First professional conference proposal submission:
Whole Language Umbrella of the National Council for Teachers of English...Las Vegas, NV in July 2011!
I'm excited :)
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Google Doc It!
Ahhh...the respite that is Thanksgiving break. In the frenzy that holiday season begets, it was nice to sit down and actually have time to read for pleasure. Yes, I actually found the time and mental space to read a book that was highly recommended by a friend.
Donald Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years was an incredible metaphor for how the processes of the story actually mirrors life. We are all characters, often prompted by "inciting incidents" and the climactic situations in order to force us along our personal journies. It was a great read and I came back to The School lighter...a renewed perspective after being stagnant in a personal cesspool for too long.
Anywhoo...the first trimester is officially over and now I must begin the task of transcribing my class discussion and cataloging the data I've collected from the "Girl" unit I did with the boys a few weeks back. I was supposed to do a focus group, but decided after the awesome discussion we had that it might be repetitive. Hopefully, I won't regret not doing it. Maybe I'll do some sort of summative thought/writing/feedback closer to the end of this project.
It's funny...I don't view this task as a project all that often. It feels more like what I'm supposed to be doing as a teacher. You know, thinking about how to engage my boys, listening to what they're saying (even if they've muted any audible utterances), and make everyday adjustments to how and what I "teach." I like eavesdropping on their conversations and hearing especially when things are dry and boring. My boys challenge me everyday to be creative and while not "all the world's a stage" everyday, I'd like to think that beyond critically interpreting characterization or learning grammar, they see some relevance to what I'm doing.
Recently, I introduced the "dreaded" research paper (3-4 pages is hardly anything to dread) and because I'm heading to a conference, I decided to use Google Docs to keep up to speed with the first steps. It's been a good tool to use, though I haven't left for California yet. I am able to immediately respond to emerging theses statements and brainstorms. Plus, I can tell when the boys actually did their homework :) For a while, I was hesitant about the "glitzy glam" of technology that seems oh so trendy in classroom nowadays. If it didn't make the product or the process better, why use it. I guess I'm taking baby steps...interestingly, though, I'm part of a generation that grew up with computers and cell phones readily available.
Off to the West...
Donald Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years was an incredible metaphor for how the processes of the story actually mirrors life. We are all characters, often prompted by "inciting incidents" and the climactic situations in order to force us along our personal journies. It was a great read and I came back to The School lighter...a renewed perspective after being stagnant in a personal cesspool for too long.
Anywhoo...the first trimester is officially over and now I must begin the task of transcribing my class discussion and cataloging the data I've collected from the "Girl" unit I did with the boys a few weeks back. I was supposed to do a focus group, but decided after the awesome discussion we had that it might be repetitive. Hopefully, I won't regret not doing it. Maybe I'll do some sort of summative thought/writing/feedback closer to the end of this project.
It's funny...I don't view this task as a project all that often. It feels more like what I'm supposed to be doing as a teacher. You know, thinking about how to engage my boys, listening to what they're saying (even if they've muted any audible utterances), and make everyday adjustments to how and what I "teach." I like eavesdropping on their conversations and hearing especially when things are dry and boring. My boys challenge me everyday to be creative and while not "all the world's a stage" everyday, I'd like to think that beyond critically interpreting characterization or learning grammar, they see some relevance to what I'm doing.
Recently, I introduced the "dreaded" research paper (3-4 pages is hardly anything to dread) and because I'm heading to a conference, I decided to use Google Docs to keep up to speed with the first steps. It's been a good tool to use, though I haven't left for California yet. I am able to immediately respond to emerging theses statements and brainstorms. Plus, I can tell when the boys actually did their homework :) For a while, I was hesitant about the "glitzy glam" of technology that seems oh so trendy in classroom nowadays. If it didn't make the product or the process better, why use it. I guess I'm taking baby steps...interestingly, though, I'm part of a generation that grew up with computers and cell phones readily available.
Off to the West...
