Chalkdust in My Coffee

For a little perspective on teaching in the 21st century...

... watch these. 

Resentment of AR, and The Perils of Honesty

All of the students in my school complete mandatory outside reading as part of their English classes. They read books from a list provided by their teacher, and then take Accelerated Reader quizzes on a computer in the Writing Center to "verify" that they've read them. 

Personally (and professionally), I HATE this system. The students are limited to reading books that we have bought quizzes for, and the quizzes themselves ask very random questions that barely reflect the reading experience. Most of the kids think it's a joke, and therefore a large number of them blow it off. I find it infuriating, but the district paid a lot for it so I have to use it. 

I have, however, found my own ways to tweak it: first, rather than having my kids read eight books a year, I only have them read four (quality, not quantity). Then, instead of just taking practically pointless quizzes, I have them do literature circles, multi-genre projects, or other activities to (1) motivate them to actually READ the book and THINK about the book, and (2) give them a chance to actually show what they got out of it. Forget a perfunctory scan through a novel, I want them to sink their intellectual teeth into it. 

Additionally, I have become known around the school as the teacher who is willing (within reason) to read and make a quiz & an assignment for almost any book a kid wants to read but is not on The List. This allows them to read a wider variety of books, and allows me to keep up with what my kids are reading. It takes time, yes, but the rapport it fosters with my kids is well worth it. 

However, earlier this week I had to draw the line. And in doing so, I think I crossed a line by being a little too honest. Blame tiredness, blame the winter blahs. A senior of mine who I know pretty well (I also had her as a sophomore) asked if I would read the book Dear John so she could do it for her next Outside Reading assignment. I told her that I regretted I would be unable to do so. 

"Why not, Ms. Em?" she asked. 

"Honestly?" I said loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "Maybe it's just where I am in life, but reading a Nicholas Sparks novel right now would probably make me vomit. Repeatedly. Sorry, just being honest." 

Oops.  Did I mention she's related to a Board member? There goes my reputation as a teacher who will do just about anything to encourage my kids to be literate citizens of the world. 

But really... I probably WOULD vomit. 

Midterms. So much fun. 

I was grading my last class set yesterday and came across one girl who usually pulls  B or so in my class. For her second short-answer question, she was supposed to read a suspenseful short story I provided and then explain what its setting symbolized. The directions clearly said that I would be grading based on supportive details. Well, her answer went something like this: 

Her first sentence clearly stated that she believed it symbolized fear. 

The rest of the paragraph described, in splendid detail, the cafeteria's lunch offerings for the day. 

Yes, that's right. Lunch. 

Was she assuming I wasn't actually going to read the entire paragraph? Was she unsure (or tired after an hour of test-taking) of how to explain her claim, but still wanted to show me she could write well?

I have no idea. I gave her one point for stating her initial claim, and one for the well-demonstrated command of various grammatical structures and stylistic "flair" we've been practicing. I mean come on, the kid even tossed in two recent vocabulary words. 

This amounted to 2/8 points. I realize many of my colleagues would have given her NO points, but I'm less grumpy than that.

And the semester grade calculation goes on... 

How much fun is teaching when you have laryngitis and are unable to speak? Just ask me. I've been doing it for two days.

Author Visit!

Hear that sound? It's my heart fluttering. I MET JAY ASHER!!!

 

Over the past two years, many of my students have read his book Thirteen Reasons Why. Our school library even had a few book group meetings about it. Guidance counselors read it, teachers read it and recommended it to their own kids. It's a wonderful read that fosters very important discussions among young adults and between young adults and their mentor-adults. 

Because I work with some awesome librarian folk, we managed to get him to come speak at our school. As it turns out, he is a phenomenal (and hilarious) speaker and a wonderful person. I have immense respect for the guy and look forward to what he does next. He talked and talked to the few dozen kids who stayed after the official presentation to meet him. He signed their books. He took their ideas and compliments with humility and gratitude. Of the several authors I've met at various events, he is up there is "real person-ness" with only Chris Crutcher. 

I love events like this. The effect they have on students is profound and long-lasting. They see the authenticity of writing, and form strong connections to what they read. 

Two Social Risks of Being an English Teacher:

1.) Accidentally using your "teacher voice" with friends, or giving someone a "teacher look" rather than laughing or rolling your eyes when he or she is being an idiot. 

2.) Having the "Red Pen Itch" -- this is the name I have given to the insatiable urge to correct bad writing, wherever it may appear. Perfect example from Failblog.org: 

see more Epic Fails

Now of course the "You" of this conversation was also making red-pen-worthy mistakes (ex: misspelling "sentence"), but the point was made. It's Darwinian -- if you have deplorable writing skills, you are less likely to mingle your gene pool with someone who notices. 

We could get into a big debate over "code switching" for writing online, but I'm just aiming for the humor factor here. 

Winter Break Post #2: Reading Resolutions

My 2009 New Year's resolution was to read more for pleasure. It's time to check in and see how I did. 

