Saturday, July 26, 2008

A New Page


Hello to old and new readers!

This is our new (free) home, and hopefully where we'll stay forever. As you can see, the archives are out of order, but I don't think it matters much. I'd rather build new ideas than revisit the past, anyway.

If you're new to Adventures of an Urban Reading Teacher, here's the scoop:

I teach reading classes for adults through the Adult Basic Education division of Los Angeles Unified School District. Although we're supposed to focus on adults, we have also thrown open the doors to teenagers--sometimes as young as 13 years old--who often have either learning disabilities or behavioral problems. Not only that, but the ABE has thrown out its old reading programs, so we're struggling to find a suitable way of updating our methods to reflect the new research. And, while the new methods are exciting and--if you ask me--effective, it can be overwhelming to overhaul curriculum, juggle different age/background demographics, and find the balance between lesson planning and classroom management all at the same time.

In other words...the sh*t has hit the fan!!

This blog is my way of trying to work through these issues. I hope it becomes a resource for teachers who are struggling with the same issues, as well as a sounding-board for myself. A place to give and get advice.

Please take a look at the past posts. They're really meant more as a way of catching you up with what life in the classroom is like than as true archives. I hope you're inspired to write a few comments and give this new (and often bemused) teacher a little help.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire



I happened across a copy of Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56 by chance. In the library, lost amongst the new non-fiction, it popped out at me as I idly looked over the shelf, waiting for some woman to stop screaming at the librarian long enough for me to check out my materials. (Honestly. What kind of a head case screams at a librarian? Only in LA.) The book practically hopped into my hand. And I'm so glad!

Rafe Esquith teaches his fifth-graders one basic principle: "Be nice and work hard." And it works. He teaches them to trust him and to allow him to trust them in return. And it works. He teaches them Shakespeare and Vivaldi and gets them to join bookclubs that meet before school and shows them how to study for tests and how to think about other people before themselves. And it works! And, as Esquith asserts, he isn't particularly special--neither are his students. It's just that he approaches each day as not just an opportunity to turn his pupils into better students--but to help them become better human beings.

Eschewing the fear tactics many desperate teachers resort to, Esquith demonstrates how the teacher should be the nicest, hardest-working person the students know:

"I answer all questions. It does not matter if I have been asked them before. It does not matter if I am tired. The kids must see that I passionately want them to understand, and it never bothers me when they don't...We parents and teachers get mad at our kids all the time, and often for good reason. Yet, we should never become frustrated when a student doesn't understand something. Our positive and patient response to questions builds an immediate and lasting trust that transcends fears."

He also questions the value of presenting students with simplified, "dumbed-down" texts rather than the real thing. Why have students read a selection from The Diary of Anne Frank when they could read the whole thing? Of course, you have to present the material in a way the students find accessible and easy-to-follow, but Esquith believes in bringing materials to the classroom you are truly passionate about. He explains why just letting students read without the proper guidance doesn't always work so well:

"The students were too young to understand anything in the book. They were given no background on World War II and couldn't even find the Netherlands on a map. Seemingly incomprehensible abbreviations and words like BBC and menstruation turned off even this teacher's most diligent students. When they later came to my class, they moaned when I told them Anne Frank was on our reading list."

What I really like about this book is that it's not just a list of lesson plans. (Although he does have some great ideas that work for students of all ages.) Esquith is, essentially, a philosopher. He lays his brain and his heart out on the page, urging readers to believe that respect, honesty, kindness, and compassion are a teacher's greatest tools, even under the most frustrating circumstances. And he's from LAUSD.

Basically, Esquith wants us to follow the same advice he gives his students. Be nice. Work hard. Sounds simple enough, right?

I'm only part-way through the book, but I'm really enjoying it so far. Pick up a copy, and we can talk about it!



Like Reader's Karaoke



Here's something cool you can do for your students if you have a mac computer--make vocabulary CDs. (I'm sure you can do this using a PC, too, but you might have to buy a program and/or a microphone.)

