Ok, I'm back. I'm also not proofreading or caring about grammar.

Honestly, I'm not sure why I'm continuing with my blog.  I'm pretty sure the only people who might read it are Becky and Tony, but I think it might be therapeutic in my current endeavor to keep a semi-public record.  This is an extremely embarrassing topic, but I'm taking the plunge and posting about it.  You see: I'm trying to become a runner. 

Yes, I realize there are very few things as funny as a fat runner.  Not to demean myself here, but I'm a pretty darn fat runner.  Yes, I have self-esteem; yes, I know I'm a worthy individual.  But the clear fact of the matter is I'm about 80 lbs. overweight.  I feel there is no sense in hiding from this rather obvious fact. 

I've been slowly easing into running for about 2 months.  It has been my dirty little secret; the one I would die if anyone found out about (side note: I know this means I have a boring life).  With the exception of Heather, on whom I depend for advice and sarcasm, I haven't told anyone outside of my husband.  Honestly, I only told him because I felt I had to.  I'm deeply ashamed of the vision of myself running.  Don't get me started on the idea of spandex (not happening for at least 30 lbs.!).  

I've always had the completely unattainable dream of becoming a runner.  I ran on the cross country team in middle school, but gave up when a few 8th grade boys teased me.  I've always felt ashamed of giving up so easily--I was pretty good!  I mean, not championship good, but I managed to consistently stay in the top half of race competitors.  I've never wanted to be a speed demon, but I used to love the way running made me feel.  When the teasing started (although in retrospect, it was pretty minor teasing), I gave up and refused to continue running in high school.  My high school years were not the kindest years to me.  Now I teach high school...Freud would have something to say about this...

Anyway, back to my current state of chubby running.  I started out by walking a lot over the spring and summer.  In August, I randomly viewed a colleague's blog and came across a reference to Hal Hidgon's 30/30 plan (hehe, hypertext!).  It didn't sound too hard, so I thought I would give it a try.  As a result of my super embarrassment, I decided not to tell anyone.  Honestly, I figured I would quit within a few weeks.  That's what I tend to do with my health.  

To my intense surprise, I loved the feeling I got from this workout.  It took me longer than 1 month (ok, perhaps 3 months), but I finally reached the place where I had mastered very basic jogging.  My schedule was routinely interrupted by my own mortification at being seen running.  I did everything I could think of to give off the appearance of a casual walker: I exercised during "slow use" times at the woods, I stopped running the moment I heard someone coming, I slowed down around corners to make sure the coast was clear, etc. My get-up was also hysterical.  I was always over-covered with extra large sweatshirts, huge sunglasses, and a ski cap pulled low on my face.  Seriously, I'm lucky no one mistook me for a bank robber.  I kept up my disguise so well that I was passed several times by beautifully running colleagues who didn't recognize me.  Rather than be ashamed of my cowardice, I felt pitifully proud of myself. 

Why come public now, you may ask?  Why bring my humiliation out of the closet and into the critical light of day?  Well, I joined a gym because it's too f****** cold to go outside.  

People see me running.  I feel super embarrassed.  Publicly embarrassed.  "I belong on the Biggest Loser" type of embarrassed.  So far, I've been lucky enough to avoid seeing people I know.  But it's only a matter of time before I run into colleagues (*gasp*), students (*gasp gasp*), and/or parents of my students (*swoon*).  I'm bracing myself for this inevitable humiliation.  

The good news?  I'm getting pretty good at moderately running.  In September, running 30 seconds made me think my heart would explode.  Now, I jog for five minutes, walk for one, then jog again.  Jogging for five straight minutes would have seemed impossible a few months ago.  I feel pretty proud of myself.  I'm not fast (embrace the 16 minute mile!), but I'm consistent. Therein lies a great victory for me. 

In addition to my mental jump off the running cliff, I'm trying to cut WAY back on caffeine and soda.  I connect them because the only caffeine I drink comes from Diet Coke.  And I don't drink one or two small sodas a day.  Until 3 weeks ago, Diet Coke was actually the only thing I drank.  I usually manage to quit soda over the summer, but fall right back into it (and junk food) during the school year.  I just need to break the cycle (*slapping myself*).  Let's face it: that much Diet Coke would probably kill most lab rats.  I've gone 6 straight days without caffeine.  I'm going to let myself have 1-2 glasses of soda tomorrow because I'm going to my Grammie's for dinner (and I'm a snob about Glenburn water).  But I think if I can avoid having more than 1-2 sodas per week, I will be a much healthier person.  All I've been drinking is water, and I don't hate it as much as I expected.

