Care, Connect, Cultivate, and Challenge

After reading the chapter I decided to briefly summarize what I liked and disliked about the writing to learns provided. Putting each exercise into my own words helps me to remember them and make modifications.

Writing breaks are perfect times to change up the pace of a lesson, to keep students on task, and gear them into the content.  In my placement there has not been any advanced writing exercises other than writing definitions from amtransparency.  If time is of essence, why weren’t students writing while they waited for everyone to finish their tests? Why weren’t students writing when the telephone interrupted the teacher– or while they viewed political cartoons — or after discussion? These were opportune moments to have students organize their thoughts and learning.

In my owen personal experience with writing I really enjoyed drawing in order to organize my thinking before actually writing. I would verbally explain the drawing, (thinking and reasoning aloud) followed by reiterating my thoughts on paper. To supplement such tasks in my future classroom I like the idea of having a sketchbook, podcast or voice recorder, and notebook/journal to accomplish these tasks. 

Visual scaffolding is like a “no duh it helps to have pictures” kind of thing. We were first taught how to read with picture books, so of course it is helpful to our learning.  Newspapers are the perfect example of how visuals and text work well together. Descriptive paragraphs, first hand accounts, and photographs are provided for a reader to capture the essence of an event that occured.  This is how clear and concise teaching should be.

My French teacher in high school embraced visual learning as well.  She had us create small posters from construction paper and paste on magazine cut outs. We would use them as prompts for conversations or as flash cards to identify vocabulary words (of course all in French).  She also showed slide shows of her vacations in France.  She would describe the voyage in French when she first showed the slide show. She would then go back and describe it in English. Finally it would be reiterated in French once again. It is kind of like the notetaking/listening exercise we discussed in class a couple weeks ago except more engaging because of the visuals and the curiosity of the students to understand each word that fills in a piece of the story about Madame’s voyage. 

 The same exercise Madame performed could be done with other languages, especially in bilingual classrooms. It also could be done in just English, but instead the first time around the description could use difficult vocabulary words and complex sentences, followed by a more simplistic description, continued by the difficult account again.

I believe the most exciting way to teach visually while still invoking text, reading, and writing is using PowerPoint. Not the drab lecture based PowerPoint, but an interactive simulation of a time period or event is what I mean by exciting. For example, many of the lessons I’ve already made were PowerPoints that allowed the students to travel by time machine, train, or plane. The PowerPoint takes them to different events visually simulating the travel and then provides text in both 3rd and 1st person point of views. It allows them to feel as though that certain individual from history is talking to them and telling them first hand what happend; OR there is an omniscient tour guide helping them navigate their way through discovery. Meanwhile, I am still a big part of the travel – I engage them in questions and critical thinking to be answered through writing and later followed up with brief discussion. The students could be filling out a map or graphic organizer as they travel — clustering or mapping the information they are experiencing.

 To be honest, I feel the reading is quite simplistic and general any more. However, it is helping me brainstorm ideas. Writing my blogs helps me organize my thoughts about activities I can possibly incorporate into the classroom regarding reading and writing.

I am really antsy. I want to start developing lessons that embody these activities, but instead I have to do what I feel is busy work. Ok, it is by no means busy work, but it’s scaffolding, philosophizing, reading, and discussing, which is why we are doing it– to master it in order for it to be incorporated into our future classrooms. I get the stuff. What I am anxious to do is learn how to facilitate the ideas flowing in my head. No, better yet, not just learn how to, but actually DO the facilitating. I have the knowledge now I want the practice. It is hard to do so in placement because the class is not yours; you might as well be a sub.  You don’t get much time to get to know the students personally especially if your SBE is very lecture based. It is also hard to practice in class as if your peers were your students, because quite frankly juniors in college are at a way higher level of learning than my 7 through 12th grade students would be — we college students don’t have to bare the 6-hour, belling-ring, 7:30am starting, school day anymore so we although some days are hell, we are fairly collected in class.

