Cindy is Seeping into my Classroom Beyond Book Club

This evening I received the following e-mail from one of my students:

"We should discuss this in class. I feel like we don't get enough oportunity in school to talk about political stuff. Thinking can really get kids thinking and off their butt. It did for me. Also, here's the usury thing.
Cheers,
[Rebecca's Student]
( I can't wait to go to class on monday! ;)"

The "this" he refers to is a pre-reading assignment I ask the students to complete before we read The Merchant of Venice. Students are asked to use an on-line debt calculator that allows them to plug in varying amounts of debt, interest rates, and type of payment to determine how long it takes to pay off credit card debt. This helps the idea of usury (charging interest on a loan) make a bit more sense to the students who for the most part are ignorant about most financial matters.

His comment, "I feel like we don't get enough opportunity in school to talk about political stuff. Thinking can really get kids thinking and off their butt" comes directly from a conversation he (and his book club) had with Cindy. He has repeatedly told me that my class is his favorite class because it makes him think.

I think it is interesting that he has interpreted credit card debt as "political stuff," but I also thought that it was validation for Cindy's research. Students want to be invited into conversations about topics that matter in the "real world."

Cheers to Cindy!

Thinking Inside a Pumpkin

As you can see, the Mapping the Territory of Your Text Project was a success!

OK, maybe the picture of a funky looking pumpkin with random objects attached isn't obvious proof at first glance, but trust me it was a success. (I still have a few presentations to go on Monday, but the early results are exciting--as my bold claim indicates.) While this picture doesn't do their work justice, it does give you an indication of the complexity of their thinking. These students explored the issues raised by their text, Feed, in discussing how to create this "map" and also discussed what symbols to use in heated brainstorming/debate sessions. Several of the members of this group tend to be quite and reserved in class, but were animated and forceful during their planning discussions. The creativity they displayed, as well as the investment in this project, was impressive and almost unparalleled in my history of conducting book clubs.

It may appear that the pumpkin was convenient simply because it is Halloween season (other students raised this challenge during the presentation), yet these students used the pumpkin for a specific reason. It was meant to represent the world of and the heads of the characters in the book. The world of the novel is polluted to the point of having orange oceans, so the flesh of the pumpkin and the nuclear waste symbol carved in the pumpkin are both significant. Inside the pumpkin is a remote control to signify that both individuals and the world of the novel are controlled by the outside influence of the "feed." I could go on and on explaining the symbols they used on their map (most symbols are layered in their meaning and they went well beyond the suggested 8-10 icons on the assignment sheet), but I won't...

I will say that I am excited by this project for several reasons:

1. The pumpkin group clearly was able to think "outside the box," but other groups were also able to expand/stretch their thinking through this process. Previous assignments did not seem to allow this to happen quite so easily or so consistently.

2. Students for the first time have been able to articulate more about how and why they made a connection or didn't make a connection with a text. (Interesting note: at times groups claim they didn't connect, but their statements indicate that they did have a link. Yet another idea to explore!)

3. The presentations on this project seemed to be more of an invitation to the audience to consider exploring the other texts because the groups gave a much more thorough overview of not only the events of the novel, but also the issues raised by the novel than they have with previous assignments.

I am looking forward to digesting more about this process and seeing what other insights spring from the pumpkin.

Quick Update

I have been busy with all sorts of meetings and commitments, so the blog has been on the back burner.

I promised a quick update, so this will be quick.

The book clubs are going well. One of the observations that is striking me much more this go-around than it has in previous cycles is the importance of the social dynamics of a group in the quality of their discussions.

For instance, I overheard one young man relay to his friends outside my classroom, "I'm stuck in this group with all of these ditzy girls." Another young man who is usually a challenge to reign in during class discussions has sat silently during the majority of his book club talks and will entertain himself by using hand sanitizer or stroking the spider plant on my desk. These young men (the only male in their respective groups) clearly don't feel comfortable with their peers. Conversely, I am watching groups that gel well become engaged in lively conversations and tackle the tough topics raised in their novel simply because conversation seems to flow more easily in their groups.

