Becoming a Teacher

I can’t tell if I am more nervous or excited as the semester marches on. I am almost halfway done, halfway to being a half-way teacher. The closer it gets, the more real it becomes. I no longer “want” to be a teacher, I am going to be a teacher. In class, I have been working on projecting units, visions and values to act as the backbone of my classroom. Suddenly, I am concerned about where I am going to put my desk in the classroom or which software to use for student publishing. I can promise you, my mind has never entertained thoughts such as these until now.

 

In the shuffle of year-long planning, I cannot forget the focus of it all; the students. My classes will need a classroom library, colorful notebooks, and a picture book every now and then, but more importantly, they will need me. This week in class, Dr. E. passed out a quote from a seventeen-year-old student, as recorded by his therapist:

“When I asked his favorite subject, he said, “Doesn’t matter. I hate history but I love Mr. Hodges’ [history] class. He gets so excited about the War of 1812 and Reconstruction and the stock market going bust that you get caught up in it…. And he knows what it’s like to be me.””

– Chris Crutcher

Here is proof students learn best from people they can relate to. Teachers don’t, and shouldn’t, pretend to be experts or untouchable resources. Teachers should be students’ biggest fan. I need let my passion for reading and words flow into my lessons. My energy and personality can (hopefully) capture attention, and hold it, seeping into their thoughts and writing. I will strive to be the kind of person students can learn from. I will be responsible for letting my classes know I am not above them, I am there to guide them through their learning.

Sneak peek at “Peanut”

In the spirit of becoming someone a leader students can relate to, I have been working on my own independent reading, too. Last week I hoped out of my comfort zone and onto the graphic novel bandwagon. I read “Peanut” by Ayun Halliday and Paul Hoppe, the story of Sadie, who fakes a peanut allergy for attention when she moves to a new school. Eventually, her lie invades every aspect of her life and spirals out of control. I have never been the “new kid” or told a whopper this big, know that anxious, second-hand embarrassed feeling you get when something awkward happens near you? I experienced that for about ten pages near the end and could not put it down.

Now I just need to start making a list of the books I read so I can remember them all when my future students ask!

 

Media courtesy of Creative Commons

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My Writer’s Notebook Reflection

So far this semester I have been keeping a journal in regards to my Special Methods class. It has guided writing, prompts and some free writing. Last week my professor asked my class to reread our journals up to this point, four weeks, and take notes on what we noticed. Was there a consistent theme in our writing? What did we use our writing for? My notes ended messy and trailing off in every which direction; a reflection of my notebook itself.

Some of the elements of my writing weren’t surprises. I knew I like to write in a style somewhere between prose and poetry and treat I treat my notebook more like an imaginary friend than a stack of bound paper. I already knew that messy handwriting is an indicator my thoughts were flowing faster than my hand could record them and I think I am really clever with symbolism and double meanings.

There were some surprises within my writing, too. Up until I reread my journal, I didn’t know how much I cared about students I haven’t even met yet. There are kids out there learning to walk and how to hold a pencil and someday I will be lucky enough to hear them rave about their favorite new book. My writing also showed me I am more likely to think out a free write than an academic piece. This is probably just a subconscious act to rebel against required writing.

My notebook is filled with topics I find important. Just like bad books, I refuse to spend time writing about things that don’t matter. I found I wrote about unintentional or unnoticed memories and things my heart hasn’t let go of. Dating back to middle school when I thought I was the next Taylor Swift, I have used lyrical writing as a way of dealing with situations I would rather not talk about face-to-face.

* * * * *

The purpose in reading back in our journals is to find something, a thought, a line, a topic, an anything, to create a bigger piece and publish it. But what does publishing mean in this situation? I still haven’t found the thing, you know, the one I want to write endlessly on till my entire heart is before me in print. But that’s scary. Right now my journal is my private space. When I was writing, I never thought about making any of it public. The transition may be difficult for me to deal with once I figure out what I would like to write about and who all will be reading it.

Overall, my writing is an outlet for me to think, even if my thoughts aren’t always clear. This is exactly what a writer’s notebook is supposed to be. I can only pray I can provide an environment where my future students feel comfortable to be just vulnerable and free in their notebooks as I wish to.

Taking TEDTalks to the classroom

At first, I could not figure out how “The Puzzle of Motivation” TEDTalk it our class. I was entertained and interested, but my head was not forming any connections. As the speech continued, the pieces came together. If real-life adults in the workplace are not motivated by extrinsic awards, our students should do not need to be either.

