Six-Words I Want to Remember

Recently, I read some thought-provoking six-word stories about teaching for social justice.

I want to remember this one because it sums up what attracted me to reading during adolescence:


I read.  I understood.  I changed.

A Regular English Teacher

In my line of work, when the conversation turns to teaching for social justice, culturally relevant teaching, or equity in education, someone inevitably interjects with talk about a regular English teacher.

Claudette Colvin's description of her English teacher's stance is informative:

"We were supposed to be in English literature class, but Miss Nesbitt used literature to teach life. She said she didn't have time to teach us like a regular English teacher--we were too far behind. Instead, she taught us the world through literature."

Italics are mine. See p. 26 in Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose

"Grouping in Literature Circles"

Today's guest blogger shares a summary

of an article she read recently.

 

 

Batchelor, K. (2012). The "us" in discuss: Grouping in literature circles. Voices from the Middle, 20(2), 27-34.

Batchelor’s article details her own literature circle strategies as a beginning point for both veteran and pre-service teachers who may lack experience with literature circle creation and implementation in a classroom. Batchelor, who attempted literature circles in her first year teaching, understands the struggles that are caused by broad inexperience and attempts to offer a brief overview of her own successful implementation. This article reads like a brief instruction manual, and is therefore salient to several different types of classrooms, students, and teachers. Batchelor’s final thoughts on the subject praise the amount of motivation, community, and interest that literature circles create in a classroom.

            I have recently become interested in literature circles through my practicum experience. The students were placed into groups based on text choice, a practice that Batchelor also uses. Unfortunately, I think that my clinical faculty member has missed the mark thus far on what she could gain from using literature circles in her seventh grade classroom. The primary purpose of their groupings, it seems, is to monitor each other’s progress and to meet briefly in order to discuss the answers to literature worksheets. Batchelor’s article not only provides group formation, discussion, and evaluation strategies, but also includes anecdotal experiences that showcase the beneficial social nature of literature circles. A particularly crucial gain of literature circles is groupings of mixed-ability students and motivation to stretch their thinking and participate in student-led dialogue about literature. A significant part of my own teaching philosophy is the formation of a classroom community, and I feel that literature circles are a worthwhile strategy that pre-service teachers receive very little instruction on.



What would my six-words be?

I recently asked students to write six-word stories about
what teaching for social justice means to them.
I wanted to sit down and write my own,
but felt it would take me days to come up with six words.
I still do not have them, but I've started.

Reading for your life and mine.

Words inspired by Lerone Bennett, Jr. that never left me.

Curriculum

Stream-of-consciousness

Sometimes teaching English language arts can be uncomfortable.

Sometimes I select books that bring up painful, divisive topics —racism, poverty, sexism.

Sometimes people question whether school is the right place for such topics.

I zip my lips, sometimes—choose safe books.

I’ve got to pick my battles, right?

I forget why I thought being a teacher was a good idea.

Suddenly, I begin to think, A teacher is not in the business of change. Education is not connected to changing, right?

Then Jerome Harste says,

“…curriculum is metaphor

for the lives we want to live and the people we
want to be….That’s what teaching is all
about. That’s what makes us come back and why
we love the title, ‘Teacher.’ None of us got into
the profession to see how quietly we can march
kids to the bathroom, or take them to lunch” (p. 26).

 

 

Collopy, T. (2013). Jerry Harste: Still challenging the curriculum, decades into his career. Council Chronicle, 23(2), 23-26.

 

A Model for Close Reading?

What have I been reading?

Hsieh, B. (2012). Challenging characters: Learning to reach inward and outward from

characters who face oppression. English Journal, 102(1): 48–51.

 

 

Hsieh asks a few questions that probably plague most English language arts teachers at some point:

 

How am I going to get 21st century middle school students to connect with The Diary of Anne Frank (The Diary)?

 

How does The Diary connect with contemporary literature? and

 

How can I encourage students to look closely at characters and themes--to do close readings?

 

Hsieh wondered if DEJs, or double-entry journals (generally a t-chart, quote on one side, reflection/insight on the other) would help address these concerns. Each text would be read with attention given to how the main character experienced oppression. Of course, Hsieh modeled the strategy first.

 

Students were asked to focus on exchanges between characters in a short story (Bruce Coville’s “Am I Blue”) and to respond to a quote from the exchange.

 

Next, the strategy was applied using a longer work, The Diary-- still with Hsieh as the guide.

