The Power of Collaboration

Over the summer, the English 9 team met to map out the school year and decided we were going to teach "A Midsummer's Night Dream".  I've never taught it before and had only read it once in college, but after seven years of "Romeo and Juliet" I was ready for a change.  Thankfully, I'm not trying to figure out how to teach this play on my own, because I would be a wreck! I was having a minor freak out over break, but then we met at Chicory Cafe and discussed the themes and essential questions we wanted to use and all was right with the world. 

This is what we came up with:

Essential Questions: 

1. What makes poetry different than prose?
2. What happens in a world where men and women are treated unequally?
3.  How do we differentiate between dreams and reality?
4.  How is our behavior scripted/influenced by societal expectations?

Statement of Enduring Understanding: "The course of true love ne'er did run smooth"- love is difficult, especially when others do not approve.

Themes: love is transformative, control is a mirage, people escape reality as a means to gain control

 I love meeting with the women on my team as they are phenomenal, intelligent, strong, and amazing.  I can honestly say that the past year and a half has transformed me as collaborator and teacher.  When I first began teaching, I pretty much stayed in my room, talked to a few people in my department, and tried to make sense out of what I was doing on my own.  There were a few individuals that I would vent to and steal ideas from, but true collaboration on a regular basis was rare.  It was a lonely world.

Now, I can't imagine my life or my teaching without it.  It is absolutely amazing to spend time reflecting on my teaching and then sharing those reflections with people I trust.  We can talk honestly about our failures while also celebrating our victories with chocolate or a good beer.  Our diverse teaching styles make us stronger and help us to push our boundaries.  We share our materials willingly because we want each other to be the best teachers possible.  We also engage in some healthy competition which never hurts anyone.  Most of all, though, these women are my friends.  They have beautiful hearts, brilliant minds, and inspire me on this crazy journey called teaching.

Essential Learning

It's difficult to believe that it is January 3, 2015 or that it has been almost two months since I last blogged. Eek.  Adding blog more to my career goals!  So what have I been doing in those two months... other than unsuccessfully writing the introduction of my dissertation proposal?  Maybe a better question to ask is what haven't I done in those two months?

In all honesty, I haven't done what I love the most: plan creative, authentic, and meaningful lessons.  I've been hanging on, and that is the worst thing a teacher can do.  Anyone who knows me, knows that teaching has always been my passion.  Except lately, it isn't.  Not because I don't love my students, writing, or literature.  I do. But I hate Acuity, the ECA, standardized assessments, and all that other crap.  I also hate how much I've pretended to play the game this year.  I've been a dutiful department head, a pretty good teacher, and have tried to believe that all those standardized tests mean something to me.  But they don't and pretending that they do is a lie, and it is destroying me as a teacher.

Wow, it felt good to say that out loud.  The truth is supposed to set you free, right?  Here's  what else is true: using an Acuity assessment to determine whether I'm a highly effective teacher or not is criminal. It also infuriates me.  You know why?  Because if value is placed almost entirely on standardized tests, then your focus is almost entirely on standardized tests.  It isn't on essential questions, statements of enduring understandings, universal themes, project based learning, culminating projects, service learning, your students' voices or anything else that makes teaching absolutely amazing. I want absolute amazing and my students deserve absolute amazing.

So here's my New Year's resolution: find my identity as a teacher again.

Who Will Cry?

It's been an emotional week for me.  Kids are testing my patience, making me laugh, infuriating me, and filling me with love all at the same time. Some are rising to the occasion and others are falling deeper into the cracks.  And I'm angry. So, so angry.  Because I'm not sure what to do right now.  I don't know how to make things better.  I imagine it's what a doctor feels when s/he is trying to help a patient but none of the medicine is working.

I'm not alone.  I'm surrounded by a lot of tired teachers who are asking themselves the same question.  Lately, when I walk into school I wonder what it's like to be at a school that isn't so emotionally taxing.  There, I said it.  Sometimes I feel like I can't say that.  Afraid that it'll make me seem like a bad teacher, disloyal to my school or kids, or a horrible leader.  I also fear that it perpetuates every negative stereotype that exists about urban schools. But I think that maybe being able to say that actually makes me a good teacher, makes me more loyal, and an even better leader.  I don't have my head in the sand.  I don't try to pretend that the things that are wrong at my school don't exist.  I don't try to act like I don't teach in an urban public school.