Summary: I'm a chubby, water-loving, new-time jogger.  We'll see how it develops.  My goal is to jog my first 5K this spring.  My willpower has been going strong for several months--now it's time to let my mortification take a back seat and give my "can do" attitude a chance to drive.  

Recommended reading for fellow new, like-minded runners: The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women and The Courage to Start. The first is sarcastic and intensely humorous; the second is inspirational for people who jog more like fat penguins that lithe gazelles.  I recommend starting with inspirational and leaving sarcastic for when your sore muscles need a good laugh. 

End of the quarter

I always find the end of the quarter bittersweet.  It's an accomplishment (I survived!), a mountain of last-minute work, and a panic of what I have left to cover this year.  

With each class, I make a couple of goals to work on during the next quarter.  One of my classes is going to work on minimizing talking and writing without being told at the beginning of class.  Two of my classes are going to work on their "professional personas": the way they should act and interact in an academic and professional environment.  Another class is going to work on coming out of their shells and participating in small group work.  I find these goals satisfying to make, but they're also a bit overwhelming in terms of solutions. 

And my goals?  Improve my patience, stick to my fitness plan (so far, so good!), let minor annoyances slide and improve my time management.  I think the toughest one for me is to let minor annoyances slide.  It's easy to be sidetracked and direct emotion toward things that don't really matter.  Interactions with peers, unfair remarks by classmates, nagging from students, miscommunications, someone not reloading paper in the printer (after printing 100 copies of something!!)--I can waste a lot of time fuming over these petty complaints.  In reality?  None of these matter, and most are the result of general stress on my part.  Rationally, I realize that getting rid of negative emotions about small complaints will also improve my time management (and patience--  Two for the price of one!).  I look forward to tackling this goal. :)

What about blog readers?  Anyone have some goals for this next part of the school year?

Great Juliana one-liner

Juliana has become obsessed with The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We have an adorable video of her turning the pages and "reading" the book, while acting it out with her VHC stuffed animal.  

The next day, Juliana told me we had to rub her stuffed caterpillar's tummy.  When I asked why, she loftily informed me: "Mommy, he had a stomach ache yesterday."

So cute.

Gratitude list (ever evolving)

I'm grateful for:

my adorable daughter
crisp fall afternoons
my always happy dog
Juliana's goldfish (finally) not dying
my loving hubby
working with my closest friends
my mom
my daughter's adorable 1st school pictures 
my husband doing the dishes
my students who never fail to be humorous and engaging
diet coke
hal higdon plans
a warm house filled with things I love (ok, I do need to do some cleaning out...)
digital pictures and Wal-Mart instant photo developers
my flash drive
silent sustained reading--and being able to do more reading myself
my Kindle and my old paperbacks 
herb popcorn from the NLC
colorful leaves dotting the lawn
my friend Maggie
a desk buddy that always make me laugh
babies, and the idea of having another one within a couple of years
Hilltop School 
an English department of laughs, professionalism and support
creative writing
Friday night date nights
online classes :)
my daughter loving to read
facebook
my new slippers

Weekend Checklists

The best part of long weekends aren't catching up on rest (though it's great) or even spending time with my family (also great).  The best part of long weekends?  Actually getting through my to-do list!  I feel 3 day weekends are much more conducive to productivity than the mere 2 days.  Who's with me? :)

Time management

I have Moodle accounts set up for each of my classes.  I put a lot of work into them over the summer, but I've recently noticed I'm only really using it with two classes.  The two classes I use it with I find it easier because all the kiddos have computer access at home, and I can use discussion forums, podcasts, etc.  But my other kiddos, who don't have a lot of internet access?  I'm shortchanging them.  They benefit from technology usage a lot more than my other classes.

I'm not sure what the problem is.  Over the summer, I thought it would be a breeze to create an online activity 1-2 times per week and take them into the computer lab.  Now, however, it seems I barely have time to cover the basics; I'm missing something vital in my instruction. 

Time management hasn't been a huge issue for me in the past few years.  I typically consider myself an organized, hard-working, relatively put-together person who can get a lot done in little time.   This year has knocked my socks off.  I seem to be struggling in all areas of time management and never seem to get enough done.  I'm in my 7th year of teaching, but I'm struggling as much as I did in my 2nd.  Is anyone else going through something like this?