I wish I was back home teaching my 7th grade Sunday school students again so I could put all these ideas into full practice. I’m starting to wonder if I should have done student teaching in the fall when I could have the kids fresh in the beginning of the school year and I can create the setup and atmosphere I want. Oh well.

I really enjoyed reading the chapters in the Daniels and Zemmelman text this week.  The first point that really struck me was the comment on teaching students the skills and means to “raise hell” or be active participants in changing society. They should know how to organize, speak, write, and persuade in order to make changes in the real world. 

It also goes on to discuss how writing is the form of communication that is lacking these days- employers complain that their staff cannot write sufficiently. Students are claiming they hate reading and writing but they are engaged in it all the time – in text messaging, blogging, emails, internet sites, and magazines. They love to read material that serves their interests and appears applicable to their  immediate knowledge. They want immediate access to information – not to have to pry through academic content. In fact, blogging and diary-writing is suggested to ease students into academic writing because it can scaffold certain information. It can also provide a way for students to destress and to express themselves.

Writing essential is a way to organize the random thoughts coming out of our head. I think of the random information that was floating through my brain as an adolescent in high school. All that activity was a distraction. Writing can really dial in a student to content even if they can’t provide an elaborate answer.  Whether jotting thoughts down, or organizing them in a sequence to support an opinion, it is helping a student think. Writing to learn is exactly for that purpose.

Writing is mentioned in the text to be short, spontaneious, exploratory, informal, personal, one draft, unedited, or upgraded. A mixture of all these can balance out a students skills and capabilities allowing practice.  What was most interesting was the research supporting the fact that tons of corrections marked on a students writing is insufficient. It makes sense, because if anything, a meeting in which the student is guided through their own reflection (such as by reading the paper aloud) as the teacher prods the student (if and when they do not catch errors).  Also, providing the student with examples of good writing, they can model after those structures.

Finally, the discussion about random notetaking, fill-in-the-blank sheets, and after-chapter questions, confirms the inefficiency of these common methods.  Transcription is the problem– memorizing or finding answers word for word rather than understanding meaning. Gentle inquisition — or open discussion gently prodded  by the teacher is just as ineffective.  I thought of an exercise that could remedy these problems.

A discussion could be led by a teacher using well-thought-out questions. These questions would be regarding a reading or activity that had just taken place. One student would write their response or thoughts in informal language. That student would give the paper or notebook with their writing to their partner who would read it and respond to it, agreeing or disagreeing, elaborating or simplifying it. This dialog would continue as the students talked to each other in silence through the paper and pen for the rest of the series of questions.  At the end of the exercise the students could read their responses aloud and rewrite a final answer that is more academically acceptable– perhaps with proper vocabulary.  As they rewrite the responses they are discussing orally and have therefore seen the words, wrote the words, and heard the words being spoken.  The papers could be turned in for quick review (as in that they did it and their transition from informal and formal language was visible) or simple grading.

 This simulates the whole “writing notes” during class problem. The students are using a skill they already hold and using it as a scaffold to academic writing. Meanwhile, a student who is a better reader or quicker learner will be able to fill in the blanks for a student who may not know the answer. For example, if a student does not know the answer they can write . . . I don’t know or I’m not sure but I think. . or I remember the text saying . . The other student can then confirm or elaborate the information.

One of the greatest ideas this chapter of the reading had to offer was teaching students how to write test essays by relating them to the way computer games work. Like I’ve said in class, I believe it is possible to relate almost any student’s interest or strength to the subject matter. Students personal and day-to-day experiences can help students to understand historical concepts in this way. Students need to be constantly involved in their learning to stay engaged.

I believe the best way (but not always the most pleasant way) I have learned throughout the years is by my mistakes, both in school and in life. Therefore, reviewing previous test efforts and analyzing the students thought process during that test is crucial to learning and improvement. I hate grades because they drive me insane and wear me out — if the purpose of teaching is really for students to learn the material rather than memorizing for tests, then I believe rough drafts and revisions are extremely beneficial.  As chapter 10 noted, take homes and oral tests (presentation or museum style) can be alternative ways of assessment that maybe be more exciting and beneficial to certain learners. The student needs to reflect on what they’ve learned and be actively involved in the presentation of the material. They should have their own spin on a topic– something that makes their work unique. We should not be teaching kids to be word factories, regurgitating the textbook more or less word for word.

