Language Arts, English, and Reading are often used interchangeably when discussing that block of literacy instruction that takes up a good chunk of a middle-schooler's day. I suspect that people tend to use the term most familiar to them.
Personally, I prefer Language Arts because I see a diverse set of goals for the class. Certainly, there is plenty of reading and writing and literature. But I believe it is also critical to help students develop good listening and speaking skills, to be able to process verbal information and speak with clarity in formal and informal situations.
When I polled students the other day, they believed that success in 70% to 95% of their school day depends on good listening. And while I will become more acquainted with their writing, the lion's share of what I have learned about my students so far has come through verbal interaction.
So call it what you will . . . as long as speaking and listening are components of language emphasized in the class. These are skills, and like other skills they can be strengthened or they can atrophy. To me, it's a clear choice.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Underway
Students returned to school today and we have begun the long journey through the school year. Realistically, it is much longer for them than me - at my age, a school represents less than 2 percent of my life. To an 8th grader, it's more than triple that percentage.
An objective for today was to survey the reading enjoyment level of the students, and I found that over 60% of the responses to survey items indicated a positive disposition towards reading. That's a nice start. But there was some discrepancy between how some students viewed their ability to read and their desire to do so.
One of the duties of my job this year is to help enhance the perception of literacy of those students who would rather not read. Today's survey was completely anonymous, but it provides a group baseline. My hope is that there will be a significant increase in the percentage of positive responses at the end of the year.
An objective for today was to survey the reading enjoyment level of the students, and I found that over 60% of the responses to survey items indicated a positive disposition towards reading. That's a nice start. But there was some discrepancy between how some students viewed their ability to read and their desire to do so.
One of the duties of my job this year is to help enhance the perception of literacy of those students who would rather not read. Today's survey was completely anonymous, but it provides a group baseline. My hope is that there will be a significant increase in the percentage of positive responses at the end of the year.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Glogging
That's not a misspelling.
Thanks to one of my Cabrini students this summer, I became acquainted with the Glogster Education site. This is a place where students create online posters that can include text, graphics, photos, animation and embedded video. It's a great, free site that sets up perfectly for teachers - secure accounts for up to 200 students and easy-to-use controls for the budding website designer.
Initially I will be offering it as an elective choice for 5th - 8th graders. As the year progresses, I hope to incorporate Glogster into an option for classroom projects.
Thanks to one of my Cabrini students this summer, I became acquainted with the Glogster Education site. This is a place where students create online posters that can include text, graphics, photos, animation and embedded video. It's a great, free site that sets up perfectly for teachers - secure accounts for up to 200 students and easy-to-use controls for the budding website designer.
Initially I will be offering it as an elective choice for 5th - 8th graders. As the year progresses, I hope to incorporate Glogster into an option for classroom projects.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Upcoming Projects
Students return in one week so I want to be sure to complete the prep work on several web-based projects. The availability of so many free sites makes it easy to experiment, but I want to be sure the project pays real educational dividends, rather than simply being technological fluff.
For each of my Language Arts classes, we will be maintaining a literacy blog. Each week, two students will be assigned to post to the blog on a topic relating to literacy and our work in class. Each poster will be assigned two peer editors who will have to check their work before posting. This will tap into authentic writing and editing/proofreading skills, as well as provide an opportunity for students to publicly express their ideas, create a working portfolio of the group's growth, and provide parents the opportunity to have perspective on our work.
In Social Studies, I have created a wiki for each class. New pages will be created for each unit of study and students will use them to strengthen understanding and create their own study guides. Some of the posting to the site will be done in class (thank you, SmartBoard) but the majority will be done by the students on their own time. I am curious to see if they embrace the opportunity to develop their own study aids.
As these projects take root, I will provide updates and links. To protect their privacy, all students will be required to create an alias before contributing.
For each of my Language Arts classes, we will be maintaining a literacy blog. Each week, two students will be assigned to post to the blog on a topic relating to literacy and our work in class. Each poster will be assigned two peer editors who will have to check their work before posting. This will tap into authentic writing and editing/proofreading skills, as well as provide an opportunity for students to publicly express their ideas, create a working portfolio of the group's growth, and provide parents the opportunity to have perspective on our work.
In Social Studies, I have created a wiki for each class. New pages will be created for each unit of study and students will use them to strengthen understanding and create their own study guides. Some of the posting to the site will be done in class (thank you, SmartBoard) but the majority will be done by the students on their own time. I am curious to see if they embrace the opportunity to develop their own study aids.
As these projects take root, I will provide updates and links. To protect their privacy, all students will be required to create an alias before contributing.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Back on Board
Yes, it’s been a while.
The Twitter version of an update: I’ll be exploring literacy, life and learning through the eyes of a middle school language arts and social studies teacher.
Being back in the classroom full-time affords the opportunity to test-drive ideas and receive ready feedback. In the five or so years since I have regularly taught middle school, there is an entire generation of new tools to use. As always, understanding is the primary destination, but I’m eager to play with some of the new toys along the way.
The Twitter version of an update: I’ll be exploring literacy, life and learning through the eyes of a middle school language arts and social studies teacher.
