Classroom Library Inclusions - The Never-Ending Contemplation

I have posted before (here and here) that I have struggled with what to include in my classroom library. Last year with my 6th graders I ended up having parents sign a letter if they were comfortable with their children checking out YA books, explaining that they sometimes have more mature themes. Parents responded with a yes, and I thought my life was going to be so much easier, yet it was not. While I felt free to include more books on the shelves and loved seeing students reading them so enthusiastically, I still had more trouble trying to decide just how much they thought I was talking about when I said that they had mature themes.

Now as I have 6th and 7th graders, especially toward the end of the year 7th graders I am starting to reconsider again. I will have the same students, in addition to the incoming 6th grade class next year. I definitely think that in some cases my 7th graders are reading books at a completely different maturity level than my 6th graders. One book that I held aside was Sharon Draper's Tears of a Tiger. However, this year one of my students found the book at home (it was his brother's) and loved it. He wanted the rest in the series. I only had Darkness Before Dawn but decided to share it with him, feeling comfortable that if the first book came from home, it would be okay. He loaned the book to a classmate who had previously read Draper's We Beat The Streets and Double Dutch. Since then, that boy has already asked me a couple of times if I could get the second book in the trilogy.

After a lot of thought and reflection I decided that I will start a separate selection of books for my older readers. For now I am intending it to be only for my current 7th graders, and I will probably still only open it to them next year. Then as my current 6th graders seem to naturally bring in books from home that are the same/similar I will open it up to them. I'm still not sure if this is the best solution, but I am excited to be able to offer my student more books that they have been excited to read and requesting. I can't wait to go through my bin of books that I had set aside for "someday" to evaluate which ones will be appropriate now.

On Writing

I chose Stephen King's On Writing for my book club choice for my writing class because I had already heard the book mentioned many times. Last night I just finished it in preparation for our last class meeting this weekend. I had not really known that much about Stephen King's life or how many books he had written.

In fourth grade, much to my mom's chagrin, I was horrified when I saw It at a friend's slumber party. That was enough Stephen King for me to last a very long time. When I was much other I did see some of his other movies, such as Cujo, Misery, and The Green Mile. Although I had some concept of the plots of these and some of his other novels, I had never actually read any of his books.

It was interesting to learn about King's life and his reflections on himself as a writer, as well as tips for aspiring writers. There were many points along the way where he had me roaring with laughter. In his section "On Writing" I noticed that many of his suggestions/thoughts so closely aligned to the promising practices mentioned by so many educators on writing. For example, he emphasizes the importance of writers reading, writing in a style that you have immersed yourself in as a reader, and the transaction that happens between a reader and the text.

I'm glad that I chose this. The last book club meeting time flew as we discussed his thoughts. I look forward to hearing everyone else's thoughts again. I do, however, hope to sometime read Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, one of the other choices, as it sounded equally amazing.

Reflections

I can hardly believe that in just a few weeks I will already be at the end of the third quarter. This whole year I have been reflecting constantly about what is working and what I need to improve with language arts and social studies. Next year as our school grows I will only be teaching reading and writing because our third teacher that we will hire soon will be for social studies and science.

With that change my reflections have shifted a bit. I am still considering how I can improve in order to maximize student growth in social studies this year. For example, lately I have been scaffolding their abilities to write to learn. When I reflect I usually think about what is feasible for immediate implementation and what is a long term goal. Social studies still fills a lot of my short term thoughts, but my long term thoughts are language arts based with the exception of thinking how I will be able to at times do integrated units with the science/social studies teacher.

My main consideration for next year is deciding what my components will be knowing that the time configuration is going to be different. I am considering that I many need to alternate days having one day focus on reading, while the other focuses on writing even though I would want to have some aspects of both every day. That will give me plenty to mull over for quite a while, but I have a lot of ideas that I am excited about. I will be posting more details about certain aspects as I am able to integrate them (some later this spring and others next year).

