TL:DR teacher friends, if you want to discuss how to get inspired again, I’m here for us all.
This afternoon, I am struggling not to fall into cynicism, and I think I’ve found an answer for myself, at least.
It’s not like we teachers haven’t been sounding the alarm for years: trauma, depression, COVID, misinformation, disinformation, and now the frightening political future that was planted decades ago is now reaching its climatic destiny, and its poison apple fruit is ready for picking. (Well, climatic in the sense of this is our generation’s boss fight, and we’ll either go down in history as just another democracy who caved to fascism or we will get it together.)
Here is where some of my hope lives, the well I’m drawing from: I’m a pretty good teacher.
I’m creative, resourceful, and care about students.
It’s been interesting to see how this care and concern now includes parents who believe, with their whole minds and hearts, the lies and disinformation: I am concerned about these students, and also there is nothing I can directly do. If some students, a small minority, but they exist, even get a whiff that I am sharing my personal political views they will go to their parents.
This is where we are now.
And the best advice when one is lost in the woods, or in this case, my own entanglement with events, is to stay put. And staying put means to look over the metaphorical map, and remember what steps worked in the past:
“Dogfooding” the lesson: anything you create or try for students, do it with them. Over winter break, I wrote an essay on To Kill A Mockingbird, kind of hated the process, so I came up with another prompt that is related but much more engaging.
Read and write: notice how it feels, and share with students. I’ve shared that reading has been a struggle for me during times of grief, stress, and distractions, and how I’ve gotten out of my slumps. The reading lesson above is what I created for both my American Lit Juniors and will share with the ELA 9th freshmen.
Angela Stockman recently posted this — she is brilliant. Ask students to document and create their own learning journeys.
Once upon a time I believed I possessed agency as an educator/teacher. Maybe I did, or perhaps it was just an illusion. And now I am wondering, with all my personality flaws and creative, meandering ways of planning instruction: should we still be teaching whole-class novels? And is there something “wrong” with me if I don’t think it’s a good idea? I want to foster lifelong learners, and it would be amazing if students read more, packed an ebook wherever they went as easily as their scrolling of Youtube videos. But folks, I think I’m tired of trying to convince cohorts of adolescents that reading is life: it’s like I have some secret key to joy and happiness that many of them just don’t want.
During the freshmen school year, our curriculum includes novels (well, technically one is a novella/allegory, and one is a play) and a dozen or so short stories. We also need to teach argumentative, poetry, and some person decided to put The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe in…March? No, ma’am. That is for October or December.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Animal Farm by George Orwell
“The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
If you know me, which one do you think should be replaced? Well, of course, it’s TKAM. But that’s not completely why I am giving this some thought this morning.
Also, another aspect is I am passionate about what the creators of #DisruptTexts and Facing History have to share about novels; when I shared some of this with my honors students last year, a few complained bitterly that I didn’t allow them to come to the same conclusions or form their own. My attempt was to share literary critique, and I just opened myself up for harsh criticism. How DARE I share others’ opinions and analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird? Well, okay, this student was the only one, but she may have stirred up a rebellion. (When neurodivergent minds collide, it can be messy and painful.) But I stand by my sharing of others’ literary criticisms: my Black students did amazing work diving deeper into Calpurnia’s role, or lack of agency and voice, for example, and white and students of color found new dimensions to the work. But, in terms of TKAM: I know I can just provide excerpts and the gist, and paired better texts.
There are always, it seems, a handful of students, mostly girls, who read, read for enjoyment frequently, and seek book recommendations from me or the/a librarian. And I know why it’s girls: we’ve socialized them this way. But that may be a post for another time.
I lament the novel units, book pairings, choice novel sets, and a robust classroom library I used to create and share with students. (I still have this, but it’s collecting dust.) And, I’ve been doing some deep reflection on my ‘why’ these days, but moreover, the ‘what.’ Because the what is the why. What I want to teach are a combination of paired texts, multimodal and multi genre approaches, and to use only two longer texts per year, unless we get to replace TKAM with The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee. The rest should be choice, personally curated content and Burning Questions(TM). (Yeah, I am trademarking the snot out of that!)
