Take a Stand/ Propose a Solution

I think it was so fantastic that this chapter was introduced with the "Would you rather" game. "Would you rather be able to fast forward life or to rewind it?" or "Would you rather live in a world without cell phones or a world without [the internet]?" (pp 175) These type of questions introduce kids to taking a side, but the great thing is Gallagher asked his kids to write quick paragraphs taking both sides. For example, kids had to write about wanting to fast forward life AND about wanting to rewind it. By exploring what might be both sides of the argument, kids are better equipped to take a side a defend it. Jumping right into some of my favorite lesson plans...

Knowing both sides of an issue (pp 177) Kids pick a topic, or there is an overarching theme that they can choose a topic under (Theme = How the Media Affects Us and Topic = "Real" News versus Fluff). Then they make a 4 square chart exploring arguments. One side of the chart is where they write the main points of their argument. Below that they write what their counter-arguments will be from their parents/friends. Next they write what their main arguments are of their parents/friends. And below that they write what the counter-arguments are that they would present to their parents/friends. Filling out this chart is also a great way to practice conferencing with your students because more often than not they will tend to rush through the worksheet without fully considering the opposing sides of an argument. 

Drafting the Paper (pp 179) This is a large section which includes the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. For the introduction, Gallagher has his kids write two different introductions, then conference with the teacher/peers to help decide on the best one. For the conclusion (because we tend to ignore it or slap it together) Gallagher provides a list of dos and don'ts that kids can go through to ensure that they have an effective conclusion. Some examples include do point to broader implications, do express your hopes and don't simply restate your thesis or don't focus on only a minor point of the essay. 

Recognizing Problems: small to large (pp 192) This is a small mini lesson that has a big punch. This is another chart that has kids order problems from small to big. In the chart, kids start by listing local problems, then move to state problems, and on to national problems, and finally on to world problems. Kids may be provided with a newspaper to do this. Kids can make 24 hour observations to see if there is any change in the problems they charted. 

As a closing thought, Gallagher stresses the importance of developing within our students the ability to properly analyze a situation so that they can take a stand and propose a solution if the stance is about a problem. The real world consists of constant problems and debates so by giving kids practice in the classroom, the idea is that they can develop better critical thinking skills to one day better address the world's problems. 

Analyze and Interpret

The last chapter I want to cover today in chapter 6. In this chapter, Gallagher proposes a bunch of mini lessons to help kids analyze a subject and interpret its meaning. He starts by exploring the book Columbine which not only tells what happened leading up to, during, and after the shootings, but explored the question why. We want kids to go beyond summarizing and delve into exploring why something might be, or proposing solutions to change the thing. There was not too much theory in this chapter, so I will keep this post short and go right into some of my favorite lessons.

Interpretation Chart (pp 141) This project can actually be applied towards a literary topic, or can be just for fun to fill space, or can be whatever you want it to be. The idea is to have columns and rows where a student interprets a text or something in their own life.

Sorry the pictures are so small (I clicked extra large when uploading) but I think you get the idea. 

Interpret a Picture (pp 143) This project allows you to so a busy picture, like an iSpy picture, or one of Joseph Griffith's paintings, and let kids pick one element of the picture to tell a story, or describe what's going on. 

Interpret Song Lyrics (pp 171) Have kids listen to a song, for example one of U2s political songs, and have them interpret what is going on in the lyrics. Using music to interpret is great because it introduces a new medium and is inclusive for some special needs kids that don't learn in the traditional way. 

Gallagher's closing thought to this chapter was really inspiring. He said that teaching kids to interpret assigned books isn't enough. The real world is more complex than that, so we need to finds ways that they can interpret other "real world" texts as well. 

