Character Development in the Classroom

Last week I finally started teaching the unit I have prepared for Night by Elie Wiesel and let me just say that I have definitely chosen the right profession. No doubt about it. I love everything about being in the classroom, and getting to interact with my students is so rewarding.

As an introduction to Night, I posed several questions to my students in order to promote discussion. While all of my students generally knew that the Holocaust was bad and we needed to know about it, none of them could really tell me why. In fact, most wondered why we should read the book, since we had already discussed the events of the Holocaust as a class. I asked them to think about why it is important to read and learn about the experiences of others when we don't know those people and probably never will. I was shocked when the reply I received was generally, "Well, I don't know, it isn't really that important. We already know bad things happen to people, so I don't know why we have to talk about it. It's depressing."

This transitioned into some of the most wonderful discussions I have ever had with my students. We talked about how our lives connect with the experiences of people we had already read about, and why reading and learning about these experiences allows us to connect. The importance of empathizing with others and making sure we as humans are aware of injustice was discussed, and hearing my students express their insights was amazing. Students who rarely contribute shared their thoughts, and everyone really got involved in and excited about the discussion.

When I told my classes that events such as the Holocaust and other instances of oppression still happen today, many of them were completely shocked. They all knew bad things obviously happen, but they had no idea that horrible acts of genocide and oppression were currently occurring in the world. And they all wanted to know, HOW? Don't we all? Listening to my students discuss reminded me that, as teachers, we are responsible for so much more than just educating. Our students are forming their personalities, beliefs, and character as they sit in class, and it is important to focus on how we all operate in this world as members of the human race. Sometimes it's easy to just stick to the facts and skip over why they are connected and how they resonate within.

An article I saw on edutopia.org was addressing this idea, and it offered some great insight and explanation about the importance of character development in the classroom. I personally view social and emotional learning as a very important part of education, and strive to incorporate this type of learning in my classroom. In the article Traci Vogel states that, "Good literature has long been a window into our psyches. As historian Barbara W. Tuchman put it, 'Books are humanity in print.' Incorporating SEL lessons into reading curriculum can put students in touch with the universality of literature, its power to transport us to different experiences and to connect and even change human beings."

"Books are humanity in print." I just love that. And it's completely true!

Rewards of (Student) Teaching!

Waking up every morning excited about where you are going to go, what you are going to do, and who you are going to see is a pretty amazing feeling. I can honestly say that for the first time in my life, I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be. By doing what I love and being around others who share my same passion, I grow as a person, and I can already tell that student teaching will be quite the exciting journey.

On the first day of my instructional course for student teaching, the instructor asked us to share the worries and fears we had about the upcoming semester. At this time, we had only been in the classroom a few days, so it was a good way to get everything out in the open at the beginning and brainstorm solutions. As we were sharing, however, I realized that I really was not facing the upcoming semester with any trepidation! I had made a point to get to know all of my students by name, involved myself in the classroom, and entered the semester with an immense amount of excitement. While I do worry about things like not being able to reach certain students, making sure I get everything done on time, and ensuring that I'm not an unemployed teacher next year, I generally do not stress about school often. I'm simply having too much fun!

I believe the reason for my enthusiasm stems from the students themselves. Even though I've only been with my classes all day every day for a few weeks now, I have witnessed an extraordinary amount of growth. Three of these stories particularly inspire me, and so I'd like to share them with you.

Last semester, I had one student in my class who talked all the time, refused to work, and generally chose not to participate in class. Finally, my CT and I pulled him aside to have a talk about his performance, choosing to focus on how much we wanted him to succeed and how smart we knew he was as opposed to berating him about the ever-growing pile of missing work. Within the week, he was contributing to discussion, reading aloud, and working in class. Yes, there were still times when I had to remind him to put his phone away or stop talking, but the frequency decreased drastically.

Sonya Robbins shared her thoughts about dealing with behaviors like this, stating, "The challenge of being a good teacher is being able to balance your status as a clear authority figure with the need to connect with your students and relate to them. You have to remember why a kid might not be focused, why they want to make stupid comments, why they want to socialize. I make a conscious effort to remember that it's normal for kids to do all those things. And I remember that when they do, it's not a failing on my part or theirs." We probably all need to remember that. Things happen, and it's okay! This semester, my student has 100% in our class, and really seems to be getting involved. I've also found that if I ask those around him to help him with group work instead of just letting them sit there, the talking turns from off-topic conversation to meaningful discussion about the lesson. AND, they turn in some marvelous work!