Overall, I would say that yes, I did do more reading just for enjoyment this year. I did still read professional stuff and young adult lit, but by chance or by choice I enjoyed it. I mixed it in with many purely-for-pleasure books, which made for a good well-rounded year of reading. 

Here are some highlights that I would recommend to other readers: 

The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno

Lowboy by John Wray

The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments by George Johnson

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (who I met a few weeks ago and heart heart heart)

Looking for Alaska by John Greene

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Bangkok 8 by John Burdett

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven By Susan Jane Gilman

When I Forgot by Elina Hirvonen

The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood

Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Next year's reading resolution: read more magazines and journals. Or rather, read them more regularly and thoroughly.  I want to actually read more than three articles in each issue of the New Yorker and the NY Times Magazine that I get each week. Maybe subscribe to a fashion or health magazine again and read it for fun and inspiration. Do more than skim through English Journal and JAAL when they arrive. Read an issue of The Atlantic from cover to cover, which I haven't done in a year or two. Actually make recipes from Vegetarian Times. You get the idea. 

I've also decided that a resolution needs to be to FINISH reading books. I was browsing through my LibraryThing last night, and realized I have about 25 books I've started reading but despite enjoying them never got around to finishing. I've tagged them all with both "need to finish" and "to read in 2010", and hopefully at this time next year I'll be through all of them. 

Finally, I've resolved to read a poem a day in 2010. Maybe I'll be inspired, maybe not. I've done this sort of thing with my students before with good results, and since I have several books of poetry I want to read I think this will be a good way to get through them. 

I feel  strange admitting it, but I do have to force myself to read. I enjoy it, yes, but with the amount of work-related reading I do I often find it tedious to move my eyes over more lines of text at the end of the day. I constantly extoll the virtues of recreational reading to my students, and it is important that I practice what I preach. I have never gotten to the last page of a book and wished I hadn't read it -- clearly it is worthwhile. Last year's reading resolution actually worked; hopefully the three I've made for 2010 will do the same. 

Winter Break Post #1

Oh yes. I finally did it right this year. For the last five years, my thought process prior to winter break went something like this: 

I will have two weeks off around the holidays. That means a lot of "free" time. I normally wish I had more "free" time to get my grading done. Ergo, I should have all three of my preps turn in essays or projects, because I will have ample "free" time to grade them over break. 

It's now year six, however, and I am starting to feel more on the cusp of being a veteran teacher than a new teacher. This year, my thought process went more like this: 

I have had all four of my preps work very hard this semester; both I and they are mentally exhausted. I should not assign anything big during the week before break, so I can rest up and reenergize so I can be a better teacher when I return in January. 

In years past I would have worried that this was a lapse in academic rigor or professional consistency. I would have been terrified that it would be perceived as laziness by my colleagues, or a sign of low expectations by my students. However, as my confidence as a teacher grows, I realize that this sort of thing is necessary. I know I will be MUCH more excited and prepared to teach after two weeks of getting things done around my house and attending to my emaciated social life than I have been in the past after spending two weeks grading and wishing I were spending time with friends and family (or, conversely, spending time with friends and family and feeling bad because I know I should be working). 

I've already started enjoyed myself thoroughly, and it's only the second day of break. Hee hee hee. Why didn't I figure this out sooner?

Mentoring

This week I completed my state's new training program for mentors. I was already Pathwise trained last year, but now the state has changed over to a different version of mentoring... I have to admit, I do like it. It focuses more on formative activities with your Beginning Teacher rather than summative ones. One particularly interesting handout they gave was this: 

I love it because it is so true, even to an extent for veteran teachers.  

 

My classroom had a mascot today: a 4-week old kitten I had foster-mommed overnight. Yes, that is way too young for it to be away from its mother -- but it's a rescue situation. Anyhow, since I'm bottle-feeding her kitten formula every two hours or so, I brought her to work with me. I thought I'd be able to get her to sleep in her carrier during class, but she CRIED every time I put her down. So what did I do? I put on a zip-up sweatshirt (so much for looking professional today, I suppose) and tucked her inside, so I ended up with this weird lump on my chest through most of the day. Hilariously, every now and then she'd wake up and peek her head out of the shirt by my neck -- this brought out "aaaaaw" faces even the most self-controlled "cool" kids in my classes. 

It was such a good experience. My kids paid attention, and a few times I even used petting her as a reward for people willing to participate in class.* Why is it we do away with classroom pets after elementary school? Animals bring about such a compassionate, warm mood in people -- and the calming effect they have can help students focus. When I was in graduate school, my cat used to sit on my lap exactly at the moment I was about to get up and walk away from my computer in frustration -- she did this as if she knew I needed it. Maybe I need a classroom chinchilla or something. **

Seriously, this is something to think about. 

*Don't worry, I made them wash their hands.  

** Don't worry, as a former chinchilla companion I fully realize a high school classroom would NOT be an ideal living situation for a chin.