Academic Conversations

A few years ago, I took a MOOC from Coursera about Accountable Talk in the classroom.  It was interesting and I filed it in the back of my mind for use in a High School Classroom.  I recently bought the book called Academic Conversations by Zwiers & Crawford to take the next step towards really focusing my students when they have group conversations about a topic.

I am also interested in more inquiry in my English classes and I think academic conversations are a skill my class needs to work on before I really dive into their first inquiry activity (details in a later blog post).

I used to believe that students would naturally catch on to some things, like group conversations. However, over the years I have learned that sometimes you have to set out the rules for activities we teachers think are self-explanatory.  I am hoping that doing a few short mini lessons on the nature, rules and behaviours of academic conversations will help my students get more out of group discussions.  We are having our first book talk about The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie tomorrow and I am going to start with a short demonstrative video from the Accountable Talk course and then an overview of academic conversations before we begin.  I hope that this will help students to become better literature circle members and group members overall.

Wish me luck.

Flipping my classroom

I recently bought a book called Flip Your Classroom. It is a great, short book about the reasons for flipping your classroom and how to go about it. Flipping your classroom is basically having students learn concepts at home (using videos made by teachers) and then using class time to master the concepts with the teacher acting as a mentor and guide during the mastery time.

  

I highly recommend the book.  The authors recommend using Camtasia to record your videos.  I have been using Jing (TechSmith) for years and Camtasia is a more sophisticated program by the same people.  I am currently using the free trial but I love it and will be purchasing it when I buy my new laptop in a few weeks (my last laptop was stolen from school and it turns out that neither the school's insurance nor ours will cover the loss - so sad).

If you are not ready to pay for a program, Jing is free and does a great job at recording your audio and recording your screen. You only have 5 minutes in the free version but you can get a lot done in 5 minutes of screencasting.  I love it but I am ready for something more.

Are standardized tests killing reading? A review of Readicide by Kelly Gallagher

I am just finishing a year as the Literacy Support Teacher at my school, so I have been steeped in literacy for months. That makes it the perfect time to do some professional reading about the role of an teacher in a world full of standardized tests.

The book I am reading is Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher.  Gallagher has been writing about reading for years and I have an earlier book of his, Deeper Reading, on my summer reading list.

In Readicide, Gallagher contends that educators are killing the love of reading.  The most immediately relevant to my role as LST is Gallagher's well-reasoned argument that the emphasis on developing test-takers over lifelong readers is contributing to the death of reading.

The emphasis on the results of the OSSLT is bad.  I think it can be misleading to publishing them like they define a school which, in my opinion, ignores the real use of the test.  The test should be used to identify students' weaknesses so we can offer them direct help (in the wise words of a fellow LST).  But, I also know the pressure on the students and LSTs in the weeks leading up to the test, to cover every angle, close every gap, know every trick.  So the question I have been struggling with, I mean really struggling, is how to help students prepare for the literacy test without losing sight of the real goal, true and lifelong literacy. 

I think Gallagher sums it up:  "... if students are taught to read and write well, they will do fine on mandated reading tests.  But if they are only taught to be test-takers, they will never learn to read and write well." (26)

As I finish my stint as LST and return to the English classroom, I now see my role more clearly.  I am going to go back to teaching kids to read and write well (I am a better reader than writer).  And, I am going to use Gallagher's suggestions to do so.  I will let you know how it goes.

Kindling a love of reading: I'm on fire

I have been reading like mad lately. It was sparked by the Kindle I got for Christmas. I think I had read 9 books before the Christmas break was over. I love that little electronic reader. It fits in my purse. It is light. It stores hundreds of books.

I also think that working with students who are weak or reluctant readers has fueled the fire. I can't believe there are so many people who don't read for pleasure. I guess I never asked the people around me if they liked to read until I started the Literacy Support position this year. So many colleagues say that they stopped enjoying reading in grade school and don't really read for pleasure. So many students struggle with reading and will do anything to avoid it.

Suddenly, reading feels like a gift.

It has always been my escape. If I am happy, I read. If I have free time, I read. If I want to reward myself, I buy a new book and read. If I am lonely or sad, I read.

My inner landscape is populated by the characters from books. When I am at a loss for words, their words come to me. Some books feel like friends.

If I have taken anything away from this past year, it is that I have to try harder to pass the gift of reading along and that as an English teacher, reading for enjoyment is the greatest gift I can give to my students.

So, I am reading every young adult book on the "Best Of" lists. I am reading "Books with Buzz". I am reading fantasy, non-fiction, literary fiction, historical pastoral, pastoral comical... oh, there is the voice of Polonius - see - they are all in there, talking away (see my last post about sanity - is this a bad sign?).

My Dad's words are in there too: "Could you leave me alone for a minute? I only have 20 pages left in my book".

My summer professional reading list

As June is only a breath away, I am looking forward to our summer break. I love the first week of summer, when I spend days reading for pleasure. We are often at our camp in the Bay of Islands for the July 1 weekend. The camp is the best place on earth to do some reading (at least partially because there is not much else to do but clean up the island and swim). My sister and mother are both "English Majors" like me, so there are always great books sitting around the cabins.

I usually start hording books for this reading frenzy just after March Break, but this year, I have done a great deal of reading for pleasure. I have some theories as to why I have already finished much of the cache of books intended for the summer, but that is the subject of another post. I can tell you that the reason is, sadly, not a bunch of free time...

So, to fill the gap, I recently ordered a number of books to do some professional reading. I have finished one book already (I said I was reading a lot). I thought I would share what I have chosen, and then note a bit about each one as I finished them - more as a record for me than anything else.

So here they are. I am feeling unusually optimistic that I have a few good titles.

1. Readicide: How schools are killing reading and what you can do about it by Kelly Gallagher
2. Attention, Please! How to make speaking in class presentable, enjoyable, and memorable for all by Kathleen Gould Lundy
3. Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated Classroom by Rick Wormeli
4. Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12 by Kelly Gallagher
5. Grammarama! by Les Parsons
6. The Writing Circle by Sylvia Gunnery
7. Pulling Together: Integrating inquiry, assessment, and instruction in today's English classroom by Schnellert, Datoo, Ediger & Panas

I welcome any suggestions and I will let you know how it goes.

I just read Linchpin by Seth Godin... loved it.

Do you ever read a book at just the right time, that says just the right things? Do you ever feel like an author just looks into your head and then tells his story to you like you are sitting with your best friend outside the Royal Bank in Espanola (hi Leann)? Linchpin by Seth Godin is that kind of book for me. As I was reading it, I kept stopping to reading passages to my husband and that is usually a good sign that it has captured my imagination.

This discussion is a gross oversimplification of the book, but I think that we all hold onto the moments in a book that most pertain to ourselves, don't you?

Linchpin is about how to become indispensable at work but it goes so much further - it is about overcoming our fears (that darn lizard brain) and becoming the artist in your life.

Godin talks about how the world doesn't need workers anymore, it needs artists. Coincidentally, my husband is a professional visual artist but Godin's definition is much more. To be a linchpin, we have to stop doing what we are told and doing the same old thing and instead, find a passion and become an artist. It is the artist who holds the power in our world. He throws in a bit of marketing and a bit of Marxism - awesome!

Not that I have ever been really good at fitting in... but it is very inspiring to read how Godin believes that fitting in is the worst way to succeed. Since everyone can become a linchpin, I guess we have all felt this, but sometimes, I tell you, I feel alone in a sea of sheep (he calls them "sheepwalkers" - ha ha).

These simple words, so obvious, will ring in my ears over the bleating of the crowd:"You can either fit in or stand out. Not both."

Thanks Seth.