I'm corny, but I want all my students to develop and flourish. They're amazing people!

This semester I've noticed a huge development in another student as well, and it's been amazing to watch. He missed a ton of class, and generally only came when someone forced him to. Needless to say, his grades weren't good, and I didn't know how to help him because he was never there! I tried to make sure I said hello and talked to him every time he was in class, but this generally did not elicit much of a response. This semester I was determined. I was going to get this kid to come to class! Luckily, he was in class during the first week back, so I made sure to explain what we were doing and try to help him catch up. When I was telling him about the assignments he could still make up from the past couple of days, he said, "I failed everything last semester anyway, so this doesn't really matter. I'm not going to graduate." Statements like that break my heart. But I refuse to believe them, so I simply said, "Well, I know how smart you are and I think that you can graduate if you want to . But it's your choice. Here's what you can do to get started." That day he turned in his work halfway complete. This may not seem like a big accomplishment, but it sure did put a smile on my face!

Every day since, he has come to class, and my CT and I have made a point to repeatedly remind him how glad we are to have him in class and praise his accomplishments. While I don't think giving praise for every tiny thing is good, I do think it is something we should consciously do more of. We spend so much time focusing on what our students are doing wrong, that we forget about the wonderful things they do right! When Chris Collins interviewed Robbins about her thoughts on praise and she stated, "There's another teacher from my past -- Mr. Olson, from second grade -- who I also think of these days. He made me feel smart. He'd publicly praise me for being a good speller, for example. I do that a lot as a teacher now. If you have a student that has a bit of talent in something, no matter what it is, find a way to celebrate it. " I agree wholeheartedly, and attempt to implement this in my classroom! He has also started interacting with a group of other students, and I think this has made a huge difference as well. They're all cool kids, and I'm pretty sure it's thanks to them that he keeps coming back!

Good Lessons From a Bad Teacher interview with Sonya Robbins 

http://www.edutopia.org/teacher-interview-student-memories-robbins

A Unit of My Own

A couple of weeks ago I finally taught my own unit. My CT is awesome and extremely easy to work with, so when I approached him about a possible unit topic he basically let me pick whatever I thought sounded best.

Over the past couple of years I have come to absolutely love poetry, which surprises me because I thought I despised poetry in high school. Analyzing every line for symbolism, meter, rhyme, and the many other poetic devices left me weary, and instead of appreciating the poems we read, I hated them for being so confusing! I recently read an article by C. K. Williams who said, "When I was in school, we began our study of poetry with boring technical matters, then read a few mostly unfathomable poems. Poetry was presented as an artifact from the distant past, and by the time I graduated, I, like everyone I knew, despised it. I didn't start writing poems until I'd finished my last required English course in college."1 Yea, I can definitely relate to that.

While I do believe that students do need to learn about the poetic elements, as they are important, I don't think that poetry units should become so focused on analyzing for important devices. Instead, I think students need to be introduced to the beauty of poetry, and shown a wide variety of styles. We so often see Shakespeare's Sonnets and other classic poems presented in the classroom, but there are thousands of great modern poems out there that speak to the human experience. Students should also have the chance to practice creating poetry on their own, as writing poetry can be an excellent form of self-expression. Writing poetry allows students to practice writing in other genres, instead of constantly writing essays.

I explain my feelings about poetry because it is something I am passionate about, which is exactly why I decided to take on a poetry unit. As I designed the unit I knew I wanted the students to do a lot of writing, so I decided to center many lessons on student creation. There were a couple days that I showed PowerPoints explaining poetic elements, and we identified the use of these elements in a few different poems. However, the majority of the unit was spent writing. I had students write poems following several guides, and I wrote each type of poem as well. This way, I was able to explain my thought process as I wrote. At the end of the unit, we had a "Poetry Cafe" in the library, where the students got to have snacks and present their poetry.

