me -- seeing the emphasis on independent thought I ask of ninth graders and that which I ask of seniors.

My ninth graders are just getting deep into our study of short stories, and I am pushing them to use their blog posts to explore how the authors use short story techniques. (Please read and comment on their blogs here if you have time -- they are enjoying sharing their ideas.) This is a new thing for me -- to make their reading reflections more than just, "What did you think of the story?," and instead, "What do you think this author is doing with his/her writing and why?" To prepare them for their assignment tonight (to study how Alice Walker shifts traditional plot structure in "To Hell With Dying"), we spent much of the period today looking at the climax and resolution of "The Most Dangerous Game." One student read aloud the ending, which was a subtle use of rereading with them, and the others had pen in hand marking the clues that led them to be able to say, "This story has a clear resolution." I am trying hard this year to be more overt about reading strategies with my students (thanks to I Read I But I Don't Get It), and today's small exploration into this area was great for my students and me. I can already see in those blog posts that have been done tonight how they processed the shifting of plot we discussed happening in "Game" and how they are transferring this understanding to a new and very different story.

The very next period, my AP students spent the class pushing themselves to overtly use the rereading strategy and reflect on how much it helps them. At this stage, I am trying to remind them that careful reading is an obligation so that they slow down and really engage like I know they can. We spent much of the period visiting and revisiting this quote (from an NCTE presentation I went to three years ago): "Confusion represents an advanced stage of understanding." They moved from seeing this as a paradox to understanding that if they come to class thinking they have "gotten it all" in a reading, then they have probably not actually engaged with that reading. We talked about the realistic pressures of rereading -- how they cannot read every assignment three times in full. Instead, they can reread sections that strike them multiple times so that then, as a class, we will all be experts in pieces so we can see a much deeper whole.

My freshmen and my seniors ended up doing the same thing today -- slowing themselves down to let their minds truly think. Great day.

We Need to Have Fun Too

I am someone who can work alone for hours. Part of this is because I tend toward perfectionism and do not always stop when I could stop, and part is simply because I don't get fidgety easily. But a larger part is that I am an introvert -- I find large crowds daunting, and I have to work consciously and with effort to feel capable at general conversation. I do not mean to make myself out as a freak -- I just know I am someone who would more often than not choose to be by myself in my classroom planning or grading than out and about with others.

So, I set myself a goal last year: take my lunch every day to our student commons and eat with the teacher who had commons duty that period. I was successful with actually doing this probably half the time, but I measure a much greater success in what I gained from these casual lunches. I ended up playing my flute in our school's first-ever pit band because of lunch one day with the drama teacher. I discovered a powerful read in Aldous Huxley's Perennial Philosophy because of a lunch with a substitute teacher. I discovered things about my colleagues that I never knew because I let myself be discovered too.

Now comes the opening of this school year. Our school as a whole seems to have set an unstated goal of collegiality. We have had a happy hour, a faculty luncheon, a gathering at the Upper School Head's house, and tomorrow is team building. And I am so energized by all of this. I am looking forward to the school year not just because I love to teach but because I really like my colleagues too. In fact, I am in a small way sad that the students will show up Tuesday because I know this will drive us at least somewhat back into our individual classrooms.

So I have renewed my goal from last year and will bring my lunch to the commons again. I will do all I can to stay in touch with my colleagues. In the end, even we as teachers need to have fun at school -- fun with our students of course, but also fun as professional adults with other professional adults. Now comes remembering to reread this blog when I am mired deep in grading in October!

Literature Circles

I have used literature circles for many years. My students always enjoy them, and I get better each time with setting up the process so they truly engage with their books. I particularly enjoy doing this with my ninth graders when I have them write their own tests as a group. I was given the opportunity in college to write a final for a class rather than take one. I was petitioning to take my final early, and the professor offered me this instead. As I wrote that final, I realized how smart the professor was about assessments. I had to really know my stuff in order to create a final I thought he would deem worthy -- the writing of the test probably took me longer than the hours I would have been in the exam room taking his final. It was a powerful lesson for me, and my ninth graders have benefited from it. They are always amazed when I tell them they will write their own tests. The discussions the groups end up having as they decide which questions to ask are always the best of the whole lit circle process. I know they know their stuff when I see strong tests.

