The Great December Fiction Writing Challenge

A few weeks ago, an ELA teacher friend of mine was challenged by a friend to write a short fiction story involving a scooter, due by December 31, 2012. She, in turn, challenged a mutual teacher friend of ours to do the same, but her story must involve a train. This mutual friend challenged me to write a short story including a 1972 Chevy station wagon with wooden side panels (I'm not sure why that kind of car for me, but there it is). My initial reaction was, "Gulp!"

Image from ucapusa.com website

You might recall that I recently posted, on December 7, about how I struggle to write fiction. In that post, I made up a term for my condition: dysfictographia (the inability to write fiction). It's not an actual inability, but I do find writing fiction hard for me. But how could I let my friends down, especially since they had similarly been challenged? And what excuse could I give, anyway? I had plenty of time on my hands during winter break. So I went for it. I sent it out to my friends and family yesterday. Here's what I learned along the way.

First, don't make any prior assumptions. When I heard about the 1972 Chevy station wagon to be included in my story, I thought, "OK, good, we used to have a car like that when I was a kid. I'll draw on a memory for my story." For some reason, when I started writing, I wrote about the time we were carjacked in Ecuador. How did I get from childhood memory to adult traumatic experience? Who knows, but the thought journey certainly contained brown cars and children in back seats. It was a much better story because it contained all kinds of strong emotions dredged up from the depths of my memory. This idea-generating experience reinforced the power of letting students choose story ideas drawn from personal experience and fictionalizing them. It also reminded me that plans can be changed, often many times during the process.

Secondly, the more personal the story, the more I wanted it to be good. This involved getting lots of advice and revising with a critical eye. My December 7 posting about struggling was written during our short story writing unit. I wrote a story with my class during that unit. It wasn't that great. I wasn't that invested in it. I was writing to model writing and thinking about writing. I asked for advice so the students could hear what kinds of advice could be solicited and offered. With my station wagon story, on the other hand, I wanted to talk through my idea with someone from the very start, getting feedback on "What do you think of my story idea?" Once I got an initial draft done, I asked my two young adult daughters to read it and give me feedback. I got advice like, "This part didn't make sense to me", "Why would the character...?" and "You should flesh out the middle" to which I responded, "What work does that need to do for the story?" (a question I never in my life thought of asking before, but was crucial for knowing what to write). I sent out draft two, and draft three, until they said, "Enough! You know what to do!" I did. I rearranged, cut, rewrote, fiddled with words and punctuation, expanded, and agonized over the title.

Image taken from sachachua.com website

During the short story unit, I had students share their stories with peers through Google doc commenting. The peer comments helped their stories develop, and cheered them on when confidence was fading, but was not the writing support I experienced with my daughters. As fate--or the shifting attention span of the academic calendar--would have it, I ran across an article from the December 2012 issue of Voices from the Middle, NCTE's journal for Middle School educators, called "Writing for a Built-In Audience: Writing Groups in the Middle School Classroom" by Gretchen Hovan. This article talked all about structuring writing feedback groups, describing a process much like I experienced with my station wagon story. I also found a Writing Workshop Feedback Protocol developed by the National School Reform Faculty of the Harmony Education Center which fit into the NCTE article nicely and laid out a procedure that students could follow easily. I will try it during the Poetry Writing unit in February.

Finally, there is great satisfaction in sending a story into the world knowing it is your best effort. It is also scary and makes me feel vulnerable. That's what comes of making it personal, I guess. My worst nightmare is laid out on the page for the world to see, but at least I got to choose a happy ending.

My Classroom Library Displayed

I've done some work with my classroom library this semester. If you recall, on July 31, I posted about being confused about what an eighth grade classroom library should look like, since there weren't any models out there for me to view. I'm not sure I've gotten it right, but here's how I dealt with my Middle School classroom library this year:












Comfortable seating: Kids are never too old to sit on the floor, beanbag, or big old stuffed chair to read or work. Here is the main reading corner in my room, near the library bookshelves and two windows for good natural light. I have another set of red cushions on the other side of the room, and a couple of beanbags in the far corner. This spreads everyone out during independent work time.











Books grouped by genre: I have books grouped by genre and alphabetized by author on the low white shelf: paranormal, fantasy, science fiction, thriller/suspense, mystery, realistic fiction, historical fiction, classics, short stories, biography/autobiography, nonfiction. Poetry books are in the blue bin on the bottom shelf of the tall white bookshelf. My labeling is written on a small yellow sticky note stuck to the shelf in front of the group. Not sophisticated, but so far, it's worked out. In my previous post, I was pondering: To use plastic baskets or NOT to use plastic baskets. I decided that labels worked just as well, and I like the look of the books on the shelf better.

