Category Archives: English

Blogging to learn and assess

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Inspired by our own faculty blog and wanting to try something new with my unit on Jane Eyre this year, I decided to have me students blog about Charlotte Bronte’s novel as they read it.  With support and guidance from Christina Ditzel, my sophomore students launched their own “Jane Eyre” blogs last semester.

My hope was that their blogs – shared with a group of three other students – would be a way for them to engage with the challenging book and make personal connections to the story. I also saw the blog as a substitute to the traditional reading quiz, which can historically be experienced and perceived by students as a stress-inducing “game” to win.

The blogs were successful in many ways. They gave students a platform and audience for their writing, they encouraged students to be reflective and by nature forced students to process what they read, they allowed students to be creative, and they equipped students with some useful digital media skills.

Even though, unfortunately, these blogs were still viewed by some as a chore, most were grateful for the opportunity to show their understanding of the book in their own words and in a new way. They also ultimately found the blogs less stressful than traditional reading quizzes. I will definitely be having by students blog more in the future.

As we move toward a more innovative and progressive curriculum, I feel called to continue to closely look at all of my assessments. Yes, there will always be a place in the classroom for quick, formative, low-stakes assessments. But if they require any significant amount of time, it seems to me that they must be more than just “assessments;” they should be treated as rich learning experiences in and of themselves. Journeys of knowledge, not just products of knowledge. My assessments still need a lot of work.

I also feel called to deepen my engagement with students on their learning journeys. Too often I pay them the longest visit only once they’ve reached the final destination of submitting their work.

The other day, the English education leader Carol Jago tweeted: “The Latin root for assessment is assidere, to sit beside. It’s the best seat in the house for any teacher.” I know that my sophomore bloggers, especially my reluctant and struggling writers, might have had better learning experiences had I made more time to sit beside them.
….
If you want to learn more about my pedagogical rationale and the expectations I established for their writing, you can read about it here in a piece I wrote for the February issue of California English.

Promoting Growth Through Uncomfortable Conversations

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Recently Hayley shared a prompt from The English Journal that bas me continuing to reflect on my teaching approach and overall goals as an English teacher.
While I understand the importance of helping students to develop academic skills within the curriculum, I know we do so much more as educators. However, I have always placed emphasis on using texts to promote self discovery and identiy. Furthermore, I encourage students to learn about not only themelves but society and the world at large. 
I have been drawn to voices of the oppressed for as long as I can remember because this lense promotes empathy and compassion. So, when reflecting on the “Exploring Color Hierarchies” prompt, I was excited to continue to exam how I can continue to grow as I try to facilitate and promote genuine humanatarism in my students.
I find myself aligning with Toni Morrision in my approach to literature.
“Of constant fascination for me are the ways in which literature employs skin color to reveal character or drive narrative—especially if the fictional main character is White (which is almost always the case).”
—Toni Morrison, The Origin of Others (2017)

During my masters program, I realized that the “dead white men” continue to rule literature. As such, I created an African-American Literature class that I have brought to Carondelet. I am also excited to bring Voices of the Oppressed to Carondelet next year. 
While there is always a case for the English literary canon and including great works, the texts have been historically one-sided from the white perspective. Over the course of my teaching career, I have continued to try to focus on voices of oppressed cultures. Yet, coming to Carondelet foced me to be even more crtical of the texts I teach. I know make a conscious effort to include more female voices, yet this is an area I am continuing to grow in.
Selecting literature that speaks to a vast audience is difficult. Yet, if we are to meet all of our students and engage them we have to create pathways fior them to met us. Thus creating spaces for them to grow academically and, most importantly, as a human beings. Having a multicultural space in English classes at Carondelet should be celebrated. I encourage students to be experts and to share their experiences. Still, tackling tough topics like racism in 2018 in America or use of The N-Word in Huck Finn, is not always easy. However, it is our obligation as educators. While we are responsible for developing academic competencies in our students, our job is also to help them develop a strong sense of themselves and to prepare them to critically engage with the world around them as contributing members of society.
So, how can we have provacative conversations that are highly uncomfotable for society at large, let alone adolescents. The first step is developing a safe environment rooted in dignity and respect. I believe that sharing our stories as human beings is also vital to creating a sense of trust in the classroom.  I strive to share not only my personality quirks, but also my life history as much as I am comfortable with. I truly believe that by being vulnerable and open to students that I am not only modeling true humanity, but I am also promoting self reflection and growth through anecdotes. Additonally, promoting students as experts and teachers in the classroom encourages them to take ownership of the enivornment and any uncomortable topics they may enounter.
The next step in promoting these conversations is to front load. For instance, in my English 3 class I spend two weeks prepping for a unit that deals with the role of the racism and oppression within Huck Finn. We watch “The Word” episode of Blackish. We watch a CNN video on the history of the N-word. We also watch a video from the Library of Congress that focuses on the use of the N-word during slavery. We then have open and frank conversations about the connotatioins and mixed-messages within society about the N-word. Then we read excertps from slave narratives.