Inquire and Explore

As promised, I will be covering another chapter today, Chapter 5. This chapter is all about having the students inquire and explore. Gallagher starts by quoting the National Commission on Writing where they say that students need to double the amount of writing that they're doing, because right now, it's just not enough. Not only do we want kids to write because we as teachers want to know how much they know and how much they don't know, but Gallagher says that writing will often lead to ideas that we didn't even know we had. Through writing, we can use our imaginations in a creative fictional or nonfictional way. By limiting the writing we have kids do, we limit their creative process.

One of the best tests for this theory is to take a difficult passage, say from Dante's Inferno, and read it. Then give yourself a rating from 1-10 on how well you understood the piece. Read the same passage again, then rate your self a second time. Lastly, write the passage out (copy word for word), then rate yourself a third time. "If your score in the 3rd box is higher than your previous scores, you have discovered that the act of writing somehow deepened your level of comprehension. Being asked to commit words to a page generated new thinking." (pp 117) It is important to note, however, that there are different types of writing, and each type can deepen understanding in its own way.

Idiom Explorations (pp 124) Start by giving kids 4 options (a - d) of how the idiom "kick the bucket" started. Have them guess the correct answer. Once you go through a couple of idioms, you have kids think of their favorite, and write an origin story for it. You can find the true answers at the following wesites:
http://www.fun-with-words.com/etymology.html
http://www.etymonline.com/
http://www.redgage.com/blogs/sneaggles/etymology-of-idioms.html
You can also expand this lesson to include origin stories for other things more specific to your unit, such as the origins of books, soccer, political movements, etc.

Rumor Has It (pp 127) Similar to the one above, you can visit http://snopes.com/ to find out the truth about circulating rumors, such as Disneyland used to deny admittance to long-haired guests. You can use these examples to create origin stories as well.

What the Future Holds (pp 129) The last one I really like from this chapter has kids think about a unit topic, for example How the Media Affects Us, then explore a sub area of that topic, such as violent video games makes kids violent. You then ask the kids to think about what the core issue is of the topic, and creatively write about what the future might hold if this problem isn't solved. Some other topic areas might be careers, transportation, crime, pollution, housing, religion, etc.

In closing, the main idea behind this chapter is to continue feeding kids intellectual curiosity, even if they are older. Once kids stop wanting to explore is the day I want to stop teaching. It is important to keep their creative juices flowing so that the world can continue to be a better place. Essentially, you are teaching the underlying value of understanding the way things work to provoke some kind of change.

Evaluate & Judge

So as I'm reading through other people's blogs, I feel like I'm not moving through my book fast enough so I'll be making 3 posts today on 3 different chapters. Not only will I feel accomplished, but I'm hoping this will give me more free time at the end of the blogging assignment to do some reflecting.

Chapter 4 of Gallagher's book is all about evaluating and judging. We are introduced to these sub categories through side by side lists. You may be familiar with these same lists, as they are used to compare products when purchasing something on the internet. See example below:

Gallagher has his students make similar lists so they can get familiar with the evaluating and judging process, but also he does this so that kids can start to become familiar with our societies consumer culture. In addition, he says that our kids will one day be making some serious judgements, like what career they should pursue, how they might vote on an issue, where they might live after high school, and so many more topics, so the ability to evaluate, judge, and ultimately come to the best decision for the individual is imperative. Now that the serious stuff is out of the way, on to some of my favorite lesson plans in this chapter. 

Evaluate a print ad using propaganda techniques (pp 103) Gallagher has an amazing list of propaganda techniques used by the media the he gives us in the book. Some of the list includes "snob appeal", "fear", "vagueness", and "bandwagon". He uses this list to help kids determine which techniques are being used in different advertisements, which create an overall awareness to deeper messages within ads. 

YouTube Study (pp 106) With this mini lesson, kids will evaluate the effectiveness of a YouTube video. The point is to determine what the author's purpose was, and who the audience is supposed to be. Kids will always want to start evaluating their favorite videos and we should let them, but we should also shift gears and have kids explore more serious videos as well. 

