A Place Called Home

I have loved this house since we sat on the dining room floor in the waning light sunlight of a summer day and it whispered to us.

"Welcome Home."

Wrapping it walls around me like a cozy blanket on a cold winter's morning, it loves me as much as I love it. Every creak is familiar. I can walk through the rooms in the dark and never trip. The doors stick, the steps are too narrow, there's still some walls with 60's paneling, but I love it.

It's showing it's age now in the wrinkles in the walls and the grime that's going to take a lot of elbow grease to clean off the cupboards. But these walls hold lots of memories. Memories that make me laugh and smile, and yes, they also make me cry.

If these walls could talk they would share with you our excitement at owning our own home and the boys reminding us that now we could get a dog. It would tell you about the nights the boys snuck up the stairs and the fights we had as a family.

If these walls could talk, they would tell you about teaching the boys to cook and they'd probably share my dad's secret recipe for french toast. They'd laugh as the told stories about family Christmas's with 37 people in the house.

They'd tell you all about Friday nights with friends and their kids and singing and dancing in the dining room.

If these walls could talk they'd sniffle a little as they describe how lonesome it can be now with only the two of us and Chloe here and share the excitement of new Christmas memories with the grandkids.

If these walls could talk, they'd say,

"Welcome Home"

A Not-So-Inspiring Post

I was going to write a really super sappy blog post about teaching, how much I love it and the students I teach. I was going to create this beautiful ode to teaching that would inspire everyone and share my love of this career I chose.

And then my 3rd hour College Prep Lit class walked in the door.

And I was reminded that teaching is not always perfect and inspiring. Sometimes it resembles a Welcome Back, Kotter episode....

In the space of ten minutes today, I:

• Listened to complaints about how hot my room is and explained they could sit in the hall and work
• Repeated the directions for the day 19 times (Once for each student. Because you know it only counts if you say it directly to them)
• Explained 19 times that the assignment for the day was also on Schoology---our LMS (This is besides the fact that I also handed out a a calendar with the work for each day)
• Reminded one he needs this class to graduate and to get to work
• Again, listened to complaints about the heat. Again, suggested the hallway
• Explained that the work for this assignment needed to be worthy of the 20 points (a point for each word, right?)
• Regretted telling a student she could use the "B" word in her letter when describing a character. That opened the door for negotiations with the others. 
• Again, reminded senior he needed to get some work done
• More complaints about the heat
• Told students I was rewriting my blog post. 
• Explained that John Travolta was hot--- in 1975---when I was 18.  They just shook their heads and had no clue who I was talking about until a bright girl in the corner reminded us he was in the movie Old Dogs.

Finally, class ended. 15 of 19 turned in their work. 

Here comes 4th hour...

"Geez. It's like a sauna in here."

The lesson? Some days--heck, most days--are more like Kotter than any of us want to admit. This group I have 3rd hour are smart, they discuss and argue and back themselves up with facts. Most of them read a lot. 

And somedays, they like to push my buttons. 

My Last Lecture

"How exactly, do you catalogue your childhood dreams?"   Randy Pausch

In 2008, Randy Pausch, along with Jeffrey Zaslow, wrote a little book entitled The Last Lecture. It's a book that has stayed with me for a long time. In fact, I'm rereading it right now. Although it's an extension of a lecture he presented at Carnegie-Mellon, I really look at it as his love letter to his kids. You see, at the time he gave the lecture and wrote the book, Pausch was dying of pancreatic cancer, and he had three kids under five.

Well, I have a love letter I want to write also. A love letter to my school family, my kids, and teaching. As of today, I have nineteen days left with students and one more inservice. I've begun purging my room. Throwing some things, giving some things away, and wondering what in the heck I was thinking in keeping some of them.

And as I purge, I've reflected and remembered.

And so, in this month of lasts, I'm going to write and remember and share.

Revisiting MOMENTS

2016 has been bittersweet.
Staying in the MOMENT has been difficult.
But I tried.

I wasn't sure I could write this post, that there were any joyful moments to share. I seemed to have blocked many out. So I took some time and scrolled through my Facebook page. Do you know what I found there????

Lots of joyful moments. Moments important enough that I shared them with friends and family.





My students created many of these moments. Speech kids always give me laughs and reasons to be proud. While last year wasn't our best, it definitely had fun moments for us all.  Throughout the year there were unexpected meetings with former students--JOYful meet ups that reminded me I have made a difference in at least a few lives.

