Category: Burning Questions Book Lists
Zealot.
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.“
https://www.jcf.org/works/quote/instead-of-clearing-his-own-heart/
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.
To this point:
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.)
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsToday I’ll be posting notes I’ve gotten from readers to show how books open hearts, feed minds, and soothe wounded souls. TW – some of these are intense.#Freadom #txlege @MacKidsSL @PenguinClass #SpeakUp #ShoutTogether pic.twitter.com/hvVSRJIfbh
— Laurie Halse Anderson is deep-cleaning everything (@halseanderson) December 3, 2021
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.
Some book lists for your libraries, too:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/dahliaadler/lgbtq-middle-grade-books
The author recommends this book for high school:
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsSo, 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
— Malinda Lo (@malindalo) December 15, 2021
I’m here to talk, discuss, and think about new ideas. And I’m grateful for so many who share their brilliant and clear ideas.
Postscript:
More writers to read, please:
https://booktoss.org/2021/01/08/dear-liberal-white-teachers/
A Girl Called Echo
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
https://www.necessitythemovie.com/
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?
https://www.k12.wa.us/student-success/resources-subject-area/time-immemorial-tribal-sovereignty-washington-state
This resource from Dr. Debbie Reese: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/
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 |
 Google Slide with instructions for journal: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ofLJM1Ag0hT19DccxpiXub4MPMD9QO3xKZ-6EkbnngE/edit?usp=sharing |
| Google Slide based on Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s instructional work: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1I7AWRTlvDt3zLILUW4Av6PJ1W2hfqf-ANxqjQiXQPD8/edit?usp=sharing |
| We Are Muckleshoot https://www.wearemuckleshoot.org/our-future |
| Consider water rights unit, too: https://crosscut.com/2018/10/seattle-caught-between-tribal-rights-and-protecting-its-water-supply |
| Dialectical Journals Notebook insert: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DCotQ3TyyBAmNymwTKWrvyUIc8P7l5czK0juCf2V4TQ/edit?usp=sharing |
| Native American Poetry https://poets.org/native-american-heritage-month?fbclid=IwAR26lpKXrwILBG8FaEISnaFAgl1GNLiJ4oVRizUk_UCpEb1izkGTJcfJs5A |
| https://www.necessitythemovie.com/ |
Media:
Texts and Resources:
This tribe helped the Pilgrims survive for their first Thanksgiving. They still regret it 400 years later.
The Myths of the Thanksgiving Story and the Lasting Damage They Imbue
https://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/
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.
Series: White People Homework (22) ‘Canon’ Fodder
Districts and English departments are scrambling for “diverse” books–while some of us have been doing this work, time to continue and support.
I’m going into year 15 next school year, and during this time I can vouch that I continue to seek answers and strive to be a better teacher for my students. This is built on my master’s thesis, which was using engaging children’s literature–I contend this was a solid foundation for my practice. But I’m out of patience waiting for others to catch up. And I’ve encountered this request and steerage multiple times. I’m not a patient person by nature anyway, or so I’ve been told by a friend. It would be my life lesson. I’m beginning to think patience, when it comes to children and education, is highly overrated and is not, as painted, a virtue, but a sin.
And I saw this:
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsQuoting @pgorski here because it fits perfectly https://t.co/6zXqFfzyp4 pic.twitter.com/7h1CFF5XL0
— Fran on & off el tuiterverso (@TWSteacher) June 22, 2020
And this:
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsWe don’t have years to wait. We shouldn’t have to wait months. If you are a content creator, this is your warning. Think about your books. Blog posts. Tpt products. Go back w your new lens. What should go or be revised? And how can you be transparent about that process? https://t.co/gB0soHTklT
— Adrienne Brandenburg (@AdrienneBranden) June 22, 2020
I would add that I am here for any conversation about books, novels, problematic texts, and the approved “canon.” Districts and district leadership: I beseech you: do not make it so difficult to get great literature written by BIPOC writers in our classrooms. We don’t have time to wait.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js1/Having been forced to teach it (or lose my job), I can say that this has given me a lot of thought.
— @mrskellylove (@mrskellylove) June 20, 2020
White teachers: if you’re not forced to teach these texts, what reasons do you have to justify this?
Also, I am redefining “classic” text – https://t.co/eEQexRizjE
Book Recommendations for my current teaching position: link here.
