Keep it R.E.A.L. - Chapter 1 Response

A few weeks ago, I received an unexpected message in my work email from a professor at Texas Woman's University. Dr. Mandy Stewart, a professor who I have not met, asked if she could share some of my work with potential graduate students. Fortunately, Dr. Stewart could not see me gushing and blushing behind my computer.

As if that were not flattering enough, our conversation led to a book she recently wrote, Keep it R.E.A.L!: Relevant, engaging, and affirming literacy for adolescent English learners. Dr. Stewart asked me two questions: Would I mind if she sent me a copy to read? Would I mind providing my opinion on how the information can be more inclusive of middle school students?

Me? Seriously? Two words: Jaw. Drop. What kind of expert am I? Fourteen plus years of experience teaching middle school, six of those as a certified ESL teacher, and I still do not see myself as an expert. But I do have opinions all the time, so why not! So here goes...something.

Reader Response:

Dr. Stewart shares how she used reader response instruction with newcomer students in a high school summer institute. Reader response might be the only theory I can comfortably discuss. I read Lois Tyson's book Critical theory today prior to entering the field of education. Even as I was studying this information as part of my English minor, reader response criticism resonated with me the most because it is how I read naturally. Once I entered the seventh grade classroom (and later on eighth), this became my go-to theory with my students.

Reader response is all about interacting with the text to make meaning. It is about the experience of the reader. Not only do I consider this to be an ideal way for middle school students to develop a relationship with text, I also see this as beneficial for English language learners. Because we are asking our ELLs to engage with the text and develop connections, they cannot be wrong (unless they have completely misread, of course). The students are bringing their experiences to the table that allow them to engage in writing, listening, and speaking, in addition to the reading, all within the framework of a low affective filter.

The Acronym:

Just as we wish for students to connect with text, we need to connect with our students. Why not incorporate some slang into our teaching? I could easily say, "We are going to Keep it R.E.A.L. today," as part of a reading lesson. (That is far more comfortable for me than referring to myself as the G.O.A.T. or as Gucci.)

Newcomers will need instruction in understanding slang American language. Pre-teens and young teens are on a journey of self-discovery, and as much as we may want them to be focused on long-term educational goals, their goal is simply to fit in with and be accepted by their peers. So I am all for keepin' it real. We can teach our newer ELLs an expression that will help them communicate socially, while also making new-language text more accessible.

So here is my initial opinion regarding this content and students in grades 6-8: The foundation of this work is definitely an ideal fit for the middle school classroom. It allows for all students to connect to the learning, in particular our ELLs who may feel isolated and withdrawn. Reader response through Keep it R.E.A.L. provides for every student to be part of the learning community.

Dr. Stewart discusses each element of R.E.A.L. in chapter one, and I would rather you read it than have me share all of my reader responses to the questions she proposes in regard to relevancy, engagement, affirmation, and literacy instruction, as we each bring different backgrounds and experiences from our teaching to these topics.

#TwoSentenceHorrorStory

October 20, was the National Day on Writing. For weeks, I tried determine how to incorporate the day into my AVID class. We do write, but you see, it had been a long week for my students. They took the PSAT, and then they had to learn about the Pythagorean theory the same week! I had no desire to bog them down with a lengthy writing assignment. 

Fortunately, I ran across a trending hashtag on Twitter: #TwoSentenceHorrorStory. I started reading some amazing short tales and realized that there was no way my students could complain about writing two sentences. 

Being me, I presented the writing assignment to my classes as something dreadful. They groaned and complained about having to write until I said, "You only have to write two sentences." Boy, did their attitudes change quickly. After sharing some examples from the Twitter-verse, my students were excited to participate in the activity. I did clarify that scary is different for each person, sharing this example for them that I wrote:

That is, by far, one of the most terrifying experiences for me. It was bad enough that there were only three yesterday. 

I have to admit that the kids went above and beyond my expectations. I am not sure the nightmares have stopped yet. Here are some of my favorites:

 

 

You might have to be an AVID teacher to appreciate this one. 

I liked this lesson because it was short and sweet in addition to being highly engaging. It could be used as a time-filler or a warmup. The tone could be modified to anything one is trying to teach: humor, sadness, grief. I can see a great deal of potential.

In addition, the limitation of two sentences kept the affective filter low for my ELLs and my struggling writers. And because we wrote on a Padlet board, we were all able to truly appreciate the madness of our minds. 

Happy writing!