I also worked with an amazing student teacher last year, who gave me back my enthusiasm for teaching. I credited her with my JOY in teaching this year.

There were moments with friends and family. My husband and I love spending as much time as we can with those important in our lives and 2016 made that more important.  In September, we lost our dear friend, Tom, to cancer. Tom wanted one more summer at the lake. He got that, passing away on the first day of fall.

But before he passed, we shared many cherished moments with Tom and his family and our friends. Each concert, each meal, each day spent sharing memories became more precious. And while we are sad he is gone, the summer reminded us why it's important to stay in the moment.

So good-bye 2016. You are leaving, but the moments will remain as precious memories.

CPLit: The Introduction

I teach a one semester College Prep Literature class each year.

One semester.

That's it.

One semester to cram in every text they should have read before they go to college.

But I know that's impossible.

So, I started with the end in mind. What is it that I wanted them to know and be able to do when they left my class.

These are my notes from my summer of reading and planning---notice my "ultimate goal".  "To get students to think for themselves."

That was, and continues to be, what I want from my students. This semester, I have a small class of ten students. Eight girls and two boys. All good students. All students I've had before in various other classes and activities.

We begin our semester with the essential question, "Why do we need things in books?"  This question actually comes from Neil Gaimon's introduction to the sixtieth anniversary edition of Fahrenheit 451, and, not so coincidently, the first book we read.  We talk about that question and I get stock answers--to learn things, because we have to,  for enjoyment, etc. Not the answers I am looking for, but it's a start.

We start the year with Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and I want them to think as we read--

• think about a world without books
• think about their education
• think about the technology in their lives

But these are high school kids used to vocabulary sheets and comprehension questions (and I am as guilty as anyone), so I have to move slow.

I assign the book in three sections. After each section, we discuss. The first discussions in this class are not what this literature loving teacher wants, but I know it takes baby steps. We begin, usually with comprehension questions--the I don't understand this part kind of questions. 

It's OK. I know they are reading.  

Fahrenheit 451  is the only book that I hand out questions for. Some are comprehension, but others require them to think about what they've read and they lead us into some pretty good discussions.  What do you think about school in the book?  How is it like ours--or not like ours? What do you want from your teachers and your education? What book would you try to memorize?  

Most of the time, the answers were a little shallow, but they did show that kids were thinking about what we were reading and that's what I really wanted at the beginning of the year. They did a wonderful job discussing characters and the motivations of those characters.

But it wasn't enough and I needed to push them further.

This happened when we began reading Night by Elie Wiesel.

#CyberPD: Readers Need Other Readers

I'm joining professionals from all over the world for this year's CyberPD as they explore Donalyn Miller's Reading in the Wild. I'll be blogging and tweeting my thoughts out as I read. #Cyberpd is hosted by @cathymere at Reflect and Refine, @laurakomos at Ruminate and Invigorate, and @litlearningzone at Literacy Zone. If you'd like to join in, check out any of their blogs or follow the hashtag #cyberPD

Chapter 3: Wild Readers Share Books with Other Readers

Can I tell you how much I want my high school reading classes to look and sound like the classes Donalyn describes in the opening pages of chapter 3?  I want to create that environment, that culture that screams, "It's cool to read!  Reading is valued here!" I've been scribbling notes to myself for an hour. Things I want to remember to do in my classroom to enhance and share our reading community.

And don't you love the questions Miller shared from Jeff Wilhem?

"What's your bottom line? What do you really want to happen for your students? Now, how does what you do every day serve that bottom line?"

Those are such great questions for teachers to ask themselves each year before school starts. I know I will be thinking a lot about them in the weeks to come.

I've taught grades 7-12 for 25 years. I've taught remedial classes, gifted classes, and everyone in between. Here's what I know: Many kids don't like reading or won't admit to liking reading because they aren't very good at it. Others don't like reading or won't admit to liking because they don't want to be labeled as "smart" or a "nerd". Both groups feel like no one would listen to them when it comes to the books they like.

BUT

If you can create that reading community and make reading a valuable part of your class time, everyone's voice gets heard.  This year I taught two periods of freshmen English. We read every day. One of my "epicenter" readers was also very quiet and had been homeschooled for many years. She was smart and articulate but hesitant to speak out in class at times. Eventually, though, other epicenter readers began asking her about the books she was reading. And one on one she would share. By the end of the year, she was much better at sharing with others who were not in her small circle of friends.  I truly believe the reason was she knew and others knew that reading was valued in our room.

