Where Tanner's From

If this post's title sounds familiar, it's probably because you remember an entry from a while back, Where Malik's From.   See the original writing assignment here.

I'm just stopping by to remind all of us that writers bloom throughout the year.   I get a whole lot of flowers in September, but I also get some children who are seeds, bulbs and tubers...and planted at different times.   That's pretty normal in 8th grade.

There's a whole lot of research about boys and language arts instruction, so go ahead and read it.   Don't discount what you know to be true from firsthand experiences either.   There's not one magic key that unlocks a joy of writing for boys.   The young men who are most successful in becoming writers with my style of teaching have these commonalities:

They listen to mini-lessons on writing skills.

They practice these skills in small bits of writing.

They then work these skills into larger pieces of writing.

They welcome feedback.

They recognize that writing is a craft.

They get downright metacognitive about their use of language.

They believe that the world around them is to be examined.

They know that a final draft means edits and revisions, not simply neatness.

Before you think that I am a "my way or the highway" kind of writing teacher, I'd like to say that I don't think that I am.   I can't be certain, but I am pretty sure that if I were reviewing student writing with Stephen King, Anne Lamott and Natalie Goldberg-- we'd at least recognize and agree upon bad writing when we saw it.   And...yeah...it's totally okay to see some bad writing from 8th graders.   I mean, they're 8th graders.   Sheesh.

I center September around some of Laura Robb's mini lessons for writers and Nancie Atwell's lesson on narrative leads.   If I can get kids using specific nouns, strong verbs, a variety of sentence starters, PARAGRAPHS, effective narrative leads and a unified topic...I feel pretty ding dang good about that.

(Pardon my shouting.   I'm still teaching perfectly kind children how to paragraph narratives.   It's December.   It hurts.   My eyes are bleeding from the dreaded BIG, FAT PARAGRAPH.   I might write a song about it.   Never mind.)

Back to Tanner.   He came into class on day one with a strong work ethic, unmatched tenacity, a kind spirit and some sharp writing skills.   Even so, his mom is pretty impressed with his current interest in getting all of his words in the right spots.   I sure do wish I could just let you see all of his various writing work from this year because he's a perfect example of a talented, developing writer who fits all of the qualities I listed above.   

Check this out.   Remember the two-sentence journal assignment I borrowed from a class I took at William and Mary?  Here's one of Tanner's entries, "It's the time of year when the smell of corn chaff and diesel fuel fill the air.  Visibility soon becomes low as the farmer takes the combine for another round."   You better believe I asked his permission to write that gem down for other grasshoppers to see.   It was feng shui perfection on the white board.

Here's where Tanner's from:

I’m from sunglasses in the rearview,

From tie straps and duct tape,

I am from eggs in the nesting box,

(Dry and Warm with a surprise inside)

I’m from orchard grass,

The yellow poplar,

Whose leaves fall every year just for me to collect.

I’m from fishbites and pellet guns,

From Pride and Horton,

I’m from the bluecollars and the hardheads,

From “How ya whole family doin’?”

I’m from “American born and Southern by the grace of God.”

I’m from Genesis and Communion,

3 inch slugs and ram rods,

From the man who died for our sins,

And the 10 commandments.

From the gray uniform stained with blood,

Whose owner long gone from Earth,

Waits patiently in the Promised Land for the ones who honor him most.

Sweet Spot

On days that I don't have planning, I find myself summoning all of the powers of the universe to come to my aid.   I imagine some hybrid of Cat Woman and Aqua Man.   Telepathic rings radiate from my being and lasso the tiny bits of extra energy that I will borrow from the world.   When underwater animals show up at my classroom door, I will change my approach.

I do this before leaving the house, and when I'm in my truck I scan radio stations until I find the right song.   After filling up my gas tank, I found a little Zeppelin to energize me.   Halleluyar.

I was feeling pretty good about today, and it went better than even I anticipated.   I almost don't want to talk about it for fear of jinxing myself, so I'm just going to tell you.   Got it?

One of my five language arts classes seems more diverse than my others.   I have all kinds and levels of readers in there.   My preference is to have children grouped, so I can dial in instruction and book choices based on what works for them.   I know that I lost some of you right there, but it works for reading.   I teach struggling readers with as much heart as I do my confident readers; trust me on that.  And no one is worksheeted to death.   It just makes it so much easier for everyone involved when children are closer in reading abilities.