To be clear: I do not intend this as a whine.  I mostly want to reflect on why I'm having so much trouble so I can fix it. :)  Honestly, I think I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself and the pressure is messing with my brain.  I know I need to pull it together for my students; every one of my classes has a great group of students.  

When I first started teaching, I used to time block before I went to bed.  I made lists of what I needed to get done during the day and specifically wrote down an hour-to-hour schedule.  Once I was into my third year, I decided I had a pretty good handle on things and rejected the practice.  


Regardless of what's going on my my crazy brain, I think I need to set up a similar system.  I find myself working on something, then becoming distracted and beginning to work on something else, then become distracted and work on something else.  While all this jumping from one thing to the next is probably a great "keeping my brain sharp" activity, I always feel harried and I  lack completion of tasks.  Back to time blocking! : )


Anyone out there have other suggestions for time management?

What to write?

I haven't blogged at all this week.  I have no idea what to write about.

That's not to say I don't have plenty going on in my life.  Truthfully, I'm so overwhelmed that I had a nightmare about my to-do list becoming human and eating me (true story).  And yet, none of it seems to be "blog" material.

There are a number of school issues I could go on about...but at the end of the day, I mostly want to escape them.  I could entertain with stories about my adorable daughter...but the stories aren't that interesting unless she's your daughter.  I guess I'm in a rut.  Maybe it's time to embrace creative writing...

Weekend Possibilities

There's something about a cool, sunny, fall-ish weekend that brings a sense of peace.  I've felt relaxed, loved and rested all weekend.


Yet now, it's time to go back to school.  What is it about Monday mornings that twist my gut and set my nerves on edge?  After 7 years, you'd think I wouldn't feel this way every Monday (particularly after such a lovely weekend).  I'm planned for the week, I know what I'm doing, and yet...still with the nerves.  I have a meeting that I'm worried about this morning, but I can't tell if my nerves can be attributed only to that or to the week as a whole.

I guess I haven't felt as "on top of things" this year as I have in years past.  Again, after 7 years one would think I would have a pretty solid feeling of control.  

Blogs I follow

Reading Apprenticeship:  http://blog.readingapprenticeship.org/

Jim Burke's English blog:  http://jimburke.typepad.com/

And a friend/colleague:  http://onemominmaine.com

Kate Crabtree photography:  http://www.katecrabtreephotography.com
 

Narrowing my ideas...

Well, I think I've narrowed my possibilities down a bit.  My main problem isn't a lack of ideas--it could be a lack of time to collect data.  By the beginning of December, what topic can I implement in the classroom that will allow me to observe, analyze, interview, collect data, perform case studies and document achievement (or lack thereof)? 

What I'm thinking about right now is developing a portfolio of evidence to show that Reading Apprenticeship is working at the high school level.  Unofficially, my colleagues and I have nigh a ton of anecdotal evidence to show the philosophy and our implementation is a success.  Out of all my students last year, only 1 did not show improvement in close reading and reflective skills by the end of the year (via pre and post tests--CERA).  However, the kiddos scores stayed relatively flat on their yearly standardized tests.

So...I don't know if this would be a good thing to research or not.  I have all the tools in place, I'm engaged in the topic and I'm excited to show how RA benefits students.  But this is certainly a topic I have preconceived notions about, and I'm wondering if I should select something a bit more neutral (like vocabulary).  Thoughts?

Looking for ideas...

For my other grad class, ERL 552, I need a topic to research.  My mind is swimming with ideas, but I can't seem to come up with a concrete direction for my energies.  Teaching 9th and 10th grade English offers a wide berth of possibilities, yet my brain is working against me.  My last inquiry project explored SSR (silent sustained, self-selected reading) for improving reading, and I feel I have spent a lot of time reflecting on other RA (Reading Apprenticeship) topics.  I need something new...

One part of literacy and writing that I feel I have never gotten right is vocabulary instruction.  While my college prep kiddos do well with vocabulary lessons, quizzes, and incorporating words into their writing, my lower level students have never had a modicum of success.  Researching and testing different vocabulary strategies could help me solve this, and it's a topic of discussion in our department right now. 


Unfortunately, I find it a bit of a boring topic.  Not because I view it as unimportant; simply because I do not find it an interesting research topic.  I'm hoping I'll get more into it within the next week. 