I need to do an even better job of creating community, of creating a reading valued classroom and I wrote down lots of ideas from chapter 3.

I loved my reading door this year. But it was all mine. The idea of getting kids to take it over appeals to me. I'd love to get them to create their own reading doors on their lockers, but I think that would be too much for high school students (at least this first semester of me teaching these classes). Taking over the door sounds like a great project for my new Individualized Reading class!

I also have plans for a graffiti wall. I think I have a great place for it. Right behind the couch on the wall beside the book cases.  Hope I can get it all arranged so it works out well.

I'm seriously considering having my students create Goodreads accounts and creating a group for them.  I know they will be writing some reviews and blog posts about what they are reading. Will have to think about the timing of it all and how to fit this into a 45 minute class period.

Other things to try: book commercials, book trailers, and more speed dating with books. But this year, instead of students passing books around and jotting down titles that sound interesting, I'd like to change it up once students have been reading a bit. I've thought about having half the class sit with a couple of books they have read. The other half of the class would "date"  them. The students with the books could quickly book talk them and the date could ask any questions they wanted about the books. Then the next time we could switch book talkers and daters.  I haven't worked this out fully in my head yet, but I think it could work.

And I MUST do a better job of conferring--especially in Individualized Reading. I like the idea of recording conferences. My ipad may be getting a workout this coming school year :)  

Chapter 4: Wild Readers Have Reading Plans

And here's where I "fail".  Although I make plans on what and when I'll read, I don't share this with my students, nor do I work with them to create their own. 

I MUST DO THIS

First, I want Individualized Reading and College Prep Lit to create a reading goal for the semester. How many books do they think they can read during the course of the semester they are with me.  I'll make one too and keep my results posted in the room. We can talk about how many books that reading rate can translate into if they plan their reading.

And I know that they will tell me they don't have time. 

Because sometimes I think I don't have time either....

We'll look at their day...at how much homework they normally have...if they are in sports....have a job....all the things that fill their days. 

And then, we'll work on carving out time to read. And, we'll revisit reading rates and reading time periodically throughout the semester to make sure those things are still working.

Speed dating and book talks will help them keep a list of what they want to read next. 

I WILL DO THIS.

Building a Personal Canon

I couldn't not (how do like that double negative?) write about this.....

My shelves at home and at school show this....

Part of my personal canon on display in my room

When kids ask me what my favorite book is, I always tell them I can't pick just one, that I have many. And if they keep pushing, I share a few with them.  I write about books that mean a lot to me. I want to find a way for students to share their own, something other than a blog post.  

Something I'll be thinking about the rest of the summer, I'm sure.

Pittsfield: The Takeaways 1

Howard-Winn CBE team with staff from Pittsfield

I've spend two days with a group from my school visiting Pittsfield Middle High School in Pittsfield, New Hampshire.

Learning

Asking questions

Thinking

Thinking hard

Questioning what I do and how I do it

Questioning why I want to change--especially why I want to change at this point in my career.

It would be so much easier to coast through my last five years. To rest on my "laurels". To embrace being the oldest female in the building and simply do what I've always done.

But if you do what you've always done, you get what you've always gotten.

And what I've gotten isn't good enough. It isn't good enough for me and it certainly isn't good enough for my kids.

Years ago, I used to say to students that in my class I wanted them to learn to think. I would give them crossword puzzles, logic problems, boggle boards and then step back and let them struggle. I wouldn't help them. I watched how they figured out what they didn't know.

Some would cheat. Some would use resources at their disposal. Some would struggle and struggle, getting very frustrated because they thought everyone else knew the answer and they should too. I didn't grade these puzzles. I gave them five points for trying and moved on. Why did I give them five points? Because I thought if I gave them work to do, it should get points.

This approach was right and wrong.

• I was right to want students to use their brains and think. 
• I was right in wanting to challenge them. 
• I was right in wanting them to solve problems on their own.

I was just wrong in my approach.

It seems everything I've done in my education career has led me to competency based education.  CBE measures learning, not time. Just because you sat through a semester of a class, does not mean you learned anything, no matter what grade it says you received on your report card. In CBE,  it doesn't matter how long you take, but you must master all the skills of a course before you move on.  Not just standards either. For example, you are in pilot school. You get an A in take-offs, an A in flight time, but a D in landings. Are people going to want to fly with you?  

In classes now, students work through a progression in the curriculum. It's possible to get a good grade in a class even though you may do really poorly in one section of the course.  But do you really know your stuff?  Can you prove it?