All of this leads me to wonder if the formation of the groups (at least at this developmental level) needs to be more carefully crafted. I wonder if personality surveys or learning style surveys could help. Maybe even my simple idea to ask the students to select options of both books and classmates could lead to more successful book clubs. I'll have to keep mulling this issue over.

What a difference a day can make!

No-Book Book Clubs were a surprise to me today! Just when I was feeling discouraged and ready to throw in the towel, the students surprise me with some insightful comments or reports about their discussions from yesterday. They still have me curious about a few things though...

In response to the poem "The White Rose" we asked the students to complete an assignment Cindy has used with her students. The students were to select 3-5 symbols to represent the section of the poem their book club focused on while reading. When the students went to work today they were all (almost without exception) focused intently on the task of creating their visual interpretation. Why is it that when students are given a blank sheet of paper and markers they become so engaged? Even the students who appeared unwilling to participate in class discussions were in the thick of coloring. Why is this? Any thoughts from the art teacher?

I am also wondering about how much group dynamics play a role in the success or failure of these groups and therefore their discussions. I am wondering about allowing the students to give me not only their preference for which book to read, but also for which students to work with in their book clubs. This adds another layer of complexity to forming groups, but I wonder if it could create more successful book clubs. Yet I'm also worried about this idea. Dragon Boy was working in a group with his friends--he would have selected at least two of the three boys he worked with--and that was not much of a success story. I'm just not sure. Is this pandering to them? Isn't the idea of civil discourse supposed to apply to any discussion, not just conversations with friends. Any thoughts on this idea?

I'm running away to join the circus...

wait, I'm already part of a circus. It is called my classroom.

At least that is how I am feeling right now. As Cindy so artfully described on her blog, our first few days with the No-Book Book Clubs have been a little rough. It hasn't helped that I wasn't in school yesterday due to a meeting and it seems that I'm bringing my C or D game to the classroom. Maybe it is time to bring someone up from the minors to pinch hit for me...can you tell that baseball was on in the background while I was grading this evening?

OK, I am going through a phase when I am particularly tough on myself...at least that is what my mentor said this morning. And Cindy, a teacher with more experience than me, seems to believe that the class is not a complete disaster, so I will try not to pack my bags just yet.

What I am struggling with is the fact that it appears that the majority of students are fairly disengaged with the class. Comments such as "I thought the story was boring" or listening to a student retell the entire story because another student clearly did not read are disheartening to me. Similarly, it appears that my careful creation of groups and foundation for quality discussions were in vain. One entire group sat and stared at each other today! It may be that my perception is off here, so I will keep watching and try to keep an open mind.

This all leads me to some bigger questions...

Why do the students not feel a stronger sense of personal accountability? What is it that has allowed the students to feel that they are not responsible for maintaining at least the appearance of a conversation? Does the fact that they are discussing with "just" their classmates play a part here? Would it be different if they felt they were going to be held personally accountable to me? Am I simply reacting in frustration because this group of students won't "play school" the way I think they should? If book clubs are an "authentic" experience with literature, do I try to put too many "school" parameters (sheets to fill out, cumulative assignments, etc.) on them? Without the school parameters would the book clubs function at all? Is it possible to create an "authentic" experience inside a classroom?

As I think about my own book club experiences I begin to wonder about this social aspect. I'll save my thoughts there for another post, but the preview is that if my book club didn't like a book we simply sat and ate snacks and visited...and we payed for and read the books! Is that what some of my students are doing? Is that OK? If it isn't (and every fiber of my being says it isn't), how do I motivate them to at least attempt a discussion?

The Art of Group Building

We begin our work with establishing the foundation for book clubs next week. I'm both excited and overwhelmed. Overwhelmed because I have too much to do and not enough hours in the day! Thankfully my students are all taking exams tomorrow, so this should allow me some time to sit down and think through some of the specifics for the process I'd like students to follow next week. (Downside of this is that by 3 o'clock I will have roughly 120 essay exams to grade and 30 exams on Islam to grade.)

