Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise

One of the books that has gotten some tread in my classroom is Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise. I picked it up over the summer because it was a 2012 Sasquatch Awards nominee. It is a bit different than you're typical children's book in that it is written in the form of letters between the various characters as they talk about events that happen. It also has some illustrations that fit well with the story and the writing.

The setup is as follows: Ignatius Grumply is a children's author with writer's block. He needs a summer home to set up shop and get his writing done. Enter Anita Sale (yes, "aNEEDa Sale"!). She tries to dissuade him from 43 Old Cemetery Rd, but to no avail. Once there he finds a boy, his cat, and a ghost. He doesn't know about the ghost Olivia C Spence, but eventually comes to gather that she lives... what follows is a fast read that works for good and struggling readers alike. The nuance in the names and actions will get laughs out of the more experienced readers. But it reads easy enough for those who won't necessarily get the nuance.

Rating: 3 out of 5. Good read, not great. Has its place in the intermediate classroom library.

Dead End in Norvelt

Ever have a book recommended to you but you couldn't quite finish it? Have you found yourself reading a book that you feel like you should like because of the author, but just couldn't get into? How about a book that you didn't really have no affinity for, but no real reason to put it down? That sums up Dead End in Norvelt to me.

I enjoyed the previous works of Jack Gantos. Joey Pigza was an interesting character lacking the typical qualities of a hero/protagonist. You could fall in love with his faults, and see things from a different perspective. When Dead End... came out, I was hoping for a similar story. Instead it was closer to Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars, only that it lacked the storyline for 3/4 of the book.

Jack lives in Norvelt. It is a town built by Eleanor Roosevelt, and was built to help people be self-sufficient (small houses, plots of land to farm, etc). The only problem is that the old way died, giving way to industrialization and modernization. One woman is charged with chronically how the original Norvelters live and die: Miss Volker. After getting grounded, Jack is enlisted to help Miss Volker write obituaries for the original Norvelters. Along the way you see Jack grow up, and you learn lessons from the old. But the story doesn't really pick up until halfway, or two-thirds the way through when a Hells Angel dies and people begin to wonder why these original Norvelters are dying.

This wasn't my favorite Gantos book. I felt like the story lacked a real clear plot. It was a biography of sorts, which is not really my genre. I like the payoff that comes through seeing a protagonist struggle and attempt to solve a problem. I also wonder whether a majority of my kids will enjoy it, feeling similar to me in wanting a payoff in the end.

Rating: 3 out of 5. The ending helps make the story, but it seems to take forever to get there.

The Gap Between Recognition and Implementation

Perhaps the best part of my first year of teaching was getting to observe in the classrooms of far more experienced teachers. In particular, one visit was incredibly powerful. The class had been reading The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle as a class novel/literature study. One of the things that they did was use Activotes ("clickers" if you will) to have students voice their opinion. From there students would offer why they made their choice, and debate their respective reasoning.

I walked away with a vision of my own. I wanted to kids to have discussions about books, but also to write about books. I also wanted to have them talking about ideas, and debating. What did I do? I modeled responses to literature ("What is one word to describe the character?", "What is the problem in the story and how do you think the main character will resolve it?") along with some basic criteria for "is it good enough." This gave students a baseline for whether the response that is at standard.

Since last year I've had kids scoring responses on a 4 through 1 scale. The point is to uncover "good enough" looks like. We'll look at a few different responses modeled after student work past and present, and score them. We did this last week and the discussions kids were having were fantastic... When you hear kids say "That response referenced the text, and explained why they chose strong to describe the men.." you feel really good because they are getting it. The issue I ran into was that not all kids were making the leap when it came to their own responses.

Why was that? Part of it was because of the way I crafted the questions for their novel study books. When you don't necessarily provide multiple avenues for kids to travel down then you won't get the quality you're looking for. That was one reason. Another connected to stamina. Writing a quick couple of sentences gets you just above the threshold, and is "enough." This was an instance where I gave feedback to almost all in order to have them improve. Most knew that they could add more, and simply needed direction. More of the same is planned for this week. Should be fun.

Innovation in Education?

I have tried to distance myself from local education reporting. While on the one hand I am drawn to it, I also feel a strong reaction to those not clearly articulating the day to day interactions of teachers and students in the classroom. Everyone has a solution to a problem they feel a part of. Today I read the editorial Innovate Washington State's K-12. First off, a few things...

1) My wife is Nationally Board Certified, and I plan to go through the process. I believe it to be highly rigorous, and an intense process where you demonstrate your effectiveness as a teacher.
2) I fully believe I work in a relatively innovative district... it is a rigorous evaluation process, standards based, lots of technology, and high academic achievement.
3) I know I am not the best I can be... Gladwell's 10,000 hours rule applies. I'm getting better everyday, and am constantly improving. But I don't think I am great, and definitely not the greatest of those in my building... experience does matter (although not necessarily linearly).

I took a significant amount of umbrage with some of the editorial. I fired of the following email, largely because the editorial lacked the innovation I felt like it would have brought. That doesn't even mention some of the the lack of harmony in the message. Alas.

----

Hi Robin,

I read your editorial in the Seattle Times today and was struck by a number of things. First, I should tell you that I am a third year teacher in the Lake Washington School District. I'm one of the "junior teachers" you mention in your editorial. I couldn't help but wonder about about my future pursuit of National Board Certification. On one hand you state that "there is no credible evidence that they help boost student achievement" when talking about Nationally Board Certified teachers. This is after arguing that students need to be around high-quality teachers because it "is the key ingredient to student success." Doesn't this seem incongruous? Is going through a rigorous process to reflect on teaching practice that is reviewed nationally not proof of being high-quality? If you are stating that the stipend doesn't help students then you point is unclear, and needs further support.

I was also struck by how short-sighted reducing teacher professional development days seems. You should know that teachers often feel unappreciated, underpaid, and isolated from their peers. Reducing two days where teachers can come together as a community to collaborate would further isolate teachers. As one of the junior teachers, I appreciate the opportunity to learn from my senior counterparts and feel like I am a part of a community. That doesn't even mention the opportunity to further my own practice (shouldn't a teacher be a learner also, just as a principal should be a teacher-leader?). Beyond that, please further illuminate what less costly ways we could use to further our practice. Simply offering a cut isn't innovative.

I am all for education reform. Our system has a myriad of flaws. I'm also aware of the economic situation of our state, and the lack of effective revenue streams to fund education (and other state services). But if you want to offer solutions, please offer those that have a sense of what it is like to be in the classroom. Offer solutions that have a sense of the people often best meeting the needs of our kids.

Respectfully,

Pete Hanson
5th Grade Teacher 

Reading Conversations

My social studies/literacy block has migrated exclusively into literacy. I'm really excited about how things are going thus far. We're doing novel study, which is really another way of saying literacy circles, book clubs, or guided reading. The latter of those is the most tenuous, but still fits.

In reality my literacy block is a combination of many different practices. It uses a workshop model, pulling out lessons from the Units of Study for Reading. I have kids writing in journals with stop and jots, or making notes on sticky notes. I conference like I might in the workshop model, or with guided reading. I will take notes in OneNote, having kids give a retelling before some oral reading. I'll follow that up with positives or constructive pieces. I am also using the Guided Reading model of writing about reading, focusing on analyzing texts, making inferences and predictions. Finally it comes together with end of the week book club work where we are talking about books.

Compared to last year I am having kids write less. I used to give kids a Fact Question Response sheet, with another sheet for an element we were working on (setting, character map etc). But I found that to be a bit much. Some kids struggled with the amount of work, or just simply weren't detailed enough. Instead I've found the workshop model to be more successful, and to give me more time to work with kids on what they are reading.