I did this in a matter of about an hour, using mac's Garage Band feature. You record your voice directly onto the computer, without a microphone, by just speaking into the little built-in "microphone holes." (Not a technical term.) Then, you download the track to iTunes and burn it onto a writable CD from there. Today, I handed the CDs out to my students along with vocabulary lists so that they could read-along with my voice and practice at home.

Easy peasy. And my students were really pleased, particularly my ESL adults. I'm sure some of the teenagers will use them for target practice.

Once you get the hang of the Garage Band program, you could use it for all kinds of things. What about reading whole stories so that students can practice fluency over the weekend? Or burning background-building songs--like jazz, if you're studying the 1920s--onto a disc and recording your own intros that explain how the songs are related to their studies? You could even get the students involved and record some of their poems or reader's theatre.

The possibilities are endless!

image of karaoke awesomeness from "Lost In Translation"

LD Links



Here are links to some interesting sites related to learning disabilities:

LD Online has a lot of information that I found especially useful as somebody new to the subject. Yes, they're ultimately shilling a product, but the site is extensive nonetheless.

National Center for Learning Disabilities has fact sheets, a newsletter, and really interesting scholarships and writing competitions for students with LD.

TeensHealth has an article written for teens who are wondering what LD is and whether or not they have the symptoms.

This is an interesting one from the National Institue for Literacy--a transcript of what appears to be an online discussion about how highschoolers with LD transition into adulthood. Dr. Arlyn Roffman of Cambridge leads the discussion, and it's got all kinds of questions from real teachers and others in the field.

Happy reading!

image from Look Locally

The Dreams of Sparrows



We're studying historical treasures as part of the AMP Program. Last week, we learned about the Civil War and Confederate gold, and this week we're learning about the looting of the Baghdad Museum. I knew this would be a hairy topic, because most of my students don't know which direction the Pacific Ocean is, much less what Baghdad is or how to find Iraq on a map.

Since the beginning of the term, we've been studying maps. Every time we learn about a new place, we mark it with a star sticker on our own personal maps and tuck the maps away in our Reader's Bibles. Then, before the students leave for the night, I make each and every one of them point out the country we've studied on the big world map next to the door. It's a small thing, but this is stuff they should know. (Last week we studied the Civil War, and I couldn't believe how many of them were unable to find the United States.) So, of course, we talked about where Iraq was in relation to ourselves and even talked a little about Mesopotamia and its historical significance.

We looked at the maps. We discussed the concept of the Cradle of Humanity. We talked about what we'd heard about the Iraq War. But my students still didn't have any concept of what Iraq looked or felt like. They only knew what they'd seen on the news--bombs, terrorism, injured Americans. So, I showed them The Dreams of Sparrows, an amazing documentary made by Iraqi film students. I was a little worried about the subtitles, but my students were just fascinated. The film does a great job of explaining the situation there, using interviews from people of all walks of life. My favorite segment is when the interviewer visits a lunatic asylum and then a writer's union, back-to-back; the seemingly different groups say almost the same exact thing.

By the time the movie ended (it runs a short 75 minutes), my students were full of questions and predictions. Frankly, I was a little amazed at how interested they were. Tomorrow, I'm going to show them excerpts from Baghdad Burning, a blog written by a young Iraqi woman. She has an astonishingly frank and witty style, but her voice is edged with anger as she reports on the joys and injustices of everyday life.

It's such a tricky subject to teach, particularly since it changes on an almost daily basis. However, I know they will use this beyond the walls of the school. It's worth the extra effort.

image: still shot from the movie The Dreams of Sparrows

Tangerines



...they were delicious

so sweet
and so cold
-"This is Just to Say" William Carlos Williams

Today, one of my students brought me a box of tangerines, and that poem went through my head. As a child, I never understood why some people gave each other oranges for Christmas. But, now that I'm an adult, I crave citrus when the temperature drops. It reminds me of sunshine. I think about the sunlight swelling inside each segment, and I want it to drip down my throat, light up my limbs, heal the bitter cold that seems trapped inside me.

What other job affords you such satisfying luxuries, like little gifts from God?

