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.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
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?
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?
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
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.
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.
Friday, July 20, 2007
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.
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 :)
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 :)
Monday, July 2, 2007
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.
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.
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.
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