Displays: Books need to be seen to catch readers' attention. Once a month or so, I group some books together for special attention. This narrow bookshelf is holding the Paranormal collection, which I put out in October (naturally). Above the shelf is a list of all the books that go into that collection. In the pictures above, there are books displayed on top of the low white bookshelf; in this picture, they are autobiographies of people from cultures around the world. Also seen in the pictures above, there is a display of Hot New Books (the hot pink sign) on the large white bookshelf. These are books I've recently purchased, and I want to show them off before I tuck them into the shelf. My last display area is at the front of the room on some narrow shelves above the sink (why?), where I display nonfiction books. The lists of previously-displayed collections are taped to the window, in case students want to find a book they remembered seeing but don't know where to look.

In July, I talked about building the classroom library collection. I started with about six books in August, 2011, and I now have about 200. It's certainly not enough yet, and I've ordered more for next year. I also ordered more shelving to accommodate the new books and then I can move the big ugly white shelf to the back of the room to store textbooks and teaching resources.

Another goal is to become more familiar with the books that I have. My Shelfari shelf is filled with books I've read from my own classroom library, but there are lots to go. I know this project is a work in progress, and I'm feeling much better now than I was six months ago! Suggestions and feedback are welcome!

The Hobbit Returns

Image from en.wikipedia.org

The twenty-five hardbound coverless copies of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien have been sitting untouched on my eighth grade classroom storage shelf for the past five years. Some teacher in some distant past must have ordered them for a fantasy-based literature circle, along with Dragonriders of Pern by Ann McCaffry, The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuinn, and The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland. Once that teacher left, and our schedule changed, cutting Language Arts time from 90 minutes to 55 minutes per day, the unit was pushed aside to make way for a leaner curriculum.

Last year, I tried to interest my students in reading the fantasy books as part of an "Informal Book Club." While we were immersed in our writing unit, they could be reading these books at home with their choice of friends, and I'd give them time once a month to meet and talk about them. Just like a "real" adult book club! They liked the "choice of friends" part, but were not interested in the books on offer. That's OK. They got together and shared their home reading books with each other.

Image from apnatimepass.com

This year I tried again. The Hobbit "sold out" immediately! What was the difference? The movie version and winter break both arrived the same day! As their friends in their Informal Book Club urged them, students who are not big fantasy lovers agreed to give it a try. They turned the plain blue cover over doubtfully, but got hooked by the map of Middle Earth on the end papers. They asked what it was about, and some who had already read it gave a synopsis and a glowing review. The prospect of the movie clinched the deal.

The best part of this story is that the movie version is in three, widely-spaced episodes! So even though my somewhat reluctant readers will rely on the movie to tell them the story, they won't be able to find out the end until they read the book. What a way to hook a reader! I am really looking forward to the conversations when we return in January! They will be a mix of movie and book comparisons, predictions, and discussions of the characters and ending. Thanks, Peter Jackson!

Struggling Publicly

Photo by jeffrey james pacres via flickr

We are in the midst of the Realistic Fiction Writing unit, and I am a struggling writer. This is not a brand-new realisation, but it is something I have been more public about this year. I have known for several years now, ever since I have committed to writing alongside my students within the genre of study, that fiction is hard for me. I can knock out an essay in 30 minutes flat, tell a personal narrative in 10, and jot a poem in 5. But stories... well, I often get stuck in the gate without an idea.

I know a variety of idea generating strategies because I teach them to my students. I try them out in my Writer's Notebook just like they do. But year after year, I come up with either boring ideas or no ideas. Once I settle on a (boring) idea to go with, I struggle to find the problem, the solution, the issue, and how to make characters into something other than myself or my own children. Do I have a disability? Something like dysfictographia-- the inability to write fiction (p.s. I just made that up)?

So this year, I shared my fiction-writing struggle with my students during the first week as we were building our writing community. I included my writing difficulty on my "About the Author" page of our Writing Gallery website. And I have been repeating it almost daily for the past couple weeks as we've been working through the fiction unit.

However, I've also been sharing my problem-solving attempts with them. I told them that I asked for help from my daughter, and we bounced ideas off of each other until we came up with something I thought I could write. I told them that I changed the setting to one that I had more experience with so it would sound more authentic. I showed them my Writer's Notebook of lead ideas, full of scratched out lines, inserted phrases, and questions to myself. I told them that, when reading aloud, I noticed my sentences sound clunky and I need to revise them to get rid of all those words I repeated. I asked them for help on the ending because it didn't show my issue as clearly as I wanted. Then I thanked them for their advice, which I will keep in mind as I write my next draft.

I want them to know that even grown-up writers, who they see as fluent and accomplished, work hard at writing and don't give up when the going gets tough.