This summer I had another chance to really learn something by doing it. A colleague of mine set up an online literature circle in our school's ning to work through the first five chapters of Understanding by Design, our assigned faculty summer reading. I was glad to have a structure set for me because I knew that meant I would get the reading done, so I signed on. Well, if you have any doubts about the efficacy and power of the literature circle process, banish them now. As I worked through a lit circle role for each chapter, I saw the beauty of the lit circle pedagogy in action. It is reading strategies come alive -- when I read a chapter knowing I was, say, the connector, I read specifically for that goal. I ended up remembering far more with this focus than I ever do just reading something to read. I had a scaffolding to pin my reading on and to give me a road map through what is some dense reading a times (trust me on this one if you have not read UbD). I also knew I did not have to worry about every detail because I had my lit circle partners focusing on the other aspects. I knew I would learn from them, so I could learn at this first stage better because I was more focused. Then the discussions we had helped me pull everything together -- I looked back at the book, I remembered things I had forgotten, I learned things I had never thought about ...

While I knew in my mind that literature circles were a good thing, to participate in one gave me so much more insight into why they work so well. Once again, I am reminded that DOING something is the most powerful way to learn. A great reminder particularly as I begin a new year with my students ... can I get them to DO more in their learning?

What Are Your Thoughts?

I am on the horns of a dilemma ... Frankenstein or A Lesson Before Dying for the final text of ninth grade? I am seeking a challenging text that prepares students for the rigorous reading levels of British Literature in sophomore year but also one that grabs ninth graders deeply. Here are my thoughts ...

• The reading level of Frankenstein is more challenging overall with its vocabulary and sentence structure. Is this a good thing? Is the reading level of Frankenstein appropriate for ninth grade?
  
• The historical background of A Lesson Before Dying seems like it would be more challenging to ninth grade students -- one can read Frankenstein separate from its historical time period much more readily. Yet, the history embedded in A Lesson ... is so vital to our nation's history. Does teaching this book become more of a history lesson than a literature one?
• In A Lesson ..., is the sex and the use of the f--- word one time appropriate for ninth grade? I was surprised by this content. How do you handle it?

I would love to hear everyone's thoughts and even other titles to achieve my goal if you have them.

Stopping and Taking Stock

My wonderful English colleagues in the Upper School, Susan Carter Morgan and Jennifer Clark Evans, and I created a portfolio to submit for the NCTE Media Literacy Award. We worked on it both F2F and collaboratively online, and this wiki is our proud product. I do not know if we will win (and really even what winning this award means ...), but we all decided as we were working that just to have created this portfolio was worth it. It is empowering to stop for a minute and see what great things you and your colleagues have done. There is always more to do, indeed. But for today, pause and pat yourself on the back for what you have accomplished. It is worth it.

Summer ...

I am in my third week of summer, and here is my first visit to my blog. This is probably a good thing overall, although not so good for my blog's currency. I blogged quite a bit last summer -- in fact, last summer got my blog and I cemented in a good relationship with each other! This summer though has started differently. I have a deeper set of connections on Twitter (snobles) plus love spending time on the English Companion ning (many of my Twitter connections came from this ning). I am also trying to visit my school's new private ning as much as I can -- we are trying to get it off the ground. My online life has spread in new ways, competing with this blog.

This article on the possible demise of blogging got me back here. I started this blog for me. I was a journal writer growing up but had not written in my journal for too many years. My blog has become my teacher's journal. The fact that others can read it, maybe learn from it, and definitely teach me things in their comments is an added bonus. But I can see that if I had started this blog with the hope of being famous in the blogsphere, I would not still be here. The blogosphere is too diffuse for that. I would also not still be here if I did not have readers who write back to me -- the idea that someone might just be waiting for a new post reminds me to write. I am curious to see where the world of blogs is heading, and I am glad I have this one. I am a better teacher by reflecting, and this blog is my tangible reminder to do that.

So, what have my early weeks of summer entailed?

• READING -- I am plowing through books like I have not in a long time. Both personal choices and professional ones are grabbing me, and I find myself already worrying if there will be enough time this summer to read everything I want to read! I am trying to keep my LibraryThing library up to date.
• Getting better versed with Diigo as both a social bookmarking site and a powerful annotating tool. Steve Shann is one person who inspires me to keep blogging, and per his request, I will be sure to write about what I do with Diigo and my 9th graders next year.
• Working in my yard. One VERY rainy spring later, and our blackberry vines are full, my first tomato literally fell off its vine ready to eat, and we found even more places to plant flowers.
• Being with my kids and my husband. This is the first summer in many that my husband is not away for a month directing the Virginia Governor's Latin Academy, and the rest of us family couldn't be happier. We swim, walk, bike, garden, read, laugh ...