All of this is done to educate about the history of the word and also to diffuse that first uncomfortable moment when I read “nigger” in Huck Finn. The students have been exposed to various attitudes about the word, heard how classmates feel,. and hopefully come to a better understand of how they feel about the word.

I have had successes and failures in the classroom as I try to tackle controversial and uncomfortable topics like racism. Some media has been outdated, while other videos have done a fantastic job of engaging students. I continue to refelct on materials and curriculum within my units in the hopes of continuing to push uncomfortable topics. In turn, my hope is that students will take these ideas into their communities and with them as they grow up. After all, isn’t our role partly to help today’s generation prepare to improve society and improve fix the mistakes of previous generations?

Voices of the Oppressed — Please Share Text Suggestions

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My development of a new course has been one of the tougher challenges I have faced as an educator. Not because I don’t enjoy the work. Rather, because it is forcing me out of my comfort zone that is American Literature.

I am working on creating a year-long, double-block class titled Voices of the Oppressed. My goal is to teach the class in conjunction with a history teacher while bringing in outside speakers, including the Religion Department and possibly a Holocaust survivor among other experts.
While I am well versed in literature of the oppressed in America, this class has forced me to expand my horizons and to continue to improve my networking skills as I have sought help in selecting texts for the course from the rest of the world outside the United States. Luckily, I have a sister that is working on her dissertation with a focus on Haitian Literature dealing with United States philanthropic outreach after the earthy quake and she has introduced me to other PHD students for recommendations on many of the units I’m currently developing.
Even though it has been a challenge to find texts from countries I am not as familiar with, my enthusiasm and passion for literature of the oppressed makes it a rich and rewarding experience (granted, my reading list continues to grow and grow).  I have always been drawn to literature of the oppressed. Whether it’s due to my childhood and the minor oppression I endured, or growing up in the melting pot of San Francisco, I have always been interested in the stories of the “other” despite my white skin and a system put in place to ensure I am at the top of said system.
However, with Charlottesville and racial tensions in this country coming to the forefront once again, I can’t envision any work more important then developing this course. My goal is to emphasize the importance of instilling true humanity in order to begin to heal our fractured country and world. The first step is promoting the necessity of treating one another with respect and dignity while developing empathy for people of all races, creeds, religions, gender or sexual orientation.

I also recognize the importance of incorporating more then the written word as a text in all of my classes. Whether short films, TV shows, Disney shorts, music, or movies, I will continue to seek out rich texts for students to engage with. 
What follows is a brief outline of the course, including units and texts I have begun to compile. I would appreciate any suggestions for short stories, plays, novels, or film/television to continue to add to the list of texts. Please talk to me in person or send me an email with any texts.
Course Title: Voices of the Oppressed
Class Structure: Double-Block class taught in conjunction with History teacher; guest speakers including the Religion Department, outside experts (possibly Holocaust Survivor). Yearlong course, possibly a hybrid course.
Class Objectives: This class will explore the role of power in society and the effects on the oppressed as well as the oppressors. Steve Biko’s statement that “the most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressors is the minds of the oppressed” will be the guiding lens for the course. Through looking at the oppressors and the others, students will critically examine how the role of environment in conjunction with class systems creates systematic oppression across many avenues in society, thus ensuring their continuation over generations. This exploration also necessitates a close look at imperialism and colonialism, especially in the practice of raiding third world countries for resources. 
Culminating Assessment: Research paper exploring role of oppression in powerful nation that used colonialism/imperialism to oppress a third world country directly. Required to implement four or more texts from class in conjunction with outside research.
Major Assignments & Projects: 
Each unit will culminate with a Socratic Seminar. Students will then either complete an argumentative essay individually or work in groups to present a specific motif from the unit. 
 Minor Assignments:
Students will be asked to watch supplemental documentaries & films at home. Students will also engage in discussions on Schoology in preparation for small-group and whole-class discussions. Students will also be asked to i
Units
First Semester 
1)    North Africa/Sub-Saharan (7 weeks)
a.      Steve Biko; Nelsen Mandela;
b.      “Hotel Rwanda”/”Cry Freedom”/”Last King of Scotland”/”Blood Diamond”/
c. “Lost Boys” of Sudan 60 Minutes videoe
d. Things Fall Apart, Achebe
e. Homecoming, Yaa Gyasi
f. Radiance of Tomorrow, Ismael Beah

