I stand at my classroom door between each period to greet my kids. My new year's teaching resolution: pick one student before each class and engage that student in a 1-2 minute conversation. I'm first selecting kids who tend to fly under the radar.
It is important that students read books where they see themselves in some of the characters. It is also important that students read books about people they would not ordinarily meet.
No paper is ever finished. It is just due. Papers always remain eligible for revision, even after a grade is placed. Latest papers are called "best drafts," never "final drafts."
As I sit down to write lesson plans for next week (for students who will be staying home), I know one thing: my students need to write daily about this time in history. They need to capture this moment in time.
I gave my students some cash register tape, asked them to find their favorite line in Hamlet, and now the walls of my classroom are awash in the language of Shakespeare.
Conundrum: There is no better way to understand students than to read their writing, but teachers are given too many students so reading the papers wears them out. Truthfully, I should look forward to reading their papers, but sometimes I am in serious avoidance mode.
Surveyed my new seniors. 72% of them cannot identify a single author they like. Two-thirds of them “never” read in their spare time. Never. I know there are many factors behind this, but I can’t help wonder what role schools have played in killing the ❤️ of reading.
Please don’t tell me this is too political. People are being murdered. All curriculum—intentional or not—is political. Good teaching is responsive to what is happening in our students’ lives. Teaching Materials – Black Lives Matter At School
Sometimes when history unfolds, it immediately supersedes tomorrow’s lesson plan. Today is one of those days. Students will need to read, write, and talk about this.
As part of a poetry unit, I am having seniors find poems that “capture” or “represent”each of their HS years. Each student finds one poem for 9th grade year, one for 10th, etc and explain the selections. High engagement.
If the only reading students do is at school, they will never get the necessary practice that is foundational to being literate. They need to read books, and they need to do a lot of this reading outside of school.
Today I begin my 35th year of teaching. Each year is a unique, living mosaic. Will meet my new students this morning. I am excited by what I know and what I don't know. Let's go!
As a teacher in a high-poverty school, I walk a delicate balance: I try to maintain love and hope for all students, but I consciously find myself fighting the effects of compassion fatigue. There are times I need to disconnect for self preservation. The needs are so great.
Three years ago,
@pennykittle
and I created book clubs for our HS students around the theme of social justice. Here were the titles we selected at that time. Any suggestions for updating the list?
So much of reading comprehension is influenced by a reader's prior knowledge. The more you know, the better you can read. That's why I have been giving my students an article of the week for years. I have now posted the 1st one for the 2018-2019 year here:
I have withdrawn from participating in the 2022 Plum Creek Literacy Festival. It is the first time I have ever backed out of a speaking engagement. Here is why I made this decision:
In class today we read the final and climactic scene in Hamlet. The plays ends, there is a pause, and then one student says in hushed tones, "Whoa! That was very Game of Thrones-ish."
A lot of hand wringing about reading loss going on, but it was my experience that many of my students had stopped reading books years ago. This was a curriculum problem and a teaching problem long before the pandemic.
Here I will share my lesson plans for my students who will not be coming to school for the next two weeks. These plans were developed with my friend
@pennykittle
, as well as from input from some of my ELA colleagues at Magnolia High School. But before I share, some thoughts:
The life of an English teacher = reading student papers on December 26. I know I will not fully enjoy my winter break if these papers sit there for two weeks beckoning me. I have now willed myself to my desk. May the force be with me!
Just received an email from a student I had 10 years ago asking me if I can remember the title of a book I book talked in class one day. You never know what sticks.
I book-talked Michael Pollan’s in Defense of Food today. Love how he summarizes his entire book in the first seven words: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” My 7-word teaching version: “More reading. More writing. Choice. No worksheets.” Yours?
If I were in school this week, I would have my students practice their reading skills with this
@NewYorker
cover. What does it say? What does it not say?
Today is our first day of writing in our notebooks. I will begin with talking about my central goal for them as writers this year: moving them from victimhood to agency. I will use this figure from 180 Days.
The presidential "debates" should adopt the model I used with 9th graders: side A talks while side B is muted. Then side B talks while side A is muted. Rotate. It's not that hard.
Our job is much more important than teaching kids how to identify theme in a novel. Teachers are agents of change. I leave
#ncte17
with hope as I have met many agents of change here in St. Louis. Thanx for all the conversations and for making me a better teacher.
This just got real. Literally. I received an advance copy in the mail today of 180 Days---the book Penny Kittle
@pennykittle
and I wrote. More good news: release date moved up to 3/29. Thankx
@HeinemannPub
I want a doctor who stays well-read in her field. Students deserve the same level of professionalism from their teachers. I encourage all young teachers coming into the teaching profession to subscribe to
@ncte
English Journal:
Lesson idea: have students adapt from the graphic below. E.g. advice from a dog; advice from the ocean; advice from a musician, etc. Brainstorm your own list. Once you have a list, pick one and write. (My apologies: I do not know the source of the chart).