I think they get it. I've gotten more comments this year that start with things like, "When you changed your setting because it wouldn't sound authentic, I think I need to do that too." Or "I noticed I repeat a lot of words too, so is it OK if I read this out loud to myself to catch them?" They give me encouragement and tell me they like my story, but then tell me something I can do to make it better. They are usually right. And I thank them.

Joyous Reflection

I spent the weekend grading literary essays based on short stories the students had read during our short story reading unit. Over the course of the previous three weeks, the students were guided through the writing process: they chose a story or two they felt strongly about, identified a thesis and topic sentences, found evidence to paraphrase or quote, drafted in essay form, revised for ideas and grammar, edited for punctuation and spelling, and published on our grade 8 writing gallery site. As I read and evaluated their final essays, I felt quite joyous. Here’s why:

Through conferring, I already knew pretty much what every essay was about, and the work the students did to grow as writers. However, leaving a student after a conference or after a minilesson is a moment of trust that s/he will actually try the strategy or follow the suggestion.  It really isn’t until the moment of grading that I give myself the time to truly see whether the student followed through or not. Here is where the joy comes in: they did it!

OK, not everyone did everything well, of course. But I saw so much that I could point to and say, “There’s the minilesson on quoting dialogue” or “There’s the conference we had about embedding your thesis in your topic sentences to stay focused on the main idea” or “There’s the small group work on adding an insight into the conclusion.” I can see the evidence of my teaching in front of me, and that’s a joyous feeling.

I wonder if the students know how much they have grown? I think I will give them back the literary essay they wrote on the first week of school and let them read it again (I can hear the groans already). Then I’ll give them back this essay and have them reflect on their learning using three stars and a wish: List 3 things you learned during the unit (the stars) and 1 thing you wish had been different (the wish). Finally, I’ll give them their graded Six Traits rubric and ask that they read my “love note” (I always write a “wow” and a “next time” comment on rubrics).

I hope the students can feel joyous after reflecting too. They earned it!

Enhancing Student Learning Through Meaningful Technology Integration

As our middle school prepares to move to a one-to-one technology model next year, I am trying to shift my teaching now by finding new ways to integrate technology into my English Language Arts units. Fortunately, I do not have to travel this journey alone. I am part of a department of teachers who are all on this same quest; our department goal for the year involves “enhancing student learning through meaningful technology integration”. I have a willing teaching partner who is by my side every step of the way, collaborating, encouraging, questioning, and investigating with me. I have a technology integration specialist available who understands the pressures and constraints of the classroom teacher, since she was recently a middle school Humanities teacher herself. And I have lesson suggestions and resources at my fingertips through organizations like NCTE, NCSS, NCLE, and ReadWriteThink.org.

At the beginning of each unit, our tech integrationist joins our department and gives us a manageable suggestion for how to add tech to our unit. Here’s what we’ve done so far:

• ·            Short Story Reading: Discussion Thread within our school’s Moodle site, open to each of our two classes of students. Students posted an interpretation about a story they read in class, and responded to others’ interpretations.
• ·            Literary Essay Writing: A grade-level-wide writing gallery Google site. Each student has a page, on which s/he publishes his/her final literary essay. Other students read and provide (constructive, positive) feedback on it. This site will be used again for other writing units, showcasing each piece.
• ·            Short Story Writing: Students write stories on a Google document, and share it with the teacher and two other students. Students get feedback through “comments” as they are in the process of writing their stories. Teachers can monitor the document’s history, ensuring that the story is the student’s own work and not being changed or edited by others.

These tech integration tools have not changed the actual process of reading or writing, or the written product. After all, a word-processed essay or story is not much different than a handwritten one. However, it’s the audience that has widened, and this has given students a chance to bounce partially-formed ideas off of many others, receive feedback about their ideas to help shape them for clarity and accuracy, and it adds authenticity to the publishing step because they are writing for peers as well as the teacher.

Collaboration and communication are two pillars of the 21^st Century Skill set. Using Discussion Threads, Google Sites, and Google Docs widens students’ audience, thus allowing them to receive more feedback during their literacy process. This is “meaningful technology integration” that “enhances student learning”.

"Dude, I spawned into an aircraft"

Last week I was riding in a van with ten eighth grade boys on our way to a zipline course. The trip would take about an hour, so I settled into my front seat and began a little informal data gathering: What do adolescent boys talk about in unstructured settings? Over the course of that hour, the boys discussed video games-- especially war-based games, movies-- war-based movies, horror films, and slapstick comedy, and TV shows-- South Park and Family Guy. The conversation was rapid fire: one boy introducing a topic, another offering a brief comment, a third jumping in with a new topic. No one topic lasted more than about a minute and a half. Some boys could never get a word in edgewise, while the same 2-3 dominated the conversation. Yet there was a sense of community and lots of laughter, quotes and shared memories.