The best part of it all was in my last group today. We were talking about characters and how we describe them. Kids had listed a variety of traits, internal and external. I did a short read aloud from Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat, focusing in on how Lynne Jonell describes Emmy. At a stopping point I had kids turn and talk to describe Emmy thus far. The room erupted in conversation, and kids were excited to describe her, almost as though they couldn't wait to tell their shoulder partner. When we group shared the level of character traits were fantastic. Kids were making connections to characters in other books (unprompted) and able to explain why they thought Emmy embodied a particular trait ("she has a little bit of mischief in her, because you can see she kinda wants to do what the rat is telling her."). I couldn't have been happier.

Studying Fiction

The first three months of school have been devoted to non-fiction. While I have kids reading fiction through our 20 Book challenge and silent reading time, I haven't placed on emphasis on understanding fiction. My goal has been to develop the non-fiction reading skills, and establish continuity with our social studies content. That will change starting Monday.

I am still navigating the Units of Study for Reading. I like elements of the Reader's Workshop while also liking elements of Guiding Readers and Writers. We'll kick off fiction by getting into book clubs (literature circles). With my 75 kids I'll have 7-9 different books I am using simply because of the sheer number of books needed to get this thing going.

The bulk of the work will be around characters. We are going to start with envisioning. To do that we'll be using our journal to write down details from what we read. Towards the end of the week we will also look at timelines of stories, making notches to chart important events. Once we have established some basic elements (characters, setting, first events) we will look a little deeper at characters. In particular we will start to use those characteristics to make predictions, giving evidence rooted in what we know and our connections with the text. The unit is a work in progress, but I am excited to get it moving.

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Jack Gantos recently released Dead End in Norvelt. I've had a few of his books in my classroom, but really hadn't been interested in digging into them. A few weeks back I opted to give Joey Pigza a whirl, wanting to check in on Gantos before reading his more recent work.

The story is about a boy named Joey Pigza who is different than his peers. More specifically, Joey Pigza has ADHD (or ADD, can't remember which) and finds himself getting into trouble. He struggles to control his impulses including swallowing the key to his house (part of a trick he was performing for his classmates). Joey hasn't had the easiest of lives either. His mom and dad left him with his grandma when he was young, with mom returning when he is now in 4th grade. As the story unfolds you watch the struggles of a family trying to keep it together and cope in the midst of difficulties.

There are many layers to this story. The most obvious teaching point is how students who are not "normal" are perceived, and how they perceive themselves. Seeing the world through different shoes could be really impactful with kids. Another layer is how people cope with difficulty. Joey's mom opts to have Joey mix her a drink, as well as giving in to Joey "needing" some candy. Natural questions are: Why does Joey's mom decide to give in to Joey asking for candy? Is that a good thing? What is that doing for Joey in the short-term/long-term? You are left with the feeling that those who struggle are in a lose-lose situation that is difficult to overcome. If nothing else, it provides kids a perspective that they may not have themselves... particularly if they are of a status where struggle is not common.

Rating: 3 out of 5. Better than average and worth reading. Not necessarily a must read, but definitely useful in the classroom.

Be Thankful

We aren't the craftiest group in 5th grade. We tend to stick to academics, and integrate the arts through some projects. Today was our last day before the Thanksgiving break, a short day of 3 hours.

What can you get done in 3 hours? You can get a Thankful Turkey done! We put together turkeys, and had kids paste them on a piece of construction paper. They needed to write the phrase "I am thankful for..." on the top, and then have 5 things they are thankful for on the feathers. The kids were really reflective, and had great things on those wings (school, family, food, the Earth, etc). They also got to put the turkey in a scene, as we integrated a little bit of our art docent lesson from last week (perspective with foreground and background). Seeing kids make scenes where the turkey was sitting on a plate or being chased by a farmer further illustrated the comedy that starts to develop as kids get older. It is a bit more nuanced than the primary grades.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Numeric Grades and Feedback

Everyone has been there. You worked really hard on a paper, a test, a resume, or something. You submit it and wait. What are you waiting for? You are waiting for the thumbs up or thumbs down that tells you whether you did a good job, or tells you where you stand. Was there feedback given aside from the yes/no/a-ok? Did you read it?

My hunch tells me you didn't genuinely read the feedback. You were content with the A, the B or B-, got it, didn't get it. That was enough feedback for you unless you needed to improve it to jump through a hoop. From there you moved on because you had new things to tackle. You're busy and stopping to really read the comments or feedback takes time, as does integrating the feedback into your habits to make change. I could be wrong, and therefore be guilty of projecting my own educational experience on others. But I don't think so.

Typically I drift to the philosophical question: Why is that? Why does that happen? That doesn't move the needle for me. I have a hunch from my own experience, and I'm comfortable going with that for the time being (that hunch: feedback is a critique on your work, and the truth can be hard to face... whether bad or good. It is easier to get the evaluation and move on). What I am concerned with is the following: How do we change habits to get kids to utilize feedback so they can improve their skill set? Said another way, how do we get kids to not worry about the 3 on the top of the paper and to read the comments for understanding? I say "not worry" because embedded in that question is the fact that kids need to know where they are at. At times they need the 2 or 3 on the paper that symbolizes whether they met the standard (and therefore being on the right track). The 3 provides the comfort that comments don't.

I don't see comments and grades as naturally incongruous. I don't think it is an either or debate. As currently constructed they are, but they don't need to be. That's what I want to tackle next.

PhotoStory in Year 2

In my first year I didn't teach kids PhotoStory. I was trying to keep my head above water, and opted for other methods that students could present their work. In year two, particularly once we went 3 to 1 with netbooks, I broke out PhotoStory with the kids. It was mildly successful, although there were some things I needed to do differently. This year I have busted out PhotoStory fairly early on with big dreams of righting some of my previous mistakes.

The Set-Up
We have been reading about a myriad of American Indian Cultural Regions. To me, this presented an opportunity for us to do the following:
1. categorize information (Geography, Natural Resources, Culture, etc)
2. analyze the information for strengths and weaknesses
3. compare and contrast information from different regions

The big question one always have with this sort of thing is: Now what?! I opted to have kids create a PhotoStory persuading others to settle in that region. In doing that, they would need to synthesize all of that information into a persuasive piece.

Differences in Year Two
One of the things I have done differently is providing enough scaffolding leading up to the PhotoStory. Kids need to practice analyzing information in different ways. They need to look for strengths and explain why they are strengths. These can then be used in their PhotoStory. Another change was printing out the storyboard they used. Instead of having kids type into a form I created, I wanted them to be computer-free. This would keep the focus on the narration and content.

The result has been dramatically different (I think...). We aren't finished, but kids are making great strides. They are writing really persuasive pieces that use specific details to describe their assigned region. They are making comparisons that accurately reflect why their region would be more desireable ("Come to the Southwest region where the climate is always warm and dry unlike the Northwest where it rains all the time."). While it is a different cohort, and we aren't done, I'd like to think the scaffolding has helped them be far more successful.

Learning to Proofread

We worked on our word choice over the past two days. We looked at two samples of writing, one which mimicked some of the formulaic writing I read in our writing assessments and another without the transitions (and more voice). We had partner and whole group conversations about why a piece was or wasn't at standard. Kids talked about how one sounded like a robot, and didn't sound like me. They also talked about the word choice and description.

After showing kids a Wordle word cloud, we had similar conversations. More words, better description, larger cloud. I set kids loose to read an article called the Disappearing Dollar. They needed to pick a side of the debate (Dollar Coin or Dollar Bill), and then write about it. They used Wordle, and eventually posted on our discussion forum. The result? Great writing with voice and word choice. You could actually see a kid talking in a way that mimics their writing. They added details that gave you a mental picture of what they were writing about. Seeing them toggle between word cloud and writing was awesome.