A lot of my summer reflections/planning will be refining ideas that I tried this year. For example, I know that I want to improve with word study, my implementation of Anderson's ideas, my genre units, and my mini-lessons.

Excitement for Write Beside Them

I have been wanting to read Penny Kittle's Write Beside Them for quite a while. However, then I started my college course. That coupled with busy days at school, left less room for self-selected professional development. I was very excited to finally be able to start reading it last night, and I did not want to put it down. From the first pages, I was hooked. I am really enjoying Kittle's voice, and can't wait to read the rest of the book. I will be posting a full review soon, but for now I wanted to share my excitement for it.

Best Practices in Writing Instruction

I just finished the last required chapter out of Best Practices in Writing Instruction for the writing instruction course I am taking right now. There were four chapters I do not have to read as an assignment, but I am planning on reading them because they all sound interesting and relate to areas that are pertinent to my current position.


Many of the ideas in the book corraborated ideas that I have read about previously in books that I have self-selected to improve as a writing teacher. However, the chapters often made me reconsider or refine a concept or to see how multiple ideas worked together. One example is that the course has made me think a lot about writing to learn. Previously I thought about writing instruction as more isolated. While I knew students did a lot of writing in other content areas, I never considered the writing to learn pieces as part of my actual writing class and writing grade. This concept came up in the book as well. 


Our instructor has had us participate in many writing to learn activities, including the one for this text, called VIPs (Very Important Points). I enjoyed finding my personal VIPs for the text as I read and to reflect on them. I realized that it is actually the way I reflect on most of the books that I blog about. Here are a couple of my favorite VIPs from the book:


*From Chapter 10 - Boscolo and Gelati (2007),  “The problem is not finding an interesting topic, but making writing interesting” (p. 208). This really stood out to me. They continued to discuss that while making sure students are interested and invested in their topic is important, helping them recognize that there is worth to writing on the topic is key to motivation. I have found that one of the main components that makes professional development reading ideas catch my attention is not that they are completely foreign ideas, but rather they help me make a new connection to something I have already thought about. It reminds me of King’s (2000) comment on writing, “good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up" (25). I had previously thought a lot about topic and motivation, but I loved how the authors made me think about making writing about a topic interesting, rather than “interesting topics”. This makes sense, as many of the resources I have read emphasize the importance of teachers who are passionate about writing and how their enthusiasm positively impacts their students’ growth as writers. In this case two previously unconnected ideas came together for me, and I will be reflecting on how I can make writing interesting for quite a while because of the connection.
(Note: The King book that I mentioned is On Writing, the book that I chose for the class' book club selection.)


*From Chapter 1 - Pressley, et al. (2007) state, “If there is one generalization about writing in our work, it is that in classrooms and schools with good writing, there is a lot of writing instruction from teachers who are passionate about it” (18). When I was in college I remember dreading my writing classes. I only took the discourse (a combination of literature and writing) track, instead of the literature track because it was recommended for future language arts teachers. However, now that I am actually teaching writing and reading about writing, the more I find myself reconnecting with the passionate writer that my mom says I was when I was very young. I am already committed to making sure that I have a balance of reading and writing in my classroom on a daily basis. The more I find ways to foster my love of writing, the more effective teacher I will be able to be. This is a concept that no matter how many years I teach it will always be useful and applicable.

Jim Burke's Latest EC Ning Book Club

"Nobody works harder at learning than a curious kid" (p. 9). -Thomas Friedman

I was so excited to get a copy of Jim Burke's latest book What's the Big Idea? Question-Driven Units to Motivate Reading, Writing, and Thinking. Tonight I read the introduction and first chapter so that I could jump into the EC Ning Book Club discussion that has already taken off so much that I could not read through all of the comments. 

So far I absolutely love the book. It captures the spirit of learning that should be present in every classroom, the sense of inquiry and awe that drives learning. I found myself marking many pages and comments, considering how they could help shape my language arts curriculum and increase student motivation. 