2)      The Caribbean (6 weeks)
a.      Frankentienne –  Ready to Burst
b.      Bob Marley/Peter Tosh
c. Junto Diaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Dominican Republic)
d. Adam Johnson: The Orphan Master’s Son 
e. Edwige Danticat (Haitian-American writer). Her writing is VERY accessible and rich. Novels/short stories?
f. Jamaica Kincaid (Caribbean)
g. The Wine of Astonishment by Earl Lovelace (Trinidad)

3)      United States (8 weeks)
a.      Claudia Rankine – Citizen: An American Lyric
b.      Marcus Gardley? – “Black Odyssey”, “..:And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi”
c.      O’Connor – “Everything that Rises Must Converge”
d.      “Long Black Song”; “Going to Meet the Man”
e.      August Wilson play – Fences, Jitney, Joe Turners Come and Gone, Gem of the Ocean; A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry
f.       MLK – “I Have a Dream”
g.      Malcolm X/Slave Narratives – excerpts
h.      “Yellow Wallpaper” – Perkins-Gilman
i.       Sylvia Plath/Emily Dickinson poetry
j.       Alice Walker/Toni Morrison/Maya Angelou/Zora Neale Hurston
k.      Harlem Renaissance – poetry – Langston Hughes/
l.       Dr. Joy DeGuy – Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome
m.    “13th” Documentary/Michael Che “Black Lives Matter”; “Mississippi Burning”; “I am not your Negro” James Baldwin documentary; Black Panthers 
n.      LGBT???? – “Master of None” Thanksgiving episode
o.     Nikki Giovanni
p.      Sandra Cisneros
q.      Role of Black Music – influence from Slave Spirituals>Blues>Jazz>R&B>Rap>Pop
r. Sherman Alexie; Native American oral tradition?
s.Hillbilly Elegy; Southie – excerpts
t. Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson
u. Autobiography of Dick Gregory excerpts
v. Oppression and the Body: Roots, Resistance, and Resolutions
w. John Henry Disney short film
Second Semester
4)      Central/South America (4 weeks)
a.       Gabriel Garcia Marquez
5)      Europe (8 weeks)
a.      Ireland – Yeats; Dubliners, James Joyce; 
b.      Scotland – “Braveheart”
c.      England – Virginia Woolf; Shakespeare play – Othello;
d.      Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, France – Night, Weisel; Maus l/II; The Pianist; Schlindlers List; The Book Thief,Zuzak; The Boy in Stripped Pajamas; The Dairy of Ann Frank
e.      Spain –
f.       Italy, Malta – 
6)      Australia (4 weeks)
a. My Place, Sally Morgan
b. Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker)
c. David Unaipon; Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
d. Rabbit-Proof Fence (film)
7)      Asia (5 weeks)
a.      Japan
b. Chinese revolution
c. Vietnam/Cambodia – American &   French involvement
8)      Middle East (6 weeks)
a.      Kite Runner/Thousand Splendid Sons
b.   God of Small Things, A. Roy
c. Azar Nafisi: Reading of Lolita in Tehran
d. Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Infidel

A Student-Centered Approach to Teaching a Novel

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This past October, I went to the iNACOL conference in
Orlando, and spent three days in the humid periphery of Disneyworld learning
about blended classes, disruptive innovations, project based learning, place
based learning, student agency, personal pathways, individual assessment and of
course plenty of ways to leverage technology in personalized learning.  I even checked out the virtual reality booth
at the exhibit hall and a coding booth that involved programming robots.  I took pages of notes and felt like I was
bursting with ideas for how I could bring some of this back to my classes.
It is easy to get overwhelmed at conferences, but if I were
to synthesize what I got out of the iNACOL conference, it would be a renewed
faith in the concept of student agency. Over the years I have attempted to give
students choice in my classes by letting them select their own outside reading
books, giving them options for projects, or giving three essay prompts to
choose from instead of one, but I have come to realize that true student agency
is much more comprehensive than offering options.
When students are given a high degree of agency, the
traditional teacher-centered classroom model is blown up.  Metacognitive awareness is central to the experience.  Students are given the opportunity to
determine how they are going to learn the material best and how they are going
to demonstrate mastery.  The teacher is
no longer instructing towards the middle of the class, creating content that
reaches the most students possible, but is collaborating with every single
student.
With three weeks left in the semester, I decided to try
teaching the book Old School in my
English 4 class by giving my students complete autonomy.  Before assigning the novel I took a class
period to brainstorm with my students (seniors, who have years of experience
with ways that novels are taught in high school) to get feedback on what has
worked most effectively for them when they have read books for English
classes. 
The typical approach, in my classes and many English
classes, is to assign reading deadlines to get through the novel.  With each deadline there might be some type
of reading quiz or assessment.  While
everyone is reading the novel at the same pace, I always create activities or
projects that build context and promote deeper understanding of the different
sections of the book.  At the end, there
is almost always an essay.