The swimmer prompt for one of the sample test problems was something I enjoyed reading in the text. The student was allowed to write creatively (put some personality into the problem) and looking at it from a down-to-earth perspective. In other words, they weren’t treating the problem as something so impersonal– they weren’t just regurgitating memorized information. I think this method would be useful for students in history classes. They can take the various historical perspectives they learned in class and creatively write about those perspectives. For example, I used to love writing the journal entry for an escaped slave or from the viewpoint of the task master.  Getting into character helped to understand historical points in time quite significantly.

I hate rubrics, but I know that they can guide grading much more easily than doing it off a whim. I know that it allows the students to know exactly what to expect and perhaps even to do peer grading before turning certain assignments in.  My best teachers were the ones that were clear and specific about their expectations. Those who gave me too much room stressed me out — I never knew where to start or how picky to be.

One final note about producing a rubric is that my students will most definitely be involved in its creation.  They will be a part – (notice part) of the decision making process in all aspects of the classroom. 

 The wiki is coming along. I am just working on items using paint and word processor before I add them to my pages. I have found my philosophy of education papers which have proved helpful in developing that page. I have been drawing some possible “ideal classrooms” on paint. Beyond that I have more brainstorming to do.

Firstly I would like to point out how although struggling readers need more modeling and guidance (intstruction through the basic strategies of reading and comprehension) average readers should also be encouraged to bounce back to the basics. All students must re-evalutate the habits they have developed in their own reading.

The first issue brought up by Daniels and Zemmelman is the fact that struggling readers often have difficulty picturing a reading. The student may be too busy saying the words rather than contextualizing them or developing an image in their head. Other times the problem is that the students are unable to visualize a scenario because they have never seen them before — like a falcon diving at its prey in real life, or a lazer hitting a mirror on the moon. I agree that other stimulation besides the use of words should prep reading. Images and activities involving auditory or visual stimulation prior to reading should help students be able to recollect the visuals during their reading. If students can’t picture the reading, they don’t understand it, or give up on it. This leads to frustration that builds up inside or is openly expressed by the student.

 I know personally about both pent up and open frustration with learning.  Today I presented articles for one of my classes and the science mumbo jumbo was driving me crazy. It was taking away from my understanding because I was not familiar with that style of writing and many of the vocabulary words. During lecture I don’t think a single student understood what the professor was saying. I wanted to raise my hand and say “No one understands a word you are saying! Can ya break it down please!” All I need is a breakdown of the structure of the writing, the patterns of the material, and maybe some background information that is not so complicated. Of course definitions and examples of the ifficult vocabulary would help, too.

The other frustration that can emerge is from the lack of purpose or application a reading seems to have on my life or to my general wealth of knowledge. For my brother every piece of literature assigned in school was purposeless crap. In fifth grade he finally had a teacher who knew how to deal with a rambuctious boy who simply did not care for reading about all thse silly pointless stories they were giving him to read. She recommended the book My Side of the Mountain  (there was a couple of these books I believe) and he was so excited to read after she told him what it was about. An adventurous boy who lived in the wilderness of a mountainside hunted for his food, built his own shelter, got into trouble (with which my brother was a familiar scenario) and succeeded in surviving (which transferred a feeling of accomplishment to him as he became the character).  He whipped through that book and wanted more like it– although he continued to claim he hated reading in general.

 Teachers down the road could have built off this. They could have given him an array of kinds of readings about similar topics and stories — newspapers, magazines, journals, videos, and websites. They could have started simple and slowly upgraded to more complicated reading with bigger vocabulary but no loss of value and purpose.  I agree with the reading in the idea that supportive does not mean easy. As a teacher I plan on challenging and supporting – some give and take to difficulty of text is necessary.