White People Homework (1)
White People: Do the Work
As a follow up to this post, The Racist in the Classroom, I offer these resources that may help you grow and learn. Growth is uncomfortable. Growth can be filled with shame, guilt, and cringe-worthy memories. But maybe that’s just me. And I understand and accept what Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi said (paraphrasing) –this work is never done. It’s continual growth and learning. And warning: you might lose friends. You might get trolled by white ladies like this one:
https://twitter.com/MatthewACherry/status/1267642329168400384When we impeached this president, we warned that he was a dictator in waiting.
— Rep. Val Demings (@RepValDemings) June 2, 2020
I believe now what I believed then: this president is a threat to our democracy, our families, and to us.
National Museum of African American History and Culture Releases “Talking About Race” Web Portal
Here’s the next places on my journey:
- Finish reading White Fragility: at this point I’ve pieced together too many excerpts and need to do a deeper reading
- Readings and study with critical race theory
- Work with Monise S. on our indigenous studies
- Work to find a multitude of resources to support my students and organize them to promote engagement, curiosity and purpose
- Create curriculum for staff and students: some have already been doing this work, and some are just starting on their journey. I’ll meet them where they are.
- Dig deep into STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING by Dr. Kendi
- Share a post-a-day about a resource or voice that must be heard
First assignment: understand Trump’s use of sacred religious texts and teachings to prop up and disguise his racism and violent, anti-democratic acts. Two places to start:
- https://www.npr.org/2016/01/30/465009973/donald-trump-holds-up-bible-in-appeal-to-the-evangelicals
- He did this for a photo-op and gassed citizens in order to do so: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/us/politics/trump-st-johns-church-bible.html
- Understand how White Europeans used religion to justify their use of enslaved peoples.
disrupting mockingbirds.
TFW I asked for help on teaching To Kill A Mockingbird and received so much support and guidance.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsA student made this for me today. How did she know this is exactly what I needed? ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/fbuqkRy8oc
— Tricia Ebarvia (@triciaebarvia) January 3, 2019
Is anyone going to understand, aside from other teachers, how amazing what happened is? For all the ills of social media, there is so much good. Note to new and veteran teachers: find your PLN (professional learning network) via social media, and expand your thinking and horizons.
Here is what happened: my district uses packaged novel units based on another district’s work, or now a business, called EL or Expeditionary Learning. The program has many benefits, one of which each student (or scholar as they are known in the district) receives a copy of the central text. There are four modules, each with more lessons than is possible, and the intent is to provide some flexibility and professional judgment in the how to teach, but not the what, and the assessments are ironclad. We first taught Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, and I followed the pacing guide and time frame and came out of it three weeks ahead of my PLC colleagues. No matter–I forged ahead with more essay and creative writing until winter break began on December 21.
Well, break is over on Monday, January 7th, and To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is our next Module of Study, titled “Taking a Stand.” Being a Grants/Wiggins fangirl, I am all about the concepts of Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions. But–
…but–To Kill A Mockingbird?
My relationship with the novel is probably typical of a little white southern girl with liberal, progressive parents–I loved it. I loved Scout. I loved the bravery, and the characters, the mystery, the strength, and the suspense. I can’t remember when I first read it if it was a choice or assigned, but I see a wavering fog of memory of some teacher and I connecting over my lightbulb moment of why Mrs. DuBose chose to go off her morphine toward the end of her life. The novel taught me so many things, and I am grateful to Harper Lee for this novel. And to this day, it holds a special place in my heart. However, we paradoxical humans can and should hold two or more truths at once, and over the past year or so (long before I knew I would switch districts and be mandated to teach the novel), many respected educators questioned and criticized this novel. I learned and listened to new perspectives and considerations, many of which hold important truths. Truths about race, racism, misogyny, and injustice masquerading as justice.
#edchat #ncte #disrupttexts Looking for help in pulling all the pieces together:— Kelly (@mrskellylove) January 2, 2019
One of the focuses will be https://t.co/OvUczzQe6W— Kelly (@mrskellylove) January 2, 2019
I had this amazing professor in college. He was Sri Lankan, teaching the required Brit Lit class from the POV of colonized people. He gave us “Heart of Darkness” and said:— Tom Rademacher (@MrTomRad) January 2, 2019
“This book is a racist piece of crap. I want you to read it because I want you to know what a racist piece of crap it is.” We read the book and had amazing discussions, using it as a central text to talk about white gaze and other things. So, teach, but teach context.— Tom Rademacher (@MrTomRad) January 2, 2019
I’m just listening in but I do think if you have to teach a problematic text, then you teach it as a vehicle to learn a critical reading process that allows kids to identify other problematic texts out in the world. Because they WILL encounter them.— Jess (@Jess5th) January 2, 2019
When Jess@Jess5th tweeted this –I knew I found the center focus.