Back to this particular class.   I only see them every other day, and I've been feeling like I just wasn't getting any traction with some of them.

It takes some time for new 8th graders to:

1) figure out that I'm not kidding when I say read
2) realize that I can smell fake reading a mile away
3) understand that I'm not giving up or letting it slide
4) decide to get with the program.

This class hit their sweet spot today.

I looked around the room, and everyone was reading...for real.   Then the assistant superintendent came in right in the middle of the magic.   He saw it too.   I wanted to cry happy tears and dance around to James Brown.

No one was reading the same book.   Everyone was doing his/her own thang.   We had everything from Dr. Seuss, the graphic novel of Paul Bunyan, The Fault in Our Stars and some Tolkien.

Holy Hobbit Toes, Bat Girl!   I'm telling you the truth.   Who knows what will happen next time, but today was more enchanted than a British wardrobe.

I hope that your day had a few great surprises in it too.

"Sounds loco to me, but okay."

I'm borrowing a quotation from one of my favorite books of all time, Cowboy & Octopus.   Jon Scieszka's created a wonderful friendship between an unlikely pair.   In addition to the earth and water divide, Octopus finds himself having to be the brains of this operation again and again.   But even Cowboy knows when somethin' ain't right.

Do you ever get that feeling?   That feeling that someone has put lipstick on a pig and is trying to get one over on you like you can't smell pork from a mile away?   Makes you a little loco, doesn't it?   When someone's trying to get one over on you, it's really your students who pay the price...and that makes little wisps of steam escape from your nostrils, doesn't it?

Well, take a step back from it and pause.   Why do you think it's a bad idea?   Do you have evidence that it is from research or personal experience?   Who are the stakeholders who came up with the stinker?   Who are the stakeholders who must implement it?   Could it be a good idea after all?   Is it worth a try?   Have other schools/ teachers tried this plan to great success?   If so, does your school have the resources and staff to make similar gains?   Will children be harmed because of this idea?   Do you have a better proposal?   Is part of the idea worth piloting, instead of the whole enchilada?   Can you find someone in your field that you respect to talk this over with?   Is this a battle that you need to choose for the sake of your students, or will your time be better spent on something else?  

And if you've decided that it's a good idea that will benefit children, be the first to get behind it and help others implement the plan.   There's nothing better than discovering a new, effective way to reach learners.

We're all resistant to change once we've found methodologies that seem to work miracles for our children.   We're also a little prickly when people outside of the classroom claim to have the magic answer for us.   I always fall back on WWLD, as in What Would Laura Robb do?  

I think that it's always good to let our minds entertain a new approach to reaching our children, but every now an then someone comes up with something that can only be described as "loco."   And that's not okay.

I'm gonna assess the stuffin' outta you, bub!

Can I talk with you about something we used to call effective teaching?   Now it's called Response to Intervention, or RtI.

RtI isn't as scary as it seems.   Its basic premise is differentiating instruction for students without pushing them past their (learning) frustration points.   For example, an eleventh grade student reading on a fourth grade level who is handed an American literature textbook and expected to conquer it without any teacher support...just worksheet after worksheet...well, that's bad teaching.

RtI is about getting instruction geared towards different ability levels within the structure of the usual school day.   The first focus is on tier one...meaning...let's get all teachers to instruct in a way that maximizes learning.   Fair enough.   And a little common sense goes a long way with me.

Kids who still need additional help would be considered to be in tiers two or three.   Your lowest readers may even need one on one instruction with the reading specialist, if you are lucky enough to have one in your school.   RtI is an "all hands on deck" approach to instruction, but your options can be limited if you are light on faculty and resources, as many schools are in our current economy.

RtI is a way of thinking.   Your school decides how to implement it.   I'm over-simplifying the program concepts, but if you are teaching with the intent of having your students learn, you are probably all about intervening when a child needs more support and instruction.   And nobody had to force you to do it.

Here's the bumpy part.   RtI can quickly turn into an avalanche of data.   And the true blue RtI folks would be the first to tell you that data for data's sake, data that is not reviewed or used, is useless since it serves no purpose.   Many of the assessment tools were piloted in the elementary school, but they don't quite translate into meaningful information for the adolescent reader.

Let me pause and remind you that these are my opinions.   I encourage you to seek out research-based articles to make your own judgments.