I believe writing and reading are inherently intrinsically rewarding. While this may not seem appealing to teenagers, it is our job to guide them there. Reading can take you to places you didn’t know and experience a situation from a complete stranger’s point of view. When you write, you are letting the world know that, for at least a minute or so, you were here; you mattered. I don’t know what is more gratifying than making sure you are remembered.

While talking about big business tactics, Daniel Pink explained “FedEx Days”. In a nutshell, a team of workers has a whole 24 hours to them elves to use their work skills however they please. The title comes from the fact that they must deliver an idea overnight. I know this concept was created with engineers in mind, but I think I could transfer it into a classroom. After a long assignment or to get them back in the grove after a break, FedEx Days might not be a bad idea. Give the students a day to free write and/or read. After the next lesson, have them compose a piece based on what they did on the last FedEx Day. Ideas are everywhere if you look for them.

The most impressionable quote from “The Child-Driven Education” was: “children will learn to do what they want to do”. How simple is that? All we have to do is show our students why English is worth learning, why good books are worth reading and why writing is essential to thinking. I know, I know, this is way easier said than done, but once it is, we are there. We just have to show students how to want to read and write and then they will, all on their own.

From this video, I also learned I need to be better than a machine or I will become replaceable (in some people’s eyes). I agree a computer and some peers teach a student, but a screen does not have a heart for them to make their own space in.

Do we really want to rely on a monitor to educate our children? How will they learn simple phonics and number skills? A computer can teach information but it can’t show compassion or demonstrate a nurturing human relationship.

The speaker, Sugata Mitra, points out one of the young girls who taught herself to teach the other kids. The fact she taught herself to be a teacher proves one thing; there will still be a need for human guidance.

Photos courtesy of Creative Commons

Let the Class Tell You What to Teach

Last week we talked about what students need to know and how to get there. In some other classes, I’ve been told pre-assessments, such as quizzes before a unit, or studying the curriculum a class just completed are some of the best ways to gauge where your students’ learning is. I agree that these methods, and similar ones, could be useful. However, my mindset is more aligned with the quote Dr. Ellington wrote on the board:

“There is no curriculum more powerful than a close and careful study of your kids.”

~ A Mindset for Learning

Our eyes can do more work faster than any printed quiz ever will. By looking around your classroom during silent reading time you can see the basics; who likes to read, who is distracted, who is faking, who isn’t even trying. Then take a look at the covers. What do they like to read about? How advanced are they? I know this isn’t an accurate representation of their knowledge, most books I read are probably below my comprehension level so why should I expect my students to be reading at their highest level all the time? I don’t. So talk to them. Have a class discussion about what they know, what topics they are comfortable with and which they are unfimilar or struggling. IF the atmosphere is unwelcoming of this conversation, have them write it down for you to model the lessons. Being honest with your class, letting them know you are asking for their benefit, will hand you the most honest answers.

You have a record of where your students are on a topic, now what? Compare what they know to the unit plan you have created. The unit plan is a block of the building blocks we learned about. Their purpose is to organize your teaching over the course of the year, as seen in the image below.

 

I tried so hard to make a digital version of this, but, on the bright side, I have nice penmanship.

 

Now you can teach the students from a consensus starting point within the plans you have created. Units are the time-bound focused study of a topic. If a widely misunderstood subtopic needs to be reviewed (per discussion), a mini-lesson would be a swell idea, which could double as a daily lesson.

By simply understanding our students, we can personalize your yearly plans to fit their learning needs. I know this is probably easier said than done, but knowing the process now is better than having to create it my first or second year of teaching.

 

Learning vs. Education

Something important happened last week and I want to take the time right now to write about it. Right now, I am in my professional year with the classmates who have become sisters the past three years. It’s the time where we have already hit the ground running and we’re still running at full speed because we hadn’t thought to slow down yet; until we were given a task. We were asked to predict what our students would learn in a single day in our future classrooms. Not only that, we were tasked with estimating what percentage of our students would learn in a day. We stopped sprinting.

 

This is how I imagine we look running in our “teacher clothes”

 

Up until this year, I have felt more like an English major than an education major, despite what my diploma will say in May. Maybe it’s because I took almost all of my education courses online and absolutely all my English courses face-to-face. It could be that the homework ratio between the topics feels like a 1:6 most of the time. There’s a chance I hung to the “English” label a bit tighter because in a college full of future educators, English makes me feel just a little more special, a bit more noticeable, a tiny way to stand out. Either way, my college education has been comprised of literature, creativity, tears (from both stress and laughter) and learning how to express who I think I am on paper. The most challenging part was the latter. “What kind of grade am I going to get if I just write about how much I love books and cheerleading?”, my freshman mind thought. You read that right. I was afraid to be me because getting an ‘A’ was more important than being myself.