#bemoredog

At our second annual Edcamp Arlington TX, we gave away George Couros' The Innovator's Mindset as one of many door prizes. I chose this one because it is one I want to read. It took me until yesterday to finally buy it, and it had immediate impact on me.

While I was drying my hair this morning (hey, I work in ever minute I can to read), I was perusing the introduction to the book. Couros writes

Well, I do happen to be a cat lover, so I stopped to watch the video.  

We are five and a half weeks into school in my district, and I am not seeing as much effort as I would like from many of my students, particularly for a college preparation class. This commercial spoke to me. I want my students to be more dog! 

So today I modified my lesson plan to address behaviors I am seeing on campus and in my classroom that I think need to be improved. Cat behaviors!  I was calling my students cats and making cat noises at them, speaking in complete metaphor about the cat behaviors. They were a bit confused until we watched the video. Then they were all about the dog behaviors!

I asked my students to write three ways in which they could "be more dog" - aside from eating their homework.  There were some definite dog references - be more obedient, fetching work to turn it in on time, walking faster to get to class on time. But I also received some serious responses about being more enthusiastic and actively engaged in class. We always share out, accompanied by some sort of applause - double clap, snapping, a quick Woot! Today, we barked our approval. 

I cannot say I have ever spent a dog hissing like a cat and barking like a dog in my classroom,  but this blog address does not start with crazyladyteacher for nothing. I am always willing to put my ego on the line and do something a bit ridiculous and adventurous in my classroom if it will benefit my students. 

I went with a bit of crazy chihuahua today. What can you do to #bemoredog?

Roving Paragraph Frames

This summer, I was introduced to a book chat on Twitter specifically focused on English language learners. The first book I read for #ELLChat_BkClub was Boosting Achievement: Reaching Students with Interrupted or Minimal Education by Carol Salva. Most of my students are long-term ELLs, but good strategies are good strategies, so I was not going to pass up the opportunity to dialogue with educators all over the country regarding this information.

I do have some shorter-term ELL students in my classes this year, ranging from two to five years. Although we are four weeks into the school year, I do not know about their educational careers prior to immigrating. I do know that I want to provide them with the best possible education, and in Boosting Achievement, I discovered roving paragraph frames. As an AVID teacher, my students engage in writing, reading, collaboration, and reflection regularly. The roving paragraph frames strategy caught my attention because of its ability to meet my AVID expectations in addition to assisting my ELLs. I often use writing frames and templates in class, but the addition of movement and collaboration makes this a special strategy.

After spending a week watching videos and taking notes over the AVID tutorial process, my students needed a day to get up and move. I used the roving paragraph frames strategy as a collaborative reflective writing assignment about our learning. Salva provides options for students who cannot yet write in English and for the newcomer classroom, as well as the following method that I used with my students:

• Provide students with a sentence stem. They should complete the statement, creating a complete sentence. 

"It is important to understand the tutorial process because..."

•  Students signal when they have completed their writing and are ready for the next step. Salva suggests having students stand up in preparation to move. Because my classes are large, I simply had my students set their pencils down. 
• Students next rove around the room to find a partner. I used the Kagan Hand up/Stand up/Pair up strategy. 
  

• Once a partner is found, students read (speaking/listening) what they have written to one another.  
• Provide another stem for students to add on to what they have written, creating another complete sentence. Students may write the information they received from their partners or write a brand new idea. 
•  Students signal when they have completed their writing and are ready for the next step. Salva suggests having students stand back-to-back. I used this idea, but I would like to caution you in advance: we had some booty bumping taking place. 😀
• Lather, rinse, repeat until your students have written what you wish for them to write. I kept this initial round to four sentences, as I was not sure how my students would react.

After completing the activity, I had my students reflect on how we used listening, speaking, reading, writing, and collaboration with the strategy. It is important to me that they understand all aspects of communication skills as part of their college prep program.

These three students are my newest to the United States and all wrote equally as well as their native Texan classmates: 

Student from Mexico; in US 2 years

Student from Vietnam; in US for 3 years

Student from Vietnam; in US for 5 years

If you have read my blog with any regularity, you know that I consider all students to be English language learners. Middle schoolers still have a lot to learn about writing fluently, and by using roving paragraph frames, my students have a foundation upon which to build.