The one downside was in their proofreading. Oh my goodness! I'm not sure if it was because they typed it first, or just weren't paying attention as well as they could have. Either way, their writing ended up lacking that attention to detail that they paid to their word choice.... but proofreading can be fixed. Word choice is far harder. We're making progress!

Tomorrow is the day. Yep. We're going to start to examine our writing a little more closely, and start to put it together into a coherent, multi-sentence, sophisticated piece. I will restate the following from yesterday: My kids can write. Where I am taking issue is with the overall sophistication in their work. At times it is more formula than substance, almost checking off the box on the writing checklist instead of really putting feeling into it. That isn't always, nor with all students, but it is certainly an affliction.

Where we'll start tomorrow is with two examples of tackling the same writing prompt they had yesterday. The first will look a little something like the image to the left after it is been put through Wordle. While it looks like quite a few words, phrases and expressions... it really isn't. It follows the formulaic process of "first, then, next." The writing is also riddled with sentences that are a little empty. For example: "I like running because it is outside. Running outside is fun." Does it accomplish the task of writing and explaining your favorite activity? Kinda. Does it tell you much about this favorite activity? Not really. My example mimics some of the prompts I have read (or parts of them).

Now we'll also look at the example to the right, also from Wordle. The first thing that kids will notice is the volume of words by comparison to the first piece. Hmm, why is that? Word choice and sentence variance. If you change up your sentences, and vary your wording you end up with a larger word cloud. Is a larger word cloud better? It certainly can signal more sophisticated writing, even if "really" and "like" are two of my most used words. The beauty of that is conversation is how it naturally brings us to: How did you get there? At that point there real work begins.

We are going to start from their basic structure. We'll use the topic sentence and details. The difference is that we are going to work on explaining those details or making connections to those details... "Awesome, you like running. What is it about it? Being outside? Tell me what that is like...". We're also not going to beat a dead horse. We're going to do this in response to a news article from Time for Kids about transitioning to the dollar coin. Kids will need to say if it is a good thing or bad thing, and why. It seems like a lot, and is... but should be relevant, challenging, and engaging. We'll use Wordle to check our word choice and volume. Finally, we'll post on Communicator and respond to each other. Big undertaking that should be interesting.

Formulas in Writing

I just finished scoring 75 fall writing assessments. I was struck by the number of similar styles kids used in their writing. Transitions like "First, Second, Third" or "First, Next, and then" were prevalent. There were also a myriad of expansion sentences that didn't add as much as you would want. I learned quite a bit about my kids, but was also left with a variety of questions. Some sentences left me as a reader wanting to know more about a particular topic, but being left a bit on the empty side. My kids can write, that much is certain. When I say my kids, I mean ALL of my kids can write. Really. It's true. But at times I wonder whether the process or formula is getting in the way.

The question that I was left with was: would I rather have kids that can write by formula, or those that have voice but could struggle to get started? To me, I'd rather the former than the latter. I think it is easier to model clay than to make clay. If kids have a fall back, default to which they can utilize when they struggle, then I am all for it. Everyone needs a safe zone. While I am great a motivating, writing can be an intense struggle for kids. It is like any area where kids struggle (math, reading, anything): I'm not good at it so why try. The mountain at that point becomes Everest, not one of those small east coast mole hills (I can say that being an ex-east coaster).

We as teachers need to do a better job giving kids tools for their toolbox. I use Units of Study, which has more of a flowy, go through the writing process approach. Others tend to use Step Up to Writing... formula, transitions, IVF, here is how it is done. Both work. But kids need a little bit of both. My challenge is to ensure that their voices get louder as they use (or break free of) these transitions and formulas.

When Tech Tools Disappear

Teaching today isn't quite teaching from 20 years ago. The technology innovations, and their prevalence have made their use (and teaching of how to use them) a vital part of practice. Ultimately, if we are to prepare kids for a future we need to embed these tools in our work. We need to do this even if we don't know what the future looks like. One thing is for certain: the toothpaste isn't going back in the tube, and technology isn't going away.

My district has a technology levy, and the use of technology is expected. We are actually paid to be trained to use particular tools (in fact I helped create a class for this year). I think the funding comes through the levy, although I might be wrong (I have been known to forget). The funny thing about these classes is that they are tech tool dependent. If the tool goes away, your class doesn't exist.

That brings me to an issue that arose on Friday. One of the tools that my district adopted is going away... and we don't know when! The company that is responsible for managing the tool (an online forum/portal that was secure) is pulling it from the market because of an economic slowdown issue. We don't know when it will be unavailable, we just know it is going away. There is an upside to this: the same strategies we were using for an online forum can be translated into in-class work. Instead of posting online, I can have students print responses and post them on a bulletin board. Kids can then make handwritten or typed responses to reply. I could also have them email or send responses to a dropbox. I can then print them with names, or anonymously, for kids to reply to. We can analyze and give feedback in small group or whole class settings.

The beauty of the online format has been seeing kids respond to each other. They've agreed/disagreed and been specific in their feedback. Kids can then go back and edit, which they have! The power of the online discussion has let kids who are quieter move to equal footing. Seeing this tool go away (although they are going to find another service that is similar) will be sad. But it is just part of the world we live in... things change, innovation happens... global slowdowns happen!

Wildwood by Colin Meloy

My school just had a book fair hosted by the University Bookstore. It was well done, and had many quality books. One of the books I picked up was Wildwood by Colin Meloy. Yep, it is the same Colin Meloy who is the lead singer for the Decemberists. Let me tell you this: it is 500+ pages of wonderful.

The story is about Prue McKeel and her journey to find her brother. You see, her brother Mac was swooped up by crows and taken to a wooden area called the Impassable Wilderness. Those familiar with Portland OR (where the book is set) will recognize this as much like Forest Park. Along the way she runs into a boy in her class named Curtis who follows her into the wilderness, thus beginning a long and weird sequence of events.
In the wilderness they meet a band of talking coyote soldiers, a postman delivering mail to different parts of the "wood" and other assorted talking animals. What Prue doesn't realize is that 1) she is special and connected to the wilderness somehow, and 2) she needs to save her brother before the former ruler of the Wood, the Dowager Governess, feeds Mac to the ivy (yep, I said it was weird!).

While a relatively large book, I think kids will identify with the characters. They will enjoy Prue and her quirkiness, as well as her determination to find her brother. They'll also like how Meloy weaves the animals in the story. The animals bring a different dimension, embodying many of the traits of humans while as maintaining their animal qualities. I'm excited for my kids to read it.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Long but well written with threads that ensure the story moves along.  

Discussion in Online Formats

I enjoy getting kids talking to each other. While I enjoy talking, that isn't the most effective format for learning. Kids need to wrestle with ideas, and discuss things thoughtfully with their peers. Previously I've done that in a myriad of ways. We'll have literature circle groups where kids talk about books. We will also talk as a whole group, debating using thumbs up/down (or through "clickers"/Activotes) and talking about why we agree/disagree. Those have been great strategies, and I plan to continue to use them.

Currently I'm in my second full week of using Communicator with my kids. In short, it is an online, secure portal where my 5th graders can post to a discussion board, post on a blog, and create a wiki. I can effectively track their work using an RSS feed. All the while no one needs to worry about outsider drifters coming in and doing anything elicit. Hooray! We're using each of the functions in a different capacities, and with different rates of success so far.

What I'm most excited about is the discussion their having currently. Thus far I have posted two analysis/judgement questions for them to respond to, each linked to our work in Social Studies. They needed to evaluate different landforms/geographic features, and explain which would be most difficult to settle near. This required understanding of landforms, and their potential impact on humans. The conversation has been great! We've started posting our responses, and quickly the question turned to "can I reply to someone else?" I limited that at first, modelling how we want to give constructive feedback that is specific (positive and negative). The response has been overwhelming. Seeing my kids give great feedback and edit their posts to make them more specific has been wonderful, and precisely what I was hoping for.