 

In addition to the DEJ, students were asked to take on the persona of a character in The Diary and write a letter “…to someone on the outside describing what life was like in the annex….” (p. 49)  

 

The success of the strategies was tested when the students were asked to form literature circles. Without prompting from her, Hsieh wondered if skills, especially those related to close reading, would be retained. She concluded that they were.

Another Perspective of "Becoming a Complete Teacher"

Dominique, our guest blogger, 

asks,

Does how you envision teaching match reality? 

Chapter 15, Bridging English
"Becoming a Complete Teacher"

            To begin, the chapter starts with defining oneself as a teacher.  The main concerns that were identified from an analysis of interviews with new teachers were

·         Relationships with

o   students

o   parents

o   colleagues

o   administrators

·         Classroom management

·         Handling the workload

·         Grading/evaluation

·         Autonomy

·         Physical appearance/likeability

The ultimate conclusion of this study was simply that novice teachers get frustrated because of the disconnect between their expectations of teaching and the actual experience.  We would all love to teach fantastic engaging lessons, and while we should (and we can), many of us get ahead of ourselves and forget to really gauge the students’ needs first. One great example that the book gives is of Beth Thompson. Like all of us, Thompson had incredibly high expectations for her classroom.  She had all of these great writing process lessons, but discovered that many of her students couldn’t read. Unfortunately, this is a very real possibility for us as teachers, and it is an incredibly important thing to realize when considering our expectations.

       

        Shaping a Teacher Persona

        According to Bridging English, classroom context is the most important phase of shaping one’s persona. Doubts about your role as and authority figure will definitely emerge, along with doubts about being an equal to veteran colleagues and parents. Tension and confusion will definitely arise. The book recommends researching styles, as well as staying true to the content that you truly enjoy to find your most comfortable teaching style as well as experiment with alternatives. Most importantly, don’t doubt yourself!

        Building Public Trust

        “Classrooms that work best have strong bonds with the homes of the students they serve” (458). As teachers, we need to always include families to maintain public support. Bridging English recommends three effective ways to build relationships with parents:

·         Include

·         Inform

·         Involve

Something as simple as a written letter to parents that explains expectations can really involve them. Although the parents of middle and high school students may not be as involved as elementary students, we need to encourage them to take a more active role.

        Defining Yourself for Your Job Interview

        I get incredibly nervous about interviews simply because I have no idea what questions to prepare for. To me, it’s like an oral exam that I was not allowed to study for. This table, on page 458, was incredibly helpful for me.

Interview Discussion Topics

Top 10 Tough or Dilemma Questions	Top Ten Interview Topics
What is your philosophy of education? How do you handle discipline in your classroom? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Describe in detail a lesson you taught. How would you develop … skills in your students? How would you set up a program in …? What if …? Tell me about yourself. Why should I hire you?	Classroom management Student teaching Personal strengths Personal weaknesses Hypothetical situations Teaching style Future plans Employment history Motivational theories Health history

        Obviously, I couldn’t write about this whole chapter, simply because there were so many great suggestions. To me, this was one of the most important chapters in this book. I am so incredibly nervous about finding my groove as a teacher, but, as one of my previous teachers once told me, you will be great teachers simply because you do worry about these things. We obviously love learning, so we just need to continue to be willing to learn as we go and improve upon ourselves.

Closing thoughts

Through your practicum/observation experiences, have you already noticed a difference between your expectations of a classroom and the reality?

How do you plan to develop your teacher persona?

How do you plan to involve your students’ parents in their children’s learning? How involved do you want their parents?

How will you define yourself for job interviews?

Bridging English, 5^th ed. by Milner, Milner & Mitchell

Chapter 15 “Becoming a Complete Teacher”

Christina, our guest blogger,

offers important advice to those moving

 from pre-service to in-service.

 

“Becoming a Complete Teacher” in Bridging English

  By Christina K.

Every single day all of us are closer to becoming English teachers. It is a very exciting time to know that all of our hard work will be used for something good. However, although our label is changing from pre-service to teacher it is not safe to assume that we know it all. Also, we cannot assume that we will be perfect on the first day of school. Chapter 15 discusses the essential concerns for becoming a complete teacher.

 

 

Defining Yourself as a Teacher

On page 454 in the book, it lists six major concerns for pre-service teachers. These concerns include:

Relationships with students, parents, colleagues, and administrators

Classroom management

Handling the workload

Grading and Evaluation

Autonomy

Physical Appearance and Personal Likability

New teachers often have unrealistic expectations. It is important for new teachers to realize that everything does not happen overnight. New teachers are going to struggle with different challenges.