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Dr. Kryptonite
I am often amazed by the stance many people (both within and outside the classroom) take with regards to education. Everyone has a panacea for the ails of our nation's most "(dis)eased" organ. If I were an antiquated physician, I'd be inclined to cut "it" off...you know get rid of the problem right at the infection site. Too often, however, I've found that those outside the classroom and those jaded by their classroom experiences offer prognoses that take the shape of infected teachers. Their views and ideas about what happens inside classrooms, between teachers, students, and policy are skewed. Everyone has gone to school, so everyone has the "fix-it formula" necessary to make it work. As a result, the prescriptions (merit based pay for teachers and students, lotteries, NCLB, chartering and privitization) only massage the wound(s) and prompt them to continue oozing.
I have a friend that works in the public health arena where preventive measures (and medicine) dominant the current psyche of professionals. I wonder what would happen if such a stance were to surreptitiously permeate education's cell membrane. What would happen, if by osmosis perhaps, if (dis)ease prevention became the perspective through which all education stakeholders [teachers, students, parents, the pursesnatchers] approached teaching and learning?
Who knows? In the meantime, all the prescriptive babble will continue to suffocate learning (in its essence).
Still Waiting for Superman...
I have a friend that works in the public health arena where preventive measures (and medicine) dominant the current psyche of professionals. I wonder what would happen if such a stance were to surreptitiously permeate education's cell membrane. What would happen, if by osmosis perhaps, if (dis)ease prevention became the perspective through which all education stakeholders [teachers, students, parents, the pursesnatchers] approached teaching and learning?
Who knows? In the meantime, all the prescriptive babble will continue to suffocate learning (in its essence).
Still Waiting for Superman...
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Shifting Gears...
Wellness has returned...yeepie!!
It was a tough week personally, but my boys provided respite from the "daily grind" I am responsible for outside of The School. The first unit of Listening In went extremely well and as we shift gears (Animal Farm) I look forward to the next unit. Before that, however, transcription and focus group interviews must be conducted...ugghh.
Not much to say this week...the marking period is coming to a close and right now I'm just feeling good about my vocation.
Signing off...
It was a tough week personally, but my boys provided respite from the "daily grind" I am responsible for outside of The School. The first unit of Listening In went extremely well and as we shift gears (Animal Farm) I look forward to the next unit. Before that, however, transcription and focus group interviews must be conducted...ugghh.
Not much to say this week...the marking period is coming to a close and right now I'm just feeling good about my vocation.
Signing off...
Friday, November 5, 2010
Recording Meaning...
So 2010 germs must be magnetized and weirdly attracted to me...a new wave of Decepticons, I think.
In the past two weeks I have vomitted, haked up, coughed up, and blew out all types of nasty gunk. I have never been this ill in my life (and I was a sickly kid). Being an adult and sick is no fun, especially when it means I miss time with the boys. Yesterday and last Friday (my last post) were two of those days.
I didn't get a chance to implement my disguised discussion on Friday, but it did happen on Monday and I was amazed! The boys were engaged(ing), thoughtful, and I didn't really have to facilitate much at all. We talked about the story (big props to the silent peer discussion...worked like cake) in a way that I've rarely had the opportunity to do with students at this level. I'm not one of those teachers that thinks middle schoolers are limited in any way, but my experience with older students didn't necessarily give me the best skill set for scaffolding discussions with students still relatively new to the analytical side of reading comprehension (or so I thought). Having the boys work in pairs was very essential to the success of the general class discussion. Each boy had an idea, feeling or bit of information that was valid and enhanced the talk. We spent a good part of our long period (about 35 minutes) just talking. Equally important, I think, were those daily assignments that "poked" at issues of gender. Listing chores, stepping outside the boy box (a game we played for a few minutes in class), chronicling our daily schedules, observing our surroundings (both at home and in an all boys school) all had a role in making our discussion MEANINGFUL.
-------
SIDEBAR: What is meaningful? Where does meaning come from? Well, for me it is a combination of co-production (actually doing) with critical thinking and awareness. Using the work of Rosenblatt, Sameshima, and others, I want us (the boys and I) to make sense of what we read because it matters to who we are (becoming/will be). While it may all sound a little esoteric, I think teaching literature (both the reading of and the writing of it) is a matter of co-creation.