So, what’s an ELA teacher to do? Well, this is going to take some focus and intention, two qualities that have been depleted due to grief. And it’s not like grief disappears; it shapeshifts, expressing itself in a manner that only it understands and controls. I am not unique or special in this, and this may seem contradictory but that is a relief. I can adhere and comply with the current curriculum, and release some of the rigidity and upholding of colonialism and white supremacy by continuing to offer a variety of texts that are windows, mirrors, and sliding doors (Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop) and also curtains (Dr. Deb Reese).
This is good. I feel better. I’ll move some of the pieces around, and work within the boundaries provided to create meaningful instruction. And if there are some readers who come from this, all the better.
An ELA teacher asked about our thoughts (other ELA teachers) and their thoughts about students using sites like SparkNotes, etc. One teacher said students who use these sites are, in her words, “lame” and “lazy.”
I’m immediately transported back to 1979, 1980, when I was assigned Romeo and Juliet, and immediately drove to the local bookstore to pick up a copy of Cliffs Notes. I think I also ended up buying some for Oliver Twist, too. And what those study guides provided me was invaluable: I could understand amazing stories with just a little support or scaffolding, an access point. Now, remember, this was ‘back in the day’ when a high school student was assigned a text from the dusty canon, and we were expected to 1. read it, 2. understand it with possibly a teacher lecture, and 3. write essays, by hand, about it. Or take worksheet quizzes. I wasn’t taught anything about annotating or Socratic Seminars, didn’t have the internet or search engines, and wasn’t told to go to the library to read other analyses of these vintage works of literature. One reason East of Eden by John Steinbeck is one of my favorite books is that I read it on my own, “for fun,” and understood the thematic messages in high school. That was a success for me. And it came about with help.
And again: we weren’t allowed to talk in class.
I will never truly understand the archetypal English teacher, one with a degree in English Literature and who knows all the ‘isms’ and movements along the linear path of Western works. Maybe it’s their own curse of knowledge, that their education centered and explored the themes, symbols, and motifs of predominately men’s perspectives on the big questions of life.
But I refuse to feel stupid or less than because not only did I use those resources to help me in high school, and I help students use them now, in tactical and specific ways. And yes, I do sometimes feel underwater when it comes to the deluge of misinformation, disinformation, and algorithmic atrocities that come up in shallow searches. Students can copy/paste with lightning speed but never be struck by knowledge, or any measure of “eureka!” The art in the language arts means looking at the tools, shiny or rusted, and allowing students to stumble. I try to include the ‘why’ with every lesson and help them make connections; at this point in the year, the scaffolds are being dismantled, and they need to do more of this independently.
And SparkNotes is awesome.
My tactics include a multimodal approach:
Multiple paired texts
Visuals, media, animations, short films, etc.
Annotated bibliographies
Playlists, and Annotated bibliographies as playlists
Question Formulation Technique
Discussions
Anchor charts
Graphic Organizers
At this point in the year, it’s the time to regroup and reassess. We’ll go to the end of the semester (January 25) with a novel unit and then start fresh again for the second semester. My students will be allowed to self-assess their strengths and growth areas. And maybe, like me, they’ll read something that stretches their abilities all on ‘their own’ and know that the resources are there to bolster, not replace their brilliance.
All my data are anecdotal, meaning they are not data. Well, shucks. I’ll share some observations anyway, and maybe some of y’all can relate.
A few of my students have it written in their 504 or IEPs that they may step out into the hallway to regroup and regulate their anxiety and emotions. I fully support this, and am wondering how I can make the emotional, visual, and educational clutter minimized and quiet. And –I wonder if I am able to do this. One student in particular has complained about the visual clutter in my room, and has skipped class several times saying this is the reason. My data inform me that her skipping class happened about the same time the population of the class changed from 31 students to 33. This might be a physical tipping point for her. And in our infrequent and fragmented conversations, I offered to her that she hasn’t allowed the time or space when I have made changes to accomodate her.
A few things: cell phones, physicality, and #ADHD/anxiety: how do these contribute or rather, destroy, a comforting classroom environment?
I created this slide presentation a few months ago imploring students to put away their cell phones.
Teaching and #ADHD
And while it may not make sense or break through the mental fragmentation of students’ use of their devices, perhaps one or two of them will think about it and put it away, if not for me, but for themselves. We are currently working on argumentative reading and writing, so perhaps it’s time I share it again as a mentor text for argumenative writing. As I’ve said, these devices remind me of packs of cigarettes. They’re ubiquitous, and cause second-hand damage not only to the user, but also for those surrounding their use. I’m too tired right now to write my research paper on this. Leave me alone.