Now the exciting part is that we are going to attempt to use 2 short stories and a narrative poem to have the students "warm-up" to the process of book club discussions. Dragon Boy inspired this choice! :) I like all three of the pieces and believe they should generate fantastic discussions from the students...key word there is "should." As Dragon Boy so clearly demonstrated, group dynamics are key to the success of a book club.

One of my plans for tomorrow as students are typing up their exams is to create their groups for our first round of book clubs without books. I'll use my notes on participation from our discussions of Gathering to guide my choices. Of course, I suspect this will be more of a challenge than it sounds like. My observations so far have led me to the conclusion that in these classes I either have conversation dominators or silent wall flowers. Obviously, this is a sweeping generalization, but I don't have a lot of students that fall into the middle category. Therefore the question becomes what is the appropriate mix of talkative to shy students in a group. Too many shy students and they sit and stare...too many talkative students and the group talks over each other and becomes contentious... The trick for me will be to put the right talkative students with the right shy students and then there is the issue of where to put the social pariah...Wish me luck!

Discussion on Discussions

My students have been reading and discussing A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest Gaines this past week. As we have been going through this process I have tried to be mindful that one of my goals is to help prepare the students for book clubs, which also helps move us toward my ultimate goal which to to prepare the students to discuss literature in any context without the direction/guidance of a teacher.

With this end in mind, I have been asking the students to participate in a variety of discussion styles--Socratic Seminars, teacher led discussions, student led discussions, small group discussions, etc. I have also come right out and asked the students to think about our discussions and to evaluate them. We talked about what needs to be improved in each class; they have been amazingly insightful.

The other twist I have put on all of this is that I am keeping track (on some days) of how often students participate. This has allowed me to make sure I get those quieter, or all together silent, voices in the room and it has also given me a concrete record of which students are dominating the conversation. My hope is the use this information when I place students in their book clubs. I'd like to not only remain mindful of friendships in the class, but discussion styles in the hope of forming balanced book clubs. We'll have to see how this goes.

Morning Pages

As I was telling Stacey, this has been the most challenging start to a school year that I have ever had. Not that this is an excuse, but this is why my attention has not been focused on my research. I have entirely neglected my blog. It did not help that Blogger is again blocked at school. This said, I have been able to keep up with some of the items I outlined on my timeline.

The middle of last week we started reading and discussing A Gathering of Old Men in my class. We held our first Socratic Seminar and I feel good that the foundation for solid discussions of literature are beginning to be established in the course.

That is the good news…the bad news is that I have dropped the ball in all sorts of other ways. For instance, I realized this week that I have not yet submitted the request to conduct research to the district (Sorry, Cindy!) According to my timeline I needed to order new titles for book clubs in August…it is September and I have not selected any new titles let alone ordered books. I also planned to pass out a generic permission slip to parents in August; the book club specific permission slip will be the only one parents will receive.

That is what I haven’t done…here’s what I need to do: I need to select the works I am going to use in my short-story-author-study-pre-book-club unit. This is the idea that Cindy generated to help students see what it is like to be in a book club before they are in a book club and hopefully teach them the “norms” before they are in a book club drawing dragons. ☺

I need to get that form to the district and reconcile myself to the fact that I may not be able to record student conversations this semester which I am sure is not ideal for Cindy’s research, but that I may be able to record the conversations of the other half of my students second semester.

I need to select the titles that we will add to the options we offer to the students. Any ideas or suggestions? Cindy and I came up with a list this summer and I simply need to carve out some time to devote to that endeavor next week.

I need to recover some of the focus and enthusiasm I had this summer. The beginning of this school year has had me fantacizing about working at Starbucks (that might be sacreligious to type in a Mugs ☺ ), so my hope is that by reconnecting with my research I can also reconnect with some of my enthusiasm for teaching.