In speech, I want students to communicate effectively.  In order to get to that point, we practice by speaking in front of class frequently, but I also teach them how to write strong, interesting introductions and conclusions. I teach them how to organize the body of a speech. We work on eye contact, standing still, and speaking with enthusiasm.  It all leads to that competency of communicating effectively. 

Just because a student can write a beautiful speech does not mean he/she is an effective communicator. If they stand in front of the class and speak so quietly that no one hears them, or speak in a monotone so that everyone tunes them out, they are not communicating effectively. Communicating, yes. Effectively. No.

So my brain is in overdrive this week, thinking how we need to change what we do. Pittsfield was very open with us how they went about things when they began this transformation. Will we do exactly what they did? No. We aren't them. We'll go back to the collaborative and share what we learned and they will want to set up a model for the state. And that's OK too, as long as everyone remembers to develop their plans for their students, their community, their staff. Because this isn't a cookie cutter transformation plan. It won't have a handbook with step by step rules for CBE. 

This will be messy, chaotic, dirty change. 

And it needs to happen.

24/31 Totally Unacceptable

I blew up today.

At a kid, with more anger issues than I have ever dealt with. He didn't have an assignment done that he had plenty of class time to do. And then, when he wasn't ready on Friday, I gave him over the weekend. Today, he still wasn't ready. The consequence was that he was to stay with me after school and get it done. He knew that Friday. Today, I got all the excuses why he couldn't. Today, I got all the ways he was going to get around the system. Today, I blew up.

I said the one thing I shouldn't have said.

I screamed, "I'm done."

At least I was in the office where other students couldn't hear me.

I can't remember being more unprofessional in my life. I'm embarrassed about it.  I'm sad about it. I'm still frustrated. Blowing up did no good whatsoever. And it certainly didn't help the student.

Was I right to be frustrated.
Yes.

Have I given this student everything he needs, every opportunity to get the work done.
Yes.

Should I have reacted like I did.
Absolutely not.
It was totally unacceptable.

I apologized to several people, the student first and foremost.

But I can never take back those words, even if I didn't mean them.

Because I am most certainly not done….

I Didn't Know I Wanted to Go.....

The thing is, I didn't know I wanted to go to Hawaii.

My grandpa used to tell us that everyone should go to Hawaii at least once in their lives. I thought that was sweet, but I didn't know I wanted to go.

When my sister-in-law and her husband called and asked if we wanted to go with them, I said yes. I was excited about it, but I didn't know I wanted to.

We planned and saved for two years. We had mid-winter get togethers with computers and books and recommendations from friends. But I still didn't know....

And then we landed.....

And suddenly, I knew I wanted to go to Hawaii.

I was so excited at the airport!  Did you know that just about everything in Hawaii is open air?  Even the airport? There might be roofs on buildings, but there are big open windows so you can feel the air as you walk....

Since we went through a travel agency, we were met at the airport by Curtis, our representative. He gave us our leis, took our picture, helped us with luggage and finding our shuttle. Note to self: always use a travel agency when booking a big trip. Even the ride to our hotel was magical. Everywhere we looked there were flowers and palm trees. And it was warm! Chilly to Hawaiians, though. Cool is relative.

We stayed at Outrigger on the Beach on Waikiki which was beautiful. They were all decked out in their holiday finest. It was hard to remember it was Christmas. The first night, we dumped our baggage in the room well, the bellmen did and we headed to get something to eat. It had been a long day and the breakfast Greg and I ate in snowy Des Moines was long gone.









Luckily, the hotel had two great restaurants to choose from. We chose the Hula Grill based on the fact we didn't have to wait an hour to get a table!  The first meal started a tradition--Mahi Mahi and Mai Tais. You can't get more Hawaiian than that!  I am not a fish eater--heck, I'm not a very adventurous eater. I tried many things in Hawaii that I would not have eaten at home.

We were only on Oahu for a couple of days, so we didn't expect this when we work up in the morning and headed out to the lanai for coffee  my favorite part of every day in Hawaii: coffee on the lanai. Sounds exotic, doesn't it?  WE COULD SEE THE OCEAN FROM THE LANAI!  I know, not a lot, but we were happy just to see a peek.....

My number 1 rule when traveling is DON'T DO THE TIMESHARE MEAL. Greg's rule is DO the timeshare meal. He won.  

But this was just supposed to be to let us know about activities on Oahu.

And it was....kind of....

       And the breakfast was free...and cold

But we did eat an orchid.... I felt like Euell Gibbons, former Grape Nuts spokesman, "Many parts are edible...."