Hamlet



No Fear Shakespeare is the young, hip division of Sparknotes that translates Shakespeare classics into "the kind of English people actually speak today." If you want to journey even further into the bowels of hip-dom, pick up one of No Fear's Graphic Novels--illustrated by established artists and presented in backpack-friendly paperbacks.

Although I don't expect my students to start spouting soliloquies, I do want them to be at least passingly familiar with Shakespeare and his language. So, this term we're studying Hamlet--just a little taste of it for fifteen to twenty minutes every Thursday. I started off by telling them the story the way I would if we were sitting around a campfire, with lots of jokes and hand gestures to keep them excited. Now I'm showing them the story again, this time accompanied by pictures from the Hamlet graphic novel. Next week, we'll watch scenes from the movie, and then we'll finally start reading parts of the play ourselves. (I meant to bring in an audio CD last week, but it just didn't happen. Boo, me.)

If you think "graphic novel" is the fancy new term for "comic book," think again. This version of Hamlet is surprisingly imaginative and smart, as well as emotionally gripping. I studied Hamlet as part of my playwright training in college, and I still learned new stuff! For example, the scene in which Ophelia cracks up and starts handing out flowers...Ophelia tells us that rosemary is for remembrance, but then she passes out a whole bouquet of buds without much comment. The graphic novel puts little scrolls next to the flowers to let the reader know what they represent. Ophelia gives the queen columbines and fennel--a sign of adultery. She gives the king rue, for repentance. (The illustrator shows Ophelia giving him a knowing little wink here.) She gives herself a daisy, for unhappy love. And she speaks of the violets that whithered when he father was murdered; violets stood for faithfulness.

I especially love the way the prince himself is portrayed--a slim, trenchcoat-wearing, heavy-lidded youth with pale skin and crazed dark eyes. This is no Mel Gibson or Kenneth Branaugh. This is Hamlet as he's always appeared in my own mind's eye: impossibly young and heartbreakingly fragile. When he dies, you feel the tragedy of his wasted life.

Whether you're teaching Shakespeare to others or just enjoy the classics yourself, No Fear Shakespeare's Graphic Novel of Hamlet is a refreshingly accessible resource. And, at about $10, it's easy on the wallet.

Baghdad Museum



If you're using the AMP Reading System, The Looting of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad: The Lost Legacy of Mesopotamia is a really great supplement to the Unit 3 stories about the same subject.

I picked this little number up at my local library. We've already discussed the Iraq War, and we watched a documentary and read an Iraqi woman's blog to get some background. Now, after reading the AMP stories about the plundering of one of the most important museums in the world, we took a virtual "tour" of the museum as it once was by projecting images from the book onto the white board and reading the curators' notes. It's great, because the AMP book mentions (but doesn't have pictures of) several of the pieces highlighted in the The Looting of the Iraq Museum. So my students felt like, "Hey! I know about that!"

We also practiced scanning for information. I'd say something like, "Somebody tell me about cylinder seals, and my students would find the information in their AMP books. After we reviewed the section, we'd look at the real thing.

Afterwards, my students were really able to discuss intelligently the situation in Iraq, as well as the concept of what makes a thing valuable. They tsk-tsked over the loss of such precious works of art, sometimes gasping out loud when I showed them something that had been destroyed beyond repair or stolen and never seen again.

A Valentine



This is a letter from one of my students. I left the mistakes in; we're still working on forming grammatically-correct sentences. But I found it really touching and inspiring:

I just wanna let you know that you are one of my favorite teacher that I have in this school. I would like you to be my teacher for ESL. When I go home I talk to my mom about how you show us or teach. The different kinds of things that we do in your class. I would like you always be my teacher for 10, 11, 12 grade. When I come to your class I feel so good because you know that I come to learn something that you do. I feel proud of your work because I learn different kinds of things and when I go to my regular classes I already know because you teach me what I have to learn and so I can use what you teach me on other classes. I hope you the best on all the works that you get because I love you like if you were one of my best, best friends in this world.

Thank you 4 everything.