Not all kids thrive on the in-class discussion. This other method is simply another way for me get kids engaged, and get kids talking to each other. So far, so good!

Data and Teaching

I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine the other day. She was talking about how her school was climbing up the missed AYP ladder that NCLB has established. Ultimately that has resulted in her school focusing on teaching to the test- the results of that not yielding what they (school/district admin) have hoped (still really low, still "failing").

I understand the argument against one high stakes test. There are kids who have really good days, as well as really bad days. A kid might miss the standard by one question, whereas one makes it by a question. The delineation seems somewhat arbitrary, and the kids mentioned above usually are very similar in their skill sets. Eliminating the test wholesale isn't really a valid option for me. I'm ok with the idea that we need a yearly measuring stick. It could be helpful information for kids, parents, and teachers.

What I struggle to grasp is the logic behind teaching to the test. I understand the stakes that necessitate this sort of practice- jobs are at stake for adults, funding for the school, things of that nature. But if the test is based on the state standards, why not just continue to use the state standards? My teaching is rooted in those standards, and I make sure to periodically check which standards I still need to incorporate as the year goes on. I'll use some of the state released test items throughout the year, but not as my only teaching materials. They are a means of exposing kids to the question format, as well as test-taking strategies. But as a whole, when we use the released items I highlight the strategies we already use (go back to the text, look for clues, monitoring to see if the story or response makes sense).

The whole concept made me scratch my head. I've really tried to get away from the national/political end of education. But comes up from time to time and I'm still left confounded. I won't even get into the other issue at hand: who is actually responsible when cohort groups don't achieve, and what should be done with that information (the former being an easier question to answer than the latter I think).

Book Reviews and Communicator

Tonight's homework was to write a book review of indeterminate length on the book of your choice. I started with the idea of who has "liked, kinda liked, or loved" a book before. Virtually every hand goes up. I then asked, "who has thought 'man this book has stunk, or wasn't very good'?" To that a variety of hands went up. Fantastic! Everyone has an opinion, and some people actually get paid to give it through book reviews (not to mention book reviews). I was aiming at relevancy, and think it was achieved when I found some kids (particularly those less included to write/read) got that crooked head, "really?" look!

For me this is a starting point. Who can take an assignment like this and organize it into a piece of writing that makes sense?! Who struggles and needs more scaffolding to make their writing happen? Other items will come out of this too, such as who was really in need of support and tried like gangbusters alone... or who needed that parental support. To each of my groups I prefaced this with don't worry about writing a giant piece, but instead work until you feel finished or feel like you can't add anything. We'll go from there.

Not only does this start some of my writing work, it helps me with content for our online portal. We use a site called Communicator, a secure portal that lets us host an internal site with a blog, wiki, and discussion board function. Book reviews will be central to this. Kids always ask "what book should I read next?" and I often say... "ask a friend." This will be a great way to get kids interested in reading other kids books... and writing for an authentic audience. I am excited!

A Long Three Weeks

I essentially crawled into a hole for the last three weeks. My focus has been on getting everything set for school, getting to know my kids, and marathon training. Yep, I'm currently two week out from my fall marathon so that was sucking up time also! In the last three weeks we've had our first day, welcome back assembly, welcome back bbq, done pre-assessments, grouped kids for our rotations, met about special education students, and had curriculum night. This week seems like it is the first without anything really happening as far as events are concerned.

Where are we at? We're in a good place. Our groups are rolling, which means that kids are now knee deep in Social Studies/Literacy work. We've discussed non-fiction features, and been using them to find information. We've also started to did into geography, and kids have really been digging it. My homeroom has started a little beginning of the year project also: their biographies as word clouds. We start by typing up a short bio of ourselves (at least 10 sentences). Then we plug it into Wordle. From there, we need to look at the cloud to decide whether we want some words to be larger or not... if so, you need to write more about it! We've been doing it on our netbooks as well, so the sound of kids just typing away and whispering to their table group is pretty awesome. The talking you tend to get when kids are struggling to get going can be frustrating- this wasn't one of those times.

Could I write more today... sure. Instead I need to vow to blog more often. So I will! Perhaps a snip of my Wordle coming this week.

The Endless Summer

My first two years of teaching I had mixed emotions about the end of summer. While I was excited to teach, I was also longing for some more time in the sun (and sleeping in past 6am). This year has a different feel. Once Monday hit, I was excited and ready to be back. I was ready for a little structure in my life created by waking up at 6 every morning, and a schedule with the kiddos.

All of that was brought home yesterday. Yesterday was my school's Meet and Greet. It is an opportunity to families to come to school, check out their classroom, meet their teacher, introduce themselves, and tour around the facilities. The number of people in our 5th grade was astounding, which is fantastic since that means a large turnout. Some of my former kiddos came by to say hello too (also great). The best part about it is feeling the energy in the building- kids are nervous and excited, the same going for adults. Many (kids and adults) are excited for school to start back up.

This is it. The last weekend of summer.

Darth Paper Strikes Back

I made my rounds of local bookstores on Friday. I typically like to have a good feel for books that are out and available, which means visiting every few weeks. When I visited the UBookstore by the University of Washington, I came across the sequel to The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. I loved Origami Yoda, but wasn't all that crazy about Angleberger's second book Horton Halfpott.

The back story is as follows... a geeky 6th grader named Dwight has made an Origami Yoda that he puts on his finger. He offered advice to kids who thought he was crazy, but often followed the advice (sort of like "I'm not really sure what to do, so I might as well follow yoda"). Yoda often turned them in the right direction... or was it Dwight?

The entire first story is mini-stories, vignettes, from kids that used origami yoda successfully. Along the way, a kid named Harvey is the villain to Dwight's hero. He cast the shadow of doubt about yoda being true, instead offering up the suggestions that Dwight is just talking crazy, or that the advice is ambiguous (for Star Wars fans, isn't Yoda always ambiguous!?!). In the end we don't find out whether Dwight is yoda or not, leading us into Darth Paper Strikes Back.

Harvey loves Star Wars too, making his own origami... Darth Paper. In the first story everything goes right... in this one, without the guidance of origami yoda (since he might to be kicked out of school for details I won't reveal), Darth Paper brings about the ways of the dark side. What can go wrong does go wrong. The story is about trying to make sure Dwight doesn't get kicked out of school. It is well done, just as the first one was, and a tremendously fast read. Well done.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Only gripe is that it is dangerously close to the first story, following the same story pattern. I'd like to see a bit more variation, but still really enjoyed it.

The Curse of the Bane

It has been a few weeks since I have put up a book review. That is largely because I've lacked some of the desire to push through books. Whether it is the sun, the Internet, or something else, I've dwadled through this last book.

I really enjoyed the first book in the Last Apprentice series. I likened the book to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, but more realistic and with a mixture of old world witchcraft lore. The second book, the Curse of the Bane, started very slowly. We are reintroduced to the Spook and his 13 year old apprentice Tom Ward. Tom is the 7th son of a 7th son, which makes him special in old world lore.

The crux of this story surrounds the Bane. It is an old creature that used to wreck havoc on the countryside, but was bound to the catacombs under the city of Priestown. Now the Spook is going back to try and finish off the Bane once and for all. Along the way there are a myriad of complications, the biggest being the Quisitor. Why is he the biggest obstacle? He is judge, jury and executioner for witches or those that deal with the dark. Unlike the Spook, he has little or no idea of how to identify those aforementioned people, essentially making him a thief and crooked government official. The story makes me want to read the third in the series (it has at least 8 books), but I've got a few others to read first.