After talking to my students, I wondered what would happen
if I put it in their hands, and gave them everything ahead of time.  So I wrote a very basic explanation of what
we would be doing with this book and gave it to them before we started
reading.  I told them that they were
responsible for doing the following three things:  having an authentic reading experience,
making connections between the novel and something outside the scope of the
novel, and producing a piece of writing that demonstrated their understanding of
the novel and made relevant connections to the world as they know it.  There would be no reading quizzes, no
lectures, no context-activities, and no prompts for the essay.  This would be their final exam for the
semester.
I also told them that the goal was to demonstrate mastery of
reading the novel and in their piece of writing, and that they would be
assessed on how close they came to mastery for the work that they produced.  Our classes would no longer be structured
with activities that I created, but every day that we would meet, they would be
responsible for determining the best use of their time.  I also told them that since it is a blended
class, only half the class would report on any given day, and that I would be
meeting with every student individually and taking notes on their progress.
This made me extremely nervous, letting go of the reigns
like this.  The book is only about 200
pages, but I suspected it would not exactly be a high level interest book for
many of my students.  I assigned this
Monday of Thanksgiving week and required that my students post a response on
Schoology by Sunday night describing their progress with the book so far.  When I checked Sunday afternoon, only one
student had posted.  I had a brief moment
of panic and scrambled to come up with a back-up plan which mostly included the
types of lessons and activities that I have always given when I teach
books.  I started to doubt this
idealistic notion of agency, and wondered whether my students could actually handle
such academic freedom.  I checked Schoology
again Sunday night, and when I saw that only about eight of my 50 students had
responded, went to bed feeling defeated.
But when I woke up the next morning, I checked Schoology
again to find that the majority of my students had submitted reflections.  I tampered my joy a bit though and wondered
what the content of these responses might be. 
After all, this is not a novel I chose for this class, and would not be
one that I would expect high levels of enthusiasm for.  But as I read through the responses, I was
surprised by the authenticity of the responses, and by the fact that students
were largely enjoying this book.  One
girl, who has never struck me as being a motivated reader, said that she had
gotten completely caught up in the book and was taking a break to write her
response, and anticipated that she would continue reading after she submitted
her reflection.
In the next few weeks, I met with every student individually
several times, discussing the book, their progress and their ideas for the
final written piece.  This is the beauty
of having a blended class where I can have small groups of students come every
day.  For the final reading assessment, I
met with each student individually and discussed the novel.  I looked at their annotations, and mixed up a
variety of questions from the book, trying to probe and ensure that they were
not simply reciting a second-hand plot summary. 
By the end, I was surprised to find that most everyone had read the
book, and that many attributed that to the fact that they were given the
freedom to read it independently, at their own pace.  One of my senior boys told me that this was
the first book he had actually read in high school, and that up to this point,
he had managed to get through all of his English classes by using internet
resources.
When we came back to school last week, I wanted to probe
deeper into this, so I gave my unit evaluations for the two novels my class
read last semester, The Bean Trees
and Old School.  While we spent months on The Bean Trees completing a variety of assignments along with the
reading, only 23% of my students read the entire book.  Almost 37% stated that they read internet
resources instead of authentically reading. 
My Old School evaluation, on
the other hand, indicated that 92% of my students had read the book in its
entirety.
I have been thinking about this for a few days now, and the
skeptical side of me remembers that this is a small sample size (two classes),
and that these are two very different books. 
Students might have been more inclined to like Old School more than The Bean
Trees.  Also, there are scant
internet resources on Old School, so
this probably had some influence on the data. 
But I think it is fair to be optimistic when there were such drastic
results with the same group of students in the same semester with the same
teacher, but two extremely different approaches.  Many of the comments that my students gave in
the Old School evaluation stated that
they appreciated being able to complete the work at their own pace.  Also, these are seniors who will need to be
able to complete their college work independently next fall.