From my inquiry group, I need forgiveness for being the worst blogging buddy ever. I also need some feedback and ideas about what would be helpful to other teachers in a demo about book clubs. Would you want the nuts and bolts how to organize it? Would you want specific anecdotes on some of the challenges and rewards of book clubs? What should I focus my demo on in order for it to be useful to the majority of my audience in February?

Planning Problem

OK, it isn't really a problem, but I can never pass up the opportunity to overuse alliteration. :)

As I am sketching out my first semester and deciding how book clubs will fit into my scheme, I could use some advice and fresh ideas.

This fall for the first time I will be teaching 4 sections of one class. I see this as both a blessing and a curse. Blessing=if you can't get it right after 4 attempts there is no hope. :) Curse=I have started to go crazy teaching 3 sections because by the time I get to the third section I can never remember--did I tell that to this group or not? Inevitably, I end up repeating myself or leaving something out.

Anyway, because of the shear number of students I will not be able to have all four sections participate in the book clubs at the same time. I will be able to have two sections participate in the book clubs, which means I need to have another plan for my other two sections. I've done this before, but the hitch this year comes with how early I would like to complete the book clubs (beginning of October). Do you think it is "fair" to have two sections doing book clubs and writing an essay while the other two sections are possibly reading a play and/or novel as a whole class?

My concern arises from the scaffolding of skills involved. Usually I've done book clubs second quarter, so I am not as concerned about the ole' switcheroo business. Yet I wonder about my vision for this year. Is it too much to ask sophomores to conduct thoughtful discussions on their own so early in the year? As my plan stands they will have read a novel with the entire class and worked in book clubs with some short stories to get an idea for the concept of book clubs.

This feels like rambling (and it probably is), but if you can make sense of it and have any thoughts, feedback, or ideas I would greatly appreciate it.

Random Question NOT Related to Teacher Research

Here's the deal: I have several fantastic and experienced teachers reading my blog (I forgot to ask this question during our AI face-to-face time), and I'd like to benefit from your collective wisdom.

Multiple times this summer I have been approached by former students in public. Nothing too remarkable there. Usually the conversation follows the typical pattern of the student recognizing me, I almost always recognize him or her (remembering his or her name is a topic for another post), I ask what he or she is doing now, he or she fills me in on the latest in his or her world, he or she usually asks if I still teach whatever class he or she was in, etc.

Most of the time, this is nice exchange. So, why do I need your help? Sometimes it takes a turn from the nice exchange and becomes socially awkward. How do you handle the Lingerer? What do I mean by the Lingerer? The Lingerer is the former student who continues to stand staring at me in the aisle of the convenience store when I'm just trying to buy cheap candy before a movie or the former student who stands staring at me while I'm trying to leave a grocery store with a cart full of frozen food. The Lingerer doesn't seem to get the hint from my "Well, gosh _______ (only fill in name if I could remember it), it was great seeing you and I'm so happy to hear you are doing well. Keep making me proud." or some other similar conversation ender. No, the Lingerer keeps making awkward conversation by repeating the same question or simply blocking my path. What do you do to end the awkward staring/lingering? I know some of you must have a sure-fire polite conversation ender that you use with former students.

How to Introduce My Research to Parents

As I have begun to fully embrace the fact that summer is yet again slipping away from me, I've started planning the role book clubs will play in my classroom this year.

In the past I have mentioned book clubs in passing at Back to School Night and obviously sent home a permission slip and letter informing parents of my research. This is all well and good, but (you had to sense the but coming....)

I wonder if I should explain more of what I am doing to parents and how it fits into my overall curriculum. At times I believe I speak of book clubs as an isolated happening, but they really are a central part of my literature instruction. I see book clubs as a way for students to practice/apply the concepts I have taught them in class and then to take the next step of all students of literature to engage in literary discourse with a text and with other readers of the text. OK, as the case of Dragon Boy points out in glaring fashion, this doesn't always happen, but that isn't going to stop me from trying.