My classmates and I did a visual map of our day to day lives in school to brainstorm ideas.  Vocabulary did not pop up on my visual map.  Collaborative learning, organization, interventions (of various types), metacognition, team/relationship building, reading, writing, portfolios, technology and me voraciously running around the school seemed to be my central themes.  The first benefit of this?  It showed me why I'm so tired at the end of a week! : )  The second benefit was that it showed what was really important in my teaching life (see above list).

But now what do I do with that?  What could I research about collaborative learning?  Organization for teachers?  Interventions for struggling readers?  I would need to be able to narrow the focus quite a lot with any of these topics, and I only have 1 semester to implement research in my classroom and document the data.  I feel as though vocabulary instruction would be easier to do than anything on my second list (and I do want to improve it in my classroom). 

So...I need advice.  Anyone have some ideas and/or perspectives on this?

 

Hey, where's Perry?

Yes, Phineas and Ferb are baby-sitting my daughter while I write a blog post.  Although I'm mindful of the guilt involvd with this practice, sometimes TV baby-sitting is unavoidable for me.


However, Phineas and Ferb can become an interesting analogy for technology in the classroom.  Phineas and Ferb create amazing inventions everyday, while their secret-undercover pet Platypus (Perry) disappears to fight the (semi-)evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz.  While these always seem like separate events (building train to Mars vs. destroying The Illuminator), they also collide in some fashion by the end of the show.  This collision resolves the plot of each show and wraps it up in a tidy bow (hmmm, this could also be an analogy to my organizational style...). 


Technology and classroom instruction can seem like two opposing forces of nature, particularly when (as I am) teachers are first beginning to seriously integrate the two.  Students view technology as Facebook and hanging out with latent friends; teachers view instruction as building critical thinking and knowledge.  However, my hope is that technology and instruction will collide in ways I don't expect and bring positive results to student learning (that being said, of course I am working very hard to match the objectives, etc.).  I've observed the best "teaching moments" are rarely orchestrated or follow a schedule, and I'm optimistic that technology in the classroom will benefit students and their critical thinking skills in ways I haven't anticipated. 

Ah, a new beginning

"I dwell in possibility" is the perfect (Dickinson) quotation for the beginning of the school year.  The possibilities with a new group of students are endless. I always have a mix of fear-excitement and excitement-fear on the first day of school.  I keep hoping that one year I won't feel this way on Sept. 1st, but the beginning-of-school emotions never seem to go away.

For the first time, I'm going to incorporate Moodle into each of my classes.  This also brings emotions of fear-excitement!  Sadly, I don't think I'm off to the most auspicious start.  When I told my first period class about Moodle, it's resources and the discussion forums we'd do, one boy raised his hand and asked, "So...what's the point?"  


Indeed.  What is the point in my technology push?  Primarily, I think it's easier for many students (particularly students who struggling with social skills) to participate via discussion forums, journals and wikis.  I also love all the resources I can store in one place, and the resources an online class supplement can offer.  Or...perhaps I just want to shake things up.


In the spirit of back-to-school humor, here are some video linkds about our teaching careers! ; ) Most of these are "oldies but goodies."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lulUvYfRl_c&feature=related


(though I disagree with the last line of the 2nd video...it's still funny).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGyPGmIPrDg


And...a bit of a morale boost from Taylor Mali.  


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpog1_NFd2Q&feature=related

A new start to the blog...

I've had this blog for awhile.  I created it for another online class, and I'm sorry to say I didn't keep up with it.  As a teenager and undergrad, I was an avid journaler and miss having a place to put my musings (although I'm not sure anyone else would want to read them).  My intention for this blog is to have a place for both professional and personal musings, but I'll certainly have to learn as I go.

So...here goes. 

Curriculum Changes in the Classroom

The thought of changing my curriculum right now, at this point in the year,  is sort of making me panic, but this is a very good question! : )

If I had to change part of the curriculum right now, I would first decide what the end goal for the students would be.  What skills and knowledge do I want them to develop by the end?  Do I want them to improve skills they've been working on?  Introduce new skills? Expand their knowledge --> socially, culturally, historically, etc.?  What materials do I already have that I could incorporate, and what new techniques/activities have I heard about and want to try?

Next, I would generally brainstorm ways they could acquire the knowledge and improve the skills I've pinpointed.  I would make a general outline of ideas with scaffolding, leading them to being less dependent on me and more self-directed by the end of the unit.  I'd look for specific ideas for an end assessment (knowing me, probably a multi-genre portfolio displaying different skills).