For me this should have happened in the sciences.  If more teachers would have modeled interactively the though processes behind some scienctific ideas and guided practice I wouldn’t have freaked out so much about possibly getting a B (God forbid that happen) and worrying about understanding the core of the material.  Kenya in the reading helped students guide their own reading after read alouds by writing notes on sticky notes indicating where things were clear and where they did not understand.  I think regular journals explaining strengths and weakness a student experienced in the days class work would be effective — it could also be an outlet for some frustration that was experienced. 

If students recognize that their feedback is allowing the teacher to tend to all their needs they will feel supported.  In addition, if they have options and can choose the material they read about a topic, they feel free and trusted. Having an array of literature that serves the same purposes will be key to tending to several different learners. I remember being able to pick from a long list of Accelerated Reading books (books required to be read and tested on by computer). If a book wasn’t on the list you could reccomend it and a teacher would offer to read it and develop a test. The power to choose material that intrigued me and engaged me got me practicing reading — even if it was about the same topics or subjects.

I also remember in elementary school LOVING books on tape.  I was an avid reader, but I loved hearing the narration and sounds, the little beep to turn the page. My parents bought a full set of books on tape that had short readings about the kids in Cirque du Soleil, (it used and explained some French vocabulary), kids who worked on pioneer villages re-enacting the pioneer life for tourists ( which touched on history), and kids who’s parents had weird jobs, etc. It was always something different and the voice telling me the story as I was reading made it come alive.  I think it must be this fascinating kind of material to get students to actually listen to the tapes while reading along to discover these new words being told. 

Along with the livening up reading idea, I believe that interdiscipliary reading can achieve this while also balancing time quite effectively. If staffs work collaboratively to establish a purpose for an activity, goals, and methods or skills the students will learn to reach those goals proactive learning is being engaged. Reading, dialogue, and work come together to produce something tangible for the students. Before getting too far ahead, however, I insist again that students need to go back to the basics.  Students need to be in book clubs with literary roles in which they are learnign to interpreting reading through different lenses. Student journals need to be checked up on to assist those who are struggling. 

The last note I had regarding helping struggling readers was the effect of reading aloud. Students should read aloud to hear themselves talk – which assists them in recognizing errors or filling in blanks- and allows the teacher to hear where they are struggling. Reading aloud can help the student remember because they can say the words as if they were telling someone the story — remember what they said– and understand. Monologues are one way students can practice. Monologues often have topics that can relate or engage a reader. They are also not as boring to be heard read alout because they are narrated from the first person perspective and are very story-like, short and cathcy. Another methods is studying playwrights, then reading a completely different topic (one that interests the students), and having students create their own play, written by them and based on the reading. The students can learn how to look for roles, opinions, attitudes, actions, and background information in the reading and recreate it in their own words summarizing or elaborating a piece of literature through play writing.

I started the webquest today. I found it overwhelming. I got caught up in sites for a long time. I found that there is so much information to take in within each site. Each site has a certain pattern or structure to it. It has to be explored to understadn navigation.

Museums have resources for teachers regarding collections or primary sources. They offer lesson plans and assessments around their resources. However, to utilize the sites and resources properly, they should be carefully analyzed and explored. I think it is important to look over a site or resource MANY MANY TIMES. For example, using this wikipedia at first was too much, I thought. After coming back to it time and time again to make posts or comment on posts, it became easy to navigate. It takes practice for students to utilize these sites, as well as teachers.

I plan on using these resources to brainstorm ideas for lessons. I will use primary documents, collections, articles, or images from sites to be the foundation or an offshoot of my own lesson plans. I want to use interactive tours and sites to liven up history. I find that navigating sites like this, as a webquest requires, would be an easier assignment for students to do for homework. They are on the computer for instant messenger and email and facebook anyway. While the multitask, (since these generations are multiliterate (especially in techonology) and multitasking geniuses that don’t know it) they can complete the homework assignment without sitting down and reading a heavy, dry, and mind draining textbook.