It was also an inspiring book, making teachers consider how they can help all students reach high standards. Burke said, "Thus teachers are challenged to teach all students at a higher level, sometimes taking a rather circuitous route to get there but guided by the belief that students can get there if they follow our lead" (p. 7). The part of the book that I have read so far provides a great deal of examples on how to scaffold student learning and develop skills in higher order thinking. 

One of my favorite parts of the introduction and chapter one was an explanation and examples of a semester long inquiry project. Burke describes, "This semester-long investigation of these subjects amounts to a personal quest, an intellectual rite of passage for these students. It is time for them to take the reins of their own education for the moment, showing themselves and me not only what they have learned but also that they want to learn, that they have subjects they are hungry to know ore about as they prepare to leave my class" (pp. 39-40). Later he said, "All seniors have asked questions they want to understand but realize they will need their whole lives to answer" (p. 42). 

I look forward to reading the rest of the book and continuing to ponder how to inspire that sense of hunger and life-long investigation in my students. I remember my fascination with classics and classic remakes that was inspired by multiple high school and college teachers. I also think about many topics in education - interests that were sparked as an undergrad before I even stepped foot into the classroom in a teaching role that I continue to explore and consider years later. In both of these situations, I still have a high level of interest in continual discovery and refinement of understanding. 

Although Jim's example was for high school seniors, I am thinking about middle school applications and my students starting the journey of life-long inquiry topics. I am already excited for the investigations my students will come up with! 

Right now Heinemann is offering free shipping on the book until March 25th. If you order quickly you can have the book in time for part of the book discussion. Even if you don't have the book yet, there are many interesting thoughts on the discussion board. 

Google Docs - transparency

I had heard a lot of positive comments about Google Docs, but I had never really had a chance to explore. This summer I had signed up for a session on the app at a summer institute, but then I got sick and was unable to attend. This semester while taking my writing class, I decided to explore a bit on my own. Just as I had hoped, it is going to be a great tool to make my writing process more transparent for my students.

Before it always felt superficial when I would try to write out a rough draft and then model revisions and a published copy. The problem was, as many resources explain, the writing process is not a lock-step sequence. When I am writing naturally, I am revising all the time, not just when I get to the end of my first draft.

The real excitement came when I had typed for a while on the first draft that I was working on in a Google Doc and decided to hit save in order to show changes later. However, I realized that I didn't have to stop at various points along the draft, but rather the application automatically tracks ever single revision. When I got to the end of my first draft I already had around 50 revisions tracked. There is an option to click on any two revision numbers and compare.

I was ecstatic. Now I can more accurately show my students what I do as a writer. That alone was enough to get me excited about Google Docs, but there is still so much more to the tool. The tech at our school put in a request for the education edition of Google Docs right after I asked him to, so next week I am expecting to have my students' accounts up and running. Then I will be able to explore a bit with the powers of utilizing Google Docs for student collaboration and peer revision.

iTouch/Google Docs Collecting Data

Once again an idea hit me on how to be even more efficient with the data that I collect while conferring with readers. Earlier this week I mentioned I was at a technology conference and exploring on the new iTouch that my director bought for teachers at our school in order to familiarize ourselves with them before we roll them out for 1-to-1 student use. The possibilities will be endless, including a powerful way to combine Google Docs forms with the iTouch.

At a Google Docs presentation the presenter showed us how to quickly and easily create forms and how they show up in a Google Docs spreadsheet. Right away my teaching partner and I created a form to track discipline. Now we will have one, central location for to track student behavior and infractions. In addition, other staff members will also be able to input tracking information. We always share with our students that they should, "Do what is right even when nobody is watching." Utilizing Google Docs forms will make it even easier for them to feel a sense of accountability of meeting up to our high behavior expectations.

Next, I realized that Google Docs forms would also be an excellent tool for conferring. I created a form for reading conferences. I am still deciding how much I will use it, but I will use it for sure for quick check ins. For example, a recent focus lesson revolved around questioning. Given a similar situation, I would create a quick form to mark off students' present level of ability to apply the strategy to their reading. It will automatically be in a spreadsheet and I will be able to provide sufficient support in a more timely manner, as opposed to needing to collect, sort, and make decisions the old way.