Do parents care about this sort of thing? I have found myself torn on this issue. Ideally, I'd like to believe that the parents of students care about what and why their son or daughter experiences what he or she does in class. Realistically, I know that most of the parent questions I receive involve why the "A" student is "failing" my class (=earning a C) or when the next extra credit opportunity will be provided. Fearfully, I wonder if I open myself up for criticism by revealing the method to my madness. I know I am not doing anything wrong or different than any English teacher striving to do what is best for her students, but I wonder what parents will think and if I am simply inviting more questions than I want to field. Maybe I should continue the practice I've used in the past. One of the things I tell my students is that I believe they are young adults and that I strive to treat them as such. That said, maybe it is enough if the students know why I do what I do and I can explain it to parents if the parents ask.

So, what insight do you have for me? I know many of you have taught longer than I have and also have the experience of being a parent to share.

To share more or not to share more...you know the rest :)

Day 5: Morning Pages

What is my plan for the second half of AI? Where could I use the help of the AI fellows?

My plan for this week is to continue to comb through the data that collected from students following the advice Cindy gave us on Thursday. Up to this point my focus has been on Dragon Boy and I know there were other useful/valuable/intriguing trends at work in the book clubs this spring, so I will be looking for those.

For this week I would also like to complete the "To Do" list that Cindy and I created last week.

Item #1: Trace our processFor this item I will look back over my plan books and at the e-mails I have save from Cindy to compile a list of how we have arrived at our current thinking about book clubs. this will also help us recall whatprocedures we have used in the past.

Item #2: Book SelectionsWe have decided to change out one novel (possibly two--we need to decide the final fate of Life of Pi) and we are in need of a new selection. Some of the titles we considered in the past could be useful and I am also open to suggestions from those in the group.

Item #3: OK...just like how I couldn't remember when my turn was to bring snacks, I also can't remember items 3 and 4 from the to do list. Wouldn't you know it that I also can't find the sticky note that has the list written on it?!?!?!? Oh well.The improvised items on my list (just like this prompt) are to come up with the plan for book clubs this fall. I am curious about the suggestion someone gave to try a test run of the book clubs to help students understand the procedure for this activity better. I'm not sure if this could work because of the logistics of putting together a collection of books for students to select from a this late date.

I am also determined to come up with a plan...I think one of the original list items has returned to me...for NCTE. We need to look at the NCTE proposal to see what our focus for our session will be in November.

We also (yeah the last original list item!) need to create a timeline for planning for the NCTE session.

Finally, we need to work on the permission slips so that we can tape record students next fall.

How to Write a Research Article (Open Activity)

1) ? RQ
2) Primary Data (first pass)
* 3) Secondary Research (published)
4) Design experiment--what do I need to know/show?, order of operations (preliminary data?)
[Doesn't need to be followed in numerical order.]

Freewrite (in a not so free format):

Who is the audience who needs to know?
English teachers, primarily, or any teacher interested in using literature in her/his classroom to foster strong discussion skills and a climate that encourages civil discourse would benefit from reviewing my research.

? RQ
What happens when students discuss controversial issues in a book club setting?

Design Experiment
What do I need to know?
I would like to have better insight into the conversations students are having as they discuss their book club books. The field notes I’ve collected and discussion logs I’ve collected give me some insight into what they discuss and how those discussions have gone, but I still feel like I am missing a component of those dialogues. This is why I would like to have the ability to tape record the students during their book club discussions next year.

Order of operations
Before school starts I need to complete and submit the permission form to PSD and/or the human subjects committee to gain permission to record book clubs in the fall.

Primary Data
My first pass over my data seems to indicate that when given permission to discuss a challenging or difficult topic the students will accept that invitation—most of the time. Telling students that our purpose in book clubs is to learn to discuss difficult subjects seems to allow them to more freely (and maturely in some cases) discuss the novel under examination.

