Have you ever struggled to stay organized at school?
I’ve finally found an amazing solution for keeping my brainstorming sheets, monthly calendars, planbook, and unit materials organized and user-friendly. The best part? It’s an all-in-one system. The Arc organizational notebooks at Staples use discs (available in several sizes) to hold leather or acrylic covers in which materials can be easily inserted and removed as needed….
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When reality mirrors fiction, how do we keep from being political in the classroom?
My 8th grade students just finished a reading unit in which they read a mix of dystopian novels in literature circles. They were tasked with analyzing the social and political issues in their books and then making comparisons between their own novels and supplemental texts, such as the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. Their summative assessment essay question asked them how the author of their book and Vonnegut used their texts to examine elements in our own society. How does that not open up a discussion of current political topics in the news this year?
Since the presidential inauguration, sales of classic dystopian books, such as George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, have become bestsellers again. Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway’s use of the term “alternative facts” to refer to false statements the administration made has led to comparisons between the dystopian societies and our current government. As a result, teachers are left in dangerous territory where it’s easy to cross a political line in trying to make reading relevant to students’ changing world….
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At the start of the year, I give my students an interest survey about their reading and writing habits. Not surprisingly, many students report a dislike of writing.
Why? That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?
What I’ve discovered from both formal and informal research with middle and high school students isn’t really so surprising after all: Students don’t enjoy writing (or reading, for that matter) when they have little or no choice. In other words, we, as teachers, have helped kill students’ love of writing when we dictate the writing genre, topic, length, and format. The solution? Implement a weekly writing journal that allows students to express themselves in a variety of ways while sharing their writing with an authentic audience….
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Middle school students report enjoying books less while high school students report enjoying books more, according to a recently released survey.
A Scholastic and YouGov survey released last month shows middle school students (12-14 years old) reported an 11 percent drop in reading enjoyment between 2010 and 2016 while high school students (15-17) reported a 4 percent gain during that same time.
While that’s good news for high school teachers, middle school teachers are left wondering what happened. The survey does not explore the causes, so it made me wonder about a couple of possibilities.
Elementary teachers always have classroom libraries with books that get kids excited about reading. Once students reach middle and high school, though, Language Arts/English teachers often rely on school libraries. Do you?
About seven years ago I made a commitment to build my own classroom library. I’d read about the benefits for years from authors such as Nancie Atwell, Donalyn Miller, Kelly Gallagher, and Penny Kittle, but it took my own research to lead me to make the time and financial commitment. My classroom now holds 1,300 books and counting!
If you’re ready to start or grow your own library, here are some logistics to consider:…
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John, a ninth grader, didn’t read – ever. When I gave students reading time in class, he would grab a book off one of my shelves and leave it open to the first page as he stared at the ceiling and around the room while everyone else was deep in the reading zone.
That is, until I handed him Tyrell by Coe Booth. His literature circle group had selected the book, so he made an effort to read a few pages.
Two days later, John appeared at my classroom door hours before his afternoon class. He shoved the book at me. “You can have this back,” he said.
My heart sank – another failure. “You didn’t like it?” I asked.
“No,” he told me. “That book was tight. It’s the only book I ever finished.”
When students tell me they don’t like to read, I know the truth. It’s really a matter of finding the right books for them….
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A few months ago I read the 2016 YA novel, How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather. From the first few chapters, I knew this was a story my students would love, and I became excited to do a book talk for my classes.
Then I encountered what I knew would be a roadblock for many students. No, it wasn’t difficult vocabulary or mature content. The story used fictional letters from the 1600s that were printed in cursive type to appear authentic. The problem? The majority of my seventh and eighth grade students cannot read cursive writing….
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Have you ever been so buried in grading that you let a few other organizational or procedural things slide?
That was me every time I tried to start the school year with a new complex organizational system. I would keep up the work for a month or so, and then I’d start procrastinating when more important things came along.
This school year, though, I pledged to make a change for the better, and so far it’s been going great….
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“What did I miss when I was gone?”
That’s a common question heard daily by most teachers. When you have close to 150 students and 5 to 20 are absent on any given day, it’s hard to keep track of which students have missed certain lessons. That’s why I started an Absent Crate this year to put the burden of looking for missing work on students.
As I was searching for a new absent work system, I saw multiple versions of an Absent Crate on Pinterest. The concept spurred me into thinking how I could make this work most effectively in my own classroom. Here is my version:…
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