My teacher, Dr. Mason, attended the Poetry Cafe for my unit observation, so I was definitely a little nervous about how everything would go. However, I have a class full of wonderful students, and I was mainly just excited to hear what they had written. Things started off a little slowly, as no one ever wants to be the first to volunteer, but as more people presented the level of anxiety seemed to decrease a little. Students were reluctant to be chosen to present during the required portion, which is funny because when told them anyone who wanted to could share another poem, they all started volunteering to read again. High-schoolers are awesome.

The poems my students created were fantastic, and I was more than pleased with the way everything turned out. We had a great time at our Poetry Cafe, and I think the students really enjoyed the opportunity to listen to the poems their peers had written. I know I did!



1 www.edutopia.org/redemption

Reflecting on the KATE Conference

Attending the KATE Conference this week definitely increased my desire to become a teacher. Seeing so many people who share my same passion for teaching English in the same place was inspiring, and I loved the opportunity to meet new people and share ideas. Luckily, I was able to attend the entire conference, so I had the chance to listen to an excellent variety of presentations and listen to the keynote speeches. 

I absolutely loved the first Keynote address by Brent Crawford, who wrote Carter Finally Gets It, as well as other books. His speech was hilarious, and the way he told stories had me laughing the entire time. However, Crawford’s speech wasn’t just funny, it contained a good message as well. I loved the fact that he wanted to write books that would get boys interested in reading, since many books about high school seem to be aimed towards girls. The excerpts he read were engaging, and they were definitely books high school students would want to read. I know I wanted to read the books after he was done presenting. 

The second keynote address by Rachel Hawkins, author of Hex Hall, was inspiring as well. The background she gave in her story about how she became a writer was extremely interesting. I thought the way Rachel just went with anything that was offered to her was inspiring. She didn’t hesitate to take chances. The stories she shared about her time teaching in high school were entertaining as well. Her high school sounded very interesting, and I was glad I got the chance to hear her stories. I occasionally think about seriously writing, and Rachel’s speech inspired me to consider doing so! 

The breakout sessions I attended were quite informative as well. These sessions were great opportunities to hear presentations about ideas for the classroom, and share with other teachers as well. I was given tons of great examples of lesson ideas, management plans, first year teaching tips, and exciting programs. My attendance at this conference will definitely help me become a better first year teacher, because I got to learn from those who had already been through it all!

The Reasons Why (Genre Reflection One)

The Reasons Why

I don’t want to do this!

My students complain 

And ask,

Why should we anyway?

Often I respond

“For the points

Of course.

This is a big part of your grade.

You want to pass,

Don’t you?”

Because it’s all about the grade you get

The points you earn

The quality of your work.

You don’t really need to know

What the characters are like,

Or what themes are in the novels we read.

You can survive without it.

But as teachers we ask you to anyway.

I say, “You need the points!”

I say, “You have to pass!”

I say, “You need to work.”

But what I should be saying is what I truly feel.

Why should you read all of these books, you ask?

You should read them because they will

Change

Your life.

These books can open your mind to completely new worlds

They can take you to places you’ve never been

They can comfort you, scare you,

Make you laugh and make you cry.

When you learn to love reading and writing

like I so desperately want you to

You will see.

When you find those books that resonate within your soul

You will know.

Words will always be there for you,

Whether they come from someone else’s mind

Or your own.

When you feel so angry you could cry

Or so sad that you could die

You can transfer your feelings onto paper

Push them away from you

Find relief

You can write.

So why do I want you to read and write in my class?

Why should you do this?

Does any of it really matter anyway?

Well, it matters.

I want you to read and write

Because I don’t want you to just graduate,

Or survive,

Or get a good grade.

What I want for you is an experience.

I want you to learn how to truly live.

This is why.

Learning how to respond to students' writing

This week my students turned in their very first piece of writing. My cooperating teacher had warned me that many of the students had never written before, but I was still excited to see what they could do. The students had the option to respond to one of three prompts that correlated with the story we had read as a class. When I began grading my students' work I was definitely surprised by the papers I received. Many students had obviously never written before, and seemed to want to summarize the story instead of responding to the prompt. The effect of texting on writing was also evident, as a lot of my students chose to abbreviate words and forgot to use punctuation. However, in spite of this I was still very pleased with what I received. I had to keep in mind that my students really had not had a chance to write before entering my class, and they all put forth their best effort. We had gone over the important parts of an introduction previously that week, and I was very excited to see that almost every student formulated their introduction correctly. In addition to this, I loved being able to read the students' thoughts about the various topics. Every student had something great to say, and their essays were fun to read.