This week I read The Day After School Grades Come In, Parents Are Buzzing by Elissa Gootman from the New York Times. The article talked about New York Schools rating systems or “school report cards.” The results shocked many because the schools progress rather than overall performance gave schools that may be considered less quality, but because of their resources and progress received a better grade. The grades were more or less delegitimized. They would normally have influence on real estate values, but many of the schools in wealthy middle/upper class communities claimed their schools long-time reputation as excellent would continue to be seen in the real estate world, rather than the B or C they were given because of lack of improvement from an already maintained excellence. Some actually reacted to A’s differently than might be expected. Instead of being ecstatic, some thought the A would signify a negative connotation; the school was excelling on standardized tests so in order to maintain the school’s grade next year, they would have to focus on the test in the curriculum so test scores could be maintained or improved.

What I am wondering is why we are spending so much money on creating and distributing standardized tests when we could be employing just as many people to go and observe the quality of the schools first hand. To avoid mindless scrutiny, the observers could be teachers or education professionals who could carefully assess the schools quality and teachers’ assessments of learning.

I attended two of the four freedom week events last week. The first was the July 64’ presentation. I found the documentary to be extremely beneficial. It used visuals to bring the chaos of time to life. It told the story of the riots from various perspectives. What I thought would have been more beneficial would be a better connection of the black population being frustrated with unequal access to jobs, poor living conditions, and possibly alcohol induced riots in association with the street dance. It also would have helped to avoid the damage and uprising of the people had white policeman not been so constraining and rather tried to understand- initiate discourse with- the frustrated black population. However, I think neither side knew what their aggression was about at the time that it happened. It was later reflecting on the boiling pot that boiled over.

The second speaker I attended was the Hate Speech discussion on Thursday. I felt I did not learn much new or persuasive information except for some sad statistics recounting hate crimes in colleges among the nation. A well-written speech was read aloud as the presentation; I hated it. I liked the material in the speech, but I hate being talked at. The presentation should have been question posing and thought provoking comments or questions which could probe dialog. Eventually, after teeth were pulled it seemed, professors and a very few students spoke up about their feelings about hate crimes (even smaller acts in the fisher community). I wanted to speak up myself and talk about the role of teachers to find the root of the hate crimes- lets care and protect those who are the victims but try to understand the victimizers. To prevent future hate crimes from occurring, teachers have to have good relationships all our students. It is only then that we can reach them and re-educate them about racism and prejudice. It is either ignorance or indoctrination of these ideas from the family at home which creates students who may commit hate crimes. It is also crucial to acknowledge that even slight racial bias can lead to the perpetuation of stereotypes and therefore the perpetuation of future hate crimes.

The Antsey and Bull reading was mind boggling. I had not read the text for quite some time and therefore getting used to its structure and use of tables too readjusting. I feel the reading is too busy or something. The constant use of literacy terms also throws me off. The semiotic system of still images explained in figure 8 was one useful tool to explain myself. The figure shows how the codes of color, texture, line, shape, and form are combined through the conventions of balance (among the codes), layout (how attention is attracted and focused), and vectorality (how the eye is lined through the image) to convey meaning. In the case of these chapters, it was layout which was a main issue for me. The chapter also provided some examples of print text, multimodal text, and the semiotic systems used. These included a chart and a video clip (spatial, auditory, gestural systems), a mobile phone (auditory, visual, spatial), and an internet site, (visual, auditory, spatial, gestural). I liked the Diary of Still and Moving Activities. It shows how reading the label on cereal boxes is using a linguistic semiotic system to determine which breakfast to eat based on calories. Another would be reading the newspaper to catch up with sports reports in which you are using linguistic and visual systems. As one could see, it is technology that has really made the world of text even more complex.

The previous chapter, chapter 4, was actually easier for me to grasp. I noticed how picture books about the time period of Vietnam or protest use collages to give off a sense of chaos. Some books use facial expressions and emotions to give a person or group of people “humanness” in which a reader can truly see the story from their eyes or sympathize with their situation. I related intertextuality with soap operas in the way that there are several different stories going on, which at first glance, appear very different and unrelated, but in fact are complete connected to the big picture. I also recalled the book Bull Run which used multiple perspectives (and sometimes conflicting perspective) to provide a better understanding of the Civil War. I also thought about novels and short stories I had read in middle school that had more than one narrator- from two different perspectives. I couldn’t remember the book I had read that was from an omniscient and first person point of view.