And we did get our tickets for Pearl Harbor.....so worth it.....

to be continued

Aloha

The view from 3/4 of the way up Diamondhead.  

Celebrate VI: A Week of Professional JOY

My friend Ruth has started this Saturday celebration. I find that I am constantly on the lookout for those little bits of JOY that fill my day. If you want to know about this celebration, check out the page Ruth created on her blog.

Professional Learning

Tuesday I spent in Des Moines with not only staff from my district, but teams from 9 other districts in Iowa learning about Competency Based Education. All ten teams were awarded a grant to study and develop competencies for the state of Iowa.. It's a one year commitment, with no mandate to implement. It's really a group that will study and learn together. Some of the teams have actually begun CBE in their districts. Others, like ours are just in the investigating stages. I'm looking forward to this learning. I've always wanted learning to be more concrete. For learning to wrap around students' passions. CBE will hopefully fulfill those wants!

Professional Development

Wednesday was an inservice day in our district. And most of our inservices this year are personally directed. We study and learn about what interests us, what will help us become better teachers. My learning community are those in the district who are flipping one or more of their classes. We're settling down into a groove. Wednesday we listened to a fellow teacher explain how he wants to see his classroom progress. He knows he's not there yet, but it was his vision for the future. There was a little philosophical disagreement, but that brought out great conversation and really made him think about his teaching. And isn't that what professional development should do?

 Personal JOY

Spending the weekend at our youngest son's home and babysitting the grandkids today.  The middle one, Tony,  crawled in my lap for morning hugs. A little sneaky grin showed up. Knowing him well, I asked what he wanted. 

"Remember at the cabin we have hot chocolate in the morning?"

It's our tradition, Tony and I, to sit and have hot chocolate and coffee together in the morning when they stay with us. We're the early birds (although little brother Max often joins us now). We talk about our weeks, the plans for the day, and sometimes, just silly stuff. Today, however, we made the all important Christmas list.

So these are my celebrations this week. What brought a smile to your heart?

To My Kindred Spirits

This blog post is the result of several conversations I've had on Twitter the last three days (#iaedchat, #flipclass and #tlap started them all) and a surprise gift in the mail yesterday. All of these events made me realized how lucky I am to have surrounded myself with some of the best minds in education.

Join many wonderful teachers of writers at
TwoWritingTeachers
every Tuesday for more Slice of Life posts

It wasn't that long ago that I felt like a cheesy sit-com teacher because I always tried to see the best in my students, I wanted the best for my students, and I gave my best to my students. Aside from a few like minded teachers,  real life didn't seem that way. I wondered if I cared too much. It was hard work to stay positive and do what I knew in my heart was best for my kids.

And then, I met all of you--my blogging buddies and Twitter tweeps.

My PLN--another "cheesy" term, according to some. Made me an "overachiever" to others (and why is that a bad thing?).

But

The more I listen, the more I learn, the more I engage,
the more I see that the "real teachers" are just like me.

You see the best in your students.
You want the best for your students.
You give the best to your students.
You are cheesy and gushy over how much you love your job and your kids.

You give virtual high fives to celebrate and  hugs when they are needed.
You share your hopes and fears and yes, even lesson plans.
You understand the struggles because you are going through them too.
You cheer at the successes because who doesn't need a standing ovation once in awhile.

So, to all of you, a simple thank-you. The conversations I experience on a daily basis are the things that inspire me to improve. My life is so much richer because of all of you--my kindred spirits.

5-5-5-5

One of things I promised myself after attending FlipCon13 in Stillwater, Minnesota, was that I would be more intentional on reflecting and sharing my flipping journey. In their final "chat" with us, Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergman asked us all to write down what we would be doing in the next 5 days, five weeks, five months, to move our flipped classrooms forward. And then, we did we see ourselves in five years.

That's a lot of thinking.

And it's been in the back of my head since last Wednesday.

Now it's time to put those thoughts into the universe.

These past five days....

It's been percolating (that's what I call prewriting in my little universe)

I've looked through notes and visited blogs
I've gone back to presentations. Watched them. Remembered the excitement I felt as I listened to those who are flipping with success.

And one keynote, one person, stays with me.

Ramsey Musallum.

I've seen him twice--once in April and again in June. I love his passion for learning and teaching. Here's his TED talk video.



This resonates with me because I want to be a "curator of curiosity", not a "disseminator of knowledge". I want my kids to be passionate about their learning. I want them to figure out things on their own. I want to be their mentor, their guide, their partner in learning.