The rest of this chapter is filled with other great mini lessons that use the teach, model, practice method and though I've said it a million times, I can't stress enough how much I recommend that you look into buying this book. If you're interested in the mini lessons I've talked about so far, or want to explore some others within Gallagher's book, it can be purchased here. 

Inform and Explain

Chapter 3 of Gallagher's book is all about informing and explaining. The truth is we will not all grow up to be professional writers, but the ability to proficiently write/ express oneself through writing is vital. I know I have personally written letters of complaint, sent friends and bosses emails, written instructions to a friend on how to take care of my turtle while I was out of town. The fact is, we need to know how to write.

Informing and explaining can be anything from the "How to" essay (how to tie a tie, how to make a peanut butter sandwich, etc) to explaining how something works, but if we want kids to write these kinds of essays, we need to make them more interesting. Gallagher starts the chapter with a list of 10 ways to botch something (it's a sarcastic list), and my favorite was to the new teacher (66-67). The list is as follows:

1. Assign, don't teach
2. Beat a topic until it's deader than a doornail
3. Talk and talk and talk
4. Don't explain your grading criteria
5. Come to class unprepared
6. Pretend you know stuff that you really don't know
7. Don't create any of your own lessons
8. Play favorites
9. Try to be "cool"
10. Jam your political views down your student's throats

Gallagher uses the above list as a model for his students, then asks them to make similar lists. Each item below the list has a brief explanation. The idea is to get kids thinking critically, and working towards the ultimate goal, which is the "explanatory" essay.

I also like the lesson, "Sometimes you Can judge a book by it's cover" (pp 72) which has kids explain how their _________ (fill in the blank) reveal(s) who they are. Some samples are cell phone, backpack, shoes, Starbucks order.

Another great one was "How to survive _______(fill in the blank)" (pp 86). This essay has students write explained lists on how to survive something, like a day at Disneyland, or the 9th grade. This list also has explanations below each entry.

The last mini lesson I loved was "Look closely" (pp 86) which has students look at a pictures up close and personal, and try to guess what it is. They will write a short story explaining what the item is.

The point of all these sample mini lessons, and the many more in the book is to get kids exploring the informative and explanatory essays. Gallagher says that it is unlikely kids will grow up and have to write an essay on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, however, they will likely have to explain on a job application why they want the job or write to an insurance agency why the accident wasn't their fault. By giving kids the chance to creatively write explanatory and informative essays, we are doing them a great service.

Until next time, happy blogging!

Expression and Reflection

Chapter 2 of Gallagher's book is all about expression and reflection. Aside from the fact that I love love love how gallagher relates teaching back to experiences in his own life, this chapter talks about how students need to be able to express and reflect through writing for there to be meaning behind their work. Gallagher says, "Good reflective writing moves beyond recounting the past; it brings new insight to the writer" (24). He then goes on to define expressive writing as personal and reflective writing as both personal and exploring how the experience shaped the writer. The rest of the chapter consists of great mini lesson ideas for the classroom, and the following are some of my favorites:

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life (27)
Using Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life as a mentor text, the teacher drafts entries for his own encyclopedia in front of his kids. An example might be Apple Pie - My grandmother's cinnamon apple pie sitting on  windowsill cooling in the late afternoon. Baseball Bubble Gum - Chewing the slivers of gum as I wait to bat on my sophomore softball team. And so on and so forth. Once the lesson is modeled, the kids get to come up with their own encyclopedias.

The Bucket List (35)
Reference the movie, The Bucket List, and perhaps show a short clip from the film. Draft items that might be on your own bucket list in front of the kids. Have the kids do the same. Once the list is done, have the kids pick their top item and write about it.

Reverse Poem (41)
Watch the YouTube poem "Lost Generation" by Jonathan Reed.