There is a lot of world noise now, too. I find myself overwhelmed, and I know how to calm and soothe myself. My empathy has necessarily limits: I know keeping myself regulated and grounded will be key to helping students maintain their core. And, I am compelled to continue to curate content and seek facts and truth.
Thinking of visual clutter in my room…
Thinking about my classroom, I have a lot of books. Some students love all my books, and one even wrote me a beautiful card calling me The Book Fairy,” a monikor I treasure. Many students over the years have told me how much they love the vibe of my room, and that makes me happy. And of course, in no way am I offended by one student sharing that my room gives her anxiety; it’s good feedback. She seemed to understand when I told her that many things on the classroom walls were not my choice, but in support of the building and district’s requirements, such as the social contracts (Capturing Kids’ Hearts), the learning targets, what’s on the white boards, etc. She seemed to understand that a few things I have on my bulletin boards and walls must be there so I remember them (that good ol’ ADHD brain of mine).
I have…a lot…of booksThis was during moving time, early in the year. It does not, repeat, does not look like this now.
I’m trying, y’all. I really am. I’m trying to keep up with some personal events, grief, stress, grading, keeping things organized, etc. and some things just have to sort themselves out. The solution I came up with for this one student is to give me one week, and then we’ll figure something else out. I want all students to feel safe and comfortable in my classroom (home away from home), and balance my needs, too. Anyone with ideas, I’m open to most of them. But remember, I am an ELA teacher, and text-rich environment is my passion. Ideas include how to minimize the noise from the world, too.
Just trying to capture some of the ideas before they fly out of my head:
Summer Reading:
Note: want to re-read Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler: I read The Handmaid’s Tale around the time it was published in 1985 and it truly scared the soul of out me: Parable was published in 1993, and many have said Atwood got so many things wrong and white-centered in Handmaid’s, and I need to look at Parable/Butler with a keener eye. And while I never read Beloved, I did see the movie, and that’s not enough. It’s long past time.
Akata Witch Novel Unit
For next year, a colleague in another building wants to collaborate with me on a novel unit for Akakta Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. Stay tuned: this is my passion and joy.
Multimodal Unit
Pst: kelly …yeah…don’t forget to save your work that you did on the multimodal PD, mkay?
My district recently adopted some more current novels, All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely among them. I’ve had this novel since its publication, and while it didn’t collect any dust, I made sure to read as much as I could. Well, now it’s time to dive in with my students. While I went rogue my first year in the district, and “taught” Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, it was the first novel my MLL students had read since elementary school. I was even fortunate enough to go hear him speak that fall and wanted to bring my students, but my principal wouldn’t approve the $200 bus fee. (Yes, I’m still salty.) Recently he saw All American Boys on my desk, asked if I had read it, and said we’re about to–he shared that he and his wife listened to it, and his wife had an emotional response. (I did mention that Jason Reynolds was the author I and the librarian went to see…in a not-so-subtle way.)
Anywho.
Here is the photo with Jason Reynolds, and he autographed copies for me, and yes, I am still over the moon to have heard him speak and meet him:
Jason Reynolds
I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, my students now can write him a letter and see if he wants to stop by our little alternative high school.
And I can’t help but think — All American was published in 2015; in YA years, this could be considered a ‘long time ago.’ But it’s tragically just as relevant and needed now in 2022. White supremacy continues to grab and hook its tentacles into every aspect of our lives, from #CRT, Women’s Health Care, police brutality, and trying to begin to heal from #COVID, Texas’s inhuman and cruel treatment of trans kids and their guardians/parents, and the absolute nightmare of the Trump years.
So — this kind of helped me see the bigger thoughts — take some time to read Ijeoma Olua
TL:DR I am wondering if folks sometimes too narrowly focus on the one thing, instead of addressing the bigger, more challenging questions/issues.
A few things I’ll weave together:
Recently had an exchange about books*
My older son told me about his friend who’s become an “anti-natalist.”
The Venn Diagram in my mind connects in the middle with “both are filled with misogyny and arrogance.” * “Exchange” is a mild word — an exchange implies a sharing of ideas and points of view. This one became personal and downright ageist and misogynistic.