I know that some classes and novels need more scaffolding
than others, but there also seems to be great power in student agency and
autonomy.  For most of my teaching
career, I have been an effective teacher-centered instructor, but I am
beginning to believe that I can be more effective when I create more
student-centered learning environments. 

The Shame of the Scantron

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So, I was running my Scantrons through the machine in the faculty workroom, and a colleague came in and sarcastically said “You still give Scantron tests?” What I should have said was “Obviously. You see me running Scantrons through the machine. Don’t you?” But, I didn’t say that; instead, I started defending all of the reasons that I continue to assess student learning using this format. This blog is me, an English teacher, defending why I continue to test reading and reading comprehension using the Scantron.

Once the go to format for testing, multiple choice/matching/true and false type questioning is clearly frowned upon in the world of 20th century learning. I get it. There’s no need to test facts when students can easily Google anything they want to know. Further, it can seem ridiculous to test  students about details of a novel, especially since the essence of a novel is not found in mere details.  My initial response to this argument is that some students do really well on a multiple choice/true and false/matching type test. I have had many many students over the years earn Bs on their essay assessments, but they earn As and even 100%s on Scantron reading comprehension tests. For the students who are really good at letting me know what they know by using this format, I hate to take it away. It’s just like when I assign an art centered project as an assessment for reading comprehension. Some of the more creative students do really well on this type of assessment, and they may not excel at other types of assessments. I want to give as many students as I can the opportunity to show me what they know using the format that they like. Also, I believe in assessing students in multiple ways for every unit.

There’s more to it than that though. Giving a Scantron test is an efficient way to keep students accountable. English students are regularly assigned pages of reading, much of which needs to be done outside of class on their own time. News Flash: reading homework is regularly low man on the totem pole. Ask any student what two subjects’ homework they work on first, and they’ll admit that the STEM classes get top billing. Our society is currently pushing STEM. You don’t see us actively raising funds for a new humanities building, do you? This trend in education trickles down to student understanding of what class’s homework is most (and least) important to work on, especially when their time is limited. And with novel reading homework, students have an easy out. They can Spark Note or Schmoop the summary of any given novel we teach, and in no time they will get the gist of the assigned reading. This is where the Scantron test works. Students are questioned about details from novels, which can not be easily answered by reading online summaries of the books. Futhermore, many types of Scantron type questions that are asked require students to have read the novels closely. This means that students who know the novels well, have not only read quickly, they’ve read without simultaneously Snapchatting, and they’ve annotated the text for ideas and for passages that they love. We continuously promote annotating as a skill, because we know that in order to really know something and to write about it, first one must have a relationship with what they’ve read. The best way to create a relationship with a text is through not only reading it, but annotating it well also. I know what you’re thinking: Grade the students on their annotations then. I do that from time to time too. As a matter of fact, I give multiple formative and summative assessments throughout a unit. The Scantron test is not the only tool in my toolbox. But one main reason I continue to give a Scantron type reading comprehension test is that it keeps students accountable for the reading.

Finally and I feel ashamed to admit this, giving a Scantron test is quick. I can give the test in one period and by the end of the day the scores are in the grade book. I shouldn’t feel too much guilt about this though. I grade about 1100 writing pieces a year. That’s about right. I have approximately 135 students this year, down about 15 from last year, and each of those 135 students writes 8 formal pieces for me over the school year. That doesn’t include short answer reading comprehension quizzes, class blogs or reflective work. So, I don’t feel so bad giving an assessment that takes me only one hour to grade, analyze and input. Also, students are used to instant gratification. Where it might take me up to two weeks to read, comment on and assess an essay, a Scantron test allows the students to see how they’ve done almost immediately.

It should be noted that in the English department, we weight our grades and the most heavily weighted category is the writing category, because we believe that learning how to write is the most important skill that students work on in our classes. The reading category (where the Scantron test scores go) is weighted at a lesser percentage than writing by 20 percentage points. Therefore, the Scantron reading comprehension test is mostly equivalent to two smaller formative reading assessments like a cartoon strip or a short answer reading quiz; it’s equivalent to two homework assignments.

Circling back to the colleague who inspired this blog. This person was mostly kidding me, and I really wasn’t offended. I think it’s fun to mess with colleagues from time to time too. Also, they (purposeful neutral pronoun) only said what I’d been thinking about for quite some time. But here are my questions to you: Do you still give Scantron tests and if not or if so, have you thought about its pros and cons as much as I have? Do you want to add to this conversation?