I learned something by listening that day: Those boys are part of a culture that has its own vocabulary, rituals, and values. That culture is completely foreign to my culture; although I have heard of the games, movies, and TV shows they discussed, I have not participated nor viewed any of them. They used familiar words in new ways: "Dude, I spawned into an aircraft" (spawned?), and used terms I'd never heard of: "I used my MOAB to blow up the tank" (MOAB? When another boy asked, I learned it meant "Mother Of All Bombs"). They valued violence and competition, slapstick humor and special effects.

This is interesting to me because these are my students. They sit in my class every day and listen to me talk about the things I think are important. But what I am talking about has nothing to do with modern warfare weapons, gory violence, nor slapstick humor. I wonder if what I am saying is as foreign to them as their discussion was to me. I wonder how to bridge my middle-aged female academic culture with their adolescent male pop culture so that they can access the vocabulary and concepts in the curriculum. I wonder about the pace of the class, where one topic can last 20 or more minutes. Can they sustain their attention that long?

The boys in that van come from families like mine, have parents like me. Yet they have created a common culture that is foreign to me. Rather than assuming they are accessing all of the concepts presented in class, I must remember to find the bridge that helps them link my culture to theirs, just as I do with students from other foreign cultures.

The Formative Mountain

"Climb every mountain....ford every stream...." Yes, The Sound of Music still rings inside my head a week after the all-school musical closed its doors. Its "man up and tackle the obstacles" advice worked for Maria, but as I sit in front of The Formative Mountain: 80 notebooks, and think how I have to climb that mountain to give feedback on the reading and writing process to each student, I feel myself quaking.

Yes, I believe in formative feedback. Yes, I believe in reading and writing notebooks as an authentic process that makes thinking visible. Yes, I believe in individualizing and adjusting instruction based on formative feedback. And yes, I believe that formative feedback helps learners know how to improve before they are summatively assessed.

HOWEVER! Formative assessment takes time, and I wonder how I can manage The Formative Mountain better so it is just a Formative Foothill or a Formative Mound (Formative Speedbump?). Our school is generous with shared planning time, department meeting time, and professional development time in the school day. I believe I probably have the best of all possible worlds when it comes to planning and prep time. And still I spent eight hours this weekend evaluating and giving feedback on notebooks. Sigh.

To put things in perspective, students turned their Writer's Notebooks in three times this quarter for evaluation. Two of those times (about once a month) they received a sticky-note comment on a self-selected "best entry" which gave a "Wow" about the entry as a validation of their thoughts and/or use of strategy, a formative grade on volume, variety, frequency, depth, and taking care of the notebook, and a general  "Wow" and "Next step" feedback comment. The third, in-between time they got an accountability score-- you kept up with all the entries, you did some of the entries, or you didn't do the entries. The Readers Notebook got one thorough review (as above) and an accountability score, because they also did two Discussion Thread postings in between which also received a formative grade (see previous post).

Am I over-assessing?

I have gotten good feedback from students and parents about my comments (I call them my "love notes", as in "Please read the love note I gave you in your notebook"). I have seen students make specific changes in their entries because of what I wrote to them. I have also seen students stay motivated and interested because they are getting positive feedback, especially the reluctant writers who need the practice the most and yet feel so discouraged when they have to write their thoughts on paper. That makes the "Wow" comment so much more important than the "Next Step".

So my eyes turn to The Formidable Formative Mountain of Notebooks, and trust that it will be worth it to "climb every mountain". But if anyone has any suggestions, I'm ready to put my alpine gear in the closet!

The Power of Formative Feedback

Teaching my second year of 8th grade English Language Arts is an opportunity to re-think and revise my first year stab-in-the-dark unit plans. I get to use a full year's worth of learning about the developmental range of 8th graders as I start this year's curriculum. I get to reflect on the student feedback from the end-of-unit reflections and comments I received last year so that I can make adjustments this year. I get to look at my model texts and think about the ones that worked well, and those that didn't seem worth the time they took to read aloud. This is one kind of formative feedback: from myself to myself as I look at student assessments and remember student comments.

We just finished our first full content unit: Short Story Interpretive Reading based on Lucy Calkins' A Curricular Plan for the Reading Workshop- Grade 8.(2010) Last year, I bravely taught big ideas like finding pivotal moments when characters made critical choices, looking at different perspectives, identifying multiple themes within one text, finding multiple texts with common themes and noticing character and setting differences between them. I taught types of sentences and literary devices like symbols and mood. I expected students to read short stories of their choice and practice these big ideas in their reading notebooks. I conferenced with students as they read, and tried to raise their level of thinking through our conversations. I was feeling pretty excited about the sophistication of this work, especially coming from many years of teaching sixth grade.