But I learned how to overcome that. No, my personality is not ‘A’ worthy all the time and my professors didn’t hand out 100s just cause I handed in an assignment. In fact, I did not earn a grade at all. My papers, my thoughts, would come back to me with comment-filled margins, question marks asking for clarification and smiley faces where I made a sassy comment or a thoughtful observation. There were no letter grades or numbered scores to be found, just a “pass” in the gradebook. Suddenly, I mattered more as a person than a score. This is how I learned how to write. I learned I could write just to put my thoughts in a physical state even if they didn’t make sense, my thoughts still existed. I learned I could write to find my voice and, not only that, my voice could truly be me, not some academic suck-up no could understand. I learned to write for content and thought, not to please a red pen. Eliminating the expectation lead me to fly past any expectations I had for myself.

Now let’s bring the storyline back to last week. My English nerds and I have learned to strive on critique and how to teach our future students the same way. How are we supposed to answer, “What will your students learn?”? My answer is simple: I don’t know. I don’t know when they will find themselves, or their new favorite book, or what it feels like to see your fuzzy thoughts in a blank document but be content with it because now you exist. I don’t know when comma usage or the value of lyricism will hit home with them. All I know is I will be in that classroom every day with an open mind and a guiding heart. What percentage of my kids will learn the objective today? 100%. Every day’s objective will be to learn through reading and writing.

I didn’t come to these conclusions on my own. After a wall was put up in our running path, my classmates and I rushed to our English corner and discussed how to climb the wall with a trusted professor. With her help, we boosted each other over with creativity and passion, but still playing by the rules. We are still running, as fast as our bags full of books will let us.

 

Images courtesy of Creative Commons.

How I Fell in Love the Second Week of 16th Grade

Guys, I just finished probably the best book I read this year so this blog is gonna start off with some book talkin. I picked up The Great American Whatever because of the review on the cover; “A Holden Caulfield for a new generation”, from the brains at Kirkus Reviews. Now anyone who has talked novels with me knows I have a have a crush on J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. (As of right now I am making it a thing to have a crush on a book. They’re better than most people and can’t reject you so it’s a win/win situation.) That would make The Great American Whatever like my crush’s cute, younger brother, right? A new crush that made me laugh, read paragraphs out loud to my boyfriend, and cry at least three times. (No worries, said boyfriend is totally aware of my literary love life.)

Tim Federle, one of my new favorite authors, lends his craft to the main character and narrator. Quinn is a sixteen-year-old boy with a disappeared, dead beat dad, a loving yet absent-minded mother and a dead older sister. Was that a little too blunt? I am just preparing you Quinn’s direct dialect. He is an aspiring screenwriter with a knack for dialogue and I loved both his and Federle’s voice through the whole novel. Allow me to give you a couple examples;

“…, dying, “instantly or nearly instantly,” as if the timing of somebody’s death matters. They’re dead. Roll the credits.” (page 25)

“Kennywood amusement park is one of the only two in the country that are registered as National Historic Landmarks, which is to say: These rides are old as f**k.” (page 97)

The story twists as it is revealed Quinn is gay, has one of those ride-or-die, here-for- life best friends, Geoff, and a real-life golden boy to look up to. I realize now it is hard to book talk this book now because there are so many turns and I don’t want to spoil them, but I do need you to know Quinn won’t turn on his phone because of an incident surviving Annabeth’s death, Geoff has a secret, too, and boys, even gay ones, can disappoint like none other. There are also a ton of parallels and facts about movies which I was totally into.

 

Author Tim Federle (in a theater, how fitting)

 

Looking back at class this week, I realize most of our discussions were a little self-centered. I don’t mean this in a negative way; we are learning how to teach in our own personalized methods. I think the listing our qualities as readers and writers was extremely helpful. I was able to see how my education formed my likes and dislikes about language arts. This means I can change the way I teach so someday if my students write this list they won’t have the same secondary educational scars.

Another educational scar was intensely discussed Thursday. How do we write objectives when we don’t really know what your students will learn that day? I would rather teach my students how to learn, not what to learn.