Make it Fun...Make it Matter

Interesting heading for this blog post, I know, but as I was reading this week’s chapters my son came up and asked me what I was reading.  I told him it was a book for school to help me learn how to get students engaged in reading.  His response was, “Well, I can sum up that whole book in two words…fun stories.” I laughed and then asked him about the stuff that he had to read that might not be so fun.  Then I told him about some of the strategies discussed in Chapter 5 like “Dramatic Role Play” and “KWL.” He agreed that would make it fun and more interesting.  As I read, I looked at how some of these strategies would not only make reading fun but also how they all really encouraged students in their critical thinking skills.  One thing I know I’ve been worried about is what to do when a student gets stuck in their thinking; I’ve been there plenty of times.  Especially having multiple classes, students’ heads can get overloaded with information.  Many of the strategies discussed in Chapter 5 help students through the thought process one step at a time.

Some of these strategies like “Mind Mapping” or “Clustering” I’ve seen used in my classes.  They provide a visual form of brainstorming that encourages students to show what they already know and what they want to know. One of the things I really liked about these strategies was the variety.  They appeal to various learning styles so once we get to know our students we should be able to gauge which ones will work best.

Many of the strategies discussed in Chapter 5 correspond to the concept of building a community of learners, which is talked about in Chapter 7.   Chapter 7 gave some great advice right off the bat: “relate the subject to students’ personal interests, listen to what students say, know them very well, believe they can do well in school” (Daniels and Zemelman 167).  These may seem like basic things teachers should do but sadly there are many who do not. Encouraging students to form peer learning relationships helps them to become more comfortable with one another. They bounce ideas off one another and encourage questioning beyond the traditional “any questions” at the end of class (Daniels and Zemelman 172).  Encouraging students to ask more questions is one of the key tools to achieve higher level thinking.

We need to make learning meaningful for our students. Daniels and Zemelman notes that we need to not tell students how they’ll use these skills “later” but make them matter now (169). The students who did the Fast Food Nation project were invested in their learning because it was meaningful and it was something they could use and relate to now. If we can make the concepts relevant now chances are they will retain the information better. 

As always, I learned a lot from these chapters.  The big question I am usually left with is where do I find the time?  In a short class period where do I find time to hold “class meetings” and one-on-one meetings?  I get somewhat overwhelmed by ALL the ideas but I highlight and note, planning to refer back and implement some of these great ideas in my lessons.

This picture seemed to sum up Chapters 5 & 7 perfectly! We help students focus on meaningful learning, ask questions and collaborate with their peers.  Learning achieved!

The Other Voice

Last week we had the opportunity to interview a panel of parents.  Quickly, we were able to see a theme...COMMUNICATION.  Parents just want to know what's going on! We are the first line of defense, we need to keep the parents up to speed about what is happening with their child.  It really resonated in me when someone said that we were like their second parents. Totally makes sense!  

As a parent, I know how important it is to be in communication with my kids' teachers.  Usually I need to be the one to reach out.  More often than not, if I do get an e-mail it's because there is a problem or a project.  I usually don't get a "great day" e-mail.  I will say there have been occasions that I did get a happy note.  This year has been a trying one for my middle schooler.  One day he came home with a note from his Geography teacher letting me know what a great day he had.  She said she didn't want to always send home the negative stuff.  We should be aware of when he is also doing a great job.  Teachers that do that are few and far between but it meant a lot to me and I know it meant a lot to my son.  So, when we discussed calling a few parents a day just to let them know how their kids were doing, I thought it was a great idea.  It is definitely something to make a priority.  We don't always want to be the bearer of bad news.

Over the past few weeks we have talked a lot about getting to know the students, forming relationships with them to be able to know how to teach them.  Forming relationships with the parents is just as important.  These are their kids and they know them better than we do.  Not every student is going to be willing to fill out our Interest Inventory or open up to us.  Talking to the parents may help with that; perhaps they can give us some ideas to help us connect with them.  Moving forward we should team up with the parents to make sure we are teaching their child as best as we can.  We can offer them support so they can reinforce what we are doing at home.  

I found this picture and I thought it was a perfect depiction of what works.  You'll notice that in the center it says, "Connect."  Connect with the students, connect with the parents, if we do this we will be one step closer to becoming the successful teachers we long to be.

Welcome to Central Falls

Although it was a cold, wet day, I was able to visit many places in my scavenger hunt through Central Falls.  Elizabeth, Jodi and I started our journey at the Adams Public Library.  The Library was closed due to the weather but there were many flyers posted of activities for families and kids to do on winter break.  I loved that they were having Superhero day on the Friday of school vacation.  I was able to find on their website that Adams library has been open since 1910.  Due to the city’s financial crisis the library closed for a brief time in 2011 but reopened because of a group of volunteers who stepped up to run it.  It is so nice to see that in this struggling city there is still a value placed on having a library.