Once I had end goals and an end assessment in mind, I would chart other ways to assess students with day-to-day activities.  Do I want to incorporate blogs, quizzes, mini-projects, web quests...? (etc.) Once all of that is settled, I would begin planning weekly and daily activities, beginning with frontloading.

Overall, I think the important idea about designing new curriculum is that change can be very good.  It's important to incorporate new ideas and try new activities to keep the students engaged and maximize their knowledge.  I think that's the most important part of curriculum revision. 

Homework Policies

Talk about a hot button issue!  The role of homework is education is becoming increasingly controversial, with passionate opinions on both sides.  Right now, my district is involved with reevaluating our homework policy at every grade level.  I haven't heard "what's been decided," but I thought I'd blog about the issue anyway.

Many parents across the country are angry about the amount of homework sent home with their children, while many teachers bemoan the fledgling work ethic involved with homework completion.  Who is right?  Is homework merely busy work designed around an antiquated system?  Or is it a necessary part of the learning process?

I looked specifically at two articles on the opposite end of the spectrum.  Alfie Kohn, a principal and author of The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing, describes that "more homework is begin piled on children despite the absence of its value...I've heard from countless people across the country about the frustration they feel over homework.  Parents who watch a torrent of busywork spill out of their children's backpacks wish they could help teachers understand how the cons overwhelmingly outweigh the pros" (1).

In particular, he has 3 main points:

1.  The negative effects of homework are well known.  They include children’s frustration and exhaustion, lack of time for other activities, and possible loss of interest in learning.  Many parents lament the impact of homework on their relationship with their children; they may also resent having to play the role of enforcer and worry that they will be criticized either for not being involved enough with the homework or for becoming too involved.

2.  The positive effects of homework are largely mythical.  In preparation for a book on the topic, I’ve spent a lot of time sifting through the research.  The results are nothing short of stunning.  For starters, there is absolutely no evidence of any academic benefit from assigning homework in elementary or middle school.  For younger students, in fact, there isn’t even a correlation between whether children do homework (or how much they do) and any meaningful measure of achievement.  At the high school level, the correlation is weak and tends to disappear when more sophisticated statistical measures are applied.  Meanwhile, no study has ever substantiated the belief that homework builds character or teaches good study habits.

3.  More homework is being piled on children despite the absence of its value.  Over the last quarter-century the burden has increased most for the youngest children, for whom the evidence of positive effects isn’t just dubious; it’s nonexistent. 

Next, he gives specific advice to other principals about how to handle homework in schools:
1.  Educate yourself and share what you've learned with teachers, parents and central office adminstrators about what the research REALLY says about homework.
2.  Rethink standardized homework policies
3.  Reduce the amount of homework--but don't stop there
4.  Change the default expectation of homework
5.  Ask the kids about homework policies and get their input
6.  Suggest that teachers only assign what they design
7.  Help teachers move away from grading
 

My next research subject, NETC, had a different approach, stating "Effective teachers approach [the homework] experience as any other--matching the planned activity to the learning goal" (1). While the NETC agrees that some teacher assign busy work, they maintain that homework can be valid is assigned appropriately.

Firstly, the article highlights key research findings:

• Grade level is important when teachers assign homework. Impact of homework on achievement increases as students move through the grades (Cooper, 1989, a, b). At the high school level, for every 30 additional minutes of homework completed daily, a student's GPA can increase up to half a point (Keith, 1992). Elementary students should be assigned homework to establish good learning and study habits (Cooper, 1989; Cooper, Lindsay, Nye, & Greathouse, 1998; Gorges & Elliot, 1999).
• Teachers should assign appropriate homework at instructional levels that match students' skills and provide positive consequences for homework completion (Rademacher, Deshler, Schumacher, & Lenz, 1998; Rosenberg, 1989).
• A survey of teachers of students with learning disabilities found that 80 percent of teachers regularly assigned homework, but few matched the tasks to students' skills and provided feedback or positive consequences for homework performance (Salend & Schliff, 1989).
• Students should receive feedback on their homework. Student achievement can vary based on the kind of feedback provided by the teacher (Walberg, 1999). Grading homework is helpful, but homework in which a teacher has embedded instructive comments has the greatest effect on learning.
• Homework assignments provide the time and experience students need to develop study habits that support learning. They experience the results of their effort as well as the ability to cope with mistakes and difficulty (Bempechat, 2004).
• Mastery requires focused practice over days or weeks. After only four practice sessions students reach a halfway point to mastery. It takes more than 24 more practice sessions before students reach 80 percent mastery. And this practice must occur over a span of days or weeks, and cannot be rushed (Anderson, 1995; Newell & Rosenbloom, 1981).
• Teachers in the United States tend to compress many skills into practice sessions and instructional units. Students learn more when allowed to practice fewer skills or concepts, but at a deeper level (Healy, 1990).
• Complex processes should be broken down into smaller bits, or skills, which should be taught with time allotted for student practice and adaptation (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001).
• Parent involvement in homework can hinder student learning (Balli, 1998; Balli, Demo, & Wedman, 1997, 1998; Perkins & Milgram, 1996). Appropriate parental involvement facilitates homework completion.