Rating: 3 of 5. Was better than average (I don't want to give a score of 2.5, that is like being noncommital) but not great. Next up is either Darth Paper Strikes Back or NERDS.

Technology and Instruction

My district is moving towards mobile devices in the classroom. On the elementary level it is a 3-1 ratio, and on the secondary level it is 1-1. I'm really excited about it. I was part of the pilot this past spring, and really enjoyed it. The goal is to make it so that kids aren't just getting technology in isolated instances (i.e. "let's go to the tech lab for our technology time"). The netbooks can be woven into any of your lessons, helping you teach paperless and getting kids to collaborate safely. Love it!

I can combine that with the fact that I have 12 desktops in my classroom. Since my classroom is a former shared space, connected to 4 different classrooms but not the main hallway, I inherited other people's computers. It was a place where computers were so that they didn't have to be in the classroom- a little silly to me, but I understand some space concerns. The desktops are a tremendous asset. I can use the netbooks, or have the desktops if a teammate is using mine. I have enough for roughly half my group which works well. The flexibility it provides is great, and makes sure I've got technology available whenever needed... assuming I am using best practices, not just technology for technology's sake.

Sorting Through the Rubble

Today was as good a day as any to organize my classroom. My wife was in literacy trainings, and the clouds looked (although weren't) threatening. I want to dig into curriculum work, but really want to get through some clutter first. The goal was to take my classroom from assortment of miscellaneous furniture to being an organized assortment of miscellaneous furniture that looks like a classroom. I think I accomplished that goal.

Above are two images of what my classroom looked like post-school year, and post-cleaning. There are a few issues I wanted to resolve. The first I resolved a few weeks before, and can be seen in the first image: put the computers against the wall. When the tables are perpindicular to the wall they jut out, and allow for kids to play with the cords. Who doesn't like to pull out a mouse cord, or unplug a monitor?! The second thing I needed to do was create a space for my student "mailboxes." Perhaps that deserves a second post entirely, but I really struggled with take home mail routines. Kids get returned work or some announcements (usually the latter is once a week) put in their mailboxes, but rarely take them home. My thought was that it was due to the clunky tall blue mailboxes (kinda blurry in the picture on the left) that were positioned away from the door. I needed to rectify that situation!

Above are three shots, from left to right of my classroom (while standing on my desk!). You can see a few things: first is that I created a space by the door for my student take home mail. It is on a rectangular table that used to have two computers on it. In a game called "Musical Table Swap" I took the table in the first image up top (with nothing on it) and put two computers on it, thereby allowing me to move that to the door, and the table by the door to the center table group. I am not sure I'll keep that table there, but I might. I also was able to create space for an extra bookshelf (the far right side of the last picture) by moving it right by the door.

My three big organizational think-abouts for the next few days are: 1) How do I want to execute my student returned work, and mail process? 2) How do I want to use my wallspace effectively this year? and 3) Where can I create more space for new books in my classroom?

Dude, Where's My Planbook?

My first year I taught using the traditional planbook. I'd essentially fill in a basic schedule, and a generic title for what I was teaching (i.e. "Sunken Ship, GLE 3.2" etc). I would do more extensive planning using a form I adapted from student teaching, laying out objectives and student/teacher actions. That process really didn't lend itself to being very reflective, since it was in a book that I really didn't want to flip back through (why flip backwards, when you can fill it going forwards?!).


During that year my district started using OneNote. Essentially: a binder with pages where you can use it as you would Word, but share it on a network with others. Pretty great for work done as a team, since each teammate can add, subtract, edit or view the document (assuming they are on the network). You create a section like you would in a regular binder, then create pages to fit in those sections. You can insert files, add links, pictures, to-do's, questions, notes etc. I really didn't start using it for my own practice until the summer when I thought it would be a great way for me to record my notes about books I was planning to use with kids in guided reading or literature circles. That gave me the brilliant idea of taking notes about on the various pieces of Units of Study for Writing... leading me into using it as my planbook.


I was excited about continuing that usage this year. My hope was to go back through the notes from the start of the year this week (since I actually made notes in the margins, and had to-do's in the plans- something I didn't do as much of with the pencil/paper version). Unfortunately I need to start from scratch this year. Why you ask? Because I had my computer re-imaged since our district is going to Windows 7! I pulled a ton of stuff off the desktop before summer, anticipating the re-imaging. But when I inquired about when laptops would be re-imaged I was told that they weren't planning to do anything with them until the fall. When I went in to do some curriculum work for technology this past week I was able to work my way into getting it updated (teacher desktops were done, but I don't have a desktop... I have a laptop!)... and hence lost the stuff I hadn't put on the network or my flash drive. Bummer.


Next time I'll tread more lightly instead of hastily jumping for joy that they were going to upgrade my laptop!

Emerald Atlas

A bit of disclosure: I once worked in a bookstore. It was around the time that Harry Potter was coming out in movie form, and JK Rowling was ever-delaying the release of her next book. The hordes of crazed parents wanting the next book, or asking for one of the other books (after ignoring the giant stacks of them directly in front of their faces) turned me off from reading the Harry Potter series.

With that in mind I introduce you to the Emerald Atlas. If you believe the hype, it has a chance to replace Harry Potter in kidlit lore (not sure why I believe the hype since I didn't read Harry Potter, see above). The Emerald Atlas is the story of three children, orphans, who are sent to a new orphanage in Cambridge Falls. It is an odd place since there are no other children there, and it seemed to appear out of nowhere. What happens next is a story of time travel, and fighting against evil.

Kate, Michael, and Emma are unaware of how (or why) they are time traveling. Along the way they find out the town of Cambridge Falls is being held captive by an evil Countess. She discovers who the kids are, and how they are important in the grand scheme of things. Later the kids meet a mysterious Dr. Pym who reveals some of their past, as well as some of their future. The hunt is on for the (Emerald) Atlas, and the other two Books of Beginning that have been hidden away by magicians for hundreds of years. I'll stop there for fear or revealing too much of the plot.

Rating: 5 of 5. Different from my other Mock Newbery contenders, but has a chance. Harry Potter fans may scoff at how good it is, and the comparisons, but it seems to fit for me!

Bookstores, Beastologists, and the Internet

About two months ago, Borders Books and Music announced they were closing up shop. It seemed like a foregone conclusion to me because of how well their direct competitor, Barnes and Noble, has done (note: I worked at Borders in college and enjoyed it, likely owing my love of books to that job). That got me thinking: what would happen if all bookstores went by the wayside? Would shopping for kids books be the same if you just used your one-click Amazon.com shopping?

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll admit that I shop at a variety of book outlets. I hit Barnes and Noble to browse the new books, picking up books to see if my kids might like them. I head over the Ravenna Third Place Books for their mixture of new and used books. I get more bang for my buck there. Lastly, I shop Amazon when I am a little lazy and know what I want. Often that means buying more than I should because I want free shipping!

The Internet is a big part of the bookseller demise. I'll admit that Amazon is fantastic, and I can get virtually everything I'm looking for (not a guarantee at the other options). But I will seldom buy books there sight unseen. Why? My preference is to be able to flip through the book prior to purchase. While Amazon lets you read the first few pages, but sometimes you need to see if there are illustrations, or a variance in text later on (or chapter length etc).

That leads me to Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist. I likely wouldn't have purchased this book without a trip to the bookstore. I saw it faced out at Barnes and Noble (as an aside, I saw recommendations for the book the Emerald Atlas on twitter, bringing about this trip). I thought the book looked slim on pages for my kiddos but the cover was intriguing. As I flipped through the text looked to appropriate and the writing was engaging. Since I was buying other books, I opted to bring this along. Great choice. It is approachable for kids in the middle grades, not overwhelming like some of the 200-300+ page books. It fits into that category of realistic fantasy without being too wordy. I'm excited I got it. It isn't a Newbery winner or contender, but a nice addition to the library. Hopefully neither of my brick and mortar bookstores will go under any time soon.