The iTouch will be so convenient when I am doing quick conferences and only documenting specific information in a form that does not require me to type out a longer reflection. When I want to be able to type out a longer response I will still utilize a laptop.

So many possibilities. So much to get excited about...

Challenges to Integrating Technology

I have been so excited to finally be able to integrate more technology in my classroom. All year long I have wanted to get my students blogging. Even though I was originally planning to have my students use Edublogs, I decided to use Blogger when I realized that Edublogs does not allow for flexibility in some of the privacy settings that Blogger has. The parents I checked in with were more comfortable having the blogs internal (only open to other school staff and students, as well as parents). The other advantage of Blogger was that the more I learn about Google Docs, the more excited I was for student applications.

I tried to be very thoughtful and thorough to make sure and take steps for my students to be safe and protected while learning to use more technology. Before creating accounts, I had a parent meeting to gain parent consent, and then I mailed home letters and consent forms for any parents who were unable to attend the meeting. Next, I drafted an agreement to discuss with students for them to sign.

Then came the big moment... I walked students through the process of signing up for their Gmail accounts. Everything was great until my excitement was squelched with realization that many of my 7th graders are not quite 13 yet. Some are just a couple of weeks away, while others won't have their birthdays until the summer. None of my 6th graders would be ready yet.

After school I did some searching and realized that there is Google Apps for education. I am excited that they will be able to have access in a safe secure environment for everything, except Blogger. I will get right on this tomorrow, but I have to talk to our tech about some of the settings first. Now I am reconsidering blogs. Some thoughts right now are: Will I have to wait on blogs until students turn 13? If so, will I allow some to get started as 7th graders or wait for the 8th grade year when all students would be able to start blogging together?

The other glitch is that Ning also has a 13 year old requirement. I had just started a new Ning that I had closed to the public that I was going to use for book club discussions. I had previously looked to see if they had an age requirement and thought they did not, but today after the Google Accounts road block I checked again and found that they do have a similar policy. It appears that they all stem from COPPA.

While this has been extra stress added on to an already busy and draining week, I will persevere in seeing what will work for my school. My current plan is as follows:

*Set up the education Google Apps as soon as possible
*Continue using my Edublog classroom blog for discussions, even though it does not have threaded comments for free, which would have facilitated classroom discussions much better, rather than a Ning
*Continue investigating opportunities for my students to blog in a closed environment for free, whether it is this year or next year when the students are thirteen.
*Think about how I can still use technology to increase the sense of "real" audiences for my students with whichever tools end up being available. Even if students are not able to have their own blogs, I will focus on how I can maximize the benefits of Google Docs.

Exciting News

I just shared the exciting news on my personal blog that I today I received my acceptance letter into a doctoral program at a local university. In January I started a literacy class in writing in hopes that I would be accepted to the program, knowing that they the class would count toward my degree because my emphasis area will be in literacy. The first day of class was a turning point, knowing it could be something much more significant than just one class.

While in the middle of my doctoral studies my other blogs may not have as frequent of postings, but I expect that this will be the blog where I will continue to update regularly as it has ended up being a place to reflect and share learning. I plan on focusing much of my studies on technology and literacy. Along those lines, I had already been planning on getting my students started with Google Applications this week, including Gmail, Google Docs, and Blogger. After my technology conference, I have even more excitement for the possibilities of having a class set of iTouches. I am not sure when we will get our iTouches though. In the meantime I will be exploring and getting familiar with mine that I mentioned I got (a special surprise from our director). Soon, I will be posting about why I am so excited. As a preview, it is once again going to revolutionize the way I track conferences.