Secondly, the article specifies the 4 types of homework and advocates making sure students, parents and teachers are aware of what is being assigned:
1.  Memorization of basic rules, algorithms or laws so the skill becomes rote
2.  Increase in skill speed, used for improving students' abilities to apply these skills in more complex problem solving
3.  Deepening understanding of a concept--providing time for students to read further, elaborating on a new idea and expanding their understanding
4.  Preparation for the following day's learning, such as an advance organizer

And thirdly, the article outlines advice for implementation:

1. Match the right type to the goal. Assign the appropriate homework type to meet the learning goal to make homework a more focused learning experience.
2. Assign the right level of homework. Homework assignments should be at the instructional level that matches students' skills.
3. Assign the right amount of homework time. A good rule of thumb is to multiply the grade x 10 to approximate the right amount of minutes per night for students.
4. Apply consistent consequences. Provide positive recognition for homework completion, and appropriate consequences for lack of completion.
5. Recognize student uniqueness. Students need time to adapt and shape what they are learning as they practice. As they practice, given time, they will incorporate the new skill into a knowledge base of their own, deepening understanding.
6. Provide clear homework policies. Create and communicate a homework policy at the school level. Policies developed in individual classrooms may communicate a mixed message to parents, and create confusion and frustration. Include expectations, consequences, guidelines, and helpful tips in school homework policies.
7. Ask parents to facilitate homework completion, not teach content. Communicate ways that families can support homework. Parents should provide a consistent time and place in the home for children to complete homework. Help parents understand that they are not expected to be content experts. If a student needs help with content, that's a sign that the homework assignment may be too difficult.
8. Homework should serve a clear purpose. Make the goal of a homework assignment explicit and clear to everyone, including students.
9. Provide appropriate feedback. Effective feedback corrects misunderstanding, validates process, and highlights errors in thinking.
10. Provide timely feedback. Student learning improves with timely feedback. It's best to provide constructive feedback within hours or a day after students complete an assignment.
11. Create support structures for homework. Journals, trackers, and other tools help students organize assignments and support communication between student, teacher, and parents

In my opinions, both sides make valid points.  I know teachers who assign homework they never collect or grade, people who give busy work, and those who have little understanding for the lives of their students outside the classroom.  I think teachers do need to be mindful that each class is a small portion of a student's life and should not dominate all of a child's time with homework.  Family time, extracurricular activities and relaxation time are all vital in our student's development. 

However, I do think homework is necessary, particularly at the secondary level for college prep students.  But I do take some of Kohn's advice when giving it.  For example, every homework assignment I give fits into one of the NCTE categories and is self-made.  I don't think teachers should just assign "read a chapter and answer the questions" every night.  I also try to respect students' busy schedules by giving more than one night to complete longer homework assignments.  If I want my students to read a particular chapter, act, etc. and complete an accompanying activity, I typically give students at least 2 nights to do it. 

Every assignment teachers give should be justifiable, practical for what they are learning, and reasonable with time (how much time would it take your lowest student to complete it?).   I think that these should be the golden rules of giving homework.  

Chapter 11

I love the idea of a world in which we can use all of this technology in class.  The projects I could design would be AMAZING.  Every department could be interconnected, all expectations would be clear, and student organization would be dramatically improved.  The lessons I could do, the improvements in student writing...it's wonderful to think about!

But how do we get there from here?  While I appreciated the vision Jacobs gives, I didn't think there was a lot of practical advice for the problems that would arise from this shift in teacher-centered, paper based-classrooms to student-centered, technology-based classrooms.


