Welcome to READ 509 Practicum—Last steps

Hi,
Most of you will be taking this class as your last one in the ReadOregon endorsement program. I'm looking forward to all of your participation; we always learn so much from each other in this class.
I was surfing the website:http://englishcompanion.ning/group/teachingtexts/forum/topics/schoolwide-read when I came across a question that I wish every teacher would be asking or administrator: "We have money for a schoolwide book reading, would love to have some suggestions." Below is one of the replies:

"We have done The Glass Castle, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and A Long Way Gone: Memoir of a Boy Soldier. So far, the latter has been the kid favorite, although we did offer an alternative title, The Book Thief, for those for whom the gruesome violence would be an issue. (I had only 1 student out of 130 who chose the alternate title.) It is probably the one best suited to a cross-curricular purpose. We are considering People of the Book for next year."
There was a number of other suggestions replete with schoolwide activities to go with the book selected.

As you get ready to write your proposals and write-up your curricular findings, I would appreciate your thinking about the trade books you can include as well as the assessments and instructional activities you will implement. Some of you will have bins of books to use; backpacks of books for students to take home as well as classrooms or situations where these books are limited.

In this month's Council Chronicle, the President of the National Council of Teachers of English writes: "We know that schools in high-poverty areas have inferior school libraries and inferior classroom libraries." I would hope that this is not the case in our area, but we all know that media specialists are being cut and money for library collections as well.
Whatever we can do to make trade books a powerful entity in our classrooms helps all students realize the value of authentic reading.

Classes start at PSU -READ 509

Here it is another quarter. It seems they come faster than ever. I'm reading a great book of essays called The Right to Literacy in Secondary Schools. One of the essays is " Self-assessment of data: Empowering students to plan and own their own learning in Language Arts" by Lesli Cochran.

This teacher was tired of students just blowing off the standardized tests they were taking so she came up with a curriculum that was highly individualized based on the results of the standardized test results. She herself was not as excited about this testing as well but decided to try something that would motivate them all.

This was not her only curriculum and she didn't write lesson plans to meet each students' results but she included time for conferencing with students about their results and then in addition to their required Language Arts work they were given three 30 minutes blocks to work on their own needs. She put together materials that focused on the state standards that students needed to personalize their own work and could access themselves.

For the entire class, she posted a summary of class results and had the students do a gallery walk through the data posters to see what the class's strengths and weaknesses were. One student remarked " Man, Mrs. Cochran, I feel sorry for you. You have a lot of work to do. We're not good at anything." She used that comment to segue to what they were good at and what they needed to work on.

This all took some work in planning, getting materials that students would be interested in and showing students how to read data.

As a result, students scored 8% higher, and individual students raised their scores over 100 points, whereas in the past year they realized maybe 25 points.

Whatever works! What I appreciated is that her Language Arts curriculum didn't suffer, in fact it became richer as students provided more personalized feedback.

Enjoy the term!

More on dystopian novels

Just after I finished The Fear of the Flood by Atwood, I saw a few reviews in the NY Times Review of Books of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Another dystopian novel for young adult readers, but like the Harry Potter series also embraced by adults. Even adult level book clubs are picking up the Collins Trilogy with blogs effusively seeking out the last book Mockingjay.

After reading it, I was amazed at the similarity of both of the novels based in a future challenging the few who survive and also both having strong young women who take on the challenge.
I think it's wonderful that books come along that cross boundaries. Isn't that the job of reading—the crossing of boundaries?
To take readers from the mundane of some of our everyday lives to another world be it in the future, the present or the past.
I sometimes wonder about the kids who face so much assessment and wander in a daze from all of it wondering what could possibly be so marvelous about this depressing process called reading!
If we put real books in their hands, surrounded them with books in classroom bins, or as some of my secondary teachers do—build shelving around the room and keep a ready supply of YA titles to attract their attention and interest maybe, just maybe we wouldn't have to face that dystopian world that seems on the cusp of our time!

Fall quarter begins

How quickly these terms go! I can't believe that this one has started already. By the way, the only comment I ever got on this blog is totally inappropriate. I need to google the print to see what it says. Soon I promise. I don't have the faintest idea of how to get rid of it. Would appreciate it if any of you bloggers out there have the know how.

Meanwhile, my latest read was Fear of the Flood in order to have some idea of the authors' LeGuin and Atwood who spoke at the 1st Arts and Lectures '10 session last week. What violence especially against women, Atwood singularly presents in this dystopic book. In her interview in the Oregonian she said that she is often castigated for this, but she says that she communicates what she does as a writer and what the muse dictates she writes. She says in some way despite the cruelty, the reader always finds some hope. True, if one understands the ending. Fortunately LeGuin asked her what she meant by the ending, "Who were the singing people entering the story at the end?" Atwood said that where Hope resides.
More of this later.