I also thought about how contemporary picture books and their attempt to incorporate devices that appeal to older age groups as do children’s movies. Shrek is one good example of a movie aimed for children’s entertainment and even learning, with jokes and meanings that only parents and older children would understand.
One of the best examples of utilizing text and images to portray a story was Come Away from the Waters, Shirley which uses the black and white to portray the boring story of what is actually happening in Shirley’s life under her parents orders, and the colorful and imaginative world illustrated on the opposing page regarding what Shirley imagines is happening. I began thinking of ways that I could use technology so that text, images, colors, style, and themes could enhance learning. I thought of using PowerPoint, for example, to create a time machine in which slides make the student feel like they are in a real time machine and have the power to investigate the past by choosing destinations and viewing images supplemented by a first-person narrator (the people in the piece of the past or from the time travel guide’s perspective). Interactive maps could be made which provide a cartoon like image of the world or a country, but then real-photos of people, places, and events in that country, supplemented by text that gives statistics and explains images available. Interactive time lines would be much similar. A first person dialog could utilize text to tell a historical person’s story for the first person point of view with the supplement of various sketches or images that may have been drawn in the journal. Drawings that display frustration, sadness, joy, and pain could be portrayed through the sketches produced.

In all, I believe that text and imagery can be used in many ways to convey meaning. Students should learn how to identify the methods which are persuading their views and thoughts on certain subjects. This creative thinking may even help them to identify the themes and layout of those dreadful standardized tests, ACTS/SATS, and Regents which with practice, can be mastered. Therefore, instead of teaching to the test and worrying about grades, we should be focusing on coming up with more innovative ways to have students identify patterns, themes, innerconnectivity of text and images, and understanding information from multiple perspectives.

The Frankenstein conference was not very engaging or exciting, but it covered various topics in the book that have potential use in the classroom. It covers the issue of morality in science. It addresses the definition of what is human and if being human gives one rights. Geography could even be a part of the study of the text since Frankenstein’s creation roams the land (over various terrain).  Students could study the historical context of when Mary Shelley wrote the book and why it was so revolutionary in its time. It could also be used to address differences in the classroom. If there are students with disabilities or bullying conduct going on in the classroom, they can use the example of the creature as outcast to encourage kindness, cooperation, and patience for others in the classroom. The novel in general can be used as a multidisciplinary study and related to modern day cases such as some of the presentations attempted (The invitro fertilization issue and others).

I found part of Dr. Blume’s speech really interesting.  She discusses the decision to call Frankenstein’s creation a creature or a monster. She claims that she looks for the word that reamins neutral in attitude rather than negative in connotation. Although the creature murdered characters and seemed violent in some cases, he also showed extreme loneliness, depression, and seemed disturbed. In that sense we may, as readers, have sympathy for the creature, while others consider his actions purely wrong. To the latter group the creature could reason between right and wrong and in their eyes was indeed human.

I think one of the best applications to the book would be to study the treatment of the creature and its relationship with others in comparison to other outcasts who lashed out on society. Hitler, for example, was an outcast and rejected from Art school but made himeself powerful enough to take over a country and lead the holocaust.  The Columbine students, or Asa Coon from the Cleveland shooting I mentioned in a blog earlier are some other examples.

In regards to listening to the conference, I don’t think any listening strategies would have helped me much. Taking notes or drawing as I usually do to pay attention would not have saved me.  A lot of times I fall asleep taking notes during classes when I am extremely tired, running on little energy, or am failing to be engaged. I will wake up to a page of half legible writing and stray pen marks.  I kept awake during Dr. Blumes speech because it was the first portion of the conference, and mostly for the two essays read aloud. However the essays were so smooth and read word for word that I lost focus many times.  As soon as powerpoint was used I started dozing. It is not that the information being used was not interesting but the speaker may have lacked loudness  or good organizaiton of text on the slides. All the material however, seemed well researched and  well-related to modern day issues.