Being back in the classroom full-time affords the opportunity to test-drive ideas and receive ready feedback. In the five or so years since I have regularly taught middle school, there is an entire generation of new tools to use. As always, understanding is the primary destination, but I’m eager to play with some of the new toys along the way.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Slight change in direction
Research on new literacies is continuing, but I have spent less time on it lately for two reasons. One is that I am busier with tutoring, and currently see four students every week, some more than once. It is a diverse group, and all are great kids - I enjoy working with them.
The other reason is that I am working on expanding my efforts in professional development opportunities for teachers. While I like the work with individual students, being able to access their teachers would cast a wider influence.
To that end, I am developing some internet courses, which I believe to be a relatively underutilized medium for teacher training. It is difficult for teachers to take professional development days, and limiting workshops to particular after-school times may eliminate participants who run clubs, pick up their own kids after school, etc. The online delivery system allows for maximum flexibility.
My first foray is a course called Literacy for the Conceptual Age - feel free to check the link and register yourself! I hope to have more to offer soon.
The other reason is that I am working on expanding my efforts in professional development opportunities for teachers. While I like the work with individual students, being able to access their teachers would cast a wider influence.
To that end, I am developing some internet courses, which I believe to be a relatively underutilized medium for teacher training. It is difficult for teachers to take professional development days, and limiting workshops to particular after-school times may eliminate participants who run clubs, pick up their own kids after school, etc. The online delivery system allows for maximum flexibility.
My first foray is a course called Literacy for the Conceptual Age - feel free to check the link and register yourself! I hope to have more to offer soon.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
School Research 1
Now to look at some applications for school . . .
One immediate thought is to employ a scaffolded approach where students learn to apply new skills in a low-stakes environment that will encourage them to raise doubts and ask questions. Instead of immediately applying skills to a project which requires a finished (& graded) project, we should let them perform some data evaluation as a discrete skill. An analogy would be a student of tennis who practices a hundred serves a day – she is not applying this skill to win a match (a high-stakes endeavor), so the practice session is a low-stakes opportunity to explore styles and tinker with her mechanics until she finds a comfort level with her ability to make good serves. And just as a coach would work with that tennis player, a teacher could provide the equivalent guidance for a student developing data evaluation skills.
As far as particular skills, a primary one would be the ability to clearly state the goal of their research by defining what they are trying to prove or disprove in specific terms. A goal like, ‘Finding out more about the Civil War’ is too vague and general to provide much guidance for most students. Instead, students should be able to enunciate a series of goals like, ‘Where were the majority of Civil War battles fought’, or ‘What Union generals were most effective’, or ‘What were the hardships people living in the Confederate states faced’, and so forth. Students should engage in a form of backwards design wherein they gain a clear understanding of what their finished product should look like before they begin to gather data.
After clarifying particular research goals and sub-goals, students should then embark on a data-gathering journey. This journey may start by brainstorming potential sources of data, and should be marked by numerous roadmap meetings along the way with peers or teachers, at least until they have gained fluency with the process. When a piece of data is found, its content should be studied in light of the goals of the project. If the data does not contain information relevant to the project goals it can be discarded. If it is relevant to the goals, it becomes part of the data that the student must then evaluate for quality.
To repeat, data should first be examined for relevance – if it passes the relevance test, it then gets evaluated for quality, which will be our next entry.
One immediate thought is to employ a scaffolded approach where students learn to apply new skills in a low-stakes environment that will encourage them to raise doubts and ask questions. Instead of immediately applying skills to a project which requires a finished (& graded) project, we should let them perform some data evaluation as a discrete skill. An analogy would be a student of tennis who practices a hundred serves a day – she is not applying this skill to win a match (a high-stakes endeavor), so the practice session is a low-stakes opportunity to explore styles and tinker with her mechanics until she finds a comfort level with her ability to make good serves. And just as a coach would work with that tennis player, a teacher could provide the equivalent guidance for a student developing data evaluation skills.
As far as particular skills, a primary one would be the ability to clearly state the goal of their research by defining what they are trying to prove or disprove in specific terms. A goal like, ‘Finding out more about the Civil War’ is too vague and general to provide much guidance for most students. Instead, students should be able to enunciate a series of goals like, ‘Where were the majority of Civil War battles fought’, or ‘What Union generals were most effective’, or ‘What were the hardships people living in the Confederate states faced’, and so forth. Students should engage in a form of backwards design wherein they gain a clear understanding of what their finished product should look like before they begin to gather data.
After clarifying particular research goals and sub-goals, students should then embark on a data-gathering journey. This journey may start by brainstorming potential sources of data, and should be marked by numerous roadmap meetings along the way with peers or teachers, at least until they have gained fluency with the process. When a piece of data is found, its content should be studied in light of the goals of the project. If the data does not contain information relevant to the project goals it can be discarded. If it is relevant to the goals, it becomes part of the data that the student must then evaluate for quality.
To repeat, data should first be examined for relevance – if it passes the relevance test, it then gets evaluated for quality, which will be our next entry.
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