Category: Books

Summer Series of Saves: It’s not just you.

Artwork by Mr. Babies
@mr.babies on Instagram

I am concerned about my #ProjectLIT project stalling out. I need these books. Don’t want: need. They aren’t some glib luxury for my incoming 8th students, they are a lifeline.

These books pulled me out of my own fractured, terrible attention span thinking. They brought back mental stamina– what my students lack, and desperately need if they’re going to move through high school with courage. Eighth grade is the worst of years, and it’s the best of years. Someday I’d love to teach Freshmen, but until a high school English team wants me, too, I am honored to continue to teach 8th-grade humans.

Why do we become fractured in our thinking? I am sure I can dig up the brain research about our current political and social climate combined with our devices, and the impact it has on our abilities to be in our own heads and dive deep into another’s narrative. But right now I have eleven tabs open, things on the to-do list, and a humble request: please help my students.

Anyway: please consider donating $5 to $10 for my students to get their hands on great books, books that reflect who they are, not what we think they should be. 

School Shopping.

ProjectLIt books.jpg

Is Teachers Pay Teachers “bad?” And why do I have an image of my #ProjectLIT progress? I’ll pull it all together, promise.

Yes, sometimes it is. It can be the junk food, candy display at the check-out counter, along with the pulp magazines and other impulse buys. Worksheets=bad. (Even when students beg for them: that’s a good sign you’re actually teaching.) Teaching authentically, making fresh, home-made lessons every day is tough; we can’t even write down all that we do because we’re busy doing it.

There was a time in your life when you had friends, enough time to read a book, and energy enough to stay awake past 7: 30 p.m. That time is not fall. In fall, we uncover the work of the rest of the year, we discover and ask questions we have little hope of answering.

Rademacher, Tom. It Won’t Be Easy: An Exceedingly Honest (and Slightly Unprofessional) Love Letter to Teaching (Kindle Locations 887-890). University of Minnesota Press. Kindle Edition.

Over the course of the summer, I’ve spent upwards of $700-$800 on teaching books, supplies, classroom necessities, trying to fund my ProjectLIT books for students,  buying at least one copy for myself of each of the books, etc. I spent almost $40 on To Kill A Mockingbird resources from Laura Randazzo on TpT.

Why? Why would I sully my teaching reputation by buying (*ew*) resources off of Teachers Pay Teachers?

Well, Laura Randazzo has pretty great stuff. And I’m out of time. I take her resources as just that: resources. I look them over, tweak them as needed to supplement my own. This is the first year I will be required to teach a prescripted curriculum. I have four modules with accompanying novels. To Kill A Mockingbird is one of them. I loved it as an adolescent, but also see that it has many issues I am very much looking forward to discussing with my 8th-grade students. Oh, and did I mention I’m going to a new district, new school, and new culture? I’m thinking about how to best navigate those conditions, too. Knowing who I am there is no way I will not be as prepared as possible, leaving room for the unknowns that will inevitably come up.

In order to best use my professional time so I can have the energy and will to do my best with this novel for students, I now have time to free up and look into #disruptingtexts 

This. Is. Really. Important.

Let me repeat: I now have the time and energy to delve deeper into what’s important:

Atticus has been and continues to be problematic and so many white people don’t want to admit it. His advocacy has limits. He’s not willing to question the very system that has allowed Tom to end up in this racist situation. In the face of pure racism and bigotry he doesn’t see the need to publicly disrupt the legal system. Yes, he defends Tom. Yes he questions Mayella. No, he doesn’t go beyond that. He doesn’t protest. He doesn’t say he’s going to take on the court system. He doesn’t say he’s going to make structural changes so this stops happening. He doesn’t use his privilege to bring about change. He lets Tom die. He is a part of the very system that let Tom die. I was encouraged by how many white folks in our chat mentioned it, though, so there’s hope in progress.

But there are many problematic and downright unethical sides to some materials posted on TpT: one of my favorite PLN colleagues, Cheryl Mizerny, had this happen to her: 

That is way not cool.