Itouch

I am trying out my new itouch. There is still so much to explore but it will be amazing. It is fun to play and imagine possibilities for classroom applications. I am tired of pecking away though, so I definitely won't ever compose too much.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Whirlwind Holiday Weekend

This last few days rather than basking in the idea of having an extra day off with a long holiday weekend, I have been going non-stop. Friday evening and Saturday I went to my once a month writing course. Early Sunday morning I caught a flight with five of my colleagues to attend a technology conference. What a weekend of discoveries!

Though draining, I got a lot out of my writing class. It has been great to see ways to improve my workshop approach and different pieces are clicking in place. It has provided an avenue for additional reflection and to analyze what is working, what needs improved, and where to focus my energy next.

On the technology side, my colleagues and I are all exhilerated with all of the possibilities and debriefing on the best way to spend our technology funds. The area that we are most excited about now is iTouch capabilities. We had originally been planning on iTouch labs as more of a long term goal; however, this weekend we are realizing that they can do what our planned short term technologies can do plus so much more. It is always so beneficial to figure out how to best utilize technology without having a plethora of different gadgets if there is one that is all-encompassing. The confrence is changing the way we view technology and what will be the best fit for our classrooms.

Later today I will be going to a Google presentation that I am also really looking forward to. Lately I have been experimenting with Google Docs, and I will be posting about why I love it later. This week my students will be setting up their Google accounts (Gmail, Blogger, etc.). I am excited to see what I will learn this afternoon that I haven't already discovered on my own.

Traits of Writing

I feel very fortunate to have received my NCTE publication right in time to notice that Ruth Culham's new Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for Middle School was just released. A class that I am taking this semester requires a trait book, whichever is appropriate for current placements. Before I noticed the ad, I would have bought the grades three and up edition.

I just finished Culham's book this weekend, and there was so much to love. First and foremost, it is a good fit pedagogically. My school emphasizes teachers basing curriculum decisions on standards, and the majority of curriculum is teacher created with the standards as a guide. Our state's writing scoring guide revolves around the traits. Thus, the traits have already been front and center in my classroom this year.

However, as with many components, this school year has been one of figuring pieces of my literacy block out, and I was excited to have so many great ideas to more effectively familiarize my students with the traits and to help them grow as writers. Some of my favorite features of the book were: Think Abouts that accompany each trait (guiding questions for students to analyze their own writing), suggested comments for conferences for each trait based on different levels of current proficiency, and mentor texts. While reading I also made a lot of notes on how I will be able to adapt the ideas for my latest venture of student blogging that I will be starting next week.

I will refer back to this book often. It complements my other favorite resources well. The lesson ideas Culham explains give me many new fresh ideas to bring the traits to life, yet I will also still rely on other resources and my own ideas to fill out my curriculum, just as Culham suggests.

A final reason for excitement is that other teachers in my building are also implementing Culham's ideas. It is always beneficial to have vertical alignment, and since her books support our state's standards so well it is easy to get teacher buy-in. I expect that before too long school-wide we will be integrating her ideas. It will be great to share ideas across grade levels and to have a common language to discuss what we are doing to foster a love of writing in our students.

On March 2nd from 3:00-3:30 EST there will be a free webcast with Culham via Scholastic. I signed up in hopes that I will be able to have someone cover my class for a half hour since it will be during student contact time at my school.

This weekend we will be discussing the traits at my class, and we are supposed to bring in mentor texts that we can use to demonstrate one of the traits. I have not decided for sure yet, but voice is one of my favorite traits, and I have been thinking of bringing in one of Simone Ekeles' books as a mentor. Another book that came to mind was The Luxe as an excellent hook (organization) by starting out at a funeral but then mentioning that the casket is empty because the body could not be found after the character supposedly drowned. I was instantly sucked in analyzing how each funeral attendant was acting and thinking about all the possibilities of what was really going on.

YES Prep

The staff at my school has been contemplating a recent Edutopia article about YES Prep. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it and would love to hear your feedback. It is always refreshing to read inspiring articles and to have discussions with my colleagues reaffirming what we already do well and to plan how we can continually improve. One of the many reasons I love my school is the level of willingness to always improve our practice.