Sincerely

L

Now, you have to understand something about L. When I met her in the fall, she was almost non-verbal. She was learning English as a second language and, although bright, had almost no working vocabulary. She was getting poor grades, because she was too shy to get help from her teachers, so she ended up in my class to try to make up some credits.

Over the past two terms, she has become one of my best students. She is extremely motivated and just soaks up information like a little sponge, and although she's still not the first one to raise her hand or offer answers, L. does amazing work.

Her letter is a little misleading. I think she gives me far too much credit for her success. Still, it's wonderful to know that the in-class activities have done what they were supposed to do. And it shows me that I'm at least doing something right.

It's funny, though. I don't know if you folks are like this, but no matter how well things are going, I always want them to be better. I'm thinking about what I can do next term to help my students learn even more. I'm thinking more real-life applications, more fluency, and more opportunity for students to get individualized attention.

Marking Text



I realized about a week ago that my students didn't have much they could take with them when they left my classroom. I don't mean physically. Physically, they have the Reader Bibles we've been adding to each week, as well as the vocabulary CDs and all the other crap I've copied/written/drawn over the weeks. But, honestly, are they ever going to use those? If it was me, I'd say, "Wow, that's great," and then toss each and every one of those items squarely in the trash. (I mean, we're being honest here, right?!)

My students needed a solid, usable tool that they could use when nobody else was around to help them. Something that works the same way, every single time, and produces real results. I also realized that whatever it was would have to be physical, because my students are mostly whole-body learners and wouldn't know what to do with yet another "concept". The answer was...marking text.

Cris Tovani talks about marking text as a comprehension exercise in her excellent book I Read It, but I Don't Get It. But she would have students mark text for different purposes each time, focusing on questioning, vocabulary, or whatever depending on the lesson. I adapted it slightly to make it more all-encompassing. And you know what? MY STUDENTS LOVED IT. They loooooooooooved it. My teenagers, in particular, looked up at me in astonishment after we did it for the first time. "It makes reading so much easier, Miss," one of them exclaimed. "I actually remember what happened."

Here's what we did:

Marking Text

Materials:

-Strips of paper, about the size of a bookmark
-a short story, anywhere from one to three pages long

1. Pass out the strips of paper (one for each page of text) and stories to your students. Explain that you are going to show them a new way to keep track of what they are reading and that this is something they will do when they read in your class from now on.

2. Tell them that people who are confused by what they read have to read the same story over and over again. They read it all the way through the first time. Then, when they get asked a question about it, they read the whole thing again to find the answer. Then, when they get a second question, they read the whole thing yet again. And so on, and so forth. (You'll see some students nodding their heads in agreement at this point.) But strong readers only need to read a story once all the way through. If they are asked questions, they either remember the information or know where to find it in the story. Taking notes will help them slow down and force them to use comprehension strategies.

3. Project the first page of the story you've chosen onto the board. Have students preview the story by looking at the title and pictures to get an idea of what they will be reading about. Ask someone to read the title out loud for you. Then write down the title at the top of a strip of paper. Have them do the same.

4. Next, ask them to count the number of paragraphs on the page. Write a number for each paragraph, with space for notes after the numbers. (For example, if there are four paragraphs, there should be four spaces.) Have them do the same.

5. Now, read the first paragraph aloud while the students read along silently. At the end of the paragraph, stop. Ask them what the most important idea was in the paragraph. Then, make a note of it on the strip of paper under the space for #1. Encourage them to write their own notes--whatever gets the idea across and makes sense to them, even if it's not just like yours.

6. Continue to write down the main ideas for each paragraph until you have completed the story. It is important to do this after EACH paragraph and not to move on until a note has been made. (If this means that students need to read the paragraph again to identify the main idea, have them do so.) It's also important that you make NOTES, not whole sentences. The idea is that this exercise is done quickly and painlessly.

7. At the end of the exercise, ask students a series of questions about the story. Start with, "Who is this story about?" If they're not sure, tell them to look at their notes and see whose name appears the most often. Then, ask them to identify the main event. Again, if they're not sure, refer them to their notes. Ask them a few questions that you know they didn't take notes on. If they don't know the answer, show them how to use their notes to find the paragraph that will contain the answer.

