Student Teaching #3

                 With spring break and the KPTP I haven’t had much time to devote to professional learning as I would have liked.  Heck, wasn’t the KPTP enough?  All kidding aside, because of an interview I had, over the past few days I began thinking about collaborative environments with colleagues.  Collaborative environments between colleagues are a vital structure that allows teachers to work together to best serve their students. Furthermore, collaborative environments let educators bounce ideas back and forth, discuss teaching strategies for both groups and individual students, and support one another when needed. Interestingly enough, I found a professional learning article on the Teaching Tolerance website that addresses the aforementioned ideas, and more.

                Collaborative environments may already exist at your school. In my English department we all try to work together as a team to support each other and to share ideas.  We also plan event together, such as the upcoming Shakespeare Festival. While some teachers are definitely involved more than others we all are responsible for doing our part. That being said, collaborative environments have several other advantages.

                As the article states, collaborative environments are nothing new. I have been to many a PL or PLC group where an entire schools data is discussed at length. This is a great start because teachers can see the strengths and weaknesses of their school. Hopefully, the data is chunked into manageable sections that really benefit your department, for this allows the data to be evaluated and productively implemented. These are the types of things that the aforementioned article focuses on. However, school and department collaborative groups seem to focus, all too often, on the data, implementation, and differentiation, and specific students, or types of students, seem to be left out.

                The students that I am referring to are students who identify as LGBTQ or as people that belong to any other persecuted group. I believe, that while the article under discussion makes no reference to those students that by being on the web site that it is we must thing about collaborative teacher teams in this context. How do we as teachers foster an environment of tolerance within our schools, classrooms, and our student’s lives? The answer to this is that we have to plan and implement tolerance just as we would a lesson on Gatsby, or Night, intentionally. It is with this end in mind that we collaboratively plan our approach to tolerance and, if needed, intervention.

                The article really does break down how to address the formation of a collaborative environment. While the principal at most schools take care of PL or PLC, teachers must often volunteer to organize and sponsor whatever groups they see a need for.  This is where this article really becomes valuable.  Step 1: Why should we do this? This is the question that you have to know the answer to before you start asking your colleagues to volunteer their time. My answer to this is that we need to “address solutions for intolerance and lack of respect among students, teachers, or other members of the school community.” Step 2: is to help your colleagues understand how your collaborative team will work and what it does to support the groups under discussion. Step 3: Plan and organize. Step 4: Intentionally plan and implement that support. Step 5: Maintain momentum. You may have to be the cheerleader for your group. “Frequent attention and visibility are major drivers in keeping the initiative moving.” Step 6: Facilitate. “Be a continual learner… Provide tips and facilitate good teamwork and assistance.”

                All of these things that I listed here may seem like they are “common knowledge” but if you’re honest with yourself, did you really know where to start? I certainly didn’t. That being said, I whole heartedly intend to either start a tolerance group for marginalized student groups, or offer my services to an existing one, at wherever I begin my teaching career.  I would also hope that you will visit the website and find additional information on how to embrace diversity and promote tolerance. A good teacher cares about teaching; a great teacher cares about teaching their students.

Link to the article: http://www.tolerance.org/print/supplement/ten-steps-implementing-teacher-team-initiative-your-school

Other tolerance websites you should visit:

http://www.truetolerance.org/

http://www.partnersagainsthate.org/

http://www.adl.org/

Student Teaching #2

The past couple of weeks have definitely had their ups and downs.  I finished my KPTP “unit” and have been swamped with grading.  In addition, conferences and parent contacts have definitely given me insight into my students.  I am sure that my colleagues are faced with the same situations.  However, in regard to the 1920’s research project, which I presented in my college class last week, two of my students have gone to extreme lengths to avoid writing the 2-3 page essay, film in the 1920’s.  I had graded all of the essays and noticed that this two persons group had not turned in an essay.  I asked them both for the paper and they assured me that they would get it done.  At conferences one of the two’s parents inquired as to why their child’s grade was so low.  I explained that they had not turned in the paper.  The very next day this student brought me a flash drive.  I happily plugged it in and found nothing.  He exclaimed that he grabbed the wrong drive and then brought another the next day; nothing on that one either.  Frustrated and after talking with my CT, I then talked to the other student involved in the group.  I gave him the option to turn in a paper by himself.  I told him I would grade it independent of his partner and only give him the grade.  He turned in a paper the very next day.  That being said, I was suspicious.  I know people that have written papers in a night but they were college students about to graduate.  I checked and a simple Google search proved that he had indeed plagiarized the entire paper, copy and pasted, right off of Wikipedia. I gave him the talk, the really ominous English teacher talk, gave him a zero, and called his parents.  I did explain that it wasn’t personal, that I wished that I didn’t have to do this, but he gave me no choice.  His partner found out and turned in a paper the following Monday.  It didn’t fit the rubric for MLA formatting and honestly I haven’t graded it yet.  I don’t want to have to call home again and talk to this kid’s parents for the third time.  They are both bright kids, participate in class, and do their other homework and it kills me that they keep doing stupid stuff in regard to this paper.  However, I will do what is necessary.