The responses received fill my heart. With the deepest of gratitude, I must acknowledge @MrTomRad, @Jess5th, @debreese, @Ebonyteach, @CrazyQuilts, @Caitteach, @ShanaVWhite, @JenniferBinis, @spencerideas, @TheJLV, @ValerieBrownEDU, @triciaebarvia and if I missed anyone, my apologies. You all came to the conversation, and this-this is what I’ll share with my scholars first — we are all learning together, and trying to do better, and ask the big, tough questions.
The plan, such as it is, when we come back on Monday, January 7, in the midst of adolescents who’ve been homebound for two weeks (most of them) caring for younger siblings and doing whatever it is kids do over rainy breaks when resources are limited, and the building expectations PowerPoints that must be shown, is to let them first take and get reoriented, but also–share what happened. How other teachers discussed their ideas, openly and freely. I intend to pair this text with my #projectlit collection, of course, and allow students to find their own relationship with To Kill A Mockingbird along with other paired texts and discussions. I want so much for them.
If you would like the resources and ideas shared, please go to Twitter and follow me, and click on the discussion thread: @mrskellylove
Resources:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Sg5itwdpj_gWT1NDDebgyJLWhvM8T4aQ5k5sIZQoKLs/edit?usp=sharing
This is a draft–just trying to organize the scope and sequence: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c4BmPo53CFhk3dFi6PuTQr9ln_OvJaeQzjWgzLzW5xI/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wkQXV6d7f-9NoZR6Ma4z-WtU9gQy4BvHB_mrVbCvxkE/edit?usp=sharing
School Shopping.
Is Teachers Pay Teachers “bad?” And why do I have an image of my #ProjectLIT progress? I’ll pull it all together, promise.
I believe that as a whole TPT is bad for students, so I will continue to voice my concerns.
— Colby Sharp (@colbysharp) August 8, 2018
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:
Exactly! Adding a chevron border doesn’t make it your property to sell. Someone even stole one of my docs and was selling it. I put it up for free because it upset me so much. Not a fan of TPT. https://t.co/BYZa04nS25
— Cheryl Mizerny (@CherylTeaches) August 8, 2018
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:
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.
Making things.
As a follow-up to yesterday’s post regarding how to get students to move forward without scaffolds, I received many good ideas from the High School ELA group page* on Facebook, and coincidentally (are there coincidences in this day of spooky algorithms?) the National Writing Project posted this article, “Using Blogging to Grow Independent Writers (or: How to Kick Your Little Birds Out of the Nest).” I feel hopeful that I am capable of bringing writers forward. We blog, I’ve been blogging, and will keep offering it to students, as well as continue to make connections and reframe their concepts of who I am and who they are as writers and learners.
My question, if I’m being honest, had more to do with my own confidence crisis than anything else. When I teach ELA/SS again, (and I don’t know where or when), will I be able to keep my own continuity of growth? This must be a common feeling: being reassigned to doing something else and then wondering if we will still have our chops in what we love? I needed to hear “yes.”
I heard “yes” in from a few voices.
Jackie Gerstein: I could have written your post. I am in the middle of that story now. I needed to know there is an end.
Daisy: I just adore you, lady.
And my young feminist:
A few weeks ago a student asked if I had Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay, and alas, it was only on my Kindle (wonder how Bezos became so rich?), but I would buy it for her. I also bought We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. (Don’t tell my husband because we are on a boa constrictor tight budget.)
She stopped by with her boyfriend whom I promptly interrogated to make sure he had no problems with her smashing the patriarchy, and he seemed to not only not mind, but help her swing the hammer.
This morning and into the afternoon I’m cleaning up and out. I was thinking about all the redesign of curriculum and lessons I would do, and think become fatigue and saddened by the unnecessary burdens placed upon me this year. It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to remain diplomatic and censored.
Just. Keep. Doing. The. Work.
The work, the thinking, and the deep love I have for my profession–I must believe that is what sustains me.
I’m making:
- New context clues posters and materials
- DOK for Students
- Reviewing my curriculum accomplishments for the year
- Creating new units for PBL for my computer tech students
- Cleaning up clutter and files
- Taking care of minutiae
- A presentation on trust and trustworthiness
How do you keep going in times of worry? What are your tricks? Lists help me. And walks. Have a wonderful day, and get some well-deserved rest.
Heart-shaped box. (Or The Giving Tree reimagined.)
Are there two kinds of people in this world? Those who X or those who Y? Or maybe that is the paradox, thinking we can be this or that. But if I was the kind of person who asks if there are two kinds of people, (which I’m not) I would ask if you like The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.