Secondary Research
I still need to collect secondary research. I imagine that Cindy’s book and The Book Club Connection could both be starting points to point readers to, but I imagine that I should probably find more information about civil discourse and/or how to teach students to participate in these discussions.

Day 4: Morning Pages

How does your investment in your research question and the students' background about your topic affect the research?

Not at all.

Just kidding. I have come to realize that my investment and repeated attempts to use book clubs has affected my research in a variety of ways. As a result of doing book clubs several times I fear that I at times jump into the middle with students. What I mean by this is that I don't always give them enough background or set it up with enough information to help them anticipate what the experience will be like. This was particularly true last fall.

Of course, the upside of my repeated use of book clubs is that book clubs have a reputation in my classroom. Students have heard from previous students of mine what to expect, what book clubs are like, which books to read, which books not to read...you get the idea. I've also come to realize that some of my students have previous experience with participating in book clubs. Some have been in a book club in a previous teacher's classroom (there are a ton of Cindy groupies in my district). Some have been in a book club with their friends. Some have seen their parents (usually mothers interestingly) participate in book clubs. All of this is a great asset to me.

Of course, I also have students participate in discussions in my classroom that are supposed to prepare students for this type of discussion. Yesterday during inquiry group Renee gave me a great idea or at least the start of an idea that I need to flesh out a bit more. She is going to use literature circles to help set her students up for writing circles. I have been attempting to use writing groups in my classroom and I wonder if I should be making a clearer link between the norms established in writing groups and those that students will eventually establish in book clubs. Mirroring these two activities will be useful to both, I suspect. Thanks, Renee!

What about Dragon Boy? It all really comes back to my friend, Dragon Boy. Every class has a Dragon Boy; he may be named Wears-the-same-sweatshirt-every-day Boy or Changes-her-hair-color-every-week-to-confuse-me Girl, but every class has one. Would more scafolding have helped Dragon Boy? Maybe. Should I have made my expectations clearer to him? Natalie has asked me about parameters and maybe clearer parameters would benefit Dragon Boy and those like him who are not ready for the expectation that students should maintain a mature conversation about the novel and the "difficult" topic it presents. Now, I just have to determine what those parameters are and how to keep those from stifling the conversations of students.

Day 3: Morning Pages

Think of a Volvo. Nothing flashy or glamorous. High end without being trendy or frivolous. Reliable and safe. Structurally sound with a roll bar to create a cocoon of protection for the passengers. Safe enough to survive a crash or minor collision and return to the road with a new fender or bumper. User friendly, mechanically sound, but can still create a thrill when racing down the highway.

Book clubs are much the same. They have been around forever (at least it can feel that way). Road tested by thousands and thousands in all sorts of circumstances and settings. No one views them as a flash in the pan or an expensive, untested venture. The structure or foundation is solid enough to withstand minor tweaking or the occasional Dragon Master.

Day 2: Morning Pages (again posted in the evening) :)

Question: What, if any, parameters do you put in place to help monitor the discussion of controversial subjects in your book circles? Interpretation of artworks such as this one [Julian Schnabel's "Christ's Last Day" at the right] would certainly be a hot topic in a public school setting--how do you handle the idea of censorship?

What a fantastic question, Natalie! (Plus, I like the inclusion of the artwork.) Actually, the personalized nature of book clubs helps deal with the issue of censorship, at least in part. As a result, I have yet to establish any strict parameters.

At the beginning of the process Cindy and I conduct “book talks” where we describe the plot, the setting, and a bit about the protagonist of each novel. We also pass out a packet with a synopsis of each novel for students to review. Finally, we answer any questions students have about the novels. This provides ample opportunity for me to “warn” students about books that deal with topics they may find too uncomfortable to discuss. For instance, I know that as soon as I mention that the novel Feed uses profanity many deeply religious students stop considering the book altogether. Similarly, once I mention that Postcards from No Man’s Land deals with bi-sexuality some students rule it out entirely. This means that when students list their top three choices I am (almost) guaranteed that they are agreeing to discuss the controversial subject in a mature (as mature as sophomores can) way.