The great thing about this poem is if read forward, the author is very pessimistic about the world thinking there is no hope for the future, but if read backwards, the poem is very hopeful. Using this as a mentor text, teach the class about the beginning, end, and transitional phrases that let this be a forwards and backwards poem. Model the process for the students, and allow them to have input on what you're (the teacher's) poem may look like. Then let them make their own poems.

What my Childhood Tasted Like (44)
This is another creative writing project that explores lists of what one's childhood may have tasted like (grapes, pie, Cheerios, etc). The child then chooses one of these items to write about in more detail.

Top 10 Lists (55)
Start by giving a top 10 list to your kids. It can be David Letterman's Top 10 List, but just make sure the list is edited. :) Give a couple more examples, such as Top 10 Grossing Films of all Time or Top 10 Excuses Why Kids Don't Do Their Homework. Make a Top 10 List with the class, then ask the students to make their own Top 10 Lists. Students can then reflect on the project as a whole, or choose one item to write more about.

Though there were so many more great ideas in this chapter, the top 5 are listed above. As you can see, a majority of his ideas start with introducing a mentor text, then modeling the writing process for students, and finally giving the students time to free write. Gallagher seems to be of the strong belief that modeling is just as important as doing, and I love his examples as they bring life to the classroom. I think that when kids can see your own writing process, and that it's not perfect, you'll have more kids enthusiastic about writing.

Ha Ha. Couldn't help it.

A new start

Hello fellow bloggers!
Unfortunately, I was none too happy with my book so I have opted for a new one. I have chosen Kelly Gallagher's Write Like This: Teaching Real-World Writing Through Modeling & Mentor Texts.

As I am a day behind, I will delve right into the fascinating world of mentor texts and sample mini lessons. I have begun to read this book, and I can honestly say for all of you out there planning to teach middle school or high school English, please buy this book!! It is filled with excellent, updated mini lessons that will keep your kids asking for more.

Gallagher starts off in the first chapter explaining why writing is so important. He mentions that people may think writing is a dying deed with the introduction of technology, but those people are dead wrong. He says that writing and understanding the written language (I take this to be reading and comprehension) is at the core of every good career move. Our kids are graduating high schools with writing skills that are under college standards and the reason for this is that we do not give our kids enough time to write in the classroom. He says that only a small portion of time should be dedicated to lecturing and the majority of time should be spent mentoring and free writing. Kids should see us writing as teachers, and write themselves in mimicry of us.

Gallagher also mentions the common core standards (attests to the relevancy of this book) and how they are a bit limited. He says that teachers can easily get caught up in meeting these standards without allowing any flexibility for the creative mind. I, however, believe that we can adhere to these standards, and still maintain creativity in the classroom. The point is that we should never let these standards bog us down, rather, take them as a starting point and "stretch them into areas that can be readily applied in the real world" (7). In tune with stretching the core standards to be relevant for our kids, we also need to mentor through modeling. What this means is teach a lesson, model the lesson, then let the kids free write. Students need to let their writing express, reflect, inform, explain, evaluate, judge, inquire, explore, analyze, interpret, take a stand, and propose a solution. Writing will never be fulfilling if we don't allow kids to creatively express themselves in one of these ways.

I have to admit that when I first read the section explaining how to model writing for our students, I thought it was weird. Writing in front of my kids just sounded strange. All their eyes on me as I type, backspace, take time to think, revise, then edit. But then Gallagher explained that if a child sees an adult going through this process, they will understand that great pieces do not magically appear on a page, and they are only perfect after multiple drafts. If we show our kids that the creative process is a constant jumble of editing and revising, perhaps they will filter that this is "ok" into their primary Discourse (shout out to Gee).

Well folks, that is all I have for chapter 1. It seems as though a lot of the following chapters are sample mini lessons and what kind of use they have to students, so I will be sure to share some of my favorites, and perhaps you all will find some great ideas for your own classrooms. Again, I highly recommend this book!!