When I saw him in April, Ramsey shared his "Explore, Flip, Apply" method that he uses in his chemistry classes. This just clicked with me. It made so much sense to have students explore a bit before they started new learning. This is what I want my students doing in class.

How will I work this Creative Writing and English 9?

Well, that's what the next five weeks will be about. I'm going to start with a unit on Why People Write. I think I will use it with both classes. So I'm going to be collecting pieces of writing for students to read and think about. They'll discuss, together and as a class, about the purpose of those pieces. Why did someone feel compelled to write the piece?

They'll write themselves--what are the reasons that they write? How do they feel about writing?

And then we'll move into the real work of class (not that the above won't be real work). My units based on Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle's work will include examples of the genre, to be followed by discussions, practice, and writing their own pieces. They'll also be blogging and creating an online portfolio. Hopefully, I can get a good start on these ideas over the next five weeks.

English 9 is a little different. I'm still thinking about this one. Writing units will be similar to Creative Writing, but the reading and the lit I need to think about a bit. Background knowledge will be relatively easy for me to flip, but the reading of the lit is what I need to consider. I don't want to send them home to read and discuss in class. I believe kids need more support than that. So I'll keep thinking....

In five months, Thanksgiving break or thereabouts, I plan to have this up and running. I also plan to be writing about this journey more, reflecting on my practice (something I haven't been very good at!). I'm thinking I need to pick a day of the week and schedule that blog post in. I seem to work better that way.

In five years...well, that remains to be seen. I could be retiring by then, although this concept has me fired up about teaching, so we'll see. I will be a "curator of curiosity" and there may be something new that has me fired up and ready to teach!

Most Important Take-Away

This simple tweet pretty much sums up the best take-away from the first day of flipcon13. In fact, it pretty much sums up teaching in general, don't you think? At least for me it does. I've never been able to  teach a kid anything if I didn't have a relationship with them in the first place. That's why I've always spent the first few days of a school year getting to know my kids. I use some silly activities (but not many, because as an adult, I hate touchy, feely get to know you activities), kids give little speeches to introduce themselves,

and we talk.

We talk a lot.

We talk about summer.

We talk about sports practices
play practices
swim practice

We talk about jobs
We talk about cars
We talk about friends

And snuck into all that talking...
We talk about books and writing and homework and school

And I learn a lot.

Now, don't get me wrong. I learned a lot in all my sessions. There was a great one just for English teachers and we just talked about how to go about this thing called flipped learning. At first it seems like it can't be done, that it's just for those science and math people. But then little ideas start creeping in--what if I have students get their background knowledge in some other way, in some other form, without me lecturing?

What if there's a way to teach/reteach grammar rules, writing rules, without drill and kill worksheets?

What if I can figure out more ways to give them choice? Do kids have to take a test to show what they have learned? What if they have a better way to share their learning?

Do they have to complete the activities I have come up with?
What if they have something else they want to try?

What if....
The possibilities are endless.

And there are two amazing English teachers who team teach their classes....
one in California...
one in North Carolina.

Cross country, team teaching. Revolutionary.

So even though I will flip entire classes instead of units next school year, I won't cheat myself and my students out of that community we build each year. In fact, that community, that family, will be more important than ever. We will have to learn from each other, depend on each other, share with each other.

And if that isn't 21st century learning, I don't know what is.

Thoughts on Tiggers and the End of the Year

So here we are. The last full real day of school. Tomorrow is a half day of handing things back, an awards assembly, and then they are gone. And, so of course, like most teachers, I look back on the year and think about what worked, what didn't, what drove me crazy and what gave me JOY.

There is a lot of end of the year craziness going on. My trusty yardstick disappeared. I looked everywhere for it. I mentioned it the other day in my 8th hour speech class.

"Well, yeah, about that....."

And the story came out about filming commercials and hitting a ball and, well, let's just say that now I have a half a yard stick. No telling what happened to the other half. Gotta love my SSB's.

And my freshmen boys, well they are another story. They are done with sitting still and being quiet (not they ever really did those things). A few days ago, Katherine wrote about how being the parent of boys helps you in the teaching of them. And I have to agree. I think you are used to all those strange behaviors. I tweeted her on Friday and told her my freshmen boys weren't acting like puppies--they were more like Tiggers (you do remember Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, don't you?).

Watch this and imagine several of them in your room...

And then there are the procrastinators.