I chose and choose to stay at my high school.  That doesn't make me a martyr or a saint, nor does it make me a fool.  It might make me slightly crazy.  It definitely makes me tired.  And I hate that being a teacher makes it nearly impossible to tell  people in other professions that I'm tired.  That I'm somehow being silently judged.  In other cases openly.

I watched a video this morning that one of my friends posted about a high school in Philadelphia.  It made me cry.  Because this is the reality for so many teachers and so many students.  It's the reality for me.  The students and teachers in the video could have been any of my colleagues.  The students could have been any of ours.  Thankfully, my school has better resources and doesn't have metal detectors or the same amount of fighting.  But we are fighting the same fight and anyone who doesn't think it isn't a battle doesn't have a clue.

I encourage you to watch this video, and I encourage you to learn more about the way your state funds public education.  I encourage you to think twice about what you think it means to be poor in America.  I encourage you to think about how you can make a difference in the lives of today's students.

Prove It!

It's hard to believe that it's already November 1st, which means I'm two weeks away from the end of the first trimester.  Fall has been busy, which is pretty typical during cross country season.  I'm looking forward to having more time to plan, to write my concept paper, and breathe again. 

I'm also looking forward to integrating some of the new CCR standards into the classroom.  This week I started with EBC, which is short for evidence based claims.  While Indiana didn't technically adopt the Common Core, anyone who has looked at the standards can tell you that they're pretty much identical.  There's been much debate about the Common Core and honestly I'm impartial.  I see merit to the standards, as well as the flaws.  At the end of the day, I still have to make sure my students can think critically, analyze and understand texts, and write for different audiences.

One aspect of the new standards that I am excited about is the use of evidence based claims in students' thinking.  It's a skill that everyone should have and is one that is extremely important in the tech savvy world we live in.  In a nutshell, students have to be able to make a claim, provide reasons why the claim is true, and support their reasons/claim with text based evidence.  The evidence piece is the part I'm loving most, because it forces students to engage in metacognition, to analyze the text in different ways, and support their argument with proof. 

Too often, we take things at face value.  This is dangerous, because it creates a mindset where we trust anything we see without checking to see if there's legitimate proof or evidence.  Someone's opinion is simply an opinion and sometimes opinions are dangerous. We see a post, video, or infographic on social media, and we click share without even checking the link's authenticity.  As a result, society is plagued by misinformation, biased information, and some information that is downright false.  As a result today's students are walking around in a world filled with half truths, blatant lies, and amazing spin masters. That's a dangerous world, and I'll do whatever I can to prevent them from becoming easy prey.

Here are some great resources:

http://langwitches.org/blog/2012/03/01/annotexting/

www.engageny.org/resource/making-evidence-based-claims-units-ccss-ela-literacy-grades-6-12

http://www.clearbiology.com/helping-students-make-evidence-based-claims/

http://www.cojusd.org/Page/1152

I also suggest checking out pinterest for more great resources!

Reading Apprenticeship

Last spring I was lucky enough to attend training on Reading Apprenticeship.  It was part of an initiative that Washington High School embarked on to commit itself to improving literacy instruction.  Given my background in literacy and my passion for reading, it seemed like the perfect fit.  And it was and is.  I love RA.  The training we received was relevant, easy to apply, and just made sense.  In short, RA is a combination of best practices in reading instruction.  It is not a program, it is not a curriculum, but it is a way to transform literacy for people of all abilities. The book Reading for Understanding has changed my life and highly recommend it to anyone interested in helping their students become better readers.

Some of my favorite strategies to use in RA include QAR, MIPS, Text Coding, using anchor charts, activating schema (and having students discuss their schema!), and triple journal entries.

At Washington, we are striving to incorporate RA in every content area and have committed to doing the work in homeroom.  It is a logical place to use active reading strategies and to have students practice close reading.  Like any new endeavor, it has not been without challenges.