Happy Blogging,

Miss H

Getting Started

So I have officially started the book and I love it from the get-go. Wilhelm introduces the idea of enactment strategies as not theater, and explains that props, stages, rehearsals and acting skills are not needed. The idea of bringing a text to life is using your imagination as a learning device and using the same imagination to explore all interpretations of the text. Wilhelm gave many examples of this strategy, but the one I enjoyed most was having students act out a scene from Huckleberry Finn, then having students behind those initial students acting out what's written between the lines. For example, acting out why a character chose to ask a question, or play a prank on another character. These are things that are not written in the book, however, are things that can be interpreted.

The point is that not everyone learns the same way. A lot of students are not in fact traditional learners, and for them, the creative aspect behind assigned texts is beneficial. Enactment can both engage the student, and also help them retain information. What I really enjoy is this idea that enactments are not just public displays of excerpts from the text. I have not seen how enactments can transform into written work yet, but I'm excited to see where this idea goes.

I also really enjoyed learning that enactments are motivating. It is easy to encourage our students to read, but it is hard to ensure that this task is always done. Enactments serve as a way to get students interested in the text and gives them something to look forward to. They will often find themselves asking, "What happens next?", which motivates reading. As an endnote to the introduction, Wilhelm encourages the reader to take a small test exploring how good of a motivator are you. I have included the test below:

A Motivational Survey
How Good a Motivator am I? A Self-Reflection Checklist
(based on current motivation research: (Bandura, 1998; Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Pajares,
1996; Smith and Wilhelm, 2002)
Usually = 4 points Sometimes = 2 points Never = 0 points
____1. I believe my students are trustworthy and communicate this to them.
____2. I believe a teacher should care about students and express this caring.
____3. I believe my students are competent and can become more competent with proper
assistance.
____4. I attend to student interests and provide some level of choice.
____5. I help students to do things and to know how to do things and to talk about how
to do things.
____6. I avoid labeling students.
____7. I send explicit invitations to succeed, both to my students as a group, and
individually.
____8. I listen to what my students really say; I noodle around trying to get to know
them.
____9. I make good use of student experts in my class - getting kids to teach each other
and share their expertise.
____10. I use heterogeneous groups and interest groups to build interdependence and to
highlight and use different students’ strengths.
____11. I avoid overemphasis on competition, rewards and winning -- though I may
foster a fun, gamelike atmosphere where every one can win and succeed.
____12. I help students to evaluate themselves; to build, articulate and apply their own
critical standards.
____13. I communicate high expectations to all my students
____14. I focus on future success vs. past failure.
____15. I name what students can do, focusing on their abilities and achievement; I
celebrate student expertise.
____16. I negotiate, help set, and communicate clear goals as I highlight focus and and
higher purpose to the work that we do.
____17. I provide continuous feedback to students about how they are doing, and create
learning situations that provide immediate feedback.
____18. I frontload unit work by starting with what students already know, activating
background and building interest and a sense of purpose.
____19. I foster connections to students’ current life concerns.
____20. I encourage the reading of a variety of different kinds of texts.
____21. I encourage fun, humor and laughter in the classroom, including the reading of
humorous texts.
____22. I use artifacts and concrete objects in my teaching, and ask students to design
artifacts and concrete objects that make knowledge visible and reasoning accountable.
____23. I welcome and encourage multiple responses to class questions and projects.
____24. I model the behaviors that I value for students (e.g. I read; I am pleasant).
____25. I am passionate about reading and about ideas and I model and communicate this
passion.
____26. I teach my students for who they are and who they might be RIGHT NOW in the
present moment (not for who I think they should be and be able to do sometime in the far
off future).
____27. In my classroom, we read texts that can be related to real world situations and
activity.
____28. The activities in my classroom allow students to identify and use their expertise.
Total - 98-110+ = You are a most excellent motivator! 88-97 = Good 78-87 = Fair
>77 Try something different!!!!