I checked out the schools online and found that Central Falls has 1 early learning center, 4 public elementary schools, 1 public middle school and 1 high school.  There are also 2 charter schools and 1 private school, which start at Pre-K and go to 8^th.  We came across the private school on our journey.  It is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Academy, featured here.  While I am happy there are many options for students at the Elementary level, it puts a lot of pressure on the high school to perform since that is the only option for many of these families.  With a 90% poverty rate, I highly doubt many students are able to attend private schools.  When I took FNED at CCRI I was able to visit Segue Institute for Learning, one of the charter schools in Central Falls.  At that time, they had a goal to expand their school through high school.  Clearly that hasn’t happened yet but being at CFHS for this class has shown me that they are working hard to meet the needs of the students and give them the best education possible.

One thing that struck me in our travels, were the number of polite drivers in Central Falls.  In Rhode Island, which has a reputation for impatient drivers, it was nice to see people who were not fueled by road rage.  People would let me go and did not get all hot and bothered when I was driving 20mph because I had no idea where I was going.  The city is definitely very small.  We needed to be aware to not go too far left or right leading us into either Pawtucket or Lincoln. 

Our last stop was the fire station.  We had the opportunity to speak with Lt. G. who gave us quite a bit of information about the fire department and the city.  He told us their station is responsible for the whole city.  Although it is only 1 square mile, there are still many emergencies that needed to be tended to, especially with the poverty rate so high.  There could be up to 10 people living in an apartment.  Also, since the unemployment rate is so high, there are more people home during the day so if a fire occurs it is detrimental they check for people who may be trapped. People are using toaster oven with the doors off to heat their apartments.  They are also running extension cords to other tenement houses when the electricity is shut off.  The firefighters try to educate them about the dangers of this but people are just trying to survive.  

Unfortunately, the fire station has limited response due to the bankruptcy.  They are down one engine and therefore, get quickly inundated. They need to rely on Pawtucket, Lincoln, and Cumberland to come out and help them.  In addition to the engine shortage, they only have one rescue.  This becomes problematic when they have multiple emergencies at one time.  Again, they rely on the surrounding cities but the time it takes to get to the call is longer.  The other problem they have is the age of their equipment.  The engines and rescue are old.  Thankfully many of them are handy so they do what they can.  In the meantime, Lt. G works to try and get grant funding to help out.    

Our scavenger hunt was very informative.  I was especially happy to be able to talk to Lt. G.  I think he really provided us with so much information about the city and the population.  I hope that each of us found something different so we can all learn more about this small piece of Rhode Island.

Diversity...it's not just about people

I noticed as I went back and reread some of my margin notes, I had a trend going with the word diversity.  That's the thought I kept having as I read through the chapter.  Diversity among our students, but more so, diversity in the reading material we are providing these students.  How can we help students form their own views and opinions if they are not reading texts that they can, at least, somewhat relate to? For example, I actually really liked history in high school.  What can I say, I had a great teacher.  That being said, I also liked to read, so when we would cover something of interest to me in History, I would find a historical fiction book to read about it.  When referencing Burr by Gore Vidal, Daniels and Zemelman note that historical novels can make "both a person and a period come alive" (57).  I remember that!  I loved that aspect of historical fiction, still do.  I could place myself there and almost feel what the characters felt. Interestingly enough, I am seeing this same trend with my own children.  They found this series of books called I Survived by Lauren Tarshis, here's a link: https://www.scholastic.com/isurvived/.  They love them and they're learning about history while they are reading from the perspective of kids their own age! Can you imagine my surprise when my son, who does not share my love for reading, actually begged me to request these from the library for him.  REALLY?!  It just proves the authors' point that we need some diversity in our classroom literature.  We need to get away from just the classics, just the textbooks, just fiction even.

I did have a small disagreement with one thing and I'm just going to throw it out there... Over on page 62 as they're discussing assorted texts to check out different views, they talk about the Holocaust from Anne Frank's perspective and another book from the perspective of a German family who hid the Jews.  Ok, so even though we have two differing cultures here their view was kind of the same.  They both agree what the Germans were doing was wrong.  Now don't misunderstand me, I think it was heinous but in the true spirit of perspective, wouldn't it be a good idea to offer a book from a German perspective that was on the Nazi side.  Maybe it's just me, but I want to know what was going through their heads.  I think that is a diverse option, plus it truly offers both sides of the story.