And then came the end of unit test, where I gave a new story to analyze along the very same strategies we'd been working with in class. It was something of a disaster. The students seemed confused, did not dig as deep as I'd hoped, circled around answers without really answering, and overall they seemed dismayed at "how hard" the test was. As I assessed their reading notebooks at the end of the unit, I understood why: their notebook work was, for many students, shallow, simple, and safe, with little practice on the strategies presented.

I was reminded of a common teacher saying, "Just because you taught it, doesn't mean they learned it."

Obviously the students needed more practice and better feedback in order to be ready for the test. This year I taught the same lessons, I conferred more often (because I'd practiced all year last year and my skill was better), and I had more frequent check-ins:

1. I set up a Discussion Thread on our Moodle site. I posted a spot for each of the short stories that were available for reading. After about 8 days of work, I required students to post "an interpretation" of their reading of one of their stories. Many students copied an entry from their Reading Notebook, which was fine, and some brought new thinking into the post. I gave them a formative grade and feedback on their interpretation.
2. I collected their Reading Notebooks at mid-unit. They marked their "best entry" with a sticky note. As I evaluated the notebooks, I looked for volume (how many stories had they read so far, how many entries, and how long the entries were), variety (were they trying the interpretation strategies or sticking with safe character charts or summary?), and depth (were they pushing their thinking by writing long about theme or character analysis?). I gave them specific feedback on their marked entry, more general feedback on their variety and volume, and a formative grade.
3. I asked for another Discussion Thread posting and two responses to others about a week later. I was looking for a lift in the level of their interpretation postings, and critical thinking in their responses to others. I was, in general, very pleased with the depth and detail, as well as the respectful and academic tone, of their responses. I could also tell that they were thinking about the stories a little differently by reading other interpretations and entertaining new ideas. Sometimes they agreed and added on, sometimes they disagreed and explained their perspective, and sometimes they admitted that this was a new idea to them and explained their new thinking. This, again, got formative feedback and a formative grade.
4. I gave them a study guide for the test. I told them the format of the test, how much time each section should take, I wrote the curricular performance indicators I was looking for, and I listed the terms they would need to know. Since this was a performance task test, and the performance indicators and terms were all the things I'd been teaching all along, I did not feel like I was "giving anything away". I made the mentor texts available to them on the Moodle site so they could practice.
5. I gave a formative "quiz" the day before the test so they could have a "taste" of what the test would be like. I stopped them after about 15 minutes, told them it was just for practice, and allowed them to work with a partner to discuss their answers, finish any of the unfinished questions, and go over the terms together. 

By the time of the test, students were much less stressed and much more confident than last year. The results of the test are much higher. Of course a few students still did not do well; I can look back on their formative scores and feedback, and see the gaps and lack of practice despite the attempts to support them. However, I feel that I did a much better job with my feedback as well as holding students accountable to do the practice work. This formative feedback made a big difference in their learning.

The Blunder

I traveled with three colleagues to Beijing this weekend to attend the Learning 2.012 conference. We were invited to dinner by a former colleague who moved here in August; he promised to send a driver to pick us up and bring us to his new house. The driver was to meet us in the lobby of the hotel between 4:30 and 5:00 with a sign saying the name of our school.

We were a little late returning from our afternoon at The Great Wall, arriving at about 4:40. No driver. No worries; we hung around the lobby, eying the Chinese man with car keys who was also hanging around the lobby, but he didn't have the magic sign. By 5:15 we started to worry.

A phone call to our dinner host explained what happened. Mr. Ren, the driver, arrived at the hotel lobby at 4:30 with his sign. A very old couple walked up to him looking expectant. He showed them the sign, and they nodded, so off they went together. What a surprise when my friend opened his door, expecting old friends and seeing, instead, old strangers! It took my friend about 10 minutes to explain the mistake to the somewhat senile couple and Mr. Ren. They piled back into the car and returned to the hotel. We met up with Mr. Ren, the old couple met up with Mr. Wong, their very worried driver, and we separated to our own rightful destinations.

Funny story! But also how I have been feeling during this technology conference. I am somewhat like that old couple, wandering off with the wrong driver and not realizing my mistake until someone meets me at the door to explain it to me. All of it is harmless, as was the driver mix-up, but an unfortunate detour nonetheless.

One of the big questions that has been bouncing around my head today has been this one from Heidi Hayes Jacobs and her Curriculum 21 work: What year are we teaching for? So much of what is driving our teaching is dated: SATs, IB exams,  College entrance requirements. We teach the 5 paragraph persuasive essay in grade 8 English Language Arts because they need to know how to do that in high school. We teach literary analysis essay in grade 8 because they need to know how for high school. And in high school, they still write the 5-paragraph essay because they need to do that on the SAT. And they teach annotating a printed text because they have to do it on the IB exam. But that is 1982 teaching because those exams haven't changed as the world of the learner has changed..