The AP classes are going well.  We are about to complete Henry IV, part 1 and move into Dubliners.  The juniors have just begun A Raisin in the Sun.  I would love to teach only plays, and I find them infinitely easier to teach than novels.  My students seem to love them too, and have been more engaged and interested than at any other time during the semester.  I have followed the same basic format that I followed in my other units this semester.  Analytical guides, analytical essays, and a fair amount of discussion over the pieces.  I have had to scrap a couple of activities because of school events and the snow days to keep us on track.  As we quickly approach spring break I felt like we were in a rut so I have been breaking things up by showing scenes from the film versions of the play and then comparing and contrasting them with the text.  It seems to work well and keep the students interested and awake.  In addition, as an introduction to A Raisin in the Sun, I had students complete a project that required them to work as a group/family.  The scenario was similar to the plot of the play but changed so nothing was spoiled.  They worked in groups and then the head of household decided what to ultimately do with $100,000.  They had a lot of fun with the project and it built great background with the students while engaging their multiple intelligences. 

We have professional learning groups at my placement school.  I want to share what we went over last week.  Some may find it rather basic, but I found it to be, in the least, a nice reminder.  Right Is Right is the name of the article that we focused on.  In a nut shell we, as teachers, are too quick to say “right” when we should be holding out for the exact correct answer.  “Many teachers respond to almost correct answers by rounding up. They will affirm the students answer and repeat it, adding some detail of their own to make it fully correct even though the student didn’t provide the differentiating factor.”  I am guilty of doing this and so are you.  Admit it.  The article goes on to say that by holding out for the right answer, the whole thing, you set the expectation that the students answers really matter.  Hold out by using phrases like, “I like what you've said.  Can you get us the rest of the way?”  or “We’re almost there.  Can you find the last piece?”  Other ways to hold out for right include, using precise technical vocabulary, and only accepting a definition, instead of an example.  In this way we can keep our students engaged and keep them from tuning out once they think they have provided the “right” answer.   

On a side note WSU is 30-0.  What a nice send off for my senior year.

Student Teaching #1

               This semester started off with a bang, and an alarm clock that goes off way too early in the morning.  Since the 2^nd of January I have been getting up and going to work at a place that I am passionate about and learning to teach in the process.  I honestly figured I was in pretty good shape.  I read the material last semester and I spent every waking moment planning for this one.  My CT and I decided that we would co-teach for the first couple of weeks.  Then, as with everything in life, we had to change our plans.  There were the days students were out of class for assemblies and the day they were gone for the career pipeline.  Things happen, and unfortunately my students do have other classes, not to mention a life outside of school.  That being said I have been dealing with the interruptions and adapted my plans accordingly.  My CT and I spend almost the entire day together and every afternoon, during 5^th block, we reflect on my teaching together.  We look at where we were so we can figure out where we are going.  The “theme” here is intentional teaching. 

                Sure, we have all heard the phrase “intentional teaching” thrown around in our classes and in our college texts.  But, does anyone really know how to apply a theory right out of the gate?  I thought I did.  I could have expounded upon the virtues of intentional teaching, multiple intelligences, and student lead learning.  However, until you really put this into practice you have no idea how to do it.  I didn’t.   That being said, the last few weeks have been interesting.

                Earlier this week I had the pleasure of beginning to teach The Great Gatsby, one of my favorite books.  The lesson didn’t go well.  If you’re curious read my blog post from Monday.  My CT and I talked about what happened.  I had planned this for months, but I went in thinking I knew Gatsby.  While I do know the novel extremely well;  It is one of my favorite pieces of American fiction.  That being said, while I know Gatsby, I didn’t know how to teach Gatsby.  It really isn’t that hard to understand now.  I tried to stop every paragraph or so and point out everything, every little detail that makes Gatsby great.  My love for the novel got in the way.