During my last class of the day, one boy asked if we were going to be doing this again. I told him that depended on whether or not the class enjoyed the activity. I was met with a chorus of resounding approval. I also have to tell you that my kids gave me a bit of a hard time. Apparently, I needed to increase the sophistication of the transition statements because they already know how to use the basics. Challenge accepted! Stay tuned.


P.S. I will be presenting this information at the TexTESOL V conference in Plano in a few weeks. If you happen to try this before then, I would love your thoughts.

P.P.S. Here is the presentation from the TexTESOLV conference. Thanks to all who attended and shared. 

When literary life becomes reality

This is the third summer that I have taken advantage of the free audio books from Sync Audiobooks for Teens. I know, I know. I am not a teen. But I teach teens, and the summer program has introduced me to books and authors that I might not know about otherwise.

I am also currently enrolled in a children's and young adult literature graduate library sciences course. For this class, I have two projects for which I get to pick the topic and readings. My professor encourages the use of audio books to build a broader perspective.

In week four of the Sync selections, I downloaded In Our Backyard: Human Trafficking in America and What We Can Do to Stop It by Nita Belles. I cannot say I was looking forward to this particular text based on the content, but I always give every audio book a shot. I cruised through the entire book, and every bit of it was painful. I had no idea how much trafficking takes place in our own country, and now every time I see a missing child notice, I wonder if he or she has been dragged into this underworld.

While listening to this book, one of my classmates recommended Sold by Patricia McCormick during our poetry unit. I have had this book in my classroom library for years, and I happened to bring it home this summer. This text also happens to be about human trafficking. Because this is a novel written in verse, I read it quickly, realizing that I had unintentionally stumbled upon my topic for one of my book projects: human trafficking.

I am not one for light and fluffy topics. I am willing to delve into the heavy stuff and share it with my students. I want them to be world-wise, and being ignorant of important issues happening, literally, in our backyards is to be lacking an important awareness. These readings have made me think about all the times my young teenage girls have come to me to discuss the older boy they are dating or the guy they met online. Any of those situations could have become an incident of human trafficking. Fortunately, they did not.

 Unfortunately, the topic did reach into my personal bubble last week. While on vacation, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and caught a news article posted by a former student:

"Pimp" Sentenced to 293 Months in Federal Prison in Child Sex Trafficking Case

Underneath the article title was the name of the "pimp" and his age. In the comments of the Facebook post, someone wrote, "Didn't we go to school with him?" My response, "Why, yes. Yes, you did."

I taught this young man when he was in seventh grade. I remember our first encounter clearly because I did not know if he was a boy or a girl. He had long hair pulled back into a ponytail and a name that could apply to either gender, a name that I am intentionally not using in this post. I misaddressed him as a girl, and he became very angry.

Later in the school year, he became the first student to ever get in a fight in my classroom. It was the last class of the day, and the final bell rang. I was escorting my students from the classroom but had turned away from the door for some reason. By the time I turned back a few moments later, the fight was in full effect. It got so bad that there was blood on some of my desks. Sadly, the young man's role in the fight made an impact on me, but I could not tell you who the other student was.

My son was in the same grade as this young gentleman. When I asked my son if he remembered him, not only did he respond that he remembered him, he also remembered the boy being picked on all the time. My son said that he had it pretty bad.

I never sit in my classroom, looking at my students, wondering who the criminals will be. I know the odds state that there will be some, but I always think the best of every student in regard to their long term success. Stories like this break my heart. I hurt for the young girl and her family. She did not deserve this. I hurt for my former student as I wonder how bad the pain in his own life became, leading him to this life. I refuse to allow that to be an excuse, but something led to his following this path.


We need to educate our kids, even when the topics are tough. When they come to us talking about the older boy they met online, we cannot dismiss it. My students talk to me because they trust me, but they know that if they share anything with me that indicates a danger, I will share that information, not simply because I am legally required to, but because I refuse to let any of my students disappear into this underworld if I can help it.

Poetry. Yuck!

This post is a response to "Chapter 4: Poetry for Children" in Sylvia Vardell's Children's Literature in Action that I am reading for a graduate children's and young adult literature course.

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Poetry. Yuck! That’s my first reaction when I think about poetry, but I honestly do not know where that comes from. As I was reading this chapter, I was a bit flabbergasted by how much of a role poetry has played in my life and my teaching. 