“Instead of clearing his own heart the zealot tries to clear the world.“
And to be clear, zealots don’t see themselves as fanatical, uncompromising, dogmatic, or narcissistic. Their solipsism prevents others’ points of view from entering their periphery. Just as a hard-line anti-abortionist feels about the zygotes, the anti-natalists feel about having a zygote in the first place. The zealot is a tarnished paladin, who may have the law on his side, but is not interested in justice. The paradox is their crusade might be what’s necessary and needed, but sometimes they engage in bad faith and do more harm than good.
Regarding the topic of books, (which I don’t have time or energy to tackle the antinatalists today, sorry, boys, take a number), it is well understood that the many forms of censorship, self-censorship, and opinions about what texts should and shouldn’t be used in classrooms, public and school libraries, has always been a burning topic. Literally.
But: when engaging with someone who will fight to have any book in a public school library, you will lose. And what might be lost will be more than the ‘right fighter’ zealot who got his way but destroyed so much more in his wake. Librarians are being let go. Libraries aren’t even being built in public schools any longer. Too many websites are blocked. Too many books are being pulled from shelves. It takes months, if not years, for books to be approved, if at all. So when a zealot fights to put one YA book on the middle school shelves, he may be right, but the consequences will take years to clean up. And who will clean up the mess? Other (women) teachers.
Books saved my life. I am so glad and grateful things weren’t censored, and I am also kind of sad that some things I read were too pornographic for the age I saw them, and this is only because I didn’t have the context or schema. And I hope I say this clearly: it’s only a tricky area when one doesn’t provide the volume of information, guidance, and wealth of knowledge from experts in early child development. We have many great thinkers on this, including librarians, teachers, parents, doctors, psychologists, and more. People who have devoted their lives to understanding how to nurture curiosity and understanding of sexuality, sex, and a whole range of information. I mean, goodness, I had the blessing of having a mother who would answer any question, and it’s heartbreaking, unhealthy, and downright dangerous for children who don’t. And we, at least in North America, are a long way from destigmatizing sexual curiosity and removing shame from discussions about sex, our bodies, and our humanity. And #whitesupremacy takes its hold in censoring books on race, enslavement, and other historical facts. The current nightmare by white parents to ban CRT (critical race theory [which is taught in college, but ‘they’ don’t care] or Culturally Responsive Teaching is their fever-pitch response to maintain their privilege and power.)
I can feel myself about to go into a long-winded, unproductive post. We are sexual beings. We want to know about our bodies, our feelings, and if we are ‘okay.’ Our children deserve our love and kindness to help them navigate their own lives. My energies, and I can only speak from here, are to make sure consent, comprehensive sexual education, and multiple historical perspectives are taught, discussed, and open. All of this does not rest on a single book. I’ve been fighting for almost two decades to make sure evolution, mythology, creation myths, and get great middle grade and YA books are in my classroom. What I will not tolerate is the zealot telling me what I think and believe. I see that bigger picture.
What can I do? Keep buying books for students. Keep creating and cultivating a safe place to share their ideas and questions, and do my best to help them find answers that will keep them healthy.
So, I was on @NPR@MorningEdition today! Thanks to @AMartinezLA for talking with me about my novel, LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB. And good news: I mentioned my mom in the interview and she didn’t mind! 😅 If you missed it you can catch it here: https://t.co/yoHao7uvMl
Information and ideas about this text and series, and Native American Heritage Month
Context:
This is for my own need to find some solid footing. I started at my current position during the 2019-2020 year, just beginning to use my newly minted #ELL (MLL) endorsement, year 14 of teaching (now year 16), at an alternative high school in a new district. I’ve moved so many times in my life, and one of my life skills is trying to imagine the culture and invisible rules of place so I can emotionally and professionally survive, and hopefully thrive. This school had never had a full-time ELL/MLL teacher before, and since I’ve been there the graduation rates of MLL have risen with significant numbers. I remind my insecure self that I do know what I’m doing, and how to help. Unfortunately, I cannot bottle these methods and sell them to other teachers. I am working on being intentional and controlling the results, but alas, like true science it’s an art form, and sometimes the results are not as expected, and even more powerful. Over these past few weeks, I’m working on building back relationships with colleagues, which by and large means “leave them alone.” So I continue to work alone.
My class size for ELL/ELA this year is twelve students. What I love about smaller class sizes are everything you can imagine: individual attention, crafting, and scaffolding, differentiating for interests and needs. However, I’m still expected, like I imagine most of us are, daily learning targets and success criteria, and this number, where I have no idea where it originated from, we are expected to use 80% of district-approved materials. We adopted a new curriculum for ELLs since I’ve been in this district, and while the materials aren’t bad, at this stage in my profession I’ve been “baking from scratch” for so long, this feels too pedantic and suffocating. I take heart at in our scope and sequence, which I contributed to over the summer, one unit of study is Identity and another is Culture. Those are broad and expansive topics, and I can work with that. I also want to shift toward Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s work and Dr. José Medina’s works. Sometimes fostering revolutions are the quiet shifts and getting results, sharing the results, and then it grows.
On September 25 I attended a Native American professional development
Also, we have an amazing Native American district lead, Robin Pratt, who’s shares rich resources, this among many others. How many districts around our nation can say they have a Native American DISTRICT LEAD?
But: this is the work of the work. We excavate, research, and find what we and our students need. And I’m always honest with them about how much I don’t know, and also inquire into their experiences, too.
Organization:
I will do my best to organize these thoughts so you can find and use what you might need.
Objectives: Using a reader’s response journal and graphic novel, among other media, inquire and build contextual and historical knowledge about the past and present day. 1. Read to learn about a character and her identity, place, and present-tense life, and her journey to learn about her past and make personal connections to her place in history. 2. Write about our own experiences with our heritages –many of us don’t know family members or ancestors. This is not about direct knowledge, but imagining (historical fiction) — if we could dream about our pasts, where would we go? What might we see? Who might we talk to? 3. Listen to stories and perspectives from those who live and learn on this land we currently occupy (Muckleshoot Tribe) 4. Speak/discuss our thoughts with others in class*
*this is a domain that has been challenging to encourage students to take risks with each other
There is no shortage of factual, critical information about our history; the more I looked into my digital hoard the more I uncovered. Hopefully you can find something you can use, and begin to do this work. Now. This month. And keep it going. I’m going to hit the Publish button.
Some quick ways to encourage students to find, create, and use #fanart to demonstrate love of literature and reading.
The other day I saw a wonderful IG post by the author Neal Shusterman displaying some of the #fanart he receives from some very talented artists. I am a huge fan of his writing myself. A little background: I earned a BFA in 1982, and when I became a teacher in the mid-2000s my BFA earned me an endorsement in teaching art, too. This past school year, during the building closure, was the first year I was able to add teaching a Drawing class to my schedule. My schedule included Drawing, ELA/ELL, ELL Study Skills, and a Check/Connect time (which, by all metrics, was a collaborative disaster, but that’s a story for another day).
Incorporating visual arts into my English/Language Arts design is embedded in my work. And the ‘skills’ of drawing are something, the fear of “I can’t draw a straight line” is addressed swiftly and soundly. Guess what? I can’t draw a straight line, either. I use a ruler. I use digital tools. My stick figures are quirky. Oh well. Art and writing are closely connected to telling a story. And when we ELA teachers have asked our students to shut their eyes and visualize a story*, to see the movie in their minds, we’re asking a daunting task for many students now. Consumption of audio/visual content is a full-time pursuit for many students (and ourselves) so being able to imagine characters and scenes in a book feels impossible to some.
Reminder: always give credit to the original author, too.
We English teachers have asked students to create movie posters and one-pagers for a long time. Adding #fanart to the mix supports inclusion for multi-modal approaches to texts. Please comment with questions and ideas, and “dog food” this — create your own FanArt!
A few months ago, I made this book talk video and posted it on YouTube. I confess, I did try to find out how to pronounce words correctly, but I still goofed up.
And yesterday I received an email correcting me on a few points:
I added the email text to the video, and kept the original video because I want to share this with students this next school year. This is how we learn. One of my plans for my own learning this summer is to read more and reflect on Indigenous peoples in North America. Monise Seward and I were going to do this. I feel behind in my progress, but will show myself a little grace–I put it on my calendar for this weekend, and will continue to grow.
In the meantime, I feel so much gratitude to this teacher for helping me.