You know the book– the story begins with a boy and a tree, and the tree, or Tree, ends up giving the boy everything and ends up being a stump for the boy, now an old man, to sit on and rest.
“Once there was a tree…and she loved a little boy.”
How do you feel about The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein?
[formidable id=”7″]
Do you ever feel tapped out by the financial and emotional demands of teaching? I sure do. This week alone there were tens of broken pencils on the ground. Stolen candy. Requests to buy T-shirts for ourselves for the school fundraiser. Requests to pitch in for the staff morale committee (12 years x $20 = $240, of which I’ve never received a card, birthday cake, or any acknowledgment or benefit. I’ve been in the hospital, my husband had surgery, and yeah); also, requests to pitch in more money for a friend’s birthday present (I have the misfortune of having a birthday during the midwinter break). I pledged $40 to the fundraiser already. Good thing it was payday yesterday…oops, and it’s gone.
Over the summer I thought ahead and made sure I would have Lord of the Flies books, spending my time and goodwill with friends and family, begging them to donate the books I thought I would be using this fall. Like the Little Red Hen, I planned ahead, spending hours over the summer creating and curating important resources, building on research, professional judgment, and knowledge. And this week I planned lessons, shared knowledge, gave away books, bought a new teacher a $30 gift card for Amazon so she would be able to get a few books, got a request for books for a teacher returning to her classroom, and let’s not forget the four current natural disasters (although one could argue the ferocity of the Level 5 Hurricanes is man-made). There are teachers in Texas and Florida trying to rebuild their classrooms and schools.
So the teachers who are teaching 8th grade ELA this year asked me for the Lord books, and I handed over the box and then went to my room and cried. Those were my brand-new books with really cool book cover illustrations. They didn’t even have my name on them yet. I wanted to write my name. I have black Sharpies. They’re mine.
For me.
New.
Mine.
Later, I asked them both if we could please compromise, and they’re great colleagues, and I’m sure they will. But it wasn’t easy for me to speak up.
It’s so hard for people, and I could make a strong case for women especially (see The Giving Tree reference if you’re confused) to say no. Women have different sins than men. The sin of selfishness. The sin of owning things. The sin of hard work and time not being for everyone else’s benefit but their own.
My family takes emotional energy, in the best of ways, but in hard ways, too. Jobs, health, dreams, goals: mothers/wives circle around the members making sure everyone has what they need, and if she doesn’t, is thought of as toxic or dysfunctional. My own brilliant husband told me the other day he thought I planned stuff because I liked it. After 25 years he still has some things to learn about me. Because I am good at something doesn’t mean I like to do it.
So here to permission for us all to say No, or I can’t make it. Perhaps another time. Or just back to “no?”
I’ll share a secret, too. Teaching ELA is the best teaching gig ever. Books, stories, creativity, imagination…and oh, did I mention the books?!
In Computer Essentials I answered the same repetitive, mind-numbing questions because students wouldn’t read a sentence or two of instructions. They don’t know how to talk to each other, no matter how many strategies I scaffolded.
But as far as not knowing, yet, how to do and collaborate, I don’t blame them: they have a pass with me. They’re wonderful, and they’re trying. And when they get something, they thank me, and I get a smile in return.
It may not be a coffee mug, but those smiles keep me going.
Pledge.
I always have this summer break lag–it takes me a bit to realize it actually is break time, and not only relax, but reflect. And just not think at all.
Last summer I had everything planned out, and offered my time and expertise to go over the CCSS and come up with a menu of critical ones I knew our PLC should take a look at and consider for the common/formative/assessments. Well, that didn’t work, and that’s okay: the team decided to focus on one skill through the lens of one or two standards. Am I going to stop coming up with ideas? Did I learn my lesson? Nah. I can’t help myself. I love designing good curriculum.
Next year I’ve been tapped to construct Computer Essentials for 7th grade, and will be teaching only one class of 8th ELA. (Just can’t quit you, Humanities….). To say our students need the computer skills is an understatement. (I’ll post my ideas on that later.) In the meantime, this post serves as a pledge to myself to read: I have the trifecta of my summer: a hammock, sometimes blue sky, and time. My focus is to create a curriculum map that is more reflective of what ELA students are truly expected to know. The horizontal, silo-approach doesn’t work. I’m actually envisioning a circle map, updated, and global: a way to teach units that are connective and authentic, with a heavy dash of choice and design. Give me a week or two, and I’ll have something figured out.
Oh, and I need to add some new videos to the list:
What is one thing you taught more than one year, and feel it is a “must?”