End of Semester Wrap-Up

As my first semester of graduate studies comes to a close, I have been taking some time (very brief moments with all the exams I’m completing) and thinking about where I am now from where I was just a few months ago.

At the beginning of this year, I had no idea what teaching English actually entailed other than what I had seen from my own teachers over the years and figured out for myself. So here is a little of what I learned:

There are more resources available than I ever even imagined. I am going to have technology savvy children coming into my door from day one and I will be doing them a disservice if I do not continue to be a lifelong learner and keep up with what they are using.

My wacky ideas and creativity are going to be an asset when I begin to create lesson plans. Having a sense of fun can only make assignments more exciting.

Students will respect an authoritative leader who is also democratic. I was always afraid to be the “mean teacher,” but I know now that students want some structure as long as it is fair.

I’ve been able to meet some incredible peers that I hope to continue bouncing my thoughts off of as we all continue on our journey as pre-service teachers and professors that I know I can trust to lead me on the right path towards the best classroom I can possibly have. My first day of substitute teaching was last week and I know that that experience along with my graduate classes will cause me to have the most experiences and growth possible. I can’t wait to see where I’ll be after a summer of more classes!

Writing's Future

I often hear talk of where the “future” of writing is going in education. I think it can pretty much be agreed upon across the board that it will be digital in some capacity, but what about the kind of writing?

Many outside of the “digital generation” see digital writing for the flaws that it can undoubtedly have. Sometimes it is short, words can be abbreviated, and thus- it gains the wrap of killing the English language and composition. Now, I do not believe any of this to be true. I support that digital writing is just as legitimate as any other form, but I do think there is an opportunity right now to shape where writing is headed in the education system within these digital forms.

The three main forms of writing I see as being done in school are research, creative, and standardized testing. I include standardized testing as a category so that I can go ahead and eliminate it as I feel it is rigid, archaic, and has no place in a child’s education. Now for the other two:

Research: I never really understood as a student why these papers were so important. Anyone that knows me can tell you that I’m a fly-by-night kind of soul, so I guess they were so strict. It is important for students to learn how to cite, but I’m not sure these papers are the way to do it unless the child is headed for a mathematical or scientific career.

Creative: In my opinion, this is where we need to target student writing. Creative fiction and nonfiction allow students to feel free to make mistakes and learn from them. They are not bound by anything but themselves and teachers have a great opportunity to connect and bring out great work from them. Creative nonfiction has come a long way and students can learn to cite and research based on it. Multigenre projects are an excellent way to accomplish all the goals any educator would set out to have a well-rounded pupil.

What do you think is the next frontier?

Keeping Students Going

As the summer is fast approaching, I have been thinking about the benefits of year-round schools to traditional ones and ways that students can keep learning instead of taking a detrimental two-month break.

I previously worked at a book warehouse that specialized in book fairs for schools. At the time, we were working on bundling books for a project in Virginia where students that were noted as having difficulties in literacy were allowed to choose around five books with a tutor helping them to make sure they were reasonable. The students were charged with reading these books throughout the summer and working with their tutors to complete book reports on each one.

I was so impressed with the program and the ability it would have to keep children engaged in the concepts they had been working on in school and to extend them to possibly get ahead for the next year while other students were just sitting around playing video games for the most part.

Why doesn’t every school have a program like this? I realize that getting free books for students is expensive, but is the cost more than the cost of the remedial education that has to be applied at the beginning of each year to get students back to where they were when they left? It seems like an easy solution to empower our students to be their best and succeed.

Going back to year-round vs. traditional, I think that there is obviously a price incentive when facilities can be used all the time by double and sometimes triple the students but there is also a lot to be said for continuous learning. I used to think they were not a great solution, but my opinion is continually changing with more observation of where children are not being served on extended off-times.

What do you think? Are there other solutions to keep our students learning all the time? 

Growing Young Minds

With the spring pollen assaulting my allergies, I thought it would be fitting to think about how teacher’s can grow and nurture student talent in our individual classrooms.

As you may have realized from my posts, I am a very creative-mind and appreciate things the quirkier the better. I was lucky enough to always have teachers that appreciated my unique ways of doing things. Some students under the ever-increasing pressure of test scores are not having such a lucky experience though.

Why worry?

What makes children different is what gives them a competitive edge in any market. The ability to creatively solve problems and live as a strong individual is invaluable in these economic times where jobs are self-directed and there are not as many personnel available to answer questions that may arise in the workplace.

What can a teacher do?

I’m not sure because I don’t have a classroom, but I have a few ideas!