I thought this test served as a great introduction to what kind of a teacher you might be, and I encourage all you readers out there to take a brief 5 minutes out of your hectic schedules to test yourselves.

I have more to read, and more to report on, so until next time, happy blogging!

Action Strategies for Deepening Comprehension

I chose to read Action Strategies for Deepening Comprehension by Jeffrey D Wilhelm. I love the idea that we can make text come to life, so I chose this book as it is to have many engagement techniques we can bring to a classroom. I know that for me, whenever I read a novel (teen novels are my favorite) a movie plays through my head. Of course, this is only true with great authors, but I enjoyed the idea that this happens for most everyone reading a great story. My background is in creative writing, so the opportunity to learn more about bringing the pages to life really excites me. I will have more to come when I crack open these pages later today, so until then, happy reading!

Introductions

Blogging about blogging, huh? Well, for all the readers out there, this is the first post for an Education class at the University of New Mexico. I am 25 and and coming back to UNM for my Master's in Secondary Ed. Though the next many upcoming posts are required, the plan is to continue with this blog well into my teaching days to maintain a compilation of feelings, teaching techniques, and advice to live by as a secondary ed teacher.

The first step of the assignment was to explore Wikipedia's definition of blogging. Though somewhat interesting, I thought it much more fun to go out and explore other blogs to get a feel for what would be coming. I ventured across Blogger for a while skimming through the random "what I like to eat", "look at my kids" and "just because" blogs, and though they were all nice in their own ways, I was really looking for blogs that were more teacher specific. Can you guess what I did next? Only what every single other person with a smart phone in a time of information-needing crisis does - googled. I did a simple search, something like, "teacher blogs", and I actually came across the Top 25 High School Teacher Blogs of 2012 listed by Top Masters in Education. I was quite ecstatic to find this list because it was produced by a group interested in promoting further education for teachers. As a prospective high school English teacher, I have reviewed a couple of the English blogs below:

The first blog I clicked on was one entitled Mr. TeachBad. I thought the name was a little fishy but it had me curious all the same so onto Mr. TeachBad's blog I went. Turns out, the entire blog is dedicated to the highlights and pitfalls of teaching. From videos to stories, Mr. TeachBad has it all mapped out without any kind of censors. The blog is written in a satirical sort of way, and I thought it was absolutely fabulous! What better way to enter the field (I start student teaching in the fall) then to sit and read through a mockery of the profession (of course not in an offensive way). What I enjoyed most about this blog is that it seemed to be more of a release for teachers. There were stories and opinions of laws affecting teachers today, basic current events, and suggestions for teachers to take to their own classroom. One of the recent posts, for example, is entitled "Stop Data Rape!". An obviously inappropriate name, the post actually gives insight to how to teach data collecting/ teach data to students. This blog is obviously a teacher to teacher type, rather than a teacher to student type, and I really enjoyed the many different aspects Mr. TeachBad had to offer. 

The second blog I came across was entitled Stump the Teacher. Not going to lie, I clicked on it because I thought it would be a compilation of riddles, games, and other fun activities to introduce to the classroom, however, it turns out the reason the blog is named Stump the Teacher is because the owner of the blog is Mr. Stumpenhorst. Well, I still explored the blog and though I found it to be a little less relevant and spicy compared to Mr. TeachBad, I still enjoyed the many opinions on current events that Mr. Stumpenhorst had to offer. This too seems to be another diary-type blog. 

Overall, I think the best thing I can offer to the blogging world is a compilation of sorts. I think a good blog not only consists of opinions, but of news articles/current events, great lesson plans/ ideas, and laws that affect teachers. The reason a compilation is so necessary is because it makes the difference between reading someone's diary and giving something of value to your readers. If a blog consisted of solely opinions and day to day entries, it would be quite boring. As bloggers, we need to show our readers why they should care about our posts. When I do finally become a teacher, I would also like to link my blog to student blogs as well and integrate this type of writing as a year-round activity.