Lectures, lessons, and student-centered learning

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            I think, in hindsight, I performed a
little educational research last week in my classroom. Nothing groundbreaking,
by any means. Nothing new … not even to me. I heard about all of this last year
in my Ed Psych class and throughout my teacher credentialing program. (You
remember constructivism? Piaget, Vygotsky, and friends?) And I know the concept
is all around us as we design the new STEAM center and the future of
Carondelet.
            But for me, last week was valuable
because I experienced a tangible reminder that what they say is true:
student-centered learning is more effective than teacher-centered. I believed
it in theory; I even believed it in isolated experiences. In fact, every time I
plan my lesson to be student-centered, I see the rewards. Here are some
isolated examples:
            For our freshmen, Kate Cutright and
I planned a round-robin sort of discussion for student groups to rotate to
different tables in order to discuss seven different prompts. Within the
groups, there were four rotating roles to be sure that every student would
participate. Another student-led project I conducted this year was a
problem-solving exercise in teams, where students had to choose from a
selection of picture books to find examples of literary devices. Each book
could only be used once, and not every book contained an example of every
device. In both of these examples, the bulk of my teaching was in the preparation;
on lesson day, students guided themselves through their own learning, and they
were actively engaged.

            However, the reality is that I’m not
always prepared. There are times when I choose to grade papers, or catch up on
the reading assignment, or enter grades, or email parents, or maybe spend time
with my family, so I don’t front-load the lesson. I find myself wanting to convey
some important ideas, I have 45 minutes or less to do so, and I slip into a
teacher-centered model.
            Last Monday was one of those days.
Over the weekend, I had read the two chapters of Jane Eyre assigned to my sophomores. Gosh, I love this book. It’s
an important book. I dutifully annotated those two chapters and figured that I
should prepare some notes so that we could have a class discussion on the reading,
in case anyone came with questions. I noticed some key passages I wanted to be
sure to point out. Monday morning, no one had any questions. Come to think of
it, they were fairly expression-less. I slipped into what’s familiar from my
college English major days: I asked students to take notes, and I pointed out
all of those key passages. I asked some questions. The usual star students
raised their hands. By the end, not everyone had been involved. I wasn’t
exactly sure how many students took notes or tuned me out. That was first
period. During fourth period, I tried something slightly different. I shared
some personal stories about my experience in college lecture halls. I told my
students about how I saved all of my notes from college and now use those notes
to help me be a better teacher (ha!). And then I proceeded with the lecture.
            I am being hard on myself; I tend to
self-evaluate and see the worst. Let’s look at the positives of Monday’s lesson.
Okay … I felt a connection with my students, and I could see some genuine
interest out there in the hazy lecture hall of Room 27. I think I saw some
students realize how important it is for Jane and Mr. Rochester to establish
mutual respect despite their class differences. Monday’s lesson hopefully
conveyed my enthusiasm for the material; and I think it’s important for
students to witness that fire in the teacher if they are going to buy in. And hopefully,
I shed light on a difficult text for some of the struggling students. Hopefully,
I modeled close reading for a deeper understanding. But most of this was about
me.
            I went to lunch feeling disappointed
in myself. All right. I know I can do better, and it just so happened that I
had already planned for a student-centered discussion on block day, thanks to
Lisa Xavier, who had shared with me about hers the last week. I chose three
relevant topics and divided the class into three groups. Each student needed to
find a quote from Jane Eyre based on
her topic, and she needed to write some analysis on that and come ready for the
discussion.
            Block day gave my students a chance
to shine. As each group discussed their topic in fishbowl style, I stayed
quiet, took notes, and marveled at their insights and enthusiasm. I could feel
the energy in the room. Each student participated multiple times. During the
debrief session, the “audience” on the outside provided constructive,
thoughtful, feedback to the group in the fishbowl. I told them I was so, so proud;
and I could see they were proud of themselves. One of my students who sometimes
falls asleep in class was a rock star self-appointed facilitator and received a
lot of positive reinforcement from the class. Another struggler told me it was
fun and she wants to do it again. For homework, every student is writing a
self-reflection about her contribution to the discussion. Jane Eyre is a challenging text, and it was gratifying to listen to
my students analyze it, to share their opinions, and to make connections and
predictions.
            This is not rocket science. I’ve
conducted fishbowls and Socratic seminars in the past, also with positive
feedback from students. Like I said, I have experience with student-centered
learning, and I was convinced about it intellectually a long time ago. It’s
just that this week, I saw the contrast between
Monday and block day. Same novel, completely different energy in the classroom.
So, that’s my little retrospective experiment. Not even intended; it just
happened and I noticed the difference. It won’t be published in the latest journal.
But here’s the value: I wasn’t told about it; I learned by experience–and
isn’t that better than learning from a textbook or lecture?  