I am beginning to realize that even if we use technology to do some of those same things, it's still 1982 teaching. For example, typing an essay on Word rather than handwriting is still 1982 teaching. Videotaping a lecture and having kids watch it at home, AKA "flipped classroom", is still a lecture, and is still 1982 teaching. This is when I feel like the old couple standing at the door of my friend's house. I thought I was using technology; I thought I was on the right road to the correct destination. No harm done, but the bigger objective was not really achieved.

Jacobs' teaching point is that we have to "upgrade" (her word) our curriculum to make it relevant and responsive to the world 10 years from now, the world our students will encounter as adults. We need to re-think and re-imagine our learning targets and assessments to capture the multi-media, connected, globalized world. Some ideas I've taken away from my first long day here that could lift the level of teaching out of 1982 are:

• have students videotape themselves demonstrating and explaining their analysis of a poem and embed that video into their poetry reading portfolio instead of a written analysis
• have students make a Public Service Announcement (PSA) video after they've written their persuasive essay instead of "performing" it as an oral presentation
• have students blog about their Social Studies homework reading: What I know, what I think, what I wonder, instead of completing the reading comprehension questions

When I return to my school, I am going to make a sign to hang over my desk: What year am I teaching for? As I plan, I will use that sign to guide me into the right car so that I end up at my preferred destination.

Bridging the Gap

I attended the High School Back-to-School Night last week, following my ninth grader's schedule in 10-minute periods to meet her teachers and hear about their courses. I came away feeling good that my daughter and her classmates, my students last year, were ready for the increased challenges in independence and higher order thinking. I came away feeling like the teachers genuinely enjoyed the students.  I also came away thinking about how different middle school is from high school, and how often this gap is blamed for rocky starts.

So I popped into the HS English department chair's classroom for a little chat. The department chair and I worked together three years ago on the last curriculum review when the middle school switched to a workshop approach. The switch made for a smooth flow from Kindergarten through grade 8 with students applying reading and writing strategies to self-chosen texts in an ever-increasingly complex way. This spiral is really starting to pay off this year. By eighth grade, students are agents of their own literacy, choosing books that are interesting and challenging to read, and writing stories with setting details, dialogue, and style.

Then comes 9th grade and it all changes. They read whole-class novels and write literary essays. They study Romeo and Juliet for a quarter. Their only "book club", which is the last unit of the year, consists of a choice between two titles: Of Mice and Men or A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. This year, with the support and encouragement of the secondary librarian, students are required to read at home and post reviews on shelfari, an online book sharing site.

This little chat resulted in my eighth grade teaching partner and I getting invited to the English department meeting this week to discuss our different approaches to teaching reading and writing. I am not looking to change their teaching, but I think that the shift in philosophies is something that both sides of the gap need to address. The shift in teaching reading strategies to teaching reading as content. The shift in teaching writing as craft to teaching writing as communicating reading analysis. The use of reading and writing notebooks as learning tools to... what? When I mentioned notebooks, my colleague said, "Yes, let's talk about those. They are completely off my radar."

Perhaps there are small things we can do in eighth grade to help students ease into the change. Perhaps ninth grade teachers can refer to systems we use as a way to shift students to their systems. In any case, we will understand each other's program a little better, and better understanding can only benefit the students.

The Buzz

Image from taklomauto2010 website

It has taken me a long time in my career as a teacher to know when noise in a classroom is good noise or bad noise. Over the past three years, I think I've finally gotten a handle on it. Learning about brain research and the importance of chunking lesson time helped me to think through my lessons differently.  Brain research says that humans (yes, even adults) can't handle much more than 10 minutes of a presentation before zoning out; therefore, a lesson should be chunked into 10/2 minute chunks for optimal learning: 10 minutes of information presentation and 2 minutes of processing time. Just 2 minutes will allow the learner to identify what was important, make connections, and find areas of confusion. When the next 10/2 chunk comes along, the learner is ready to link the new information to the previous learning, or anticipate getting his/her question answered. Processing can take many forms, such as a written learning log, a structured note-taking sheet with a graphic or visual element, or partner talk. Talk time works really well with middle schoolers, and it works best if the teacher structures it.

Last week during Writer's Workshop, I taught my eighth graders how to write a "constructive rant" in their Writer's Notebooks. This "constructive rant" follows a pattern often seen in editorials: the author rants/complains about an issue for a while, but then tries to see the other side or perspective, and finally attempts to find a possible solution. I ended with, "I know eighth graders are passionate about things they feel are unfair at home or in this world. Why don't you pick an issue and give this a try?" Immediately the room started buzzing... with talk, not writing. Time for one of those executive decisions that teachers make on the fly all the time: "I see you need to share your rant issue before you write. Go ahead and tell the person sitting next to you what the issue is, and then we'll get started in one minute."