Another problem I feel Jacobs dismissed too quickly is cyberbullying.  The epidemic is growing to substantial proportions, even among elementary school students.  I think teachers and school officials do need to model appropriate online behavior.  Moreover, I think teachers should TEACH about appropriate online behavior.  Right now, it's not really our place because it isn't used in the classroom.  But our students could sure use some guidance!  The number of suspensions, expulsions and suicide-related attempts from facebook, etc. are mind blowing.  And, as in many other areas, the law is behind the times.  Right now, teachers are liable as mandated reporters for anything they see online from students --> hence the warnings/orders about friending students on facebook.  How can we be responsible for everything a student posts on the internet?  How can we make sure student's posts are all appropriate?  Moreover, since some schools still do not recognize  cyberbullying as "our problem," how can we safeguard students? 

Also, the investment in technology would be more substantial than most districts would be willing to pay.  If I were to open a charter school, trust me, it would look like Jacobs recommends.  Progressiveness should be embraced, not looked down upon.   But I would like more guidance on implementing said approach and getting everyone in the district on board.

Drive

I had very mixed feelings about the book Drive.  I loved the concepts and ideas, but I had trouble envisioning how some of them would work in the classroom.  

In particular, I really liked 20% time.  It would be AMAZING to have 20% of my time in school go towards something of my choosing (also unbelievable!!).  It's incredible to think about how much more relaxed, de-stressed, and creative I would be with that kind of free time.  I'm sure many other teachers have the same problem I do with time: there's not enough of it and the my to-do list is never ending.  There's always more grading, more meetings, more interventions, more study sessions, more conferences, more curriculum issues, more filing, etc.  Having 20% of my time dedicated to creativity and innovation would completely change the make-up of my job (in an amazing way!).

My general worry about the idea of 20% time would be that the school district would find more items to fill it, thus ruining the whole idea! : )

Week 7

The question I chose to answer from the running list was:  

"When the curriculum isn't working what do you do to help your students. Being the credit recovery teacher as well as a social studies teacher I am working with students who not been able to pass a class with the traditionally curriculum. What can I offer them to be successful, especially when the teacher whose curriculum didn't work just wants me to go over the same curriculum."

Credit recovery can certainly be tricky!  Dropout prevention has placed a huge emphasis on this at my school as well.

I think the first aspect to look at is: what specific parts of the curriculum aren't working?  For example, is it the book the student is asked to read too difficult, or are the assignments the problem?  Which particular assignments seem troubling?  Does the student have difficulty understanding big concepts, or is finishing projects the problem? (etc.)  Chances are, parts of the regular curriculum can still work if you can work around the main problems. 


If the teacher of the student wants you to stick to his/her curriculum, then I guess you would have to do some wiggling!  See what the teacher would be willing to adapt.  For example: could you use an easier version of the book or a parallel text instead of the regular book?  Could you use graphic organizers to map ideas instead of answering reading questions? (etc.)


If the teacher is willing, perhaps you can slightly alter individual assignments (if those tend to be the problem).  For example, instead of regular reading questions, you could have the student answer one key question in a paragraph.  Or, you could have the student take book notes, draw comic strips depicting events, etc.  There are many books with ideas for this type of adaption.


Also, figuring out what kind of learner your student(s) is may help as well.  If he/she is an auditory learner, perhaps you could sometimes read the text aloud while he/she writes down key concepts (etc.).  This would not alter the curriculum, but would help the student remember more of the information.


Finally, in terms of accountability, I think it's important to look at what factors besides the curriculum may be impacting the student(s) ability to pass the class.  Is attendance a problem?  Attention span?  Attitude?  If any of these are impacting learning, I think it's important to tackle those issues in addition to the curriculum.  For example: how can you motivated a disinterested student?  Answering this question could be more beneficial than only adapting assignments in the long run.

Chapter 5

This is a year I'm doing pretty much everything completely differently than I've done it in the past.  The reason?  My school is adopting a model of teaching as an apprenticeship--which was mentioned in chapter 5!   I was very excited to see the idea that's working so well at my high school mentioned in our curriculum book.  : )  The idea is that the student is an apprentice and learns by doing.  I used to think this philosophy would be difficult to incorporate in English class, but I was thinking about it too literally.  Now, instead of "discussing" a text by doing most of the talking, students are discussing the texts with limited input from me.  

