Mr. B-G's English Blog

Using Creative Commons Images from Flickr

2012-01-08T21:49:00.000-05:00

I recently began using the screen capture program Screencast-O-Matic to create video tutorials for my students. Below is one I made about using Creative Commons images from Flickr. Enjoy!

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T20:03:00.001-05:00

In a few hours, the clock will strike midnight and we'll bid adieu to 2011.

After a two-month hiatus, I hope to blog with greater frequency in 2012. While life has a way of keeping us busy, there's real value in finding the time to record and reflect on events - both in and out of the classroom.

Catch you on the flip side.

Fireworks image by Flickr user martin.linkov

A good walk

2011-10-20T21:51:00.000-04:00

Recently, I went for a walk with one of my 9th grade classes. It was an impromptu, unscripted jaunt, and in total took less than five minutes.

It was the last period of the day and it was gorgeous outside. My students were about to work on major essays. What I would be asking of them would require focus, concentration, and attention to detail.

As soon as the bell rang and they were seated, I made an announcement that we would be going outside for a walk.

Their faces beamed. Smiles and grins filled the room. "Really?" "Outside?"

"Yup."

And outside we went. I had charted the route a few minutes earlier during the end of my prep period, leaving one of the side doors to the school ajar with a rock. I told the students I knew they had a lot to do that period, I knew it had already been a long day, and that I thought a little fresh air might help them focus. They all agreed.

"We should do this every day." "How far are we going?" "Can we go all the way around the school?"

We went about one quarter of the way around the building before turning in a side door and returning to the classroom. Once inside, students pulled up their essays on the computers and netbooks and began making revisions. Once done, they copied their work from Google Docs to Blogger, where they posted their essays for classmates to comment on.

Most of them did a nice job focusing on their work and being productive. I was able to circulate through the room, offering feedback and answering questions during mini writing consultations. It was a positive ending to the day, set in motion by a gut judgement about what the students needed most at that time.

Forest path photo by my sister-in-law, mindwhisperings at Flickr

Vocabulary Video - Ebullient

2011-10-06T19:10:00.002-04:00

As I wrote about earlier, one of my goals this year was to create vocabulary videos with my students. The above is an example video I created and shared with my classes. By early next week, my seniors will have made their first videos. The freshmen will follow suit. I'm excited about the possibilities of this new teaching tool.

Keeping my jog on

2011-09-18T19:09:00.001-04:00

I just got back from a 3.5 mile jog. One of my personal goals this year is to maintain - and eventually improve - my current level of fitness. Part of being a public high school teacher is coming to terms with the fact that there is always going to be an inordinate number of things to do, and never quite enough time to do them.

This means that when I go to complete a task - be it grading an essay, crafting a lesson plan, writing a letter of recommendation, or researching an idea for a new lesson - I need to be at the top of my game. In order to maximize my time and efficiency, I need to be taking care of myself.

This year, that means adding a banana and yogurt to my regular breakfast of an English muffin or bagel. It means getting seven hours of sleep at least five of the seven days of the week. And it means working out five of those days as well.

I've found it's easy to pay lip service to the idea of working out, eating better, and sleeping more. It's quite another to actually live those ideas. I will say that since my wife and I got a dog this past summer, we've both been more active, and a little less self involved. Having something else to care for besides ourselves has helped expand our sense of what home life is like. It's allowed us a bit more perspective, and given us more opportunities to live in the moment, something our dog Alyza is able to do quite well.

Inside a Honda Accord

2011-09-11T14:26:00.001-04:00

That's where I was, driving to my first education-related interview, when I learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center. It was a picturesque September morning. I was listening to NPR, when all of a sudden they switched from local to national coverage to give us minute-by-minute updates of what was happening.

It was a true juxtaposition of images and sound, my eyes taking in the morning sun as it bounced off leaves and was absorbed by the grassy fields that marked my way to a local nature reserve. The sound, the voice of Peter Jennings and other correspondents working to make sense of the chaos unfolding in real time in New York City. It was bizarre and frightening. I remember trying to explain it to the man I was meeting with, the director of a wildlife sanctuary where I was trying to land a gig as a volunteer tour guide.

Fresh from hiking 1,000 miles of the Appalachian Trail after quitting my job as a newspaper reporter, I was looking to gain entrance into the field of education, hoping to parlay my affinity for nature and my abilities as a journalist into something new. Fortunately, the director of the reserve decided to give me a shot. I was paired with a veteran staffer, taken on a tour of the grounds, and given the green light to welcome school groups to the sanctuary.

I used my experience there to land a paying job at a local YWCA, working with kindergarten and early elementary school children. My gig at the "Y" helped me get some substitute teaching work at area middle and high schools. Eventually, I was hired as a full-time building substitute at a middle school, where I spent time as a sub and special-ed paraprofessional.