Offering our students diverse reading material, both in content and form, really allows the acceptance of all texts.  It also serves to desegregate leisure reading and academic reading, hopefully providing our students with an appreciation for both.

Roaming the Halls

I must say the highlight of this experience thus far is being able to visit and take a critical look at the inner workings of the classrooms.  This week was very interesting because we were able to see a variety of classes.  I noticed that some classes had a good percentage of students paying attention, while others seemed to be lacking focus.  It is beneficial as a future teacher to look at these classes and say, "What's working here?" or "What could this teacher do to engage the students more?"  One particular teacher was showing a video in his class that pertained to the lesson they were studying.  He graciously pointed our attention to the board as we entered so we could follow what the plan for the class was. They were at a mid point, and the video seemed to be backing up prior learning that had taken place both in class and in their textbooks.  Now, I remember being in high school and as soon as the TV was pulled out, everyone got ready to take a nap.  We basically considered it free time.  This teacher's method was refreshing because he stopped the video to have a discussion about what they had just seen.  It caused the students to be involved while making an informal assessment to ensure they understood the material.  They would need to pay attention to the film to be able to participate in the discussion.  For the most part, the students had thoughtful responses and appeared to understand the concepts discussed.

A teachable moment came when we all returned to discuss the classes we observed.  I was surprised to find out that this wonderful class we visited was later unfocused and disengaged.  Another group had observed them during a time where they were working on a project and many of the students were fooling around.  They even heard some negative feedback about the teacher.  In my Special Ed class, my professor has mentioned, a few times, that some students benefit from direct instruction.  This is hard to understand when we are taught over and over how indirect instruction is the way to go.  I think this gives us the opportunity to reflect on what we have heard here over the past few weeks.  Every student learns differently, and although we are taught to use indirect instruction, we may have classes that benefit from direct instruction.  The class we observed seemed to be doing well with guided direct instruction, but when they were given the freedom to work on a project to demonstrate their knowledge, it wasn't working out too well.

I remember the first week of this class, one of the first lessons we learned was to be able to change things up seamlessly. As I read through the Chapter 1 of Understanding By Design I thought about how rigid lesson planning can be.  I mean, you start out with the best of intentions and a great plan but what do you do when you get to the final project of the health unit and students are planning their three-day meal plan still using Little Debbie's and Froot Loops?  Sometimes textbooks only provide us with the best scenarios but the reality is that we need to be able to change it up if it's not working and how do we plan for that?  I think the life experience of having this class in an actual high school setting will hopefully prepare us for these unexpected changes.

I wanted to insert this photo as a final thought because I really feel that it reflects a lot of what we have learned and discussed over the past couple of weeks.  For me, not only in this class, but in others I am taking.  It also really highlights what some of the teachers talked about in the panel last week. It really gives focus to the question I'm sure we all are pondering, "What kind of teacher am I going to be?"

Content Reading Reflection

Let me start by saying that this may be one of the best text books I have had to read.  The authors' ideas were portrayed very clearly and backed up with many relevant examples.  I am looking forward to the upcoming weeks and what I will learn from this book.

The Fast Food Nation project at the beginning of Chapter 1 was a great attention getter.  It was exciting for me as a future educator to see how passionate these students became throughout the project.  I also thought it was great how the school implemented it across content areas.  For example, after being given the "Fast Food Nation" book to read, students studied digestion, nutrition, bacteria and viruses. (Daniels & Zemelman 3)  They made the content relevant to the students and they were able to make real life connections.  This was a great first example.

When discussing the "stuff-kids-don't-know" critics, they addressed the point of students not remembering material that they learned.  It is not that they were never taught, "the problem is: they don't remember it." (Daniels & Zemelman 12)  I read this and exclaimed, "YES!" I say this all the time because it happens to me.  I can ace an exam but the second I leave that room, I could forget 90% of it.  I haven't truly learned anything except that I'm a good memorizer.  I have found that I do well in research, when I immerse myself in a question or topic.  I can totally relate to that Fast Food Nation project.

The last thing I'll mention that really resonated with me was that students do not truly understand what they are reading.  This seems to be the trouble with the imaginary Mr. Cosgrove.  His students may have read but they did not comprehend the material.  I loved their suggestions about using prior knowledge to access one's schema.  The Columbus exercise really brought it home for me.

I really feel I'm going to learn so much from this book.  I loved the "Thinking Strategies of Effective Reader" as well as the "Stages of Reading."  It's true what they said, reading at times becomes like driving a car to a familiar place, you just go without even thinking about how you're getting there.  I think I'm going to consciously try and apply some of these suggestions to see if it helps me to become a better close reader.  Best to test drive before we teach it, right?