8. Finally, wrap up by asking students whether this makes reading easier or harder. Remind them that although it may take a little longer to read the story the first time, it will actually save them time in the long-run.

Practice this a few times with your students. Integrate the techniques you've been working on with them. For example, we'd been working on graphic organizers, so I showed them how to use those instead of writing out a sentence in their notes. At first, your students will want to write out every little detail. Discourage this. Get them to create simple, quick, shorthand notes. Remember, if you make it too hard, they'll never actually do it.

I demonstrated the technique several times for my students. And then I had them do it several times by themselves. Suddenly, students who never volunteered answers were participating in class. I could talk to my students about themes and higher-level concepts, because we didn't have to spend so much time reviewing the events. And my students were just delighted. For the first time for some of them, they read through a story and actually understood it.

Now, I have my students do this every single time they read. I do it, too, when we're reading together. And it has made a huge difference. They can really talk about things now. Plus, it makes it much easier to check on student progress as you walk around the classroom. If someone's making notes, leave them alone. If they're not, you know there's a problem.

I really, really encourage teachers of all subjects to give it a try. Try it for a week. If you don't see an improvement in your students' reading comprehension, I'll eat my hat. Seriously.

Thinkfinity



I haven't explored the site fully yet, but Verizon's Thinkfinity Literacy Network is very intriguing. One of the counselors at my school pointed it out to me after I mentioned my need for assessment tools.

Apparently, this is Verizon's "Hey-we're-okay-we-care-about-our-customer-really" project. Please, excuse my cynicism. But I've worked for big corporations and know how often their apparent sense of charity has to do with tax breaks. But, regardless of why they've put this resource together, it appears to be legit and chock-a-block full of information for educators, including online teaching courses and self-assessment tools.

It's worth a look!


picture from the Thinkfinity web site

Living in the Shadows



Mr. A teaches across the hall from me. He's old enough to be my father and looks like a sprightly Teddy Roosevelt. We're both outgoing and share a love of writing, so we have started a tradition of walking together to and from class to talk about our successes and failures that day. Mr. A always gives me a clearer perspective on things, offering solid advice on everything from curriculum to behavioral problems. Plus, he can swear like a sailor, which comes in handy when I'm looking to vent.

On our walk back to the parking lot last night, Mr. A said, "You know, this job is different from most jobs, because the longer you work the more idealistic you become. Most jobs, it's the other way around."

He's totally right. When I first started teaching, a "good" day was a day in which nobody got into a fight and I was able to speak in front of the class without trembling. Now, a "good" day has so many factors. Did the students demonstrate real learning? Did they have fun? Did I transition smoothly between activities? Did the students connect with one another? Did I get the sense that they were excited to come back the next day? Only if the answer to all of these is yes do I call it a "good" day; everything else is just "okay".

I feel like the more I learn about teaching, the more experience I get in the classroom, and the more real progress my students make...the more I feel like I'm not doing nearly enough. I want the class to be better, better, better. In some ways, this is very exciting--as if the job is a calling rather than a career--but it's also exhausting, both emotionally and physically.

So, why does teaching inspire such Pollyannaism? Take a look at this link to ABC World News with Charlie Gibson's report on illiteracy in America. It's three videos, starting with an interview with a former ESL student. The second two feature a woman who describes struggling through life before taking literacy classes. They both talk about the shame and challenge of not being able to read, as well as how much better their lives are now. You can also read the print version of the show here. It pretty much sums up all that is wonderful (and terrifying) about this job.

(Thanks to Liz and Steve for the links!)
image credit: ABC News

Checkin' Out More Than Books

Designers' Fall 2008 collections featured a lot of librarian-chic. My personal favorites are from Marni's Ready-to-Wear line, which featured clean lines, easy separates, muted neutrals mixed with soft sherbet colors, and fun accessories. It wouldn't take much money or effort to translate these outfits into something appropriate for the classroom.















Seriously, how easy are these looks? Tights, mary-jane shoes, patterned tunics, structured skirts, skinny belts, and button-up blouses. Add a pair of boots, a brownish-red lipstick, and a bold necklace, and you've got yourself a fall wardrobe.

Thanks, Marni!

pictures from style.com

Crying



This week, about eleven ninth graders waltzed into my classroom. And by "waltzed" I mean "ran in screaming/crying/kissing/talking on their cell phones/punching each other on the arms". It's the third week of class, but these students are part of a new ninth-grade intervention program; the idea is that a combination of tutoring and reading classes will help these adorable little ne'er-do-wells to catch up with their daytime work.

I was happy enough to get these students, especially considering my low numbers this term, but I wasn't really expecting all of them to come in at the same time, without registration forms, about fifteen minutes before class ended on Monday. Thankfully, my regular students were quietly doing groupwork, so I had a little bit of time to get the new students' names, give them their contracts, and do a short Getting to Know You exercise. Even so, they were unruly and quite unhappy about being there. Here was one of our first conversations:

Me: "Hi guys! I'm Mrs. Williams, and this is the Reading Lab. First thing's first...please turn off your cell phones and iPods."

Male student: "Awww, f***, miss."

Me: "Watch the f-bombs, too. Go ahead, turn them off."

Female student: "She means, just turn them down."

Me: "No, I mean, turn them off. I will always be respectful of you, but I need the same respect in return. Turning your electronics off is part of that."

Male student: "Awww, f***!!!"

Sigh. I knew I had my work cut out for me.

The students who have been with me since week one--who were initially shy and/or surly, but are now delightful--immediately hated the newcomers. I tried to assure them that the new students were just uncomfortable and would fall in-line after a week or so, but my old students only shook their heads doubtfully. They are used to a quiet, orderly, and friendly classroom environment, and they are extremely unhappy about the new energy.

That night, I had a dream that I was teaching two classes...at the same time. They were held in two different rooms, so I had to keep running from classroom to classroom to lecture, and after about five minutes of this, both classrooms were totally out of control. Students were making out, destroying materials, and fighting with each other. And the worst part was that I was teaching math--a subject I have always hated and still can't execute correctly, even with a calculator. When I woke up, I was crying.

The next day, half of the ninth grade intervention students didn't even show up for class. Those that did came in late and then informed me that they were leaving after the break--giving me a total of about twenty minutes with them in the classroom.

Yesterday, a few more showed up. On time. And I felt I was able to make some kind of progress with them before they left after the break again. Some of them even laughed as we learned our eight new vocab words. The F-bomb-thrower even started saying "fudge" instead of "f***".

The thing is, I'm not stressed about their bad attitudes or the fact that they've missed two weeks of instruction. I've tamed wilder beasts than they. We can always review. And I can work around their weird schedules, too. No, the hardest part is that the students who have been with me longer have just started to trust me. They've just started to open up and even work with other students who aren't in their clique. And now this just throws a monkey wrench in the whole works. The new students look at me as if I'm a prison warden, and the old students act like dogs I've just kicked. All that trust-building and goal-setting and procedure-practicing we did the first two weeks has to be done all over again.

Double sigh.

Well, don't cry for me, Argentina. I think I can get this all under control. It's just going to take a lot of patience and a little time. And, hey, it's great blogging material!

art: Lichtenstein's "Girl Crying"
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Graffiti and Games



Well, one good thing about my sudden influx of fourteen-to-fifteen-year-olds...it's keeping me on my toes!

With so many new students, I knew that my lesson plans had to be tight, including stories that would engage the students immediately and lots of activities. I also started gathering quick and easy Getting To Know You games to use when we had a few extra minutes; don't ask me how I knew they would be so crucial, but I just did!

Thursday was the first time I had all my new "flexible schedule" students for the whole class period. We're studying problem/solution story structure in expository writing (try saying that three times fast) so I looked for a news article that would both illustrate the lesson and get the teens emotionally involved. At the same time, the article had to appeal to my adults. I struck gold with an article about a graffiti mural along the LA Riverbank that local politicians want whitewashed.

The article I used in class was actually taken from the magazine Tu Ciudad, but you can read about the issue here. It concerns a convention of over 200 graffiti artists called "Meeting of Styles" that resulted in a 10,000+ foot mural on the waterway near Highland Park. The mural is huge and colorful, and the event itself seemed like a blast. But now the residents want the mural taken down--pitting artists against politicians.

I printed color copies of parts of the mural and projected them for the students to see. Right away, I heard "Cool!" "Those are tight." and "Whoa." Then I passed out the article, and we read it together. We stopped along the way to identify the community problem, as well as the solutions put forth by each side. Then we talked about what each side's "solution" said about them as people, and what kind of solutions the students would propose. My teenagers really got into the debate, and it was interesting to hear the adults' opinions versus those of their younger classmates. I knew it was a successful lesson when the scariest, most belligerent guy in class raised his hand to contribute to the discussion.

Later, we looked at more problem/solution by exploring the medical website WebMD. I divided the students into groups, and each group was assigned an ailment: chickenpox, the flu, head lice, or athelete's foot. They had to use WebMD to identify the problems (symptoms) and solutions (treatment) associated with each ailment. Afterwards, the groups presented their findings to the rest of the class.

Everything was going swimmingly until it came time for one member of each group to write something on the board. In the three minutes in took their teammates to make a problem/solution chart, the rest of the students went crazy. They were screaming across the room, pulling out their music players, and hurling insults at one another. In a matter of three minutes!!!!!

Man, was I glad I'd looked up all those games. As soon as I saw what was happening, I got them all to play a game called One Lie, Two Truths. I started by demonstrating:

Me: "Okay, let's play a game. I'm going to tell you three things about myself. One of them is a lie, but you have to guess which one. Here we go...I grew up in Washington State, I lived in New York for a summer to study dance, and I got married a year ago. Which one is the lie?"

Student: "New York. No way you lived there. But you told us when you first introduced yourself to us that you come from Washington."

Other student: "No! It's the third one. She's not married."

Student: "'Course she's married, she's got a ring."

And so on. Once the students figured it out (it was the third statement; I've been married for four years), I had them come up with three statements of their own and play the game within their groups. The activity took about ten minutes, and it helped the students get to know each other better. It also preserved my sanity.

Anyway, by the time the game was done, it was time for presentations.

So I guess the moral of the story is that teenagers are crazy but passionate. You can get them involved in their lessons, but you have to do the work to find stories they'll really respond to. And they're like little squirrels. You have to find shiny things to distract them, or they'll go a little nutty.

image: photo of the "Meeting of Styles" mural from Label Networks Inc.

Mad Libs Madness



Do you remember Mad Libs? They're the word games you might have played as a kid--the ones where you randomly came up with verbs, nouns, etc. and then plugged them into a pre-written story. The results were always strange, sometimes confusing, and often hilarious. I adapted the game for the classroom, and it worked really well. The students had a lot of fun, and it actually combined comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency.

We're studying descriptive words, so I decided to make up a few Mad Libs of my own to give to the students. We did one together, first. I asked the students for words that described sounds, smells, sights, emotions, etc. Then we plugged them into a story about a guy who goes over to his friend's house for dinner. The students laughed at the story "they'd written" and asked to "Do it again!" I was more than happy to oblige.

This time, I passed out a list of word prompts to each student and told them to make their own list of words. When they could show me they were done, I gave them the story part (about a blind date) and had them fill in the blanks. The students then read their stories to each other a few times, and a few volunteers read for the whole class.

Yes, the students practiced the concept of "descriptive words", and, yes, they worked on vocabulary. But I didn't predict how well the fluency aspect would work. The more confident students volunteered to read their stories for the whole class first, as I expected. But, because the stories are basically the same--with just a few key words changed--the other students ended up reading along with the story silently as their classmates read aloud. By the time the story had been read three or four times, even my shy students felt confident about trying the story themselves. And, because the stories were always slightly different and very funny, the students really paid attention to each other.

I could see this activity working for ESL, English, and even composition classes, as well as reading. I have to admit...I haven't laughed that much in a long time!

Missing in Action



You may have noticed that I went MIA for about two months. I really regret disappointing the regular readers here, but I have to tell you...

I was going crazy.

This new Ninth-Grade Intervention Program--which plopped about twenty-three fourteen-year-olds in my class--was really turning my head around. I couldn't get the kids to sit down or shut up long enough to actually learn anything, and I felt like a real failure. What right did I have to offer advice, when I couldn't even get my own act together? Not to mention how exhausted I was by the end of the day. I didn't even want to wash the makeup off my face, much less write about how messed-up my class was.

But things are back under control now. And what turned these kids around? Good old-fashioned rules.

Honestly. And I tried everything else. Seating charts. Meetings with the counselor. Goal-setting activities. Games. Drawing. Student feedback. Nothing worked with these ninth-graders, nothing made them care. So, finally, I showed up one day with a list of twenty-one rules and a second list...of the students who wouldn't be able to take the exit exam under the new regime.

I got a lot of criticism:

"Aw, Miss, this sucks."

"Miss, you're mean now."

"Oh my God, you're hard-core. This class is gonna be lame."

But I also got a few students who whispered encouragement to me during the break:

"Thanks for the rules, Miss."

"I can actually get some work done, now."

"Way to go, Williams."

Really, the rules just lay down basic behavior expectations and introduce a complicated series of hours and points that students must maintain in order to take the exit exam. I'll make it simpler for you, though. You must have attended at least 40 hours and have at least 100 points (based on in-class work) in order to take the test. Otherwise, you stay with me until you're old and wrinkled.

Boy, those kids turned into little angels!

Things are better now. We're actually able to get through the lessons, have some fun, and, sometimes, even learn something. My confidence is back, and so is my energy. This is not to say that the kids aren't trying, because they are. But things are manageable, and sometimes that's the best we can ask for.

Anyway, for those of you still reading, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Book List

It's easy to forget what being a teenager was like--the awkwardness, the confusion, the certainty that high school would never, ever end. Here are a few books that will put you in touch with your inner adolescent and, hopefully, make you more sympathetic the next time you're faced with a roomful of them.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson



Written from the point-of-view of Melinda, a freshman outcast who refuses to speak for a whole year, Speak is insightful, very funny, and a quick read. (Everything I love in fiction!) I actually picked this up for my students, but it totally sucked me in as a piece of good literature in its own right. There is a made-for-tv movie version, as well. I haven't seen it, but one of my teenage students recommended it. So there you go.

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen



I became familiar with this book in Lynne Porter's lesson planning class through UCLA Extension; she did this really great activity where the whole class reads one or two chapters each and then pieces the story together. Very effective and fun.

The plot follows an angry juvenile delinquent who is sentenced to spend a year alone on an island, gets his butt righteously kicked by a bear, and must learn how to rebuild his body and spirit. My teenagers failed to make the connection between the main character and themselves, but my adults loved it, particularly those who have done jailtime.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls



My mother has been an educator all her working life, and she says, "I think anyone who teaches should read this. It really shows you why students need the utmost kindness and understanding; you just never know what things are like at home."

I expected something syrupy and woe-is-me after that little lecture, but this memoir blew me away. It follows the dysfunctional Walls family as they move from place-to-place, led by their brilliant but deeply flawed parents. The neglect Walls describes is appalling, yet she tells her stories with such wit and honesty that you find yourself laughing out loud when you aren't shaking your head.

I read a chapter of this out loud to my classes--both the teenagers and adults--and they both responded to it really well, asking if I would please read more.


Persepolis is a graphic novel about Satrapi's life in Iran after the Islamic Revolution. She describes how her liberal childhood gave way to repression, fear, and veils as she grew older and the Islamic regime took hold. Not only does the book provide great lessons on culture and history, it is honest, touching, imaginative, and (yes, I'm going to say it again) funny. Marjane's struggle to remain "punk rock" despite increasing religious conservatism is both poignant and hilarious. Read the first few pages and just try to put it down. I dare you.

While you're at it, be on the look out for the DVD of the movie version. It's fantastic.

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What about you? Read any good books lately?