I read about a saying Suzy Welch lives by -- 10-10-10. She says she makes decisions by thinking about what will matter most in 10 minutes, in 10 months, and in 10 years. I can't think of a better way to regain perspective on life and what matters most. I am off to pack a picnic right now to meet my kids and husband at a local park for an outdoor lunch concert. I think I know this will matter!

Issuu

Maybe I am one of the last to discover this neat site, but I am now pondering all of the possibilities. Issuu lets you upload documents to be published online in a great visual magazine format. You then can create different libraries and share the publications -- I am envisioning a class library with all of the online documents we read. Here is an example:

Open publication - Free publishing - More english

Favorite Short Stories

I asked my irreplaceable Twitter community of English teachers: if you could only teach one short story, what story would it be? Now, being English teachers, some of them actually chose two and three stories (who can narrow literature down to just one favorite?), but here is their list:

"Nineteen Fifty-Five" and "Araby" (@readinator)
"The Story of an Hour," "Scarlet Ibis," and "The Yellow Wallpaper" (@suzieswimz)
"The Yellow Wallpaper" and "The Lottery" (@nicolemurr4)
"The No-Talent Kid" (@pjhiggins)
"The Scarlet Ibis" and "The Most Dangerous Game" (@jmiscavish)
"The Speckled Band" and "The Rocking Horse Winner" (@andyleefisher)

Two of my favorites are "To Hell with Dying" and "Bluestown" by Geoffrey Becker (the short story that became part of a novel).

What is your and your students' favorite story?

Ning Wisdom from Students

As my year winds down, I have turned to my students for final reflections. Two chose to think about their experiences with our ning work on Othello. As the actual users of the ning, their responses are invaluable. If it didn't work, they lived through it. If it did, they learned from it. As teachers, we can hope new tools and teaching techniques change our classrooms; our students are the ones who tell us if they did.

Cara wrote, "The Othello character group [that we did on the ning] ... REALLY helped in understanding the text. I felt super-knowledgeable about my character in a way that didn't come from my teacher or a book, but a peer and myself."

There is it -- the evidence that student-directed learning does happen and that it is more powerful in both the depth of the learning achieved by and the confidence instilled in our students.

Neil wrote, "Whatever you do, do not overdo online tools in place of discussion. Class discussion is still king; this is coming from a teenage kid. The best discussion ends up taking place in class, whether everyone responds or not. On an online forum where everyone is required to answer, the temptation is to read only the posts you are required to comment on. In class, you can’t really filter out someone speaking."

Neil's words are a great reminder to us that Web 2.0 tools are tools we add to our teaching kits not that replace everything we have ever done. Yes, many students write more in the online forum than they speak in class, but face-to-face discussions are important too. This is my main goal for my Web 2.0 integration next year: to link the out-of-class online work closely and thoughtfully to our in-class work. I tried to do this as much as a could this year in a few ways:

• starting class by having everyone return to the discussion thread, read a new part they had not read, and comment on it
• choosing a few posts to project to the class as discussion prompts
  
• having the students review a discussion thread, noting something new they have learned or a question they have, then sharing these and discussing them

I saw time and again that connecting students' out-of-class thinking with their in-class work validates both and deepens their learning. Even those students who are more hesitant to speak out in class did so much more when they could base it on the online work -- they had a chance to get their ideas together and thus had more confidence. Students see that the online work is not just an "add-on" -- it is integral to their overall learning.

I want to end with Neil's reference to being required to participate. This to me is the eternal rub ... we want our students to be excited learners not because they have to be. We hope they see these tools as things they can use in their own lives to further their engagement in our world. Will Richardson would have all learning be self-driven in this way.

However, I have found I do need to require participation, at the start ... and to be honest, sometimes all the way through. I will continue to develop my use of these tools to be as student-driven as I can, but I also know my students do not always LOVE to be online outside of class time. So, thus I require responses. I try to make this requirement as open as I can -- 3 responses of any sort (new posts, comments, whatever) for homework or 15 responses of any sort by the end of our work with a text. This is a pickle I will continue to chew on [:)] -- the power of online tools to increase student-driven learning while also not being what every student always wants to do.

Why Do We Read?