-------
With an awesome discussion under our belts, I then assigned the semicolon short story. Fusing grammar/syntax with creative writing, I asked to the boys to imitate Kincaid's style and use the semicolon to craft a story with the word "boy" in the title. On Monday night (the day I gave the assignment), I had the opportunity to read the boys' stories as they sent them to me via GoogleDocs or email. In the midst of mindless TV, I was laughing up a storm, thinking deeply, and moved to several, "Yes,"s, "Wow,"s and "I'm so prouds." So many of the boys seemed to make meaning from the story. They used their perspectives, lived experiences, and perhaps all the questions we pondered in class to create fantastic stories. Some faithfully followed Kincaid's stylistic model, while others went truly creative and used voice/character to make poignant assertions about the roles gender play in life and in literature. Some fully embraced the complexities of their socialized gender ("This is who I am"); others problematized their roles (motivation vs. parental authority); and others skirted (literally) the issue by claiming those areas of themselves that could be considered feminine ("I help my mom cook and I like it"). Isn't that something?
I can't wait to dig deeper into their stories and transcribe the discussion.
I'm back, but wellness is elusive right now ;)
Signing off...
In the past two weeks I have vomitted, haked up, coughed up, and blew out all types of nasty gunk. I have never been this ill in my life (and I was a sickly kid). Being an adult and sick is no fun, especially when it means I miss time with the boys. Yesterday and last Friday (my last post) were two of those days.
I didn't get a chance to implement my disguised discussion on Friday, but it did happen on Monday and I was amazed! The boys were engaged(ing), thoughtful, and I didn't really have to facilitate much at all. We talked about the story (big props to the silent peer discussion...worked like cake) in a way that I've rarely had the opportunity to do with students at this level. I'm not one of those teachers that thinks middle schoolers are limited in any way, but my experience with older students didn't necessarily give me the best skill set for scaffolding discussions with students still relatively new to the analytical side of reading comprehension (or so I thought). Having the boys work in pairs was very essential to the success of the general class discussion. Each boy had an idea, feeling or bit of information that was valid and enhanced the talk. We spent a good part of our long period (about 35 minutes) just talking. Equally important, I think, were those daily assignments that "poked" at issues of gender. Listing chores, stepping outside the boy box (a game we played for a few minutes in class), chronicling our daily schedules, observing our surroundings (both at home and in an all boys school) all had a role in making our discussion MEANINGFUL.
-------
SIDEBAR: What is meaningful? Where does meaning come from? Well, for me it is a combination of co-production (actually doing) with critical thinking and awareness. Using the work of Rosenblatt, Sameshima, and others, I want us (the boys and I) to make sense of what we read because it matters to who we are (becoming/will be). While it may all sound a little esoteric, I think teaching literature (both the reading of and the writing of it) is a matter of co-creation.
-------
With an awesome discussion under our belts, I then assigned the semicolon short story. Fusing grammar/syntax with creative writing, I asked to the boys to imitate Kincaid's style and use the semicolon to craft a story with the word "boy" in the title. On Monday night (the day I gave the assignment), I had the opportunity to read the boys' stories as they sent them to me via GoogleDocs or email. In the midst of mindless TV, I was laughing up a storm, thinking deeply, and moved to several, "Yes,"s, "Wow,"s and "I'm so prouds." So many of the boys seemed to make meaning from the story. They used their perspectives, lived experiences, and perhaps all the questions we pondered in class to create fantastic stories. Some faithfully followed Kincaid's stylistic model, while others went truly creative and used voice/character to make poignant assertions about the roles gender play in life and in literature. Some fully embraced the complexities of their socialized gender ("This is who I am"); others problematized their roles (motivation vs. parental authority); and others skirted (literally) the issue by claiming those areas of themselves that could be considered feminine ("I help my mom cook and I like it"). Isn't that something?
I can't wait to dig deeper into their stories and transcribe the discussion.
I'm back, but wellness is elusive right now ;)
Signing off...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)