Margaret Metzger outlines four stages in the arc of a creative and substantive teaching career:

Initial Years: Personal Struggle, Self-Absorption

Middle Period: Curriculum focus, mastery of content and teaching style

Maturing Era: Concern for content that is authentic, honest, and challenging.

Personal state: Internal Exploration, a turn to one’s personal life for teaching insight.

 

This section covers the topic of shaping a teacher persona. Teachers have multiple layers to their persona. They are viewed based on the subjects they are teaching within the classroom. It is important to stick to what you have to teach but of course spice it up a little bit. Teachers also are judged on how they are viewed within the community. It is important to be involved in community groups such as the PTSA. However, the initial beginning of a teacher persona occurs at the interview. Teachers are judged on multiple things when they are interviewed for a position at school. Please see page 458 Figure 15-2 for commonly used interview questions and topics.

 

Building Public Trust

The book suggests three ways for students to build a strong relationship between the home and the classroom. It is important to understand that not all households are the same. Some of our students only have one parent raising them, parents who are divorced, or are raised by another member of their family. We should be careful to never assume anything.

Teachers should INCLUDE parents by building a relationship with teachers and letting them know that their feedback and participation is valued.

Teachers should INFORM parents by keeping them up to speed on their child’s progress in the classroom. Parents should hear about the positive and negative things their child is doing in the classroom.

Teachers should INVOLVE parents by seeking their participation in different classroom activities and promoting educational activities for the child and parent to do outside of the classroom.

See page 460 in the book for a list of National PTA “Top Ten Parent Recommendations for Teacher Effectiveness and Student Learning”.

Promoting Professional Growth

It is important for teachers to never remain stagnant in their career. The book lists the following things to do to make sure that you are always growing!

·         Goal Setting

·         Self Evaluation

·         Peer Review

·         External Assessment

·         Guild Building

·         Teacher Association Memberships i.e. NCTE

Professional Leadership

Many of us became teachers because we do not want to have our names in lights. However, that does not mean that there are not leadership opportunities within the field of education. Teachers need to make sure that they are taking a stand for what they believe in and advocating for their students and colleagues. Of course it is not expected for a new teacher to arrive on the first day of school with his/her leadership pants on. Eventually there will be opportunities. Below are a few ways teachers can take the lead:

·         When asked, help,

·         Relate to colleagues as you relate to students

·         Suggest agenda items for faculty gatherings

·         Join a National Writing Project site

·         Don’t say “no” to leadership opportunities

·         Communicate regularly with parents

·         Promote/organize teacher led seminars

·         Build a reputation as the best listener in your school

On page 468 there is a chart for the leadership growth path in the careers of all teachers!

I learned a lot from this chapter because it addressed some of my fears for being a teacher. I strive for perfection in most of my day to day activities. I do not want to let my students down, but this chapter calmed my nerves. It proved that it [developing as a teacher] takes time.

Dream Teaching Poem

What Do You Think?

·         Which of the six concerns above do you relate to the most?

·         What are some ways to form a strong relationship with the parents/guardians of your students?

 

Bridging English, 5^th ed. by Milner, Milner& amp; Mitchell

 

 

Oral Foundations--Part 2

Barbara, our guest blogger,

highlights key points about

the importance of accounatbale talk in

classrooms.

 

 

Part 2

 

Bridging English, Ch. 4

 

 

 









 

Storytelling can be used with all age groups and requires many skills. Technology has opened up the ability to add a visual and auditory track with the narrator’s voice. The power and beauty of digital storytelling can be created by people around the world and shared. The student’s judgment between image, word and sound becomes more decisive. They also use critical thinking about tone and audience.

Features include:

·         Use of gestures

·         Facial Expressions

·         Body Language

·         Variety in tone of voice to get story across

·         Dramatic placement of a character within a scene

·         Character voices

·         Stories can be rehearsed

Interviewing is oral language in the classroom using a nonperforming approach. Interviews can be organized in a variety of formats with many topics and interviewees.

Four Types of Interviewing:

·         Inside Out: Students themselves are the interviewees. Classmates interview them to learn what they know and feel and what they care to reveal.

·         Outside in: People who live beyond the classroom walls are interviewees.

·         Extensive: Interviews involve more general information and probes of more public events.

·         Intensive: Interviews that involve questions that are more personal and inward.