Today I feel more like a social worker than a teacher. Of course, we are social workers every day, but I have these moments where I feel a bit overwhelmed by the trauma my students are experiencing. Today is one of those days.
I have made the decision to cut professional ties with Heinemann. This means that I am pulling a book I have started (and which they have sent me a contract), and that I am canceling future professional development workshops I already had scheduled.
Many years ago I started giving my students an article of the week so as to build awareness about the world they are soon to inherit. The articles are chosen to inform them, not entertain them. Seemed necessary when only 10% of my students could name the vice president of the US.
Starting in June 2023, every California child under the age of 5 will be able to receive a free book in the mail, every month, thanks to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library expansion to California! 📚
My students are in book clubs and they are reading selections all tied to social justice. They will finish this week and I am going to have them write to this prompt (in the picture).
I was scheduled to do an all-day workshop in Texas on Thursday. Because of the governor’s order, the district could not ensure that the attending teachers would be masked (indoors, all day). This is insanity. I am not coming.
Having students imitate the New York Times "My Ten" column would be a good way for teachers to learn about their new students---and for students to learn about one another: And, of course, the teacher should write one, too.
The Anaheim Union HS District---my home district---has announced they will begin the next school year with 100% distance learning. They join the two largest districts in CA---L.A. and San Diego.
Lesson idea for Monday: Have students write "6 Things You Should Know About the Events of the Last Week." This is modeled after a column that used to run in ESPN magazine. Have them weave in photos, memes, headlines, etc. Maybe students do this w partners?
"If we could institute only one change to make students more college ready, it should be to increase the amount and quality of writing students are expected to produce." - David Conley
About 15 years ago I created the article of the week because my students had a narrow understanding of the world. You have to know stuff to read stuff. I have posted the first AoW of this school year here:
As mentioned in earlier tweets, I have started an argument unit on the topic of mass shootings. Many of you requested that I share my lessons, so I will be posting daily blog posts over the next 2.5 weeks. If interested, start here:
Lesson idea: have students select a meaningful photograph, meme, tweet, or IG posting and write next to it. Why do they deem their selection "meaningful"? Why is this selection worth talking about?
My students have been writing 2-scene narratives. They are due today. They have worked hard. When they walk in today, I’ll have this Dorothy Parker quote projected: “I hate writing, but I love having written.”
L. R. Knost: Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break, and all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.
@caroljaxon
There are many other reasons why kids should be reading books (not just excerpts). Here's one: Holding on to your thinking over 300 pages is a different skill than "drive-by" excerpt reading. This is important in an age of distraction addiction.
It is interesting how many interpreted my earlier tweet as me grading papers. I was not. I was providing mid-process commentary. I spend almost all my time mid-process. I spend very little time with “best drafts.” They need coaching at “halftime.”
We need to teach students how to read media critically. Love this from Vanessa Otero's blog: "All Generalizations Are False." Located here:
Thanks to Jeff Krapels for this.
My district is giving teachers permission to "pivot" from their standard curriculum so that teachers feel free to tie the pandemic into all content-area classes. "Business as usual" seems shortsighted and a missed opportunity to me.
Building background knowledge for readers and writers is critical. You have to know stuff to read and write stuff. Today, I begin a new year of posting articles of the week (AoWs). See the first one of 2022-2023 here:
The events of the last few days are an opportunity to teach students about media bias. Look at how the same story is framed by different news organizations.
When the pandemic first hit and isolation began, I found my creativity sapped. I was unable to write. Now, many weeks in, I am beginning to feel the opposite. I am writing again as a means of escape. Writing is a refuge from the horrors of the daily news. A daily grounding.
Coming soon: our new book! We are proud of this work and excited to share it with you. Pre-ordering with a 40% discount will start Sept. 27. Publishing on Nov. 2.
@pennykittle
@HeinemannPub
I am reading the new David Sedaris book, Calypso. Today’s favorite line: “Anyone who has spent time in the company of small children knows that a crushing boredom can unlock great powers of invention.”
I am up at 5:00 a.m. on a three-day "weekend" so as to get started on the 73 student essays that need to be read and responded to. Perhaps I should quit tweeting and get started...
A former student of mine emailed me today reflecting on an essay she wrote in our senior English class in 1996. Twenty-five years ago. It is not a coincidence it was a personal essay. Never underestimate the power and importance of having students tell their own stories.
Interesting idea: "One of my best writing teachers used to ask her class, after finishing a novel, to go back and read the first paragraph for the ways in which it predicted the rest of the text, or in the most skillful cases, taught us to read it."