When I began grading the papers, I didn't want to be too critical. No one likes getting back a paper that is covered in red marks, and as this was basically my students’ first attempt at writing, I didn’t want to undermine their efforts. My CT and I agreed that it was best to focus on the positives for this first paper, instead of correcting every single mistake. This paper will serve as a learning process, a baseline we can use to decide what elements of an essay we need to focus on.
As I was writing this post I came across an article by Brian Slusher that addressed the exact problem I was facing. I didn’t want to be too critical, but I also wanted to make sure my students knew what they needed to improve. His article, titled “Praising, Questioning, Wishing: An Approach to Responding to Writing,” gave me a lot of great tips for responding to student writing. As evident by the article's title, Slusher encourages readers to use the Praise, Question, Wish model of response to help writers. He states, “Praise, Question, and Wish solves these dilemmas of tone by adopting positive language that strengthens the writer's confidence, while empowering him to take control of his piece.”

Through this model of response, writers are able to see what you appreciated about their writing, which generally motivates them to want to continue to write. This model also works for teachers, because it allows for the ability to give constructive feedback that can help students continue to improve, without returning a paper full of red marks. I really liked the wish part of this model, because, as Slusher states, “Since many writers are sensitive about receiving advice, it is a good idea to avoid sounding like you are directing their piece. The word wish has a positive connotation, so starting your advice with I wish avoids the tone of a command. For example, ‘I wish you would tell more about the horse.’” This allows the response to seem more like a conversation than an order.
I’m hoping that as I continue to teach my students how to format an essay, the papers I get will only continue to improve. I have a very intelligent, hardworking class, so I know this will be the case. I can’t wait to read more papers! I told a student this and he looked at me like I was crazy, and then said, “If I had to read that many papers I’d probably fall asleep.” Funny kid.

I love my students and I love my school. This year just keeps getting better!

We Don't Want to Work!

One of my biggest worries about teaching is that I will not be able to get my students motivated to learn. While I have ideas that I think will help student motivation, they are only ideas, and what works with one student may not work with another.

In my pre-student teaching placement, I have already observed how this problem can affect a classroom. My CT does an awesome job of bringing in fun activities and making the material relevant, but even this is not enough to get every single student involved. From what I've observed, some students simply do not want to work, no matter how you present the material.

I think that a lot of students feel that blowing off schoolwork is cool. In my class, I've noticed that the few students who repeatedly choose not to turn anything in spend the majority of their time talking to those around them. When they are asked to work, they refuse, or make some excuse for why they have not started, and then look at their fellow students and smile. What's most frustrating about this is that their classmates then laugh, encouraging the behavior.

I'm a firm believer that all kids are good kids, and that all of my students can produce excellent work. It is simply a matter of finding ways to reach out and connect the material to the student. As I have had to work one on one with some reluctant students in the hallway already, I want to figure out how I can make this happen in my pre-student teaching classroom.

In order to attempt to improve student motivation in my classroom, I began looking for ideas on educational websites. During my search I came across an article by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi titled "Motivating People to Learn" (http://www.edutopia.org/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-motivating-people-learn). He expresses some great ideas for getting students motivated, and focuses on "the flow experience." According to Csikszentmihalyi,  "The flow experience is when a person is completely involved in what he or she is doing, when the concentration is very high." The article explains that kids generally experience the most "flow" in their extracurriculars, the activities they were able to pick based on their interests.

However, academic classes can increase motivation by working on projects in groups or even working on individual projects. This allows students to use their creativity, which makes them want to participate. Lectures and worksheets tend to cause students to shut down, as they are not fully involved in the process.

I thought this article had a lot of good information and ideas. I'm definitely for project based instruction, and I always like to see what kids can create. I plan to keep working on ideas to help increase students' motivation to work, and hopefully these ideas will pay off in the classroom!

If any of you have ideas or experiences with this that you wouldn't mind sharing, please let me know!