Library Evolution

     I am moving back into a 10th grade ELA position this fall and I am thinking about my classroom library. Initially, I used the traditional "alphabetical by author" book organization method. Books could be located as long as knew the author.... Unfortunately, I am not good with names!
     Next, I tried to organize the books by genre. The kids and I had fun going through all the books, reading the back and discussing genre. I liked the new set-up as kids could find books in the genre they were interested in more easily. I wanted more...
     Recently, I have been arranging the books by topic. Each topic has it's own basket. The baskets are still stacked on shelves and the shelves are sort of arranged by genre. If, for instance students want a Sci-Fi title, they have several baskets to choose from including: dystopian, medical sci-fi, space, technology etc. Popular fantasy choices include: witches and wizards, vampires, the undead, medieval and paranormal. With the increased emphasis on non-fiction, I have mixed fiction and non fiction on the realistic and historical shelves. I am hoping that students who prefer fiction will eventually pick up a non-fiction title or vice-versa.  
     Other benefits include: more book fit on the shelves (a major plus since my library is approaching 3000 books!), The kids don't have to strain their necks looking for books. Using baskets allows the books to be arranged cover out - so they can be drawn in by the artwork. Finally, students love flipping through the titles in each basket.
     Looking forward to seeing where this goes next!

Time to Tackle Technology

Ruth Ayres and I hosted a workshop today to introduce the power of technology in the classroom and as a way to share and collaborate professionally. I really wasn't sure what to expect.

Nearly 20 brave teachers showed up to spend the day with us and I think we all had a great time, despite some technical difficulties at the beginning.

We showed this Sir Ken Robinson video about shifting paradigms in education. It brings up some interesting questions as to why we teach the way we do and what needs to change. Of course the world is constantly changing and it always seems a "new program" is developed to to "fix" our schools. The new initiative we will need to come to terms with very soon is the Common Core State Standards. At our workshop, we took a closer look at the Common Core State Standards and the integration of technology.

What I like about the Common Core State Standards (pg 11) is that they do show a progression - a vertical articulation from kindergarten to 5th grade. The vertical alignment continues on up through 12th grade. Yesterday, we traced technology through the standards k-5 and now have a better idea what is expected of our kids and therefore what we should expect as teachers. Even as early as kindergarten, access to digital materials are expected and their use increases as the child progresses.

I have been looking closely at the Common Core State Standards as they pertain to secondary classrooms. By the time students reach secondary schools, technology will be integrated in all aspects of reading, writing as well as in speaking and listening skills.

Here are a few of the most common technology focused phrases at the secondary level:

q Integrate information presented in different media or formats

q Use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others

q Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats

q Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to clarify information

Different media formats, publish writing, collaborate with others, and include multi-media components, these are new technology applications we will need to think about integrating in our classrooms.

Technology is not one of those "new programs" that is likely to go away any time soon. Check out our wiki for topics we covered and to access the links we shared and let me know if you found the information useful. I'll be sharing more on this topic later also...

NCTE continued: Finding a Place for Grammar

Grammar has never been my strong suit. I really didn't learn the parts of speech until I began learning a foreign language - it finally made sense then. When I read the in the NCTE program that Amy Benjamin and Joan Berger were hosting a presentation titled "Teaching Grammar: What Really Works" I knew I had to be there!

Amy Benjamin started with this analogy: Most people use a hammer and nails to fix things, but you can also use them to BUILD things. Using grammar to build meaning - give writing detail, depth and dimension. Wow! That makes sense!

She focused on prepositional phrases, adverbials and appositives (just what I needed.) She explained and showed how these grammar elements give info about where and when, what kind or which one - providing details depth and dimension. Varying where they appear in the sentence structure also has a way of providing depth and dimension.I love how she used examples from authentic texts, and now while reading independently, prepositions, adverbials and appositives jump out at me.

My Aha moment with Joan Bauer came when she talked about creating a grammar calendar...(why didn't I think of that!) We have developed curriculum calendars for reading and writing - why not grammar? She outlined a simple plausible schedule that wouldn't overwhelm me or the kids:
Sept - simple and compound sentences

Oct - Adverb Clause

Nov - review above

Dec - Adjective Clauses and Appositives

Jan - continue Adj Clauses and Appositives

Focusing on one or two concepts a month is definitely doable.

Looking at grammar in small chunks and in context makes sense and works!

First Key to Remediation - Builing Community

Remediation started this week and it was a BLAST!

Students will meet 3 days a week for language arts remediation and two for math. Since this was a short week, we just met with the language students.