One current event I read about this week was “Schools Embrace Environment and Sow Debate.” I have read similar articles before about schools turning “green.” They are teaching students various way to conserve and be environment-friendly by modeling the efforts first. They have banned pesticides, cars idling, encourage recycyling, and more.  The students have learned how to active participants in their immediate communities surrounding school. They plant gardens, can be involved in recyclying, clean with non-chemical products, and more. The students could learn about the science behind pollution and waste that happens right in their every day lives. They can learn about alternatives for energy, as well; this problem needs to be solved in the next few generations in order for our Ozone to survive! This application of knowledge to be active and see results engages students. In the same way, the applications that can be related to the students’ lives in the novel Frankenstein can be very effective as well.

Schools are supposed to be producing students who are life-long learners. While reading Daniels and Zemelman I discovered many ways that workshops and book clubs can foster skills which encourage a student’s life-long reading and learning.

One of the first factors to fostering a love of reading and learning in students is to give them topics or material which can somehow be related to their own lives of the events going on around them. D & Z suggest that this intrinsic motivation is crucial to the effectiveness of student’s learning. Being able to choose what kind of material they want to read allows them to feel of choice and to read something that interests them. Being observant of my students’ choices will allow me, the teacher, to be aware of their strengths, weaknesses, and interests.

While reading about the management of workshops I thought about my brother. He was often bored by tasks really quickly. In genearl, he was pretty much bored with the idea of reading. When one of his teachers suggested the book “My Side of The Mountain” he managed to engage in reading for hours. So, what was so special about the book? It was about a boy surviving in the wilderness and it so happens that my brother was very interested in hunting, farming, and the outdoors at the time.

So, the teacher had got him into reading, but when he came to class he was already done with the book. He had nothing to do during independent reading times. It was then he became a behavior problem. Some students, like my brother, are going to need constant engagement– even if they are really interested in the material. The reading from D&Z suggests that the class make a list of possible tasks to do after finishing workshop activities. I think that hands-on jobs like running errands, cleaning the classroom, drawing pictures, or typing a journal entry are some possibilities. Whatever the task may be, it must keep the student actively thinking and being constructive. Energized boys full of energy will need some spatial activities to keep them engaged.

I agree with providing silent reading or independent reading time during the class day. However, I often found myself, especially in middle school, daydreaming during this time of the day. I think it may have been because the book I was reading was chosen by the teacher or maybe because the reading period was right after lunch. Whatever it was, I know that even as a straight-A student interested in learning, I was not really engaging in the reading at that time. My teacher may have been too consumed with grading papers and not walking around the room possibly asking questions about the reading here and there. Even then, though, I could stare at the page if though I was reading and I was really staring at the same page for 15 minutes.

In looking at the management of groups there is always the question of how many students there should be. I agree with the reasoning behind limiting groups to four, five, or six students. I think if a group is too big communication is difficult as well as consensus. There is more likely to have a few leaders doing all the work while others become barnacles. Too small a group will leave out diversity in perspectives, learning styles, and talents to contribute to the group.

I believe that both the workshop and book clubs require a teacher to model the selection and reading process. Students should be active in the minilesson that I develop which should provide literacy strategies, model proper behavior, and explain expectations. Modeling should not just be teacher-oriented– it should involve the students in the decision making process.

I thought that the post-it notes being used to observe my students as they participate in workshops or book clubs would fit me very well. I have already found myself using post-it notes regularly while reading and then placing them on sheets of paper in my binders. We’ll see if this holds true in the future.