Some of the challenges include:

1. Engaging struggling or disinterested students in independent reading and class discussion

2. Helping students to understand the relationship between literacy and power

3. Helping students understand the relevance of building schema and using active reading strategies

4. Integrating technology with RA and close reading

We know and understand that our students must have 21st Century thinking and reading skills, both of which require close reading.  This work must be done.  Yet, we must also acknowledge the challenges that come with trying something new.

What strategies do you know of or use that could help us in our work?

Thank a Teacher

It's Sunday, and this is the first time since school started that I've actually sat down on a Sunday and played around on Pinterest.  That being said, I also didn't grade half of what I brought home, but I also coached for 7 hours yesterday. Such is life.

So, if you don't know, I am currently working on my dissertation.  I have been working on it for four months and haven't even gotten past the introduction of the concept paper, but not for a lack of trying! My topic is why teachers stay in low-performing urban high schools.  This topic has evolved and there's a lot to learn about why teachers stay, especially since we know all about why they leave: poor pay, huge work loads, lack of support, dysfunctional schools, and so on and so on.  The teaching profession has the highest attrition rate of any other profession. Period. There's also a decline in college graduates entering the teaching force. 

People outside of the teaching profession tend to have an idealized view of the teaching profession.  Summers off! Spring break! Christmas break! You only have to work 8-3!

Right...

Reality:

Summers: Work a second job, coach, continue going to school, attend professional development. Go on vacation that doesn't require you to grade papers, lesson plan, etc.

Spring break: grading papers, lesson planning

Christmas break: grading papers and enjoying a nice break from the kids we did not give birth to but love nonetheless

Actual school day: 5% of teachers actually work from 8-3.  They are the PE teachers (sorry, but it's true!!). 

During the day, good teachers not only teach, but they discipline, redirect, cheer on, assist, wipe tears, write passes, answer questions, ask questions, ignore gross smells, and generally enjoy what they do without expecting a thank you. 

We spend time with 22-180 kids every day. Every day.  Think about that the next time your child is driving you nuts.

I love my job, even right now, when I'm under a ridiculous amount of pressure.  But it's hard. Really, really hard.  Especially in urban schools.  It just is.

So how about we all take a little time to thank a teacher before another great professional walks out the door...

At the Center

This year I have tackled the business of centers.  I have failed miserably, but have also learned some valuable lessons.  In theory, centers are awesome.  In real life, they take a lot of planning.  They take scaffolding, they take time, and they require a lot of teacher release.  They are the essence of a student centered classroom, and I am slowly honing the craft.

Primary teachers have centers down to a science, and I am amazed at some of the lessons teachers are able to put together.  My centers are evolving, as is the structure.  This is the first year that I've done centers every day. But, thanks to the guidance of my partner in crime, I only have students go to one station per day.  I have four centers total: independent/reading, computer, teacher, and writing.  The day begins with the bell ringer, word of the day, some direct instruction, and then we break into our stations.  The first week I wanted to cry.  I wanted to QUIT doing them and go back to the safety of what I'd always done.  But I didn't, and I am so glad I decided to persevere through the growing pains.  I know that centers are what's best for my students, but implementing them takes time, a lot of teacher planning, and lots of resources.

Centers allow me to work with a small group of students, which has been great. I feel like I can finally give real feedback and can see the potential for student growth.  I just have to be patient with myself as I muddle through the messiness.  The teacher center is also a great way to check student writing, bell work, and anything else worth assessing.  The reading block allows me to give extended independent reading to my students and the reading journal provides some accountability.  Students have freedom to type, study vocab, and build schema on the computers and the writing center provides opportunities for students to be creative and to hone some writing skills.  I highly suggest setting up an area for writing resources such as paper, pens/pencils, prompts, options for the types of writing, and a place for students to keep track of their work.

I highly suggest centers to anyone who is interested in varying their instruction and getting more accomplished in a shorter amount of time.  I also suggest talking to other teachers who use centers.  Ask them everything they know! Pinterest is also a fantastic resource for activities.

I still have a lot to learn about the art of centers in the high school classroom, but I'm glad I took the leap!