Later that year I worked as a journalism and creative writing teacher at a summer arts camp, then went on to graduate school, where I studied English education. After earning a degree and passing the state's teacher test, I landed a job teaching English and journalism to high school students in Massachusetts. I'm now in my eighth year working at the secondary level.

In addition to being linked to 9/11, my ascension from volunteer tour guide to full-time classroom teacher also has parallels with the meteoric rise of a certain New England Patriots quarterback. Tom Brady, a 2001 sixth-round draft choice, went from being a bench-riding rookie to Super Bowl MVP. While I don't have any trophies to boast of, I do have an excellence in teaching award, bestowed upon me by one of the members of my high school's 2010 graduating class. While the award is nice recognition for the hard work I've put in, even more meaningful is the personalized message that accompanied the award, written by one of my former students.

Just as I hope that Tom Brady's best days as a quarterback are not behind him, the same goes for myself as an educator. Currently enrolled in a second master's degree program, I hope to continue to learn about ways I can be an effective teacher and make a positive difference in the lives of my students. On this day, 10 years after my journey as an educator began, I am thankful to those who have helped me grow from a young man uncertain about his place in the world to a (slightly older) man who, while still seeking, has landed on a path that's proven to be both personally and professionally rewarding.

The Honda Accord image above, while identical to the car I used to drive, came from here.

Google Docs and student blogs

2011-09-05T17:14:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow begins week two of the 2011-2012 school year. One of the tasks students will be expected to complete for Tuesday is the creation of a Gmail account. While the majority of my seniors already had Gmail accounts, the same cannot be said for my freshmen. And, for those students who did use Gmail, very few of them had ever used Google Docs, the free office suit that allows you to create text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, surveys, and pictures, in addition to providing users with online storage for their documents.

One of the greatest benefits of Google Docs is, aside from the cost (free), its ease of use. All one needs to create a document is an Internet browser and an Internet connection. Work is saved automatically to the cloud, which is a huge benefit for students who are working on assignments both in school and at home. Google Docs also allows for easy collaboration, as multiple users may access and edit the same document in real time.

For the past three years, my school has placed emphasis on helping students transition from 8th to 9th grade. Aside from teaching content, all freshmen teachers are asked to explicitly teach organizational and study skills, as how students study is almost as important as what they study. Google Docs, I believe, is a crucial tool that will help students stay organized as they further develop their academic personas.

While Google Docs is a tool that students can use for all of their classes, Blogger is a tool that, at least initially, can be best utilized for English class. Because Blogger is run by Google, once students have a Gmail account, they're ready to create their own blogs. In 2007 I began using blogs as a way for students to share writing and provide each other with feedback. When you're writing for an audience beyond just your teacher, there's a little bit more incentive to see that your words accurately convey your ideas.

As a student, I certainly cared about grades, but I think I cared more about what my friends thought of me and my ideas. As a writer, having a real audience to read your work and provide you with feedback is invaluable. My role as a teacher is to model for students how to constructively respond to their classmates' writing. If I am successful, they will begin to look for the kinds of things that I would look for. And eventually, they'll be able to turn that critical eye on their own work.

Depending on students' previous exposure to the writing workshop model, this can either go smoothly or be quite arduous. Either way, we'll eventually get to a place where we feel comfortable sharing constructive feedback aimed at helping each other see how well our intentions for a piece measure up with reality.

Google Docs image by Lucia Agut

The new year

2011-08-30T20:55:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow marks the start of the new school year, my seventh at my current school. My room's set up, handouts for the first day are copied, seating chart's done, and the tissues/hand sanitizer/lotion station's resupplied and ready to go.

I've made a few tweaks to my grading system, and clarified a couple of initial lessons. I still want to tweak my summer reading essay assignment, revise a quote of the day analysis activity I've used as a warm up in previous years (which will serve as my "Do Now" on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), and create a "non fiction reading log" type of assignment that students can use on Tuesdays and Thursdays when we read the newspaper.

One of my goals this year is to incorporate regular reading of the newspaper into all my classes, not just Journalism. There's a lot of value in knowing about what's going on in the world. There's also something to be said for the element of choice that comes into play when one picks up a newspaper. Helping students to better read non-fiction texts while simultaneously fostering a positive association with reading are two great things. To this day, there are few things I enjoy more than Sunday mornings with a fresh cup of coffee and the latest Boston Sunday Globe.

Aside from getting kids to read the paper, I'm going to want them all to have Gmail accounts, so they can become familiar with Google Docs. Almost all of my students who have used it in the past love it, as it's user-friendly and makes it easy to work on assignments at home and at school without having to worry about USB drives, e-mail attachments, and the like.