They settled down after that, and wrote furiously for 20 minutes. Again, the buzz started... a little at first, but then more as students finished their entries. I shushed a few until I could see that almost everyone was at a good stopping place. Then I had them share with their partner again, but this time adding the shift of perspective and possible solution. The energy, the eye contact, the leaning forward and gesturing body language, the laughter and groans communicated far more than the words they were saying: this was writing worth doing! They loved it!

Yes the room was noisy during that 10 minutes of share time at the end of class. The buzz was the sound of every student being engaged and on-task. That's good noise, and I knew it when I heard it.

My blog wordle!

Safety in Routines

     As I get my classroom organized for students to walk into on Sunday, I need to think not only about organizing the physical space, but also organizing the routine of the day. As Harry and Rosemary Wong remind us, having routines makes a classroom a predictable and safe place for students to learn. If routines are not in place, students spend too much time worrying about where to sit, what to do next, and how to obtain or turn in materials and not enough focus on the learning objective. So during the first week, I need to make sure that students know the following:

1. When students enter the room, they should go to their seat and look at the agenda on the front board so they can anticipate the learning activity and objective. Please don't socialize at the back of the room until invited to sit down.
2. Each lesson starts with a teacher-directed section, so they should have their notebook, pencil or pen, book, and any homework ready to go.
3. Homework gets turned into the labeled trays that sit on the materials table, where extra paper and pencils, staplers, hole punchers, tape dispenser, and paper clips are available for student use. Colored pencils are for coloring, not as a replacement for a lost pencil.
4. Independent work time needs to be quiet. People work best without distractions and noise.
5. After the closure, students will be dismissed from the room (wait for it!).
6. Grading is done in a consistent way, and grades are put into the electronic grade book within a week of the assignment's due date.
7. Homework is turned in on the day it is due. If it isn't turned in, it needs to be made up as soon as possible, preferably during break or lunch. If late homework becomes a pattern, parents will be notified to help break the pattern.
8. The school's Moodle site is a student's best friend. Assignments for the week, handouts, glossary, links, test calendar and other resources are readily available for student use. There should never be the excuse "I didn't know" or "I didn't have it."

Hmmm... pretty long list. But it is fairly standard stuff, and if I take a week to touch on all of it, it shouldn't be overwhelming. With attention to expectations and practice to meet them, my classroom management will be a well-oiled machine within a couple of weeks. And with predictable routines comes a feeling of safety and plenty of brain space for learning.

Setting the tone

Summer is ending and teacher pre-service days begin next week. During the four full days set aside before students walk through the doors, there are two, one-hour department meetings. Not a lot of time to set the tone for the rest of the year, so I need to be thoughtful about how to use it.

I know that pre-service days are full of meetings about whole-school year-long goals and the nitty-gritty of opening school. I know teachers are itching to get into their rooms and move furniture, organize materials, and make photocopies. I know that, as soon as there are kids in the room, teachers focus on the micro: seating decisions, management, lesson planning and prep, learning names, and lots more. So how should I use my precious two hours so that we kick off the year on the right foot?

First and foremost: Team-building. Four of the six of us have been together as a team for the past three years. The other two are new this year; a whole new sixth grade ELA/SS team. We need to get to know each other as people first, re-connecting old bonds and forming new ones. That means at least 20 minutes of the first hour should be sharing, fun, and laughter.

Next, curriculum. We are in the fourth year of our English Language Arts, and the third year of our Social Studies curriculum implementation. There are tasks that need to be accomplished with each year. We should look at those tasks and begin planning how we as a team can get to them during the year. I hope to take a less directed position with the department this year. We have come so far as a PLC, and I hope to share some of the work around planning and implementing professional development.

Finally, the implications of student data. We gathered so much student data last year: standardized reading and writing tests and core classroom assessments. The Curriculum Office collated and organized that data for us, but we haven't seen any of last year's spreadsheets. Each student also has a data folder that includes the above scores as well as an end-of-year writing sample and report card. We need to look at all that data and think about what it tells us about our teaching this year. Will we switch around units? Will we emphasize some skills over others? Will we target groups of students who are not making progress? How does this data influence our professional development goals?

Somehow the "housekeeping" items will get done. The orders will get distributed. The meeting norms approved. The Essential Agreements remembered. Taking a little time during the calm before the storm to think about the big work for the year ahead will keep us focused, and set the collaborative tone of working together on common goals.