Bird in a Box

Bird in a Box was another of the books I'd purchased for my Mock Newbery Project. The story was one that I ended up enjoying, but that took me some time to fall into. It is three separate but connected stories. Set in the 1930's, these three African American kids have seen more than most kids should have seen. Their stories are set against the backdrop of the famous boxer Joe Louis having his fights broadcast to radios across the country.

The three stories are engaging in their own right. Each chapter is a point in time, with a section for each child. Where I caught myself looking back into the book was in differentiating Willie from Otis. One has fled his abusive father, while the other had his parents pass away in a car accident. They become tied together through the orphanage they are living in. Following me? I know a few of my kids will be lost in the stories of each kid, later getting confused as they try to connect events to each character.

Overall I really enjoyed the story. You could feel the pain of each character, but also the hope that they held close to their hearts. I wonder if the story would have felt more cohesive if it expanded more on one character rather than having all three. All three were well done, but they seemed like vignettes at times. I certainly see this as a Newbery contender. One of my favorites of the summer.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Social Studies/Reading Notebooks

When I started two years ago my team was hoping we would integrate social studies and reading together. In effect, I'd teach a major of reading through the social studies content with some use of our reading textbook (as a supplement). At that time we had just adopted a new set of social studies materials, which conveniently came with a student journal. There were some elements of the journal, and I used them often, but there were quite a few pages I opted not to use for one reason or another.

This year we are going into our second year without the student journal that accompanies the material set. While we still have access to the pages (in pdf form), I've moved to tailoring my journals to the reading instruction I'm doing (the pages are more content based instead). Last year's experiment was largely successful. I would write questions aimed at strategies I was teaching, or at content I hoped kids to uncover. The questions were glued into student journals, and they'd respond below the question strip. This cut down on paper usage, but monitoring journals was a monster pain. Additionally this didn't account for any of the reading work (fiction/non-social studies) we were doing.

As I've been going through Guiding Readers I realized I need to better organize the student journals. The first full page is going to be their table of contents where we'll log each entry. I'll model this with my own journal under the document camera. A sample might look something like:

• 9/19 p. 1 The Hunger Games response


• 9/20 p. 1 Hunger Games response/S.S 1.2-3 Questions


• 9/21 p. 2 Catching Fire response/S.S 1.3 Questions

With each day they will write a minimum of a few sentences about what they are reading. Beyond modelling this at the start of the year, I will also have a few options for students to chose from in writing about their book- summarize what they read, describe a character, analyze a character's actions, etc... Students will have choice over time, but we'll start with more structure and guidance as part of the gradual release process. To help the monitoring process I'll collect journals every week (or every third week since I have 3 groups... that part isn't fleshed out yet) to give feedback. I can look through journals to see what kids are saying, and how they are interpreting text. I might also have the journals as a way for kids to keep a record so that they can create a written response in our online blackboard-esque system at the end of the week (alleviating some of the legwork with journals on my end). This will also start to simulate more dialogue about books. The prospect of having a written dialogue is exciting for me, and one that I want to move in the direction of.

Lack of Top Scores

As I've been perusing sites for Mock Newbery possibilities one thing has become apparent: people don't like giving out top ratings. No matter if the top end is 4 or 5, you seldom see it. Now it isn't to say that I am dishing out top scores left and right, but I couldn't help feeling a little angry. "Angry?," you say. Yep, angry. Why is that?

In the day and age of everyone getting stars and ribbons, I'm here to tell you the top score should be given out cautiously. Let's be frank: some books are better than others. This is obviously subjective, but I think we can agree that not all books are "great". Some books are ok for one reason or another- plot, storyline, character, author's voice, etc. Additionally, some books just aren't very good because of a similar set of characters as those that are ok but usually with more deficiencies. You can add onto that other issues like font and styling which are the publisher's work, not the author's, and play a big role in a book's perception. Would you bring every book into your classroom? I doubt it.

Now that we've established that there is a gradiant, my question is why do we see so few top end scores in reviews? Is it because there just aren't great books out there? To me both arguments fail to hold water. Great literature does come out every year (umm, the Newbery Award? various local awards like Sasquatch and Young Readers Choice?). The awards aren't foolproof, but they do often have a stringent criteria and aren't to be taken lightly.

Is it because we are comparing books to childhood favorites? I'm not comparing Okay For Now to Where the Red Fern Grows to see if I feel the same. Instead I need to assess the book based on some sort of written or unwritten criteria, and decide if it is great or worthy of that top end score. I use Okay For Now because it I felt like it was great. For a book set in the 1960s-70s to make someone not having lived through that era to make someone enter that world is incredible. The depth of character was fantastic, and the storyline kept you wanting to read on in a non-action story. I don't expect everyone to have the same feeling, but I can't help wondering why it is 4 out of 5 out 4.5 out of 5. That is the equivalent of saying it gets an 80% or 90%. Really? Not in that top percentile?

I don't expect every book to receive a top rating. But as I scroll through reviews I can't help but feel like people are holding unattainable standards. When you see 30+ books and they have 1 (or 2) that is top end, you start to question those doing the rating. The same can be said if all reach 5 stars- it just isn't likely!

The Trouble With May Amelia

Have you ever been reading a book that you were told was really good, but you were only passively interested in? That about sums up my experience with The Trouble With May Amelia by Jennifer Holm. The story is a sequel to Our Only May Amelia which was a Newbery Honor Award recipient in 2000. I found my experience with this story to be similar to my experience with The Penderwicks. I'll digress to that in a second.

The Trouble With May Amelia is one of the Mock Newbery recommended books for 2012. From those that I have seen on goodreads, and via various library blogs, this was to be a fantastic book. The storyline surrounds a girl named May Amelia Jackson who is growing up in Washington state at the turn of the 20th century. Her family is Finnish, and have settled in an unincorporated area on the Nasel River. This area is accessible only by boat, and the living is tough.

May Amelia's family struggles to get by with the work on the farm, and with many children (all 7 are boys except for May!). May Amelia fights for her place in her family, particularly as her father has proclaimed girls to be useless. The real trouble begins when a man comes to town looking for stakeholders in a company that plans to incorporate a town in this otherwise inaccessible area. The plans are to make this the Seattle to the south. It is then that the story really picks up, and you watch the growth of May Amelia and her family.

What I discovered through reading this story is rather simple: I struggle identifying with protagonists that are female. This was the same experience I had with the Penderwicks. I found myself wanting the main characters to stop needing to prove themselves as able or ready. The Penderwick girls were confident, but the story didn't give them enough assertiveness. I wanted them to act a bit more, which perhaps is another similarity in the stories (and might be another issue I have these types of stories). May Amelia proved herself to be more than able, but I wanted her to be more assertive. I stuck with it to see what would happen to May Amelia, and to see if she'd change.

Rating: 3 out of 5. Well written, aside from lack of quotation marks (my kiddos may be annoyed by this). Storyline was good but dragged. Last 60+ pages (last third) were well done.

Organizing My Week

I have yet to find an order to my week that is to my liking. That statement was true until earlier today. To digress, one area I have been looking to hone in is how I organize my reading instruction. Previously it has been a hodgepodge of social studies instruction, literature circles, and word study.