While reading I tried to think about how my schools in the past have tried to engage me in reading other than the textbook. I recalled a program called Accelerated Reading. We had a list of AR Books from which to choose. Most of these books were fiction and non-fiction novels, while others may be shorter texts. We were given a range of reading levels that we could read. Grades six to twelve might have been my range in 7th grade. We were also assigned a point range to aspire to. We must read as many books that would reach that point system. If we went above and beyond the points we could earn awards and recognition or extra credit which I always enjoyed. Students who improved their reading level or scores would receive the same recognition. A student had to score an 80% or more on 10-question tests administered on library computers. They were multiple choice and asked basic questions about what happened in the book. (Looking back I think it was an effective way to check whether we actually read or not. However, it failed to talk about complex concepts and ideas.)

Not to digress from the reading, but I had several good experiences with AR, and one horribly bad one. I recalled reading a shorter and lower level book about the formation of thunderstorms back in fifth grade. I only needed two points to reach my goal that quarter. I was reading the book aloud with one of my friends who had struggled with reading. (My natural tendency to teach had already emerged.) After we took turns reading each page aloud we went back over the book and reviewed the facts and tried to comprehend the material. My teacher (who had managed to have me for two years, once as my homeroom teacher and once as my science teacher), saw Emily and I studying together. She automatically assumed that I was telling her the answers to the AR test. Her reaction was to yell at us in public and asked us to go into the hall – which was then known as the bad place where trouble makers were told to go.

I never got in trouble at all in elementary school. I had straight-A’s and never in my life would cheat. I thought Ms. Reeves would know that. I was so angry she had accused me of cheating I started crying uncontrollably. I could not even prove them wrong at the time because of the tears and struggling to breathe. I could have just said, “Look it up! I haven’t taken the test for it so how am I giving her answers!” It was probably the most angry I’ve ever been throughout my education. The teachers who were involved were ones I actually liked and trusted.

Sure enough, a couple weeks later, the AR reports came through and the teachers saw the two points I was short of in my goal. Realizing they were wrong they awarded me the points and gave me a pretty weak apology. I still think I should have been taken out for ice cream because I cried for weeks over the whole petty ordeal! I was probably more stressed then over being sent to the hall then I am now during my college final exams!

With all this talk about stress, I looked up a newspaper article titled, “A Principal Who Cracks Down on Stress” by Sara Rimer. The principal is from a affluent suburban school which (like the Amazing Girls article I wrote about) has trouble with its students stressing over test scores, achievement, and college admissions. The principal is trying to help students cope by requiring yoga classes and stress relief methods. I remember having a couple programs or speakers about stress relief- and as I was listening or participating in these programs I was thinking, “Ugggh, I could be doing that AP History homework right now and I have a test in Calculus next period!” As critical as I may sound, I still support that attempt of schools to relieve stress. In fact, maybe one way to do so would be to give students reading that is enjoyable for once. Homework that students can do for hours without wanting to slam their head on their desk!

I also thought about the schools huge concern about their upper-class white suburban population’s stress. How about schools provide stress or coping programs right in the curriculum for inner-city students who aren’t fretting over some test but are worried about the gang activity going down after school, figuring out how they are going to eat when they get home, or how they are going to do they’re work when they have to baby-sit their little brothers and sisters when their parent or parents are working several shifts that night. Maybe they just don’t care because they’ve never seen anything other than the low SES community they live in and do not aspire to do work that they believe will do nothing for their future. How can we be so worried about the stress of students who are obsessed with achievement over those who are stressed over basic survival. Isn’t it just as necessary to promote their life-long learning? Oh, the irony.

Condensing all of the material I have learned was so stressful for me. I struggled in narrowing it down to three pages. I am so used to being asked to provide particular examples, so I overloaded the essay with these examples and it ended up being seven pages. I really didn’t enjoy showing what I learned from the course this way, but I know that putting my ideas on paper is part of a process of reflection. It also allows me to think about how to apply the things I have learned. I also recognized part of my stress was because of outside issues. My personal issues distracted me throughout the whole process. It only helps me to recognize that my adolescent students (who experience many changes, personal issues, and maturity issues) will experience even more trouble with doing work and staying focused in class when events outside the classroom are on their minds. Journaling might help relieve both my student’s stress and my own.