I don't believe in zeroes. I don't give much homework, so the work I  assign is important in showing me how kids are doing. I won't give a zero until all avenues are exhausted (or the last day of a semester, whichever comes first).

But

Now those "I don't care" attitudes have turned into "What do you mean I'm going to fail?" incredulousness.

Now I'm getting work.

I'm also getting, "I turned my work in at midnight, why don't you have it in the gradebook yet?"

Now don't think I'm all negativity. Really, I'm not.

I'm having lots of fun today talking with kids and sharing why I will miss them.

I'll miss the randomness of the conversations in my first hour Creative Writing class...
      Who'd win in a fight between Batman and Superman?
I'll miss the kids who sit in the little square outside my room and avoid work like the plague...
     Mizz Day, I gotta get my music going first or I can't concentrate
I'll miss quiet freshmen girls who are planning their reading for the summer.
      I want to read all the Nicholas Sparks books this summer. I hope I can find them all.
I'll miss the silly ones who stop in to visit in the middle of a class period
     I'm your favorite, right Mizz Day?
I'll miss "Father" B and his speeches
    We made a deal with the devil and won the golden fiddle
I'll miss the competitiveness of some and the passiveness of others,
I'll miss the noisy hallways and the silliness.
I'll miss my kids.
But not enough that I won't enjoy my too short summer vacation.

And, by the way. Batman wins every time. He's the keeper of the kryptonite, you see.

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Genius Time

Check out Two Writing Teachers for more Slice Of Life posts

When I instituted Genius Time in my English 9 classes, I wasn't sure what to expect. I just liked the idea of kids learning for the sake of learning. I embraced the idea that kids would have choice, that they would decide where the learning led.

When we started back in March, I said very little about the project. I told them I wanted them to decide what they wanted to learn about.

"Can we work in groups?" they asked.

"Of course."

"You're not going to tell us what to do?"

"Nope."

"You don't care what we learn about?"

"Just that it interests you. I want it to be something you really, really want to learn about. I don't want you to pick something just because you think it will be easy."

So every Friday, after our 10 minute reading time (sacred time, never give up), they move on to their learning. Most of worked very hard. Of course, some have wasted time, some are doing what they think is the bare minimum to get by. Some changed topics several times. I expected that. They are, after all, 14 years old. I stuck with it and I believed in them. I didn't ask them to write reports or fill in time sheets. I just tried to talk to each group, each week to see where they were.

We will begin presenting our learning on Friday. So the recent questions from students have been of the "What should I put in my presentation?" variety.

I don't tell them.

I look them in the eye and ask, "What have you learned? Show me that."

Some get it. Some don't. But I'm still not telling them how to do it. And I'm sure I'll have a few Powerpoints because they can't think of anything else to do.

BUT!

I have two girls who put a lyric dance together because they want to convince their dance teacher to let them do it next year. They are learning more than dancing (even though one of them posted on Facebook "Not much English going on here."). They are learning to think about how to convince someone to listen to their ideas.

I have a group that wanted to learn about movie making. So they read about it, wrote a script, and began filming.

One group of boys learned about the effects of teen drinking. They are making a movie also.

There's a boy who read and learned about Ouija boards. Then made his own.

Another boy had a grandfather who was a POW in WWII and was kept in a concentration camp. He's been reading about the camp and doing interviews with his grandfather (to me this is priceless).

And one of my "slacker" freshmen boys began researching aeronautical engineering. He went on to look at colleges that offer degrees in it and also the military. He is developing a plan of action for himself, although I don't think that's what he will tell the class about (doesn't want to give up that slacker image).

Other individuals or groups have studied types of cancer, schizophrenia, fixing bikes, running cross country and how to train for it, and ghosts. Things they wanted to learn about, presented in ways they want to use, with people they want to work with.

And you want to know what I've learned?

• to sit back and let kids figure out their problem
• to look students in the eye and wait for their answer
• the power of questions as answers
• that kids will take their learning seriously if it's what they want to learn about

I don't know how it will turn out. I won't grade it. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy.

Because I will know that we've all learned something.

Words

Sometimes my problem with an
online presence
is that I can't
anonymously
say what I want. I can't
rant and rave and
scream and yell and
cry and whine
about the happenings in my world.

I have to step back.

I have to look at my words
professionally,
ethically,
humanly.

I have to test them.
Feel them
Live them
Before I send them
Out into the world.

And sometimes,
That isn't enough.
Even now
Some will think
These words are about them.

But they're not.