I've used the non-fiction in social studies as my vehicle for reading strategies, and it has worked out ok. Literature circles came about as I said "oh goodness (perhaps another nasty word substituted there) fiction is a gaping hole! how can that be?!" The literature circles were an attempt to get kids reading fiction in a more holistic manner, as the 5th grade reader only presents part of books... and how do you really understand what an author is doing when you don't see the beginning, middle, and end? Word study was another "oh goodness..." sort of remark, since word derivations are a 5th grade standard (get it, derived?! word study joke!).

Looking at Guiding Readers today, I came to the realization that I have a basic structure already in place. My challenge is sticking to it, and picking out the most important pieces. What does that structure look like?

• Monday: Reader's Workshop- 5 to 10 minute mini-lesson; 50 minutes with guided reading groups, and including some reading response work towards the end.


• Tuesday: Social Studies- content and strategy work; critical thinking and response; writing with some use of Units of Study


• Wednesday: Word Work Wednesday- depends on the focus, but it has largely amounted to work with prefixes, suffixes, latin/greek roots, that sort of thing.


• Thursday: Social Studies- content and strategy work; critical thinking and response; writing with some use of Units of Study


• Friday: Social Studies- content and strategy work; critical thinking and response; writing with some use of Units of Study

Now in the Social Studies time the overall breakdown is 15 minutes of Independent/Guided Reading, and 40-45 minutes of content. That allows me to continue to work with readers and give them specific instruction tailored to their reading needs.

A few other things have become apparent. First is that I need to have kids organize their Social Studies journal. My plan is to use is as a reading/social studies journal, with kids keeping track of their work in a table of contents. This is already done in science, so it will be a continuation of that practice. I'll also be able to track their progress with kids leaving their journals for me to check periodically. The second piece is that I will need to be flexible in my use of that Friday time, allowing for kids to meet face to face with their literature circle group. I hope to pair this with the online component where they'll be blogging and message boarding. Organization will be key, particularly for me. The earlier I hone my process for the kids, the smoother this will go. The end should be more strategic instruction, and increased learning... or so I hope.

Theodore Boone... Grisham's Foray Into KidLit

I was never much of a John Grisham fan. In fact, I'm not a huge law person. I like laws, and the order that they can create, but I'm not overwhelmed by their intricacies. It should come as no surprise that I wasn't jumping at the first chance to purchase Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer when it first came out a year or so ago. Seeing it in paperback made for a far more appealing and cost effective purchase.

To be brief: Theodore Boone is the only son of two lawyers, living in a mid-sized city (I think it said 75k people or so- more on that later). He loves the law and wants to be a lawyer. Kids in town ask him for help, and he happens to know about all of those associated with the law in his town. When the first murder in 50+ years happens, everyone is fascinated by the case, Theo included.

The story takes a variety of twists and turns, and doesn't necessarily finish up in the end. Of course it is left open for a second story, which you get the first 3 pages of at the end (Theodore Boone, the Abduction). This first story felt more like an introduction than a full blown story. You learn about Theo, his family, the major case, and the big players in the legal field in town. But you really aren't brought from beginning to end like many stories.

I have 2 other issues with the story: the first is Theo as a character, and the second is the setting. Obviously those are two major issues! Theo is only in middle school (or junior high), yet his legal prowess seems very advanced. I think many of my students would question the plausibility of this fella! His access to legal areas, and his overall knowledge of the legal field were far and away beyond any typical kid. It isn't that all kids need to be normal or average, but you do need to be able to identify with them... he seemed a tad more adult than most. The setting is a gripe for me, but perhaps not for my kiddos. In size, it is like many of the towns/cities surrounding Seattle... except larger (by about 25k). The old time feel of the town simply doesn't jive. To me that is more an issue with getting your facts straight. But... you need to be able to believe the author to believe the story as it progresses, which is why it is an issue.

Rating: 2 of 5. Not a bad first go at children's books for Grisham, but left quite a bit to be desired from the prolific adult writing.

Inside Out and Back Again

I'm slowly working my way through the books on the Mock Newbery 2012 list. Is there an official list? No. But there are different sites, libraries and librarians, that are starting to compile a list of possible contenders. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai is on that list. If I were to use one word to describe it, it would be: moving.

This wasn't entirely what I'd expected. I had briefly read a few reviews, and saw it on multiple lists, so purchased it feeling it would likely pan out as a good investment. What I didn't know until it arrived was that it was a story written as poetry. Poetry. Hmm. I'm not a real big poet, feeling like a fish out of water or a bull in a chinashop. I fear what I perceive to be the flow and rhythm. I fear not understanding the message the author is implying.

I dove into this head first, at least after the first few pages where I waded in cautiously. In conquering the above fears I found the story moving and powerful. It is the story of a girl living it Vietnam in a time of internal strife. Her father is gone missing, part of the war effort. Her family, struggling to survive, eventually leaves on a boat to Guam. From there they leave as refugees to the United States, Alabama to be exact. It is at that point that I truly felt Ha's (the girl) struggle. She is smart, kind, and strong, but mocked as a stranger in a new place. The struggle to fit in pulls at the heartstrings, and her interactions in the school brought me to my own classroom. I wondered about the ELL students in my classroom, and the struggles that they must experience (even on a much different level). The story made me wonder about my own practice and how I can develop into a champion for my ELL students.

Rating: 4.5 of 5. I struggled with it in the beginning but the middle to end were magnificent. Certainly a contender for the Newbery Award in 2012.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Sometimes you've got to read the books that you've got. When I started two, almost three, years ago I inherited a decent sized classroom library. One problem with that: they were relatively dated. By dated I mean 10+ years from publication date in most cases, and that is being generous. Therein is the challenge for the teacher. How do you make sure that you have new books that kids see in bookstores like Barnes and Noble (believe it or not they still actually go there, I've seen them!) as well as old books?

Part of that challenge is alleviated by publishers sprucing up books with new covers. New covers make timeless books look relevant to kids today. Out with the smaller, thicker, tiny font books (mass market books as they are called by booksellers). In with the slightly larger, more space between lines/font, and shiny cover. That is what led me to Hatchet.

I have about 10 copies of Hatchet at school. I opted not to use it for novel study/literature circle because of the size of the book, and the size of the print. It had also been some time since I'd read it myself (although I am not 100% sure I read it as I am confusing it with Call of the Wild). After reading it, I think I'll use it. The story of Brian surviving in wilderness for almost 2 months is moving. I think kids will see the story of growth, and conquering fear in an empowering manner. How can I do that? or I can be just like Brian, taking control of my anger. Perhaps it is far-fetched, but I do see where kids will at the very least be able to identify with the themes in the story. Now I pick up a few more with the fancy cover... hmmm.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5. I prefer books with more dialogue but the story was very good, and you wanted to know what would come of Brian as he struggled to survive in the wilderness.

What to do?

Yesterday I needed to drive over to my district office. Since I was making the commute I figured I should stop by school to assess where my classroom is at. I stayed for about 40 minutes, and resisted the urge to start arranging furniture.

There are some furniture issues I want to take care of in the coming weeks. I have a cabinet, one that has a TV on it that I don't really want, which is difficult to organize. I'm considering building shelving for the inside of it, at least on the right side. The left side of it is my construction paper area. That is one issue. Another issue is that I need to make some changes to my book shelving. I have a few bookcases, two which are stacked, to hold most of my classroom library. The problem is that I have book sets that I need to better organize, and I buy books regularly (necessitating the purchase of another bookcase).

What else needs to happen? Physically I need to move some computers around to give greater access to my whiteboard (which is largely blocked). I need to clean out some leftover things that have accumulated, and which I don't want! That can be added onto the curricular pieces I want to work on. Alas, shutting down work for a few days before really pushing once August hits.

Small Persons With Wings

Summer book reviews continue! Fancy that. Small Persons With Wings (by Ellen Booraem) is another potential Newbery Award book this year, at least if you follow some of those trying to predict the winner. Do I agree? Not so much.