This weekend I hope to create my first vocabulary video, which I can model for the kids. I'm excited about the potential this idea has, but like anything new, it needs to be explicitly taught. And before I can explicitly teach it, I need to be sure I know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it!

While it can be easy to let the weight of local, state, and federal mandates sink our spirits as educators, we're also buoyed by the opportunities to create and help our students make meaning of this amazing and complex world.

Happy First Day!

Buoy image by jouste

A delayed return

2011-08-28T21:39:00.008-04:00

Due to Tropical Storm Irene's touchdown in Massachusetts this morning, my district's opening day for teachers has been pushed back to Tuesday. While this means that technically my summer vacation is one more day, the reality is I have one more of "my own" days to work and prepare for the new year before doing so in official capacity.

My district, like my wife's, only requires teachers to come in one day before the students arrive. As you likely know if you are or have been a teacher, one day is grossly insufficient to prepare for a new academic year. Aside from the literal logistics of unpacking items from storage and setting up the classroom, there's mental setup to do as well.

For me, that means reviewing the various notes I've made to myself from the previous year about what didn't work so well and what needs to change. It's also incorporating ideas from various journal articles, newspapers, and pedagogical texts that I think will engage the students and help me be a more effective teacher. Sometimes I'll scrap something I'm bored with, or try a different approach just because I'm curious about the results.

In no particular order, here are some of the things that I've either been doing or need to get done for the start of school:

- Print class rosters
- Create seating charts
- Review my syllabus and make changes to my "teacher expectations"
- Revise the interview activity I typically do on the first or second day
- Make any changes to my grading system I feel are necessary and put them in writing
- Revise my list of staff descriptions for the newspaper students
- Decide how I am going to assign and assess outside reading books this year
- Create a new non-fiction writing assignment that incorporates research
- Decide how I want to integrate the reading of newspapers into my classes
- Figure out what I want to do for the "Do Nows" mandated by administration for all 9th grade teachers
- Rethink how I teach vocabulary, and possibly introduce vocabulary videos.
- Revise the summer reading essay assignment I plan to give students on the second or third day of school
- Create a survey to administer to my students about their previous experiences reading, writing, and speaking, both in and outside of school
- Decide exactly how I want to blog with students this year. Will we use Blogger? Something else?
- Tweak/create my permission forms for parents to sign (movies, blogging, YouTube)
- Remember to collect parent e-mail addresses
- Install the Smartboard software onto my computer
- Create new class folders
- Decide where on my boards I want to place the agendas for each class
- Think about how (if) I want to use Twitter this year to post assignments
- Finish updating my netbooks and classroom computers
- Write a letter to parents and students explaining my educational philosophy
- Place students' names on Post-It notes on my classroom desks so students know where to sit on the first day
- Put up a couple of labels describing the various parts of my classroom and where things are

And these are just some the things I want to do. My department chair will have other things, and so will my principal. Now, I enjoy my job. It's meaningful, important, and allows me to be creative and work with some great people and students. It also is a job. It's a lot of work. People who think teachers have it easy, or are overpaid, really don't understand what we do. And again, this is an incomplete list of things I need to do, notwithstanding creating engaging lesson plans, executing said lesson plans, designing assessments, delivering assessments, evaluating assessments, communicating with students, communicating with parents, communicating with colleagues and administrators, studying and implementing special ed accommodations and modifications, filling out administrator-mandated rubrics, deciding how I want to run a new mandated advisory group, overseeing production of the school newspaper, taking classes for a second master's degree...

The purpose here is not to devolve this post into a rant, but rather to illustrate some of the things teachers must do and consider before the school year commences.

Having one extra day to work on them is nice.

Principal encourages social media in the classroom

2011-08-13T15:00:00.001-04:00

It's nice to know that educators like Eric Sheninger are getting recognized for their sensible approach to technology and learning. Sheninger, principal of a high school in New Jersey, believes in tapping the power of social media to engage students.

"The Internet as we know it is the 21st century," Sheninger says in a recent article from USA Today. "It is what these students have known their whole lives. They're connected, they're creating, they're discussing, they're collaborating."

I have been very fortunate to have worked for a principal who embraced technology and supported my efforts to use digital tools and social media in the classroom. While he retired last year, his replacement seems equally interested in using Web 2.0 tools, and has plans to start a blog in order to allow him to communicate with students, parents, and faculty. I think it's a wonderful idea.

If you're an educator, and you aren't blogging, you should, according to Wired Educator's Kelly Croy. Click here to get started and join the conversation!

Social media image by Stephen Traversