How to Give the Ultimate Gift

This is a quickwrite I did with my class after reading the chapter "Crushes" from the book How to Talk to Girls by Alec Greven.

How to Give the Ultimate Gift
1. Give her something she wants. Just because you want it doesn’t mean that she will. How do you find out what she wants? Ask.
2. Give her something she needs. I don’t need any more earrings. Or clothes. Or anything that needs to be kept in a drawer or a closet.
3. Give her something unexpected. Flowers and cards are very nice. But – getting that electric guitar was something that I wasn’t looking for – and that made it all more awesome when it happened.
4. Give her something she’ll remember. Experiences are always better than material things. She’ll never forget your trips to see plays, parks, and people, whereas material gifts often end in the trash or Goodwill after a few years.
5. Give her something personal. Write her a letter. Sing her an original song.
6. Give her a piece of you. She’s really looking for you to spend time with her and give her your complete attention while you’re together. Put down the cellphone and turn off the TV and talk to her. 

Giving can enrich the giver as much as the receiver, and if you’re being a thoughtful giver, you’ll be all the better for it.

And if you want to give her a new car for her birthday, go for it.

I'm in love with ViewPure

Someone on a Facebook group for ELA teachers mentioned using this site the other day, so I tried it out. Basically, I love it. What it does is let you watch youtube videos without ads, comments with possible bad language, side views of potentially inappropriate videos, and automatic restarting of the next video. I highly recommend checking it out.

Found Writing

So--I have a new job this year. I'm at Mountain Ridge Junior High teaching 8th and 9th grade English. It's been a whirlwind beginning of the year and overall pretty awesome.
I set up some genre example files per Nancie Atwell's new In the Middle book, and as I was doing so, I found a piece of my writing that apparently I'd never actually saved on any computer. I think I wrote this while I was doing writing circles with my former students. I rather liked it so I am posting it here. The next time I post, I'll give you a virtual tour of my new room, because, frankly, it's the coolest room ever.

The Beach Chair Test

They say that confession is good for the soul, and mine can use all the help it can get, so I have something fairly shocking to tell the world. Are you sitting down? Are you listening? Here goes.

I didn’t wash my car last year.

Isn’t that awful? What’s worse is this: I don’t intend to wash it this year either. Isn’t that terrible? And to make it even worse, I haven’t washed my car for at least two years. The last time I remember washing my car was when the local high school did it for free.

Washing my car is one of the things I don’t do because it doesn’t pass my beach chair test. When I’m old and relaxing at the beach and looking back at my life, I’m not going to be saying: “Geez, I wish I’d spent more time washing my car. If I had driven around town and up to work every day in a sparkly clean car, my life would have been complete.”

Applying my beach test keeps me from doing a lot of supposedly useful things from dusting furniture to holding a grudge to decorating for the holidays. That’s not to say I never do those things, because I do. It’s just that I give myself permission to let things slide once in a while (well, maybe even more than that, but who’s counting). Every year I put up fewer and fewer Christmas decorations. And you know, I never regret it. When I’m able to spend the days after Christmas relaxing and enjoying and doing things with my family rather than rolling up thousand of tiny little white lights, then I don’t mind that my house doesn’t look like it dropped right out of the Christmas issue of Martha Stewart Living.

The best thing my chair test does is to remind me that it’s better to do things than to own things. I may wish I had taken more trips, gone to more plays, attended more live concerts. As I look back, I remember the time and people and places and not the dollar signs. It’s not likely that I’ll be thinking, “I wish I’d bought a bigger house and a fancier car.”

Above all else, the chair test is personal. A thing that flunks my test may be the number one thing you’ll reach for from your beach chair, even before the little drink with the umbrella in it. And that’s the beauty of the test—it guarantees that you always get what you really want. And I believe that determining and reaching for what you really want is both the beginning and the end of this little vacation we call life.

Ice Breaker Idea

Over at Two Writing Teachers there is a post about a new book called Artists, Writers, Thinkers, Dreamers: Portraits of 50 Famous Folks & All Their Weird Stuff. TWT thought it would be a great way for students to introduce themselves, and I have to agree. It would be an excellent way to value all the cultural capital that the students bring with them into our classroom.

Helping Students Learn From Mistakes

Subscribing to Edutopia on Facebook is probably the most helpful thing I've done lately -- they often have articles that make me think and help direct my teaching. Often I already know the information, and they just remind me about good pedagogy. That was the case with this recent article about "Teaching Students to Embrace Mistakes." Check it out!

Vocabulary Book Review

As an ELD teacher, I am teaching way more vocabulary than I ever have before. I have found this book to be an invaluable resource. It combines vocabulary with writing skills, creativity and presentation -- a win, win, win for any ELD classroom. I can't recommend it enough!!

So far I have tried the selling a word (persuasion) strategy and the news story strategy (who, when, what, where, why), and both of them worked very well. Remember that these are students who don't like to write -- but they were able to do this and do it well enough to teach their classmates. Their retention was very good based on a quick assessment the next class period. The nice thing about it is that I let their peers assess how they've done -- if they know what the word is, they pass, but if the students can't tell me what the word meant, the authors go back and make their definition better -- real world instant feedback.

The Amazing Human Body

I used this video as the hook to my unit on the amazing human body. I had to preface it with the catch phrase do NOT try any of this at home.

Post by Jacquès O. Beatty.

Sentence Combining

I think I will use this with my level 4 ELD class tomorrow:

Sentence Combining from Emily Kissner

Why Do We Need To Know This?

I love the ideas this blog post had about answering this question (the post is about math, but I also hear this from my ELD students on a pretty much daily basis). I think the answers and logic posted here would work for any subject.

I especially like how the author gives suggestions for having students take some of the responsibility for connecting knowledge to what they may or may not do in the future. Below is a quote from the blog:

Upon hearing the "When will I ever use this?" refrain, a high school teacher I work with tells her students, "I'm not sure because I don't know what you want to be in your life. But if you give me a list of everything you plan to do and accomplish, I'll do my best to let you know when we cover something that I think you might use." When kids say, "I don't know what I'm going to do,” her response is, "Exactly. You might need it next week, next year or never. But it is going to be on Friday's test, not because I want to make you miserable, but because at the end of the year, it is going to be on the state test, and if you want to pass, you need to know it.”

Utah Beehive Book Awards 2013-2014

As far as the YAL category goes, I've read the following and here is my input:

Shadow and Bone: Felt like I'd been there, done that. I am very tired of whiny teenagers taking leadership over a group of adults or other teenagers just because they have some super power and not for any particle of leadership ability. I didn't like this well enough to seek out the sequels.

The Lions of Little Rock: I loved this book. I particularly liked the relationship between the mother and the daughter; because I could really relate. Readers who enjoy historical fiction should eat this up.

The Fault in Our Stars: Dare I say that I've had this on my Kindle for months (along with Code Name Verity) but I've yet to read it? I know both of them are good, it's just that I tend to give all my attention to the books I have out from the library.

Cinder: I liked this one well enough to check out the sequel, Scarlett, and I actually liked that one the best. This one was pretty good even if it felt a little formulaic. I'm a sucker for Byronic heroes, and the main squeeze from number two is definitely a Byronic kind of guy...

Code Name Verity: See above.

Legend: I found this one to be fairly interesting. I thought the author's comments that she based this on Les Miserables and the scenes with Marius and Eponine were telling. What would happen if the detective and the fugitive hooked up? Hmmm.... I liked this one well enough to pick up the next in the series, Prodigy, but I just got it on hold from the library yesterday, so I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

The Scorpio Races: I thought that the characterization was very interesting in this book, but I couldn't really get into the whole water horse thing. The author didn't sell me on why in the world anyone would do such a thing. If you are a fan of great character writing, you'll like this. I also liked the double perspective between Kate and Sean. I'm not sure why I don't rate this book higher than I do -- I think it's because as stated above, I just didn't buy into the mythology.

Ungifted: I haven't read this one yet because it's never in the stacks, which means it's probably a pretty good read.

The False Prince: Ditto Ungifted. I just started working my way through these last month, so this one will be next on my list.

Welcome Caller, This is Chloe: Honestly, I may or may not get to this one as it is not really my cup of tea. I'm just judging from the cover on this, which tells you how important a cover really is.

Rot & Ruin: I liked this one well enough to read all the sequels that are available. It may be my current craze with The Walking Dead, but I liked it. It's more about relationships (and good versus evil) than Zombies, really.

Wrapped: Although this book was completely unbelievable, I did like it enough to read it all the way to the end. I won't be picking up any sequels, as the characters were just slightly off kilter for me.

How was I able to read this many books in about three weeks? Well, my new teaching assignment leads to a lot less time spent at home grading. I used to spend tons of time creating and tweaking curriculum and then added a ton of grading on top. With ELD the curriculum is set, so I just spend time tweaking. Most of my feedback is instant right there in the classroom, so the grading load is very light. If it wasn't for most of my students hating to read and write, this would be a perfect job.

Science is for Those Who Learn; Poetry for Those Who Know

2013 was a rich year for novels in verse. Here is one list.
It's great to see some appreciation for the beauty of language! I generally appreciate the effort an author takes to write in a different style.

Rich People Just Don't Care as Much?

I think this is what F. Scott Fitzgerald was trying to say all along. The article I've linked to would be a great companion piece to The Great Gatsby. I think it would be a great touchstone for class discussion.

Slow Education

I felt that this recent blog post from Edutopia is spot on and is one of the major reasons I'm thinking of just staying in the ELD track rather than moving back to my beloved ELA. In the ELD track, there is time to slow down and think. I never felt like I had that when I was teaching English. What do you think about it?

Visual Writing

My good friend Dr. Chris Crowe recently posted a link to this article: How Visual Thinking Improves Writing. I've been trying a lot of visual things with my ELD classes this year, and it really does work. Plus, the kids have fun while they're learning!!

Mind Mapping

Now that I'm not teaching English per se, I've had less to post here, but I recently came across this little gem of an idea and thought it was too good to pass by. I think any teacher in any subject could use both this technique and this basic assignment in class: http://www.thecreativitycore.com/2/post/2013/10/mind-maps-across-the-curriculum.html

After Shots

Now that I've been teaching for seven weeks, I thought I'd show you how the room looks now. I haven't done a whole lot with it other than clean it up, but it looks much better.

Looking back at the door

The bookshelves and cupboards

Organizing my art supplies in the cupboard

The desk and whiteboard area

The textbook storage area -- a little more work to do here

The audiobook and leveled reading storage area

Student artwork

Looking Back

Here's some writing I did at the very beginning of the summer, even before I spent the whole ten weeks looking for a job. This sounds very prophetic as to what my summer really was like: 

At the end of the year, I felt secure. Sure, my personal life was going all to heck, but I knew what I was going to do next year. I'd gathered up all of the yearbook materials, and I was prepared to spend all summer going over them and getting yearbook more organized. Then I was derailed at my checkout when my principal informed me that they were eliminating my part-time position. So much for the peaceful, productive summer. I would now spend all summer agonizing over cover letters, chasing down letters of reference, and going to interviews, and this doesn't even include planning and implementing a brand new curriculum. Aargh!
Now I have the crazy dilemma of trying to decide where I'll be at next year. No matter where it is, it's going to be a lot more work for me, because I'll most likely be teaching full time.  I've already got an offer, but I'm not completely convinced that it is the right fit for me. I feel disjointed, discombobulated, and disenfranchised, all at the same time.

I think the job hunt was even worse than I had imagined. I'm glad it's over.

My New Room -- Yikes!!!!

So after the district finally approved my hire yesterday (the people at the school kept telling me it was not approved, but then the VP remembered that he had sent the request using another email--turns out it was approved immediately the day I was hired), I finally got to look at my room. In a word -- scary.
The teacher who quit suddenly last week left a bit of a mess. Understatement of the day. Here's what I have to work with:

Yes, that is a laptop cart (the laptops are scattered all over the room), and I have an overhead projector and an ELMO and a really nice stand for large paper pads. There are also all kinds of strange things in the room - a step ladder, a music stand, two fans, a space heater, and...boxes and boxes of curling irons, hairspray, and nail polish (I guess the former teacher did hair and nails as as a flex (student chosen reward) time activity)? I also have so much junk piled everywhere that I'm a little afraid of what to do with it. It's not entirely her fault as the custodians have dumped this room in and out this year. Supposedly the former teacher is coming at 3 o'clock today to take out her stuff -- whatever of all this stuff her stuff is. One thing that I don't like is that she has covered some of the walls with large strips of paper, which is torn and looks pretty tacky. That will have to come down ASAP -- so that step ladder will come in handy.
On a more positive note, I had a mostly good experience with the faculty meeting yesterday. It turns out that I am not a member of the ELA team,  but instead I team with the foreign language department. The old ESL teacher never met with anyone because she had a class to teach at the high school, so...I will see how this goes. Wish me luck!!

A Whole New World

I haven't posted anything about this yet, but I wasn't hired back at UCAS at the end of the year. I was teaching part-time there, and they kind of rearranged the schedule so that I wasn't on it anymore. It was a bittersweet parting. I had a lot of good experiences and fun there -- loved the students and staff -- but it wasn't handled very well.
I've spent an entire stressful summer looking for a new job. I even briefly accepted a position in SLC, but I came to my senses before I signed the contract -- that 50 minute commute would have killed me. I gave up a very nice contract, but I figured I would get another offer. Well, two months and many interviews later and only a week before school starts, I had despaired of getting a job this year. I confided this to the BHW last week, mentioning what a hit this has taken on my self esteem, and he said, "I'm pretty sure that you'll have a position sooner than you think."
So...on Tuesday I went for an interview at Lakeridge Junior High for an ESL teacher. I haven't taught junior high since I student taught, and I don't have an ESL endorsement. During the interview, I was talking about some of the ways I've tried to create a sense of community and rapport in the classroom, and one the of interviewers said, "When you talk about your students, your face just lights up." I guess that means that they thought I had what they wanted, because they called today to offer me the job. I am beyond stoked. I am thrilled, humbled, and feel very blessed. I am going to work like crazy for those kids!!
This will be a challenge for me, but I think I am up for it. I am excited for the new change and for the chance to work for the local school district. I will have access to a lot more professional development resources, etc., than I ever had working for a charter school.
Well, enough about me. I immediately went on the EC Ning and started looking for resources, and found this site: Larry Ferlazzo's Website of the Day. He has a book on Amazon, too, which I ended up ordering after emailing him back and forth for a bit.

Someday -- Eileen Spinelli

At a CUWP meeting recently, we did some writing modeled on this book. Here is what I came up with--this is not edited and is pretty rough. I started out pretty down but tried to put a twist and positive spin on the end.

Someday I will have my house all to myself. I won't have to pick up after anyone, I'll cook whatever I want for dinner, I'll play whatever music I want as loud as I want to. I'll close off all the bathrooms but one, and I'll only run the washing machine and dryer every other week. The kitchen floor will go months between moppings because it doesn't need it, not because I  don't have time. I won't have to compete for TV time or computer time, and it will be so peaceful that I'll finally finish writing the novel I've been working on for the last five years.

Today I'll return home to a house with three teenagers, all of them messy. Most likely I'll have a group of dubious smelling teenage boys show up around 5 PM to play dungeons and dragons with my youngest son, and my daughter will Skype with her "friend who is a boy from California" for most of the afternoon. My oldest son will bring a stack of dishes ten inches high up from the bowels of the basement where he has apparently been using them to attract rodents. If there ever is a moment of peace, my married daughter and her husband will come over and loudly play every YouTube video they can think of and laugh themselves silly.

Someday my life will be lonely. . . today, it is full.

I think this would be a great way to start out a school year -- kids could write about how things are for them now, and what they want to know/do by the end of the year.