As I was reading about Mother Goose, something clicked in my brain. I have a closet in my house that is used solely for book storage (it’s one of many places). I had to stop reading the chapter about poetr and go hunting to find something I thought was there:

                             

These three books are all from my childhood (I’m almost 44, so they have been around a long time). All were read more times than I can remember. All are attached to some very positive memories of my mother and maternal grandparents, and just finding them and seeing my grandmother’s handwriting brought me to tears, so much so that I had to stop reading about poetry and contact my mother and sister. That is the power of literature right there. 

When I did get back to the chapter, as I read J. Patrick Lewis’ interview, I remembered that my fifth grade writing project was all poetry. I can recall sitting in class, writing limericks and haikus, editing and revising over and over again in an attempt to create the best possible work. There were two other girls in class who were also writers, and we were very competitive. For as long as I can remember, it was my intention to be the best writer. 

I continued to write a great deal of poetry throughout my childhood. I have literary magazines from high school in which my poetry is published. I also filled personal journals with teen angst-filled poetry.

I have never simply shared poetry with my classes. In teaching STAAR-tested poetry, the goal has always been to make sure students understand it enough to answer questions to be able to pass the test and move on to ninth grade. Now that I am not in a STAAR-tested class, I do have the ability to actually share poetry. 

I don’t like to teach poetry for reading, but I like to teach writing poetry. When I was at the AVID conference last week, one of the writing strategies presented was a two-voice poem (page 139). This is not new information to me. I have taught this format before, but I have not used it in quite some time. I have already added it to my list of beginning lessons for August. My eighth grade classes will be a half-and-half mix of students I taught last year in seventh grade and students who are new to AVID for eighth grade. I am going to use the two-voice poem as a get-to-know you activity between my former students and my new students. 

I have also taught other types of poems in my class, such as diamante and acrostic, but one of my favorite poems to teach is a “Where I’m From” poem that I first learned about through AVID. The poem is based on a piece by George Ella Lyon. In the classroom, it provides an opportunity for students to explore their family backgrounds. I have also used the “I Am” poem that I first learned about through AVID. 

Ironically, despite thinking I do not like poetry at all, I have been a big proponent of spoken-word poetry. I purchased Wham! It’s a Poetry Jam in an attempt to try to build a poetry slam on my campus, but it never found it’s footing. I used a few of the poems with my students, but I was discouraged and gave up. It might be time to pull that book back out. 

This chapter also made me wonder what poetry is available in my school library. Silverstein and Prelutsky are staples, and I know exactly where they are on the bookshelf. I pulled up our online library catalog to see what other poets we have available for checkout. There are 228 titles categorized under poetry, including The Poetry Friday Anthology by Sylvia Vardell (I have debated about buying that book for years; I had no idea we had a copy at school). We also have titles from Paul Janeczko, Lee Bennett Hopkins (I didn’t know he was a big deal until reading this chapter), Carl Sandburg, and Pat Moon, to name a few. I honestly do not think I have ever seen a student walking around with a book of poems, however, unless it has been a requirement for an English class project. 

Based on my very informal analysis of titles, it does not look like our collection addressed the diversity of our school campus. Many of the books are about holidays or are compilations of silly poems. My campus has a new librarian coming in this year, and this is probably something I can discuss with her. 

This class continues to surprise me as I continue to discover how different genres of literature have shaped me. When I say I cannot remember not reading, I really know why. When you look back on the role of literature in your own life, what role did/does poetry play?

              

What I am learning about picture books

One of the classes I am enrolled in this summer is a library sciences children's and young adult literature course. In that class, I am reading Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide by Sylvia M. Vardell (and I just found out yesterday that until recently, she has been teaching the class), in addition to picture books and novels galore. This week's assignment was to read a chapter about picture books and read three picture books (choose from a particular list) for which we had to write reviews.

Even though I am a middle school teacher, I use picture/trade books in my classroom as often as I possibly can. In regard to these books, Vardell writes, "many are...not afraid to tackle challenging topics" (46). This past spring, my seventh and eighth grade AVID classes examined and analyzed controversial/banned children's books for an inquiry lesson. My students and I were able to engage in some difficult conversations involving gender, sexuality, and immigration, for example, all from picture books. I had never done this before and had no idea how young teenagers would react, but it turned out to be pretty remarkable.

As I was reading the chapter, I was checking off all of the picture books I have read, and I was pretty impressed that I have read a significant number, aside from alphabet books. Part of this is due to my participation in the #bookaday on Twitter, created by Donalyn Miller. Through this process, I discovered that many picture books are not really written for young children and that there is a lot that can be learned from these reads. I believe there are stereotypes about all picture books being elementary in nature, but many are rich in vocabulary, complex sentence structures, and information.