 

Chart from Bridging English, 5th Ed, Chapter 4

Value Chat: Students take the hot seat before the class and answer questions from classmates.

Partner Probe: Students interview each other in pairs to explore more private thoughts and personal feelings.

Expert Query: Students ask individual adults about political insights, career patterns, or specialization skills.

Retrospective Talk: Students go outside the classroom to interview grandparents or friendly elders with questions about their life experiences.

StoryCorps: A national project affiliated with National Public Radio and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. A forty minute interview with a loved one can be recorded and is kept at the Library of Congress.

I found the Readers’ theater a practical and beneficial strategy that we can all use in our classrooms. It does not require memorization of lines because student’s can use their scripts to read from. This takes the pressure off of them so they can participate more freely without fear or failure. This will help build confidence in students to try other types of oral activities and be successful in doing so.

I learned from the reading that oral expression is just as important today as it has always been. We as teachers must encouraged our text driven, Facebook writing, twittering students to speak from their mouths, not only through their fingers. They need these oral expressive skills to be able to interview for a job, express themselves to love ones, and make their feelings known on important issues in their lives. We as teachers need to give them a platform they can learn from and use for the rest of their lives. I enjoyed my time in drama, speech, and debate in high school and college. Hopefully with the strategies and ideas listed in this chapter we can bring a new generation of orators to life.

What are your thoughts about this?

Have you tried using readers’ theater, storytelling, or interviewing in a classroom setting?

Do you have any good ideas to get our students interested in speaking in class and outside of class?

 

 

 

 

Bridging English, 5^th ed. by Milner & Milner & Mitchell

 



Oral Foundations--Part 1

Barbara, our guest blogger,

highlights key points about

the importance of accounatbale talk in

 classrooms.

 

 

 

Part 1

 

 

Bridging English-Ch. 4

“People listened for thousands of years in all cultures to the Shaman, the Bard, the Story-teller, the Minstrel, who embodied their history, philosophy, literature, drama, and the meaning of life” (MacNeil, 1989, p. 1997).

“To speak or not to speak?” that is the burning question of English teachers across the country. Do we make our students participate in oral foundations otherwise known as oral language activities, creative drama activities and alternative oral strategies, while kicking and screaming or can we somehow persuade them that to be able to speak is to be able to express themselves and be heard?

This chapter deals with suggestions to help encourage students to express themselves in and outside of the classroom. There are many teaching strategies that we as English teachers can use to persuade our students to speak. Dramatic moments encourage personal growth of students in risk taking, creativity, cooperative learning, role playing, and language development.

 From monologues to reader’s theater to poetry and drama students need to be encouraged to speak and have fun while doing so.

We as their teachers need to lead the way by example and participation to encourage all students to join in the fun known as Oral Language.

Ten Oral Language Activities:

Purposes for Oral Language Activities:

·         to engage and energize students

·         to provide a platform for group interaction and collective problem-solving

·         to enlarge understanding of the other more visceral, lived through experiences

·         to establish a context for reading character and situation in literature, fiction, and nonfiction

·         to broaden awareness of verbal and nonverbal communication

 

Creative Drama

Creative Drama asks students to put actions and original words together in a dramatic situation.

Thirteen Creative Drama Activities:

Figure 4-5 Creative drama: Index of activities from fixed to free

Chart from Bridging English, 5th Ed, Chapter 4



 

Purposes for Creative Drama:

•        content goals lead to learning through drama; the other leads to learning about drama
•         serves to teach important concepts in the curriculum
•         lead students into a deeper appreciation of formal drama written by playwrights for performance on stage
•          makes an impact on five important aspects on personal growth: creativity, language development, role playing, risk taking, and cooperative learning

 

Using Readers’ Theater, Storytelling, and Interviewing as Alternative Oral Strategies

Readers’ Theater places readers in “minimal theater” where students act out significant scenes from literature. Teachers and students can write scripts or adapt scripts. Teachers can assign speaking parts and students stand to read. Students have the opportunity to enhance comprehension of what they are reading and the opportunity to develop fluency.
 

Common Features include:

•        Stage sets are minimal.
•         Costumes and props are simple.
•         Scripts are visible so memorization is unnecessary.
•         Narration frames the dramatic presentation.
•         The use of the voice, face, and gestures set the dramatic impact.

 

What do you think?

Which creative drama activity appeals to you and why?
What is your favorite type of oral language activity?

Bridging English, 5^th ed. by Milner & Milner& amp; Mitchell