If you are a careful consumer, you can use TpT to your advantage as a resource, just as many of us use Twitter, Facebook groups, and teacher blogs as resources. Blaming TpT wholesale does a disservice; being nuanced about issues helps. Consider the bigger conversation about how we pull all of our resources together, how we can create our own curated content/playlists to better serve and support one another. Shaming teachers doesn’t work any better than shaming students.

I am getting stingy in my old age. I am trying to be careful about how I spend my professional money and time. If you want something from me, I’m here for you. But I’m not going to be lectured about my own time and money on what resources I find valuable. And which ones I don’t.

For what it’s worth, here are the teacher books I read recently:

These are amazing. Helpful. And I will definitely be using many of the ideas from these as resources.

I wish I had written this, but I am a woman, and probably couldn’t get away with all the cussing: (I am still pondering the question if women teachers can be funny, too.)

One of the most practical, well-written books I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a long time. Since I am required to teach whole-class novels, this is my just-in-time save:

Another godsend by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle:

A

And my big question to students this year will be about how lying affects us:

Oh, last thought: please do not think for one minute I am not conflicted about asking for DonorsChoose donations. Jeff Bezos gets richer. My friends and family roll their eyes at me. Everyone is charity-fatigued. I get it. I really do. But dangit, I really want to have ten copies of Dread Nation to teach to my 8th grade ELA/SS students! I mean REALLY!? Civil War…Zombies…Girl Hero Who KICKS IT! Friendship! Just buy my students a book or two.

Summer Series of Saves: The Notebook


Note: all or most of these are WIPs: I continually update as I find new resources. You are welcome to make a copy and then rename to make them your own.

Based on Kelly Gallagher’s and Penny Kittle’s work, 180 Days, Two Teachers and the Quest to Engage and Empower Adolescents, I’m furiously working on trying to organize the new district, school, two preps, and other expectations.

Writers and Readers: Craft Notes https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R1HCdlRzCr-HP20EamACRXYVjCZAZPRBIh-BKhOIP-4/edit?usp=sharing

Text and Media Playlist: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1srYlGLpB-Xck57Uj8P4DDjh1wSSqVcFA6m8FTMsYUTk/edit?usp=sharing

I purchase standard composition notebooks for all my students: these are the inserts I photocopy and have students place inside their notebooks. I’m trying the Table of Contents new this year, with numbered pages. My goals include blending what I know engages students with tweaks and tips from Gallagher/Kittle, as well as the amazing teachers and educators of my PLN.

Notebook Inserts:

Notebook Table of Contents page: (revised from Gallagher/Kittle):

Note Taking Journal Insert

Color DIALECTICAL JOURNAL IDEA SHEET

Note Taking Journal Insert

Miscellaneous:

My weekly proposed schedule: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_mzdQDwN40ot-BoKYxBCeYXvHZPmbqhXLHzqLrv1WHo/edit?usp=sharing

Reimaging the essay curated content: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16dqDJQlJEV4i4HxDZW9IzxHuSxIdovgY7aJZ0bhkD14/edit?usp=sharing

DOK For Students:

DOK for Students

Group Project Norms: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Taj3QSvjh6Ue3XKnBoZ29ygO-4iSD752hEdMatAJbCM/edit?usp=sharing

Please contact me if you have any questions: my email is karen.kelly.love@gmail.com

PS Kris, this is for you:

Summer Series of Saves: Tea with Bears (or the hard sell)

 

clock
Never enough time…

Planning and shaping students’ reading lives–I have some concerns. Selfish, muddy concerns.

Donalyn Miller’s tweet about ill-defined independent reading prompted my own wondering about the basics: what is are the differences and connections between instructional and independent reading? A while back I wrote this blog post challenging those notions, too:  How to Survive a Bear Attack

https://bookwhisperer.com/2015/02/08/ive-got-research-yes-i-do-ive-got-research-how-about-you/amp/

And, the notion of leveling texts also seems outdated, or at least considered revised:

Here is the concern: there are four modules in my new district that are required. We, teachers, have some leeway concerning how, but not the what. My goals are to embrace the curriculum with courage and creativity, so bear with me while I ask some tough questions this beautiful Sunday morning:  what do we do when we’re faced with teaching books we don’t like? My plan is to read the books anyway and be honest with students about when we don’t have a choice, and how to navigate around it.