            

The Global Education Leadership Conference: Lessons, Questions & Reflections

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Elizabeth Chaponot and I just returned from the Global Education Leadership Conference in D.C. As a 2014 Teachers for Global Classrooms alum, I was invited to attend the conference with an administrator by the sponsoring partners, IREX and the U.S. Department of State. I presented an identity-anchored framework for teaching literature and Elizabeth presented on empowering teacher leadership.

The focus of the conference was teacher leadership and global education. “Connect. Innovate. Lead” was the theme. It was exciting and inspiring to connect with teachers from around the country. While they are fresh in my mind, I wanted to share some takeaways:

(1) What exactly is global education? As we develop our curriculum and programming moving forward, we must deliberately work toward cultivating a global perspective in our students. Nurturing global citizens ties in with so much of what we are already talking about — the habits of mind, CSJ mission, social justice education, design think, etc. Making sure our students have a global mindset moving forward means that our students are constantly doing the following:

  • investigating the world
  • weighing perspectives
  • communicating ideas for diverse audiences
  • taking action
  • applying disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge
(2)  What is my personal global education vision? My dream is for our students to connect with each other and their local and global communities through ideas, books, and writing. I can’t wait to explore how our students might participate in The Global Read Aloud and connect with the students of other teachers I connected with at the conference.
(3) Adding a “take action” portion to units now feels more manageable. Sara Krakauer, author the Innovation on Earth blog shared a framework for student-centered activist projects that I plan on using with my sophomores and seniors next semester as they research a woman’s issue that they care about. She also broke down activism into five useful categories: direct service, advocacy, organizing, awareness/education, fundraising.
(4) What does it mean to be a good leader/teacher? Some of the best speakers I heard, including the U.S. Teacher of the Year Sydnee Chaffee, shared a vision for leadership that really resonated with me. Good leaders are humble. They listen and empower others. Leadership isn’t about trying to get people to change or to see things your way. It’s about putting values first and creating a space that empowers others and encourages them to grow.
(5) My big questions… What does it mean to provide a global education for young women in particular? How should we be leading our students, as young women, to be global citizens? How can we better partner with our C.S.J. sister schools? 
(6) I want to go IB! I’m convinced that the International Baccalaureatte Programme (1) is way better than A.P. classes, (2) provides a cohesive “big idea”-centered and rigorous curriculum that truly cultivates a global mindset, and (3) is a program we should seriously consider moving forward. It has already packaged so much of what we are trying to do and seems to offer exceptional professional development. We would instantly be tied in with an established network of schools around the world. 

Doodle note taking

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Last semester Joan talked to me about the idea of student doodling. If I remember the conversation right, she meant that students should be able to doodle during class, and that contrary to traditional opinion, people can simultaneously doodle and pay attention. This idea shouldn’t have been revolutionary to me, but it kind of was.

I decided to take the doodle idea a step further from what I believe Joan initially meant. I had my English Honors 1 students doodle in class while we read Pygmalion. The objective was that the doodles would represent details of the play. Since there are five acts in Pygmalion, I asked students to organize their notes into five sections. I really didn’t give a lot of rules. I actually didn’t give a rubric or a grade sheet at all, and I probably wouldn’t have graded these doodles except that I wanted to acknowledge their commitment, so I ended up giving some points for this assignment. What I eventually told the students was that I would assess their doodle notes based on two criteria: effort and comprehension. The doodles needed to be thorough and by looking at the doodles, I wanted to easily ascertain that they had comprehended the play.

I was pretty pleased with the results. Here are a couple of examples of student doodles. As you can see, students organized their doodles in ways that were logical to them. Some used color; some didn’t. These examples show that students did indeed put effort into this assignment and they comprehended the text. 

One reason this assignment worked was because students read the play in class. The problem with the assignment arose when students needed to read a part in the play and they wanted to doodle at the same time. They would lose their place in the play and when their lines came up, there would be an annoying pause until the student realized it was their turn to speak.

Since I felt that this assignment was a little innovative, the students enjoyed it and it helped with engagement and comprehension, I thought I would try it with my English 1 students also. However, this doodle note taking is kind of bombing with my regular students. I don’t think it’s the students, however. I think it’s the reading. We’re reading Of Mice and Men, and the novel is not being read solely in class nor out loud, so students have to read themselves, annotate the text, doodle and answer questions. There are too many components to this unit. It’s overkill. If we listened to an audio of Of Mice and Men together, and their only assignment was to doodle during that time, the doodling would be more successful. As it is now, doodling feels for them and for me like one more thing to do.