Many of the assessments that seem to draft the barreling 18 wheeler that is RtI raise red flags more than anything else.   This could be more meaningful in lower grades were there's not a long history of prior assessments.   By 8th grade, we know who is at-risk from day one because we inherit 8 years of test scores and other information that indicate a child who lacks fluency in reading and math.   Using red flag predictors with adolescent readers seems to be putting the cart on top of the horse.   Yes, the cart on top of the horse.   Ouch.

That is all I have to say about that at this point, but I will tell you that if your school runs the Maze assessment, there's a free online Maze generator that you can use to  give your kids some practice before the real test date.   You can paste any passage into the space provided and come up with a text that can be used to remind the kids how short three minutes can be when one is reading and circling.

Assessing a child's learning is important.   But what do we do with that data?   Does it inspire us to change our instructional methods?   Does our school district identify areas in which we need additional teacher training?   Does our district invite presenters to train us in a manner that is in line with best-practices that work with children and adults?   Can teachers even interpret the data and apply it to their instructional approaches in a meaningful way?   Do all teachers have access to the data?   Is the data compiled in a user-friendly document or program?   How will you explain children's scores to them and their parents in clear terms that lack educationalese?

If we do not use the data, we are disrespecting the instructional time of our students.   Assessments are crucial to what we do, but how much testing is too much?   Think about the days in a school year and how much time is given over to assessments.   Are you assessing more than you are teaching?   Is each assessment valuable and valid?   Are they biased in any way?   Can they be scored objectively?  If you are able to preview potential tests for purchase, please don't waste any time kicking a flawed assessment to the curb before your district swipes its credit card.

Lastly, does your opinion matter?   Sometimes decisions are made outside of your learning community that are non-negotiable.   If that's the case, you have to do what you have to do to make the experience a positive one for kids.   Explain how the test is administered and what the results mean.   Tell them how you are going to use the results to benefit them.   Give them time to practice with the format of the test.   Make them comfortable with the process.

And if you teach in a way that causes children to learn, stick with it.   Protect your instructional time as best you can.   Perhaps this is the year that some of your struggling readers are ready to make some big strides.   Hopefully, the next time your school conducts a mass screening, they will see the progress that they are making thanks to your diligence.

When Laura Robb, Nancie Atwell and Kelly Gallagher prescribe an RtI plan, I will hop right on board and complete any assessments they see as vital.   Until then, I will need to weigh all of the options before moving forward.   Children first, right?

Adventurous, Charming, Hopeful, Optimistic & Loyal

I admit it.   I do not enjoy teaching vocabulary.   Ever since I heard Ms. Laura Robb explain the frequency with which some struggling readers need to meet and remeet a word before they own it, I just got tired thinking about how to make that happen.   I think this makes the strongest case for building vocabulary instruction around root word studies.

Last Thursday we did a little harmless vocabulary work, but I can't promise you that all of it will stick.   I made copies of the "Sample Word Wall of Adjectives That Describe a Character's Personality."   You may find it inside Laura Robb's Easy Mini-Lessons for Building Vocabulary.   It's published by Scholastic.

Here's what we did:

1.   Highlight the words that are unfamiliar to you.

2.   Choose five of those words to define.

3.   Identify five words that describe you.

4.   Support your choices.

5.   Watch a clip from "The Muppet Movie."

I showed "Rainbow Connection" to the end of the segment below.

6.   Choose five adjectives that describe Kermit.

7.   Support your choices.

8.   Choose a character from your independent reading book

and five adjectives to describe him/ her/ it.

9.   Support your choices.

A modification I made for my inclusion class is to put them in pairs.

They did all of the same work, but more.

Putting them in pairs made it more natural to say the words out loud to each other as they decided which words they did not know.   Also, they chose five different words to define and shared their answers with their partner.   I put some kids on the class computers to use dictionary.com instead of the paper dictionaries.

And if you are wondering who the title of this entry describes, it's not me; it's Kermit.

When students read aloud in reading class...

Let me interrupt myself to weigh in on having students read aloud in class.   I don't make anyone read aloud in my classroom in front of the group.   I take volunteers.   Well, I take some of them.   I try not to be harsh, but there are some students who would go on and on during the whole class period without modulating their voice a single time.   Although this makes a great teachable moment since the class is unlikely to ever forget what the word "monotonous" means, it tortures your captive audience needlessly and nothing is added to their understanding of the piece.  