Also, having parents sign a permission slip means that they are aware that their son or daughter may be tackling a difficult topic. The aspect of choice (I am not forcing anyone to read anything) seems to have alleviated any parental concerns as well.

This even has helped with dealing with my administrators. One assistant principal sat in my classroom as I gave the book talks this fall and she later commented on how glad she was that I gave students “the heads up” about profanity and other uncomfortable topics.

I realize that I have painted a fairly rosy picture here. Censorship is an issue I am concerned about with book clubs, but possibly not in the way this question (or my interpretation of the question) suggests. Students censor themselves. Indeed, this is the very reason that we are asking them to discuss difficult topics in their book clubs. Cindy began with the hunch that book clubs could be a way to help teach students to participate in civil discourse—a practice that seems sorely missing from our culture.

Much to my dismay, when we first attempted this process in the fall of 2006 most book clubs would avoid the difficult subject entirely. The proverbial elephant in the room was an issue in several groups; they would talk about everything, but the difficult subject. In other groups, they simply giggled uncomfortably about it, but refused to have any sort of meaningful discussion. Some of this behavior was surely the result of the secretive way Cindy and I went about presenting the project.

We had better results this spring when we were open with our purpose and told students that we wanted them to discuss the difficult subject. This seemed to be liberating for many groups, yet some groups still struggled. Interestingly, several groups said that they knew what the controversial subject was “supposed to be,” but just didn’t see the big deal with it. One group seemed to miss the point of the book entirely. Still other groups struggled to maintain a mature discussion of the controversial subject or the book itself for that matter.

In the end, censorship is a concern for me; just in a different form that we typically look at it. My puzzle is how do I help students to not censor their discussions and deal with those "elephants" presented on the pages of their novels in a productive manner.

Day 1: Morning Pages Posted in the Evening

What is my plan? Good question.

The first step for me is to register back in with the AI and my research. I took a bit of a hiatus from it, but I have been assured that I don't need to feel guilty about that. ;)

I need to comb through all of the information that I collected this spring from students (after I pick it up from FCHS this afternoon :) ) and determine which information I will focus on during this two week period. This will be more of a challenge because of the shear volume of data I collected—teacher-researcher notes, discussion log records, mandalas, found poems, etc. And sticky notes...I almost forgot about the plethora of sticky notes I collected!

As of this moment I think that I will focus on looking over the t-r notes and discussion log records as this will give me more insight into the content of students' book club discussions and allow me to determine how well we met our (Cindy and me--although it sounds as though I am using the royal we) goal of helping students discuss challenging/difficult/controversial subjects productively.

This is why I keep trying this!

Yesterday afternoon I was reminded of why I am exploring book clubs in my classroom.

While listening to the book club reading Postcards from No Man's Land I felt compelled to hug each of them. (OK, I was having a bad day, but these students were really doing some hug-worthy stuff.)

The idea behind the version of book clubs Cindy and I have been exploring this year is to help students discuss difficult/challenging/controversial subjects in constructive ways. (Jason, this is what fascinates me about your comment about using teacher led/facilitated discussions, but I'll have to come back to that at a later time.) Last semester students would avoid the tough topics as though it was the cliched elephant in the room. I had begun to suspect that this semester students had followed the same pattern...until yesterday afternoon!

This group of four students dug into a tough topic: euthanasia. The students began discussing the topic in the context of the book and how they felt about the characters' reactions to this subject, but the conversation quickly turned personal. Students disagreed with one another and the discussion took a heated turn, yet they remained respectful and were really listening to one another.

My favorite part was when one young woman said, "But, you at least understand where I'm coming from, right?"

Exactly!

That is all I am asking of them--at least understand where your classmates are coming from.

"I'm really worried about my book group."

At the end of class today, Hope (this is how Cindy referred to her on her blog.) asked to stay after class to ask a few questions.