I am designing the curriculum as we go, based on student needs. We started out with something fun to eas them in - decorating their notebooks. We knew kids would be switching around their schedules, forgetting about class, finishing up projects from the class they were pulled out of, as well as apprehensive about the new class, so we thought a creative approach would be good. Fortunately, Teresa, a certified teacher, was the study hall teacher for most of their classes and they already have a good report with her. The notebook activity gave them some time to relax, be themselves, get to know the other students and we got to know them better too.

We also had students fill out a reading survey. We want to help the kids progress in their reading. Fortunately, many of the students already love reading. This reading survey will help us to match books to the kids based on their interests. We have already had some good discussions about what their hobbies and interests are as well as what genres they like. All day long I was mentally pulling books off the shelves in my office to bring over for the kids to look at...

Next week, we plan to start talking about reading strategies. I will be reading aloud I am Number 4 by Pittacus Lore, a fast paced high interest book, to model each strategy. They will then have time to practice strategies on their own while reading their own books while Teresa and I conference with them individually.

Although we had some bumps at the very beginning (kids switching class periods, a few upset teachers and a couple bummed out kids - change is always hard) everyone quickly came together for a positive first week.

NCTE

Just returned from a whirl wind 4 days at NCTE in Chicago! Why is it that I look forward to "getting away" only to be more exhausted when I return home?

NCTE was GREAT as usual. Some many good presentations to go to and so little time!

In many cases, I had a first, second, and third choice for each time slot...

One of the high points:

Engaging American Novels: Lessons from the Classroom

• Sheridan Blau spoke briefly first that constructing meaning takes time. We need to allow students the time to think for themselves - not tell them what they should think about the text because that is a false meaning
• Carol Jago spoke about slowing down also. She also commented on how we need to cherish student questions
• Bob Probst continued by discussing the importance of respecting student responses which will lead to increased student responsibility
• These three reminded me that the students need to be engaged in their learning - not just told the answers (even though that may be what they want...or think they want) After all, Half of the fun is seeing what they find...
• Literature doesn't have just one meaning or theme - getting students to discuss their views engages us all in learning!
• Finally, we met in groups to discuss teaching ideas for various novels. I only wish I could have had a birds eye view of each discussion!

I found this presentation extremely beneficial in light of the American Studies course I am now developing with the social studies teacher! I'll keep you informed.

Reflections on Remediation

We are implementing a remediation program for students who did not pass the sate standardized test for Math and Language Arts.

Positive Aspects being Discussed:

• small class sizes = more individual attention
• Students will meet on a regular basis - 2 or 3 days a week
• not a time will be devoted to "catch up" on regular language arts/math homework
• class will be mixture of 6th, 7th and 8th grade students
• class work will supplement regular language arts/math classes, but will be done in class
• teacher will have access to literacy and math coach
• will meet for the rest of the year
• no "grade" will be given
• Full time certified teacher!

Some concerns

• students will be pulled from an existing class- but hopefully not study hall. Unfortunately that leaves either a related arts or PE class...this will upset both teachers and some students.
• we don't want students to think they are being punished or labeled
• there is a push to use a computer program for instruction - especially in Math

I am sure these are similar problems for other schools. Luckily there is a lot of discussion and everyone is open to other possibilities. We haven't been able to offer this type of extra support lately, so we want to make the best of it!

Any Advice?

Team Teaching and the Common Core

As a member of my high school technology team, I recently visited Columbia City's Eagle Tech Academy. The school is heavily technology based, our initial reason for visiting - we are planning on going one-to-one next year and wanted to look at some schools and how they did it. As in most educational activities, sometimes the focus changes. Many of my colleagues and I became excited with the project based learning focus of the academy as well as the team teaching.

Eagle Tech offers courses which are actually two classes in one: BioCom - Biology and Computer Applications and a current events class that combines Social Studies and English. Students have access to both teachers during the two hour block and complete projects that combine both content areas. It was this aspect of the Eagle Tech Academy that caught our attention and imagination.

Social Studies teacher and football coach, Jeff Shriver and I are now planning a U.S. History and English 11 course we have titled "American Studies." It makes all kinds of sense! 11th grade English focuses on American Literature, so it is great match with U.S. History also taken during the junior year.

Coach Shriver and I are excited about the project based opportunities that will unite our curricula. Our class will be a blocked two period class. We will collaborate on history, literature, integrating historic documents, lit analysis, critical reading, argument writing, debates and presentations all focused on the time period being studied as well as tracking themes across time periods. To me, this is exactly what the Common Core Standards are all about. Pairing content area teachers with language arts is a logical way to attack the common core as well as make learning relevant for students. We are just in the initial stages of planning, but the possibilities of this new opportunity seem exciting and endless! Stay tuned for updates on our planning and implementation of this new program!