Four texts were chosen for my students. I have every confidence and assumption the texts are chosen by hardworking and mindful educators. I am wondering how I’m going to cooperate, comply and flourish with a scripted reading program, though, since for years I’ve had full choice over the texts I bring to the classroom. I have always looked for engaging, relevant, diverse, inclusive and popular texts: sometimes it worked, sometimes not. But what if I don’t want to read it? How do I sell it then?

The four books for the year are:

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

This one looks right up my alley: a short verse novel, accessible and easily paired with Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed and other novels/graphic novels.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Now this one I’m having trouble with. I get it, and I see and wholly understand why many love narratives such as these. (Think of The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown and others like these. Although for the life of me can’t really figure out how How the Light We Cannot See got in there.) There were a few books I could not finish in the book club I used to frequent (another casualty of time and politics, and my big mouth), and Boys was up on the list. I think I read five pages. I don’t know what it is that I don’t care about personal boy-to-manhood sagas with war as the backdrop. It feels like a failure of character on my part. I will force myself to read it, make notes, and come away with insight and knowledge I didn’t previously have. And that’s exactly what I’ll tell students.

But it still feels like badly cooked broccoli. Someone else put it on my plate and I must be polite.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This is one of my adolescent favorites, and am looking forward to pairing it with The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and articles about how TKAM needs to be critiqued. That’s we can love a book and still grow out of it.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

This one also looks like something I wouldn’t normally read but can get a lot out of, and plan a PBL around it. As I’m thinking about PBLs for next year, and after talking with my friend Sharon, I had this epiphany that the best PBLs stem from the lowest rung of Maslow’s hierarchy. Hear me out: our food, shelter, water, air, and reproductions are the foundation for all problems and conflicts: we were talking about her weaving unit, and how the labor of clothing fell to women, and now how we have an overabundance of clothes in landfills, etc.  I’m looking forward to reading this.

So how can I best disrupt texts and tow the line? 

And in the meantime, donations are welcome and encouraged. I need support for students to disrupt the canon, to add representation and love of literature. Please consider a small donation: Mrs. Love’s Project Lit DonorsChoose Project

Back to the original question: independent reading is choice, but it also includes fostering those discussions and excitement about what we’re reading. Instructional reading is the near-invisible guiding hand that helps students take risks with their reading, and nurture their reading lives. While I process this, read 180 Days, and curate companion texts, my challenge will be to focus on the most important instruction, day by day, week by week. With required reading texts this will be a challenge for me, but one I’ll do my utmost to succeed.

Any help or advice is welcome…

Summer Series of Saves: Magic

Did you ever want to be a character from a book? Tomi Adeyemi wrote Children of Blood and Bone (which I just finished and REALLY WANT SOME TO TALK ABOUT THE ENDING WITH!) and she posted this beautiful photo:

Now: ideas for discussing books and characters with students: what elements of characters do you recognize in yourself? What powers or weaknesses do they have you see in yourself?

And wow: when you don’t see a character that matches or represents you: WRITE IT.

Summer Series of Saves: Teachers Talk.

Be centered on what matters to you. 
Just wanted to capture a wonderful chat I stumbled onto–good ideas and inspiring to focus on what matters. And: I want to share with students that teachers walk the walk–we want our students to love their reading and writing lives as much as we do.

please and thank you

I can’t wait for the district to figure out its spending. I can’t wait for any more co-opting of my time and fees from Donors Choose. I can’t wait for a miracle where a hero like Stephen Colbert or group buys out the entire stock.

My students can’t wait.

They need books.

Real books.

They want to read.

Classroom Library Wish List: http://a.co/frm0Nnq

Please consider helping me put books in their hands, books that will be part of my personal classroom library. I can’t do this alone.

Classroom Library Tip Jar

Please donate so I can replenish my classroom library.

$5.00