The first few questions (carefully recorded in pen on her hand) were about MLA citations for the persuasive essay students are writing in class. Then, she took me off guard with the statement that I used to title this post.

"I'm really worried about my book group." Her eyes had filled with tears as she said this.

I told Hope that I was worried too and I am. Worried, confused, and frustrated.

It turns out that one of her primary concerns is that the behavior of the young men in her group would adversely affect her grade in the class. (This is a Pre-AP course after all, and many of my students are concerned with their grades.) But, Hope is also frustrated by several other factors.

She confirmed my suspicion that these young men had indeed done the reading. After she assured them that the book is really good AND recorded the page numbers on each of their book marks for the second meeting, they fell in line and all completed the reading. (I think there is a whole other potential gender study here about why the only female in the group took on the role of care taker for the others.) Yet, Hope said they just wouldn't talk about the book--well beyond the lesions.

Through our conversation she mentioned something else interesting. She feels that some of their reluctance to discuss the book comes from the fact that she is the only girl in the group and the book does talk about "sex and stuff."

Hope did say that she likes the book and thinks it is really good. Hope is a voracious reader and won't be turned off to reading by this negative experience.

Yet, I am in a spot now. I assured Hope that I would take care of the situation. Easy for me to say. How do I take care of this situation? What do I do about these young men? Do I pull them aside individually and tell them to stop acting immaturely? Do I make it a point to talk to the whole group about their behavior? If they really are too uncomfortable to discuss the book, how do I help them get beyond this barrier?

HELP!!!

Dragon Drawings, Teacher Research, and Teacher Behavior

Cindy chronicled our experience last week with a young man who shared his artistic genius with us on the book club discussion record. Never one to disappoint, this young man created a repeat performance this afternoon. (Lucky me, he's been doing this all year. ) Today's rendering came complete with antenna coming from each character's head. As strange as it sounds, from that detail alone it does appear that he is reading the book. When he arrived in class today I overheard him say to a classmate, "I think I got stupid from reading that book."

If he is reading, what am I complaining about then?

As I sat dutifully writing field notes, the teacher on my right shoulder was shouting at the researcher on my left shoulder to get out of my seat and yank the young man in the hall and insist that he stop goofing around just as I would have had I been moderating discussion or asking students to work in small groups.

So why did the researcher win this battle? I'm not sure. Maybe because Cindy was in the room and I didn' t want to taint the data. Or maybe because I hoped that in between the obvious goofing off he really was participating in a meaningful discussion of the novel. Or maybe because I'm still not sure how to unite the teacher from one shoulder with the researcher from the other shoulder into one seamless angelic creature.

Any thoughts?

My Life as a Teacher Researcher (or My Life as a Cindy Groupie)

OK, in all honesty despite having worked with Cindy for several years on book clubs in my classroom, I still feel like I am a complete novice at this teacher-researcher business.

I am starting to get the hang of it though. I suspect that given another 10 or 20 years, I might actually know what I am doing. :)

Here is the run down on the research I am currently doing in my classroom (not counting my perpetual quest to figure out what the deal is with several of my more eccentric *euphemism* students):

I am currently working with sophomores in one of my three honors English classes using book clubs to explore difficult/controversial/challenging topics in contemporary novels set in diverse locals or written by authors originating from diverse locals.

Originally, when I asked Cindy to conduct her research in my classroom my motives were simple: to help me use book clubs to help students further explore literature in an academic way. As an added bonus, book clubs allowed me to more honestly label the course "world literature" by increasing the diversity of texts students read beyond the two novels written by American authors and the two Shakespeare plays offered on the "required" reading list. Seriously.

Our book club experiment has expanded each semester and this go round we are looking at book clubs as a tool to help students learn to discuss tough topics in a constructive and mature manner. (I recognize that mature is asking A LOT of 15-years-olds. I guess I am a dreamer.)

Below you will find my reflections on the latest legs of my journey researching book clubs.