Small Persons With Wings is a story of growing up and make believe. Mellie has grown up with a "small person with wings," a fairy by any other description (but they don't like to be called that). She has enjoyed having Fidius around so much that she told all of her classmates about him. When she tried to bring him in for show and tell he left, leaving her with nothing to show (and resulting in being made fun of by her peers). Worse is that she seemingly hijacked a birthday party of one of the cool kids, leaving her to feel that girls wrath throughout her childhood.

Mellie is referred to counselling because of this make believe issue. When her parents come in for an intervention, they confess that fairies don't exist. The result is Mellie stifling her beliefs, and pouring herself into art and science books to keep out the make believe thoughts. The family eventually needs to move to Boston because they've been told that Mellie's grandfather has passed away. Upon arrival they meet a horde of fairies, the Parvi Pennati, which prompts her parents to admit that they are aware of the existence of these small fairies... er, small persons with wings. The rest of the story takes the reader on a journey learning about the Parvi, why they are there, and a plan to help the Parvi return what they've lost over the years.

Does this book have a home in my classroom? Absolutely. I enjoyed it, particularly because of the lessons about bullying and self image embedded in the storyline. I think it has a niche with those students that like a little twist on reality, added fantasy to your typical storyline without too much of a departure. Where it falls short of some other books is that the story seemed to drag too much in the middle. The beginning pushed you along and you felt for Mellie. Once you arrived in the middle too much time was spent on the Parvi, magic, and the people next door. It had enough twists to keep you interested, but not enough meat in the story to really make you want to finish (*I used to be a big closer of books that I lost interest in, but have since opted to try and finish most of my summer reading in order to be fluent in kid lit.) I don't see the Newbery in its future, but we'll see.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Cursory Understanding

Piggybacking off yesterday's post about patient problem solving, I stumbled upon a great find. Way back at the start of July the Tempered Radical posted about the death of the Google Wonderwheel, a tool that broke down complex concepts into smaller pieces that are related (and may be part of what you are looking for). In truth, I'd completely forgotten about it during our CBA research this spring. It would have been really fantastic for kids to break down broad issues with complex relationships, or at the very least distill them into more manageable, bite-sized pieces.

The Radical posted about a tool called WikiSummarizer. Essentially you type in search terms, or concepts you are researching, and they are distilled into related topics found via wikipedia. Now it isn't foolproof, but gosh it would have been really helpful. How? Well that brings us back to the notion of patient problem solving.

Say you are one of my students and you have seen a news story on deforestation (maybe a 30 second spot, 60 seconds if you're lucky). You decide that you want to work on the issue of deforestation for your CBA (classroom based assessment). The major premise is that you think it should be stopped because you know that trees are important for the environment-- big bummer that loggers are cutting down the trees ("stop the loggers!"). Where search becomes problematic is that you have a limited knowledge base to draw from in your assessment, yet you are intensely interested in the topic (bike safety? not a big bike rider, not so much. clean drinking water? doesn't seem applicable in our developed area.. etc). Interest is important, but it begins to wear thin when the articles you are trying to decipher are over your head. Patience only goes so far, and certainly can erode even the most interested and patient problem solvers.

Enter the Wikisummarizer, or so I envision. Kids might not necessarily use it first, but it can be in that first tier of resources. After kids start their search, they can refer to the wikisummarizer to help move them along or confirm/refute ideas they have on the topic. Instead of not necessarily knowing what other search terms or steps they could take, they've got another tool to access and move them along. It makes me excited.

Sleepless Sunday Nights

I'll admit to having three issues:

1) I love Google Reader
2) I hate Google Reader during the school year
3) I do very little in the evening, school year or summer.

Issues 2 and 3 mesh really well. I used to spend my evenings before bed cleaning out my google reader feeds on my phone. Long story short: phone continually updated, crushing the battery, largely because of the enormous number of feeds I follow, and hence was wiped off the phone. The summer nights are great times to get that Google Reader professional reading done... even if you don't want to.

Tonight I started with dy/dan, a blog that I really enjoy. The construct, while focused towards math, applies to all of learning: how can we make sure that the problem we present to kids is interesting from the get-go without giving kids all the tools to solve it, therefore fostering their inherent problem solving ability. The idea transfers well from math to literacy, because all too often kids are too impatient to find information (in an article, book, newspaper, etc). Ah, but a solvable problem that they are inherently interested in holds promise. Alas I digress...

In my cleaning tonight I stumbled upon a post with the following quote from a blog (irrational cube) he happened to be reading:

Even though it’s the middle of summer, my job as a teacher seems to be unavoidable in my day to day life. I’m not just talking about the unavoidable questions of “so what do you do for a living,” but the places my mind drifts to when I have nothing else to think about. During silences in conversations, or when I close my eyes at the end of the day thoughts of my soon to be classroom are constantly filling my mind.

Those thoughts are similar to my own. I'm married to a teacher, and I am still a very unpolished version on a teacher. I have, and will likely continue to have, warts. I strive to improve, thinking of ways that I can improve my reading and writing instruction so that kids can improve. August is almost here. The realization that we are back at it is right around the corner. The moments where you are thinking of your classroom (or soon to be classroom) are important- they help set the stage for what is to come.

Running and Teaching

Long distance running is my hobby outside of work. I run more than most, which is to say that I put in 70+ miles a week. I run even more during the summer, largely because of the time on hand but also because it is time to build up for a marathon. The parallels between my hobby and my career are uncanny.

The most obvious is the amount of time needed to be successful. Long distance running is built on one's aerobic capacity, your ability to process oxygen. How do you improve that? You do it by running, and running lots of miles. Teaching is the same, both in preparation and in actual work. You really can't be effective without doing your reading, getting to know your kids, assessing to find their strengths/weaknesses, and learning new practices (amongst many other items). Shortcuts rarely work out in either of these, leaving you underprepared for a race or underserving those you are teaching.

Both of these activities require patience. A few weeks back I was struggling with a hamstring issue that was causing my hip and IT band to rock out of alignment. The frustration was consuming, if for no other reason than the fact that no one wants to run in pain. Instead of throwing in the towel I needed to continue with exercises to strengthen my quads and hamstrings as well as using a foam roller every night to roll out the knots in the muscle. Similarly, teaching requires patience in spades. Your instruction may not work out the first time. You'll need to reflect on what is going on, what isn't working (and why), and make alterations. Teaching rarely is an instant gratification career, leaving you waiting for the big leap forward.

Planning is integral to the success of both activities. If you aren't clear what you are teaching, when you plan to teach it, and how you'll know if they got it then you're in trouble. Does that mean you won't change that plan? Absolutely not. Changes happen because of student interest, success of lessons, district initiatives, and countless other issues. But it is difficult to succeed without knowing where you want to go and how you plan to get there. My preparation for Chicago (and every marathoners preparation) is similar. I can't just go out and run hard everyday, or run a bazillion (that's a lot!) miles each week. I need to know what I want to hit on race day, and where I've already been. From there I can start to tailor a plan to hopefully get me to the race, and ultimately the finish line, where I want to be.

Lastly, neither activity allows for you to rest on your laurels. Any achievement you get is fantastic, but has little bearing on your future trajectory. Why? Stopping running (injury and rest aside) brings about an almost immediate loss on fitness. Others continue to train as well, bring about new challenges to where you've been. Even trying to simply maintain where you are is difficult. In teaching you'll find that new kids will always walk through the doors with new personalities, challenges, weaknesses, and strengths. New initiatives and practices will come up that you'll need to develop fluency with. The second you stop working and learning is the second you begin to slip backwards. Just because you were a distinguished teacher in the past doesn't mean you'll continue to be that way forever. You need to keep working.