                So what is the fix for this?  It’s easy, really, intentional teaching, patience, and trusting your kids.  I know Gatsby and I knew what I wanted to say, but I needed to be patient, let the novel unfold naturally.  You can’t force this type of thing.  And finally, trust that your kids are smarter than anyone, even their parents, gives them credit for.  I went back to my plans and my scripts and looked at where I was, where I had been (that was painful since I have a recording of it), and where I needed to go.  I looked back at my novel and used sticky notes to force me to stop and then let go.

                So to the brass tacks, I went through the rest of chapter 1 and every three pages or so, there is no hard and fast rule here, I looked for natural breaks in the narrative.  I put post it notes there.  I went through my script and divided it to match my post its.  So during teaching today I let go and let the kids read and explore the novel.  I stopped them every post it note and went back and pointed out the major characters, points that needed pointing out, symbol’s, misogynistic racist jerks, the important things.  And it went beautifully. 

               I have said before that as English majors we have seen hundreds of novels taught over the years.  We should know how to “do this” like nothing else.  I was wrong.  I’m not afraid to admit it, but I would be afraid to go back to the way I thought we should teach a novel last Monday morning.  It’s a process, student teaching.  Teach, learn, adapt, and be truly intentional.     

"The Man Who Gives His Name to this Book"

I’m not even sure that I can comprehend how badly today went.  I didn’t have any problems with behavior; I didn’t have any wardrobe malfunctions or anything else of the sort.  I had a really bad case of the brain farts.  There I said it.  I couldn’t remember anything that I needed to.  That being said, I am prone to that and prepare accordingly.  I script a lot of things I do in the classroom just to keep myself on track.  Questions I want to ask, answers to those questions, things of that nature.  I even have the time that class ends at the top of my notes so I can keep an eye on it.  But today, you just can’t fix stupid. 

I have read The Great Gatsby close to ten times.  I know the book in and out.  Heck I have partied with Tom, drank Gatsby’s liquor, and bought a car from George.  And then I tried to teach it.  I went through the great American novel speech.  I pointed out how the plot follows the standard linear plot format they all learned about in middle school, and gave them a quick refresher.  We talked about how no-one likes a speech from their father and how unreliable politicians, and narrators, can be.  And then it went the way of the stock market in 1929.  “Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book” would understand.  And that is precisely the point at which I lost it in the novel.  On the second page, to be exact, while trying to point out that our unreliable narrator was telling us he was going to be unreliable because he was telling us that his tale is a work of fiction, I said “What do we know about books?”  The students stared, unsure whether to raise their hand or laugh uncontrollably.  My CT in the back of the room knows where I am trying to go but he just smirks.  I am on my own and there is no stopping this runaway Duisenberg now.   I restate my question and one kid raises her hand, the girl who always wants me to bring her pop-tarts, and says “they tell us stories.”  I reply in the affirmative and quickly move on.  I am now so flustered that I gloss over the point of our unreliable narrator giving us the end of the story at the beginning of the book and move on to page 3 and tradition.  Oh it’s no better over here.  We discover the narrator’s last name but it might as well be etched in stone for me.  As I gloss over this tidbit of information I move on to where “we have a tradition” staring me in the face.  I can’t even formulate simple phrases now.  I must look like a deer in the headlights and I ask “what do we “know” about tradition?”  Again nothing from the students whom now, I believe, have come to understand the gravity of the situation and just watch the run-away train slam into the end of the period bell.  The girl that always wants me to bring her pop- tarts, silently gives me one of hers and walks out of the classroom.

In all seriousness this is how I felt today went with my juniors.  My AP class is going great guns and we had an awesome Shared Inquiry Discussion over the two chapters of Beloved they read over the weekend.  My CT and I discussed what happened with Gatsby and ways to prevent it from happening again.  He takes great notes and I was recording today’s lesson and was able to reflect, a little, it really is painful to watch.  We laughed and decided that I was trying to stop too often and point things out a little at the time.  I told him that I didn’t want to go over their heads and so I was trying to pull back a little and not overwhelm them.  He assured me that if they got overwhelmed they would tell me and that they would “get it” just like the seniors do.  He assured me that everyone has “those days” and that all in all I was doing a fine job, all I need to do is make a few adjustments.  I will and have made adjustments to my lesson tomorrow, I just hope Fitzgerald didn’t turn over in his grave. 

Don’t Rob Yourself

“You have the nerve to ask me when I will have your assignment graded?” 

“Well yeah, like, I have to keep on top of my grade so I can pass this class, ya’ know?”

“Yeah, I know.  I also know that you didn’t complete the assignment.  You obviously had better

            things to worry about than your grade.”

“Oh, well I just didn’t get it.”