There were a few surprises for me within the reading:

• One topic addressed in the chapter is awards for picture books. I had no idea that the Caldecott award had been around since the 1930s (39). The first book I shared with my students for the above mentioned lesson was Strega Nona, a Caldecott winner from 1976. I thought the award from 1976 was a long time ago - and I was alive at that time. I do not think I have ever really considered that children's books have been around for quite some time now.  
• Vardell writes, "that no one artistic style is preferred by kids, and that judgment is rather individual" (40). This is simply something I have never thought about, but it struck me as funny. I started imagining a toddler running around the library, looking at books, grimacing, "No, not that one, Mother. The artistry is not to my liking."  
• Most picture books are 32-pages in length (45). I was so intrigued by this that I tweeted about it and started counting the pages in some of the books I have sitting in my house right now. 32 pages, indeed! 
• Children's picture books do not have to have a theme or lesson . Having taught middle school English for so long and theme being such a challenging TEK, this made me feel better about sharing picture books with my students for reasons other than an overall "moral of the story". The controversial books I used certainly have messages to convey, but like Vardell says, "Deeper meanings are gleaned subtly, implicitly, through understanding how the world words, how people behave, and how stories reveal those truths" (60). My students worked collaboratively to delve into those deeper meanings without my having to spoon-feed any information.

If you stop by the library or the bookstore, check out some of the children's books. There are treasures galore if you look. 

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Some of my favorite picture books:

• The Day the Crayons Quit
• Millions of Cats
• And Tango Makes Three
• When the Beat was Born
• Walter the Farting Dog
• Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear

NCTE Reads: YA Pedagogy Element 1 - Classroom Community

This week for NCTE Reads, we are delving into the development of pedagogy that addresses young adult literature in the classroom. Element 1 focuses on classroom community. 

Many years ago, I learned that it is pointless to discuss rules and procedures on the first day of school. Students are tired and adjusting to being back on a schedule. They are excited to see their friends and what teachers they have but not to learn anything, especially on day one. So I switched gears and started focusing on classroom community from the first day of school. If we are going to be a family for 178 days, we need to be comfortable with one another. I have no issues with building community within the first two days of schools. But how to I extend this community into teaching young adult literature?

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Which quality do I try to focus on?

 Quality #1: Belief that the work is important

Buehler discusses that teachers must treat young adult literature in the same capacity as they do classic literature. My classroom library consists of mostly young adult literature and a few pieces from the canon. Although I do not teach young adult literature in my AVID class, the selections for middle school English in my district are mostly young adult titles. Books I have taught in my fourteen years of teaching include:

In regard to classic literature, I did teach Treasure Island one time (and it was one time for a reason), and I taught Tom Sawyer one time. I would rather not discuss how those went over.

I have to say that I think I have treated these works seriously. Except for that one time when I made fun of A Wrinkle in Time profusely for everyone being saved by love (not my favorite story). Ok, I also expressed a few negative thoughts about the end of The Giver. But aside from that, I swear I have treated these books with the utmost respect.

I do read everything I can from my  own classroom library, and I have done my best to make sure I have books that represent all of my students, and some of those titles have to be treated with care (ex. Fat Angie, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the World, Tomboy).  When I have one-on-one conversations with students about the books they choose, I always treat the chosen story as the greatest novel ever written. 

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I would have to say that the rest of the qualities are all challenges for me in the AVID classroom, as the class itself is not a literature class. The previous coordinator did tell me that there have been years when the classes examine a shared text, but not in the traditional sense of what we teach in English language arts. They have read We Beat the Streets to share and discuss how they can overcome the odds against them. 

I suppose this text could meet the Quality #4: Collective investment in a shared experience.  I have read the book myself, and it certainly invites discussion and debate. I do not think, however,  that this book represents enough of my students for them all to discover deep meaning. Quality #3: A sense of being known and valued focuses on choice as "an element of YA pedagogy" (84). In order to address both of these qualities, I believe I would have to introduce more titles into my classroom, whether fiction or nonfiction, about teens overcoming odds.

In teaching English, I feel confident I could address all four of these qualities and have probably touched on them all at some point in time. Bringing this pedagogy into the AVID classroom is not impossible, but it will take some work on my part. My overall goal is always to show my students that they have value that is important and recognized, so if I have to work a little bit harder for them, so be it.