Especially with struggling readers, I do not ask them to do any "cold readings" unless I am sure that they will be successful.   Yes, round robin reading does not happen in my room.   I may pre-assign paragraphs or passages and give readers a chance to preview and practice.   I need students to focus on the meaning of the words, not their dramatic performance in class.  

A few years ago, I was so thrilled when my target class read scene after scene of "The Diary of Anne Frank" aloud.   They read it like they knew what had happened, was happening and would happen.   Wow!  

Even so, much to my disappointment, they could not even answer basic comprehension questions on the scenes they had just finished.   All they were able to do was to keep up and tread water.   I didn't build in enough time for them to pre-read or re-read.   They needed an opportunity to think quietly about what was taking place on the page.  

On the other hand, advanced readers will power through this particular play quickly and understand most of it.   Your not-so-careful readers will miss some of the finer nuances that happen when you think about the stage directions in conjuntion with the lines, but they will get the big ideas.

Before you ask students to read aloud, make sure that it will be to the benefit of the class and that the student is prepared enough to be successful.

If you would like another opinion regarding round robin reading, here's Ms. Laura Robb's take on the subject, http://blogs.scholastic.com/laurarobb/2010/03/please-bid-farewell-to-round-robin-reading.html

Laura Robb: Your Fairy Godmother

Having studied to teach high school English, my first year at the helm in 8th grade was a real eye-opener for me.   It was the year I discovered that some 8th graders have never read a chapter book/ novel on their own-- ever.   Seriously.

I had an excellent English education at Menchville High School and Christopher Newport University to prepare me for the canon of literature that I would most likely teach as a high school English teacher.   But none of the classes really addressed the reluctant reader, the painfully slow reader, the special needs reader, the non-reader, the dependent reader, the ADHD reader, the dyslexic reader, the resentful reader, etc.   And I wasn't teaching high school.   You get the picture.  

For 11 years I have been storing up some tricks in my bag to share with you, but that could take a lot of Blogging.   I want to give you a jump start with the common sense advice of Laura Robb.

Who is Laura Robb?   First of all, she is a teacher who is still teaching.   That means a lot to me if I am going to spend time trying out someone else's lessons in my classroom.   Educational research is important, but I can't replicate a lesson that requires me to be in five places at once because I do not have an aide, college professor, graduate student and two parent volunteers with me to implement it.   I can be realistic and optimistic at the same time, but most days it's just me and the kiddos without a net.

What else does Mrs. Robb do?   Find out here: http://www.lrobb.com/web/guest/home

My favorite part about Mrs. Robb is that she has written several books for Scholastic on best practices for teaching reading and writing in the middle school.   Several are available from Amazon.com.

It's a strange place, middle school.   Most of the research out there focuses on catching reading issues early in elementary school and putting interventions in place.   Even if this is done well, some teenagers still struggle to read at grade level.   I have taught students before who have tested on a first, second, third grade level in eighth grade.    It's a frightening, exciting challenge.   There isn't a lot of magic on hand for any instant fixes, but let Mrs. Robb help you along the way.

I'm sure I'll mention her again later, but allow me to start you off with my two favorite activity books.

For reading: 50 Fabulous Discussion-Prompt Cards for Reading Groups: Snap-Apart Question Cards That Build Comprehension & Spark Great Discussions About Character, Plot, Setting, Theme & More

For writing: Brighten Up Boring Beginnings and Other Quick Writing Lessons: 10- to 15-Minute Mini-Lessons and Reproducible Activities That Sharpen Students' Writing Skills

Let me close with this.   A few years back, Mrs. Robb taught a lesson on "Harrison Bergeron" to one of my reading classes.   I can't remember why she was there in my small town, but I know that I truly enjoyed spending time in her classroom and so did my students.   (No one misbehaved, much to my relief.)   When I e-mailed her post-tornado about these two activity books that I could not find on Amazon, she mailed them to me with her good wishes.   She also mailed a few other resources and had Scholastic do the same.  

It was another reminder to me that none of us can do what we do alone.   You may have a really great day teaching, and you should pat yourself on the back, but a lot of amazing people helped you get you where you are today.   And they are still wishing you well from their little corners of the world.   Don't forget to plug into the energy of all of that goodness on those days that exhaust you.

Thanks to Laura Robb, Scholastic, Christopher Newport University's Dr. Scott Pollard and art teacher Rob Mercer for restocking my Robb resources.