1. Know your students: If you know what they like, you will know what you need to add into your teaching. Listen to what they do and find out about their extracurricular activities. Make sure you show up to plays and games and compliment your students involved in them in front of the other students the next day in your class. It will give them pride in what they’re doing and encourage them to keep with it.
2. Create open-ended projects: Let them make songs, perform a play, create and athletic game, or anything they feel speaks to them. They will still learn the material, but it will be put into a context that will be exciting for them and hopefully some of the other students with similar hobbies.
3. Leave time for free expressive activities: Post a creative writing topic on the board or let students draw something one day and create a project based on their drawings. The possibilities are endless! 

I would love to hear from current or past teachers about things that have proven successful in your classrooms so that I can improve my future one. Thanks!

Marie Antoinette

For one of my graduate classes, we are beginning multigenre projects on any topic of our choice. For this assignment, I chose to research and write about Marie Antoinette. I am still in the early stages of drafting but I am finding many parallels between my life and hers. Obviously, hers was quite a bit different and more extreme but there is a lot to be said for her struggles. I remember what it felt like to be gossiped about, thrown into uncomfortable situations, and the classic problem of trying to make someone love you. Her story could really relate to many people no matter their race, gender, or background. A huge part of the connection I have with Marie is also the love of nature that was shown through her endless floral prints, gardens, and her retreat. I’m excited to see what this project has in store for me. I think there will be a great deal of discovery about Antoinette if not even more about myself in the process. 

Untitled by Jean-Marie Hullot

Cool Tools

When I look at the increase in technology in schools since I was a student, it makes me pretty jealous. My generation is the start of the “digital native,” and yet… I hardly ever had the opportunity to use the tools I was interested in at home when I was at school.

For one of my classes this past week, we broke into groups and researched a “cool tool.” These are sites and applications being used in schools to get students excited about learning and invested in what they are doing. My group worked with the social bookmarking site, Diigo. I was so shocked to learn that such a tool existed. Diigo allows you to highlight sections of websites, add sticky notes, and save all of this information into a database you can access remotely on all of your electronic devices.

The other tools explored by groups were: Penzu, GoAnimate, Google Forms, Tagul, Screencast-O-Matic, Evernote, Storybird, Linoit, Edmodo, Wix, and Tiki-Toki.

All of the tools I saw would have been incredibly fun and helpful when I as a student. I’m glad we are making such strides to harness and help our second generation natives learn to use technology for educational purposes.

Are there any other "Cool Tools" that you know of or use in your own classroom?

Weird Harry Potter Post

Have you ever had a day or week that just seemed to be dominated by Harry Potter?

I feel like this situation has happened to me at least a few times a month for the past 10 years or so. I, like many, read the book series as a child and was enthralled by the story it told while being equally (if not more) impressed by the quality of J.K. Rowling’s writing and ability to plan and weave everything together. I have to admit that when I read it, I knew that it would stick with me but I had no idea that it would consume such a large part of my surroundings.

Since reading the books, I have gone to midnight book releases and movie premieres and even saw some of the locations that inspired aspects of the film or places that were actually used in England. Both of my parents love Harry Potter as well and we are all very familiar with the story… but shouldn’t references have calmed down after the end of the last film?

Harry Potter dominated this past weekend.

When I went home to visit my parents, some random conversation came around to the fact that my father could not remember whom Professor Quirrell was. That one comment triggered all of the events that followed in less than 48 hours:

-We watched the first Harry Potter film to show him who Quirrell was

(Insert lengthy conversation about Sorcerer’s Stone vs. Philosopher’s Stone)

-We watched the last Harry Potter film

-Decide Dad does not remember anything and proceed to explain the plot

(Insert Dad’s questioning about who every character is and his confusion about the epilogue)

-Late-night boredom strikes and I play Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 on Wii

-Finally beat the Lego Basalisk and text unassuming friends who don’t care

-Watch the Oscars without knowing any nominees or categories

-Feel angry and cheated when Harry Potter loses categories

(Insert Mom’s justification of why they should have won)

I think it is a true testament that these books and films have impacted so many people and media realms. This may all stem from the fact that that my parent’s enjoy Harry Potter, I am nerdy, or simply that it is just a mass phenomenon that will probably never lose momentum, but I can’t think of any other franchise that comes close to equaling it.

I’m not complaining about this in the least. I think that any recognition this amazing series receives is well worth it. I’ll continue my fandom forever and pass it along to my children I’m sure, but I guess I just find it interesting to think about how something outside of yourself can consume so much of you. I thought that attention to it would die down after a while, but it seems to keep growing even though the books and films are finished.

Sorry for this weird rant, but it has been on my mind and it is now taking over my blog. Are there any specific things that keep popping up unexpectedly in your life?