Carrol

New summer quarter, 2010

It seems that I only get around to this when I'm starting a new course. I'm glad I like to write, because one thing about a blog is that sometimes it becomes a very lonely place to share one's thoughts. However, writing is about exploring one's thoughts. As Goethe wrote (paraphrasing). "I only know what I'm thinking after I write."
This is the beauty of writing—exploring one's thinking.
I just finished the Haitian writer, Edwidge Endicat's, Farming the Bones. The book is sheer poetry despite its tragic subject. One piece that I particularly mulled over was a remark about the dead—the book is about Trujillo's massacre of the Haitians in his country, The Dominican Republic in 1937. She wrote:
"I once heard an elder say that the dead who have no use of their words leave them as a part of their inheritance. Proverbs, teeth suckings, obscenities, even grunts and moans once inserted in special places during conversation are passed along to the next heir."
Most parents— even while alive— would agree wholeheartedly when they hear their offspring mimicking their use of language.
As teachers we have a responsibility to leave a legacy of word usage that helps students explore their thinking through writing, a responsibility to leave behind students who can communicate in many forums: in personal relationships, at work, in leisure pursuits, on the street and in formal situations. It is a huge order especially in this electronic age when students text, blog, etc., —where fingers do the communicating rather than verbal interchanges.
As long as we have books to demonstrate good writing, and provide opportunities in the classroom for students to write, there is a chance that we just might contribute to the education of an individual who can communicate clearly, even creatively, despite the distractions provided by digital access.
Carrol

Is it cold enough?

http://www.phillipmartin.info/clipart/homepage.htm
Found a free educational clipart site that fit today perfectly. How much colder can it get in Portland?
I saw a request by a teacher who wanted to start a professional development group on the englishcompanion.ning.com. She was lamenting the miserable professional development she has experienced the day she wrote her request.
I've been impressed over the last few years with how teachers have had some say in what they want to learn on professional development days. Often they are the ones included in giving the workshops. It seems a win-win situation. The teachers are recognized as professionals and the administrators are giving their teachers what they want— relevant workshops that teachers can take from and use in their classrooms.
I would hope if any of you reading this post have had the experience of contributing to professional development workshops would go to the englishcompanion.ning.com/professional development group and relate what you have done in your district that includes the teachers giving the workshops or participating in faculty and staff meetings where their expertise is called on to demonstrate to other educational faculty. There are thousands of teachers accessing this website, your experiences would be highly regarded. Keep warm. Carrol

New Quarter, Spring, 2010

How quickly the term went. Now a new one is starting and what's on the national agenda now? Obama's educational plan is being deep-6ed by teacher's unions. It is interesting how the mandates keep coming down from the federal level and so little input comes up from the teaching trenches. Somewhere there must be a compromise!

I'm reading for a teacher study group a book called Content Area Conversations: How to plan discussion-based lessons for diverse language learners by Fisher, D. et. al, Shirley Brice Heath writes in the Foreward, "Students need to imagine, plan, think about, wonder and speculate." No matter who they are is her basic premise.

Although today teachers are called on for "accountability, evaluation and standards," she maintains "instead teachers should be asssessing through communication. . . particularly oral language and performance."

In following up on an English Ning link, a teacher asked how to promote discussion in the classroom. Maybe she was reading the same book. Antoher teacher responded with a wonderful web-link.

http://www.coe.uga.edu/~smago/VirtualLibrary/Activities_that_Promote_Discussion.htm
I think almost any part of the language arts curriculum has an activity on this site.

Looking forward to a great quarter. Carrol

A new quarter, Winter 2010

Welcome all to the new quarter that begins in a new year, 2010. Wishing you a very prosperous New Year!
I've been following the debate on englishcompanion/ning over the Learn Act. Senator Murray in our neighboring state of Washington has been eliciting opinions on this new legislation. Writers and thinkers like Stephen Krashan have really been fighting NCTE on their stand on supporting this Act claiming that it is more of the same as NCLB,'The former President of NCTE Kaylene Beers who contributed to its development believe it is an improvment recognizing the differences in Teachers' views. Our own Joan Yatvin, also an NCTE president, feels that it is a disgrace to the National Council of Teachers of English.
I'll be interested to see what students this term think of this act and how it plays out in what they are asked to do in the name of literacy.
If teachers are asked to teach a highly scripted program of literacy will this be in accord with the legislation. For teachers who believe that students deserve a balanced reading/literacy program how will this play in their interests?
After the ups and downs of NCLB, I think we all need to be aware of the arguments and have our voices heard.
A little politicking is in order.
By the way I saw Avatar in Spanish since I was in Mexico at the time. Even though it was in Spanish, it was fairly obvious to see the political message on military might and the preservation of culture and respect for different people—even when they are 12 feet tall and blue. It is also a bid for protecting the environment even when it is on a planet called Pandora. Besides that it is a novel technological wonder and quite ethereal in parts. As you can see I believe it is well worth seeing even when the actors speak Spanish with no subtitles. Although I want to see it again in English. Good night! I'm looking forward to the quarter. Carrol