Another point I liked in this chapter was (of course) the incorporation of technology into the classroom.  If students could listen to podcasts at home (as we are doing for this class) then come into class and DO work instead of listen to a teacher's lecture, I think schools would be completely re-energized.  Let's face it: switching from class to class and being talked at is boring for anyone.  If we could make traditional "lectures" something done at home through podcasts--as a framework instead of a full lecture--then students would be able to DO more during the school day.  I think everyone should agree to put the days of daily note copying from powerpoints and the chalkboard behind us and get students actually working on things in the classroom. 

*Disclaimer: yes, I know sometimes students need to take notes and need to learn the art of note-taking.  I was referring to the current practice some teachers use of having note taking the only part of their classes, followed by quizzes and tests.

What is right in the classroom?

I would say that what is always the most "right" in schools are the students.  Whenever I'm asked what I like the most about teaching, I answer "teaching!"  A teacher's responsibilities tend to go way beyond teaching, but teaching itself is almost always a joy.  Even when the students are driving me crazy, I still know they're good kids and am thankful to be their teacher.

Another aspect of schools that works very well are colleagues in the profession.  I'm lucky to be in an amazing department, full of teachers who really care about the students.  Sometimes my colleagues and I don't agree on policies, assessments and pedagody, but I know we all have the interest of the students at heart. Colleagues like mine make schools a positive place to be. 

Week 3

The articles about education in other countries have been very eye-opening for me.  The system in Finland sounds particularly excellent.  At the high school level, we do not have parent teacher conferences, unless one is called for a student who's in trouble.  I love the idea of it being required for every parent to meet with his/her child's teacher once a semester to discuss gains and areas of improvements.  This increased communication between parents and teachers must be incredibly beneficial to the students.

I was also very taken with how their assessments differ from ours.  I like that the emphasis is on synthesis, not regurgitating facts on a bubble sheet (wretched bubble sheets!).  I would love to see more open-ended assessments make their way into our classrooms. 

In Curriculum 21, Jacobs talks about the global community and how our students need to have the skills and knowledge to connect with people around the world.  For my students, I feel this is quite a challenge because their world view is very limited.  Cultural literacy is something I try to work on with them, but most students do not watch the news or read the newspaper.  This makes it difficult to prepare them for the nuances of the global community; political allies, religious conflicts, etc.  are something they are not very familiar with.  In fact, most of my 9th graders cannot recite basics about American history, let alone the structures of other countries (Didn't Martin Luther King, Jr. end slavery?  True question from a college prep class last week!).

In addition, most of my students only take 1 year of a foreign language, if at all.  Foreign language is no longer a credit requirement at my school, so it tends to fall by the wayside.  With all of these elements combined, I have to get pretty creative in tying my lessons into a global community.  My skills are not anywhere near perfected with this. : )

Blogs I'm Following

Here are the web addresses of the two blogs I'll be looking at this semester:

http://jimburke.typepad.com/

http://blog.readingapprenticeship.org/

Definition of Curriculum

What is curriculum?  To be honest, I feel rather unqualified to voice my own definition yet--I feel as though I have so much to learn!  But in general, I think a curriculum is a structured plan used to pass knowledge and skills onto students.  In essence, I view curriculum as a blueprint with an end result: student acquisition of skills and/or knowledge base.  I think that some curricula are more structured that others, but the end result (should be) the improved knowledge of students. 

My experience with curriculum planning and development

During my second year (first year?  It's all blending together!) of teaching, my extremely limited curriculum skills were put to the ultimate test: accreditation!  Somehow, I managed to survive the experience intact, but it made me realize how much I had to learn about curriculum design and implementation.  At my school, we regularly review different aspects of our curriculum and frequently update/revise our common assessments.  In the last five years, I have been a part of a variety of committees relating to curriculum: information skills literacy, grammar, British literature survey, Reading Apprenticeship, American poetry...to name a few.  Oftentimes, these meetings leave my head spinning with the complexities of adapting a curriculum to different teachers and different students.

In my own classroom, I work hard to continuously revise units and lesson to keep students engaged (as much as possible!) and information fresh.  While I have no official training in curriculum development, I feel as though I do it all the time in my own classroom. I think I do a pretty good job overall, but I could definitely use this course to prepare for our department's curriculum  review (sometime in the future) and to hone my skills for my own classes.

My first attempt at blogging!

Just trying to see how this will look...I'll actually post something worth reading later. : )