“Why didn’t you come and ask me for help?  You know, I am here every day at 6am and you

could have come before class.”

“I ride the bus and so I don’t get here until the last minute.”

“I cut myself shaving and I couldn’t get it to stop bleeding.”

“My mom didn’t wake me up in time.”

 “I am here early and I have an email address.  You have all of the resources you need to be successful; all you have to do is take advantage of them.”

“Hey, I don’t need a lecture.  I just asked about my grade.”

“You received a C.”

“What!?  How can that be?”

“I can’t get lower than a B!”

“I will get in trouble with my team!”

“All of the answers you chose to complete received full credit.”

“So you know that I know the material. Can’t you just bump my grade?  Please!”

“A thief can take away money, a car, and property from a person but it is certainly impossible to

take your education away.  I won’t rob you, your coach wont rob you, don’t rob yourself.”

Interpretation

     Hectic is characterized by intense agitation and excitement.  I would define the past few weeks as just such an experience.  My pre-student teaching week went well.  There was quite a bit that I would change about the lessons I taught and I made note of that.  One of the most valuable things that is now in the front of my mind is that kids, even seniors, have extremely short term memories.  I tried to activate prior knowledge for bellwork using a cartoon from the gulf oil spill and they had no idea.  I changed the cartoon for block 2 to one satirizing the government shutdown and it worked much better.   From that point I have been working on my semester plan for student teaching.  I am about 2/3 of the way done and I feel rather good about that.  I am hoping to have a draft for my CT to review over Thanksgiving. 

     There has been a situation that has taught me a lot in the last week.  The question is about interpretation.  When should you teach a piece of literature from a certain point of view?  Furthermore, should you teach an interpretation on a character’s sexuality based solely on what you, the teacher, have self analyzed?  The answer I have come up with is no.  If there is literary, textual, and academic basis for including sexual orientation in the teaching of a work then do so.  For example, one cannot teach the Catcher in the Rye without talking about Holden’s sexuality.  However, if a characters sexual orientation is not mentioned in the text and if it does not alter student’s analysis of the narrative then leave it alone.  The situation really comes down to whether or not you can defend the position that you are taking.  Scholarly journal articles, textual evidence, and other such sources can serve to help you defend your position, use them.

     On a lighter note, I am teaching Beloved in the spring and I talked to one of my English professors.  She gave me some great ideas on a project to help my students analyze the novel.  I ended up using two professors ideas and modified a project to make it more accessible to high school students.  I try to post my version here when I am done.  The basic idea is that the students, instead of reading day after boring day in class, work on the project during class and read outside of class.  The project involves students by having them teach the class using their own guiding questions and prompts.  Students are divided into groups of three and four and then come up with a 15-20 minute lesson over a specific prompt/guiding question they have been given.  They are instructed to use different media if they would like and NOT to read from a text.  I got positive feedback from two of the students who read my project outline.  I gave a copy to my CT on Friday and I will hear from him tomorrow.  I hope he likes it! 

     Overall, my pre-student teaching semester has been extremely valuable.  I feel like the concepts and ideas I learned in previous college classes and observations are coming together in exciting ways.  I still have quite a bit to plan, but it doesn’t seem as daunting as it did before because of the tools I now have to work with.  School politics is a necessary evil, but if you do your homework and back yourself up you will come out on top.    

Genre Reflection #1: Erasure Poetry

Core 3 scene 1

The following poem, or soliloquy as it were, has been inspired by three distinctive texts and/or events.  The first, without a doubt, it Shakespeare’s Hamlet from whom the original text was borrowed.  The second inspirational text is by Janet Holmes and is entitled “The Ms of My Kin”.  This book was originally “The Poems of Emily Dickinson” to which Holmes applied the art of erasure poetry.  Thirdly, this poem is inspired by the students in my pre-student teaching AP Literature and Composition course.  Through them I have come to love Shakespeare all over again.

To be, or not to be,

‘tis Nobler

The slings and Arrows

Against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them.

The natural shocks

That a consummation

Devoutly to be wished.

To dream,

For in that sleep what dreams may

Come,

When we have shuffled

Give us pause.  There’s the respect

That makes so long life:

For who would bear the Whips and Scorns of

Teaching?

Who would bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

The undiscovered Country, from whose bourn

No Traveller returns,

And makes us rather bear those ills we have,

Than fly to others that we know not of.

Thus conscience does make us all,

And thus Resolution

Is o’er the cast of Thought,

And enterprises of great moment,

With this regard Currents turn

And name Action.  Soft you now,

Be all my sins remembered.