They're about me,

Where I'm Headed

I first heard about flip classrooms last year. And, true to form, I began reading and learning all I could about them. I didn't jump right in. I sat back and watched and learned.  Here's what I believe and where  I am headed (and in many ways, I'm already there).

Flip class--giving students what they need when they need it. Not on my time. Their time. So I'm not flipping lectures. If I need to say something to the whole class, then I'll talk to the whole class (and record it for those who are absent. A bonus for those kids who want to go back and see it again.) And maybe that's blended learning.....

Flip class--expecting students to take charge of their learning. Yes. I know I have to help them along the way. Yes. I am the teacher. Yes. I need to give them a gentle nudge once in awhile.  But they need to take charge. What do they need to know to move forward in their learning?  I expect them to tell me and find some of the information themselves.

Google it. The most powerful words I know.

If I want to learn more about something, I first google it and get the basics. Then I find a book. Then I find people who know more than I do. Or sometimes, I flip this. I go to the people first. I move on to google. Then I find a book. It really depends on what I want to know more about.

And I don't limit myself to those things--I blog and love the comments. I use Twitter. I have asked my Facebook friends. I ask students.

Flipped Learning. That's where I'm going. I expect my students to take control of their lives and their learning.

Besides modeling what a lifelong reader and a lifelong writer look like, I want to show them what a lifelong learner looks like.

Because I am one.

Sometimes It Gets Ugly

I'm starting a personal narrative unit with my freshmen, so in looking for mentor texts, I decided to share a couple of blogs posts with them. I wanted them to see how to take a small, everyday moment and explode it into a piece of writing.

I've discovered that since sharing with all of you on this blog, I don't mind sharing my writing with my students. It gives me another audience and it lets them see that when I talk about writing, I know a little something.

As I was reading, I discovered something...

I write a lot about the successes in my classroom. It sounds like a magical place to be.

But

It's not.

Sometimes,

it's just plain ugly.

For every boy who comes in, excited about his poetry, there's five more who would rather do homework for other classes, check out Craig's list, and watch videos on YouTube.  By the way, the tech guy in our district called me one day when a boy was on Craig's List, that's how I know it happens.  The truth is, in teaching an elective class on writing, you get kids in your class who DON'T LIKE TO WRITE!

I know. Hard to believe.

For every student who writes a wonderful, intense memoir in verse, there's the others who if feels like I have to drag words out of their mouths with my hands.

I might convince a student to come to school every day for a week....
But then she misses two days the next week.

Here's the truth. My teaching is sometimes just down right ugly. Ugly days I'd just as soon forget. Ugly days I'd like to take back and start over.

There are days I am behind my desk just way to much.
Days I spend Creative Writing time grading papers or planning for the afternoon classes instead of talking with my writers.

I'm STILL working with 9th graders to make them thinkers and learners instead of receptacles. Many days, I feel like I'm trying to herd cats. Reading and writing workshop--forget it.

Ugly days.

But

Sometimes, those ugly days end with an email from a student:

"Sooo I really miss creative writing and being able to write everything that was on my mind down and have someone read it and comment and feel everything I'm feeling.  Are there any writing competitions or anything I can do stuff for?  I really miss just showing the emotions I normally hide..."

And then, I put the ugly days back in the closet and celebrate small successes....

The Real Story

He thinks he's writing about his small cousins' birthday party.

But he's not.

He doesn't know I understand. His sister shared a very similar story last year.

His first piece of writing is just too much. You know what I mean. There's almost too much story there, covering up the one he really wants to tell.

We talk. We peel away layers. We strip away details until it hurts.

And there it is.

The real story.

He won't want to share it with anyone and that's OK.

He shared it with himself.

The real story.

Summer Memories

Yesterday Jo Knowles posted one last Teacher's Write prompt.  Find a picture and write a list poem.  It's been rolling around in my head since then...
I think this is also going to be one of my first prompts for my students

It's over.

Summer, I mean. 

Where did it go? 

One day it was here and 

the next it was

Soaked up by the sun

Blown away by the wind

Lapped up by the waves

Memories

Play around in my mind

Giggling grandkids

Sitting in the lake

Squirt guns

Golf days spent searching for the shade

Concerts with friends

Fireworks

Lovely weddings

Long lovely days of 

doing 

absolutely 

nothing

Summer promises to be back

in the 

Tinkling of ice cubes

Caressing of warm breezes and

Screeching of the gull

Warm afternoons 

But the chill in the mornings

Evenings of sweatshirts and fires

Announces 

Autumn's arrival