Today was my third to last day with my AP English Lit students. Bittersweet times. I have one goal for them as we come to the end of our time together: to be readers and writers in the world beyond my classroom. Today we explored reading. Using Steven Shann's wonderful work about literature and values, my class and I brought in books we value - books from any age in our lives that have stayed with us for any number of reasons. We shared our books, making a map of literature in our lives. My students then answered, "Why do we read?" Their responses show me that my students, as a cross-section of our world, are thoughtful, seek what is good and right, want to grow and learn, and will keep reading -- not just for me, but for their world. I am not surprised, and I am very proud. Here are their words ...

Evan wrote, "I can truthfully say that I am not an avid reader and I don’t know if I ever will be, but some of the books I have read, such as Bringing Down the House or Miracle in the Andes or Into Thin Air, have truly changed my life. Reading these people's life experiences has helped me realize who I am and what aspects of life I should or shouldn’t follow. I believe this is why people read. What I think is unbelievable is that in today’s world, people are always trying to create ways to make things easier and able to be done with minimal effort, but for some reason most humans such as myself will pass on the chance to see a 2hr movie to read a 400 page book that may take a few weeks. I wish I had the answer to why this is."

Cara wrote, "I think we read to lean ... We learn about facts of other places and cultures of course, but I think that what we are really learning is about how much more there is to the world beside our selves."

Griffin wrote, "We read because it is something we want to do. Reading fulfills something that we are want. It is that simple."

Greg wrote, "If you know a book is nowhere like your life (A Million Little Pieces for example) it gives new perspective."

Maggie wrote, "I think we read to gain more out of life. Being able to read the experiences or fictional stories of others takes us to places we would never dream of. We all have our individual sense of who we are and we will go in one direction with our lives, but by reading, we're able to experience and imagine our life as someone else. It could either make us happy with the life we currently have or drive us to make a change and do something else."

Carmen wrote, "Reading is one of the most powerful things in the world. It’s how we communicate and it’s how we learn ... It would be nearly impossible for the world today to operate without it ... It just makes me really happy…so that’s why I read."

Emily Z wrote, "I think that we read to understand something that we didn’t before. I think that along with reading, we understand ourselves better. We put ourselves in the situations, we challenge ourselves to think about what we would do if we were the characters, and as the character grows, I think we are able to grow with them."

Carley wrote, "We read to learn, feel inspired, and connect. We read to understand. We read to know. We read to laugh, cry, and love. We read to identify with characters, make them our friends, and learn from their mistakes ... We read for the impact it makes upon our lives. We read to discover lessons we would otherwise have to learn the hard way ... We read because it makes time worthwhile, and most importantly, we read because we love it."

Nate wrote, "If we can search for a book’s truth and depth AND enjoy the author's hard work, we gain insight from another person’s perspective…that’s why we read. That way we’re always learning and always moving forward."

Jamie wrote, "Currently I read to better myself; however back in the day, reading meant being with my family right before bedtime. I have tons of memories of being with them that I could never replace."

Carlyn wrote, "To be able to experience anything imaginable"

Raleigh wrote, "We read for fun. We read to go places we cannot go within an hour or a day, however long we decide to read. We read to exercise our imaginations and stimulate our minds. We read because we want to. We read because we want to see life from another place or time. We read to think and expand our own knowledge. We read because it is beautiful..."

Emily G wrote, "We read to escape ... We read to learn ... We read to relate ... We read to think."

Joe wrote, "I think people read to experience things we otherwise can't, and to confer with others about their feelings to something in a book. Unlike movies, books are personal, reading a book is like writing a journal. You feel a new you building itself as you read about events you have never confronted in your own life."

Nicholas wrote, "We read in order to escape the realities that surround us and escape the stresses of the world."

Britnae wrote, "It validates what you are feeling. I think this is nearly an exact quote from somewhere I forgot, but there's nothing more thrilling than opening a book and finding the author wrote something that you thought only you had felt before. I tells us that it's okay to be crazy, or dissatisfied, or goofy, or intellectual ... books are like meeting new people."

Carole wrote, "I wanted to go into a new world, I wanted to meet new people. I would pretend that the characters I read and liked were my friends and would talk to them. The more books I read the more friends I got, the more places I knew."

Landon wrote, "We read to escape."

Walker wrote, "If I want to be a warrior battling against the forces of evil, a spy infiltrating enemy headquarters, or a gentleman in the British Aristocracy, I read. It allows me to almost leave my corporeal body and mentally journey into another world. It allows me to meet thousands of new friends, and travel to thousands of new countries and worlds."

Neil wrote, "Reading is a kind of experience you can keep forever; you can hold onto something forever from a good book, and eventually you end up with a mind full of wisdom to share with people around you."