Rethinking Middle School Classroom Libraries

I have been doing a “study” of classroom libraries on the web this summer. I inherited a minuscule library (we’re talking about a half-dozen books) from the former eighth grade ELA teacher because he didn’t believe that middle schoolers needed a library in their classroom when there was a great resource just down the hall. Although I agree that we do have one of the best young adult collections I’ve ever seen in our secondary library, I also believe there is great value to having a collection of books in the classroom. There is nothing like saying to a student during a reading conference, “Wait, I have the perfect book for you” and then walking over to pull it off the shelf. When students say, “I forgot my book today,” I can send them over to the classroom library to find something to read during independent reading time. So I have been buying young adult books at the used book sales to add to my shelves. I also have about 50 new books coming from Booksource this fall to add to my classroom library. I believe they have an important place in a middle school literacy classroom.

Here is my dilemma. I have never seen pictures of or read articles specifically about middle school classroom libraries. I have seen lots of pictures of elementary libraries; in fact, Choice Literacy posted pictures of attractive elementary classroom libraries on their Facebook page all during the month of May. Here are a couple of examples. I saw shelves filled with plastic baskets labeled by genre, series, or author. I saw select books displayed on stands. I saw rugs and rocking chairs and floor lamps and houseplants and bright colors. Choice Literacy also published several articles about classroom libraries: organizing, types of books, categorizing, leveling, etc. Again, the examples were all elementary age.

So I am wondering: What would an eighth grade classroom look like? My students love my reading corner outfitted with beanbag chairs, throw pillows, overstuffed chair, and traditional Arab majli cushion set. I like displaying five or six books that connect with the genre we’re focused on or titles I think they would like on the top of the bookshelf. The setting works. What should my library selves look like? Should I have plastic baskets of books labeled “Nonfiction”, “Walter Dean Myers”, “Twilight”, and “Books About Girls Who Don’t Fit In”? Should I alphabetize the shelves by author for fiction and assign Dewy Decimals for the nonfiction like the “real” library? Should I randomly throw them onto the shelf? Should I take time out of class to have the kids figure it out?

Middle school students draw a fine line between what is “babyish” and “cool”. Sometimes I’m shooting in the dark trying to figure it out. Last year I learned that they definitely think sitting on the cushions to read or work on laptops is cool. But sitting on the floor during the mini-lesson is babyish. Would they think plastic baskets too babyish? Or would they direct readers to easily find books to read, and thus they would be cool? What other organizational container would be “cooler” than plastic baskets? I think I’ll go to the dollar store and see what I can find.

Teachers as Writers

I firmly believe that writing teachers need to write, and they need to write what their students are writing so that they can teach from personal experience. It is powerful to say to a student, “Something that works for me when I’m having that problem is…”, and so I have tried to maintain an active writing life for the past fifteen years.

Notice the verb “tried” in that last sentence. I cannot yet say that I have achieved the active writing life that I know I should maintain. My writer’s notebooks are full of spurts and gaps. My entries range from rants about my husband (not often, but helpful at the time), to observations about the scene in front of me, to poetry drafts, to character sketches, to thoughts about my children, to travel writing. My portfolio of pieces matches the genres and deadlines of my units for students. I seem to be writing because I “should” and not because I feel the urge to voice my thoughts.

This summer, I signed up for Kate Messner’s Teacher’s Write “Writing Camp”. A teacher and author, Kate posted a series of mini-lessons, prompts, and encouragement on her daily blog. She invited guest authors to contribute, and allowed participants to share their writing. In mid-June, I had all the best intentions to follow the blog daily, to write daily, and to write at least one finished fiction story (my most difficult genre) by the end of the summer.

Can you guess how it’s turned out, now that we’re nearing the end of July? Yep, best laid plans…. I have done some of the prompts in my writer’s notebook, such as written a couple of scenes and character sketches. I’ve written other entries in between. I haven’t written daily, nor have I written a complete story. Sigh.

But wait! I actually HAVE been writing (almost) every day. I got my blog up and going again—that’s writing! I wrote in response to articles for the blogging course I’m taking—that’s writing! I wrote reviews for the books I read this summer for my Shelfari and Goodreads pages—that’s writing! I emailed and chatted and posted on facebook—that’s writing!

Maybe I should recognize and celebrate all the writing that’s in my life. I will still try to stretch myself by trying new things, either through prompts in my writer’s notebook or working toward a finished piece in a specific genre. But perhaps I need to let go of the guilt and let me be the writer I am: a full time teacher/ mother/ wife who fits writing into the spaces left behind. Some of that writing is full and thoughtful (like this blog) and some is quick (like a facebook post), but it’s writing.

And as I sit down with my eighth graders this fall, I can say to them, “I know what it’s like to be a busy person. Do you know what I do to fit in time for my writer’s notebook?”

image from scribifile website