I Can and I Will — Why Carondelet Needs to Lead the Way

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As we grapple with this big Wicked problem that is education, sometimes may wonder why WE have to lead the way…

Kevin shared this three-minute video today which I believe summarizes why Carondelet, as a girl’s school, needs to lead the way.

I also like the shiny gadgets and use of virtual reality (there are resources out there to create virtual reality or use virtual reality resources that we could use right away in all sorts of subjects.

Considering Collaboration

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I work alone. That has been my mantra since I started teaching senior English selectives like Writing Seminar, Literature Seminar, Dystopian Fiction, and English 4 Hybrid–classes that, for years, no one else in my department taught. Teaching in isolation is a dramatic difference from my experience at my previous two schools, San Juan High School in Carmichael and Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord, where I taught English classes within two different academies.

The academies I taught in were smaller learning communities, schools within schools, if you will, with groups of students assigned to specific teachers. Over lunches and shared prep periods, I collaborated with a group of teachers from math, science, history, and art. We took our shared students on field trips together. We planned and executed team building activities together. We created and assessed cross-curricular projects together. At San Juan, we started and ended with the students as freshmen. At Ygnacio, my team welcomed students in as sophomores, helped them through the dreaded junior year, and celebrated their successes at graduation. Educating our students was truly a team effort.

Needless to say, going solo at Carondelet was a culture shock, which I found to be both liberating and lonely. Liberation came first. I didn’t have to keep pace with another teacher. I didn’t have to constantly report in on my progress. And, I didn’t have to compromise. My teaching time was completely under my control. If I wanted to skip teaching the allusion to Ayn’s Rand’s objectivism in the novel, Old School, I could. Who would ever know or care? I could be as creative and inventive as I wanted without a slower moving history teacher holding me back or a faster moving math teacher rushing me through. Even though I had no one with whom to share my trials and tribulations, I convinced myself that I liked it this way, that the freedom was worth the isolation.

This year, all that changed: I was given a sophomore class with a revamped curriculum. Three other teachers and I decided the best plan of attack would be to, you guessed it, collaborate. Since summer,
I have been working with Hayley, Lisa, and Tiz on developing new curriculum in English 2. We have created essential questions, graphic organizers, discussion topics, essay prompts, research projects, and much more. We could have used the “divide and conquer” approach, the strategy that most teachers have to employ due to time constraints, but instead, we have truly collaborated. We have met together a few times over the summer, and by some magical stroke of luck, Lisa, Tiz, and I share a common prep, allowing us to meet four days a week if needed. Right now, we are in lock step, and do I feel rushed, stifled or hampered? No way. I feel rejuvenated. My colleagues inspire, challenge, and support me.

Now, I know that this type of collaboration happens all the time here at CHS in individual departments. The joy I have experienced in working with my colleagues is neither rare nor new. What I believe to be rare, though, is the cross-curricular collaboration that I experienced at other schools. This, it seems to me, will be new territory for Carondelet.

When I heard the announcement of the construction of the STREAM center on our campus and the declaration from our administration that our approach to teaching and learning would undergo radical change, I was nervous, even though I have done something similar before. How would that look in my classroom? How would that change the way I develop curriculum? What would that do to my teaching style? How would that benefit my students?

The positive experiences I have had in collaborating with my peers both here and at my other schools reassures me that I will manage. Not only will I manage; I will thrive. If I learned one thing when I served as academic advisor on this campus, it is this: the teachers at Carondelet are brilliant, professional, and compassionate. Having the opportunity to work closely with any one of them, will benefit both my students and me. Joellen Killion, Senior Advisor to Learning Forward, seems to agree. From a study conducted by the American Educational Research Journal, she discovered, “When teachers engage in high-quality collaboration that they perceive as extensive and helpful, there is both an individual and collective benefit.” (For an in-depth look at the study, check out her article at this link: Killionlearningforward). Her words ring true for me.

Working so closely this year with the sophomore English teachers has made me realize how much I have missed collaborating in an academy model. I have missed the rich discussions that often resulted in innovative ideas. I have missed the support and empathy that only teachers with students in common can give. And, I have missed the joy of shared experiences. While I’m not sure about all the specific changes we will be facing in the future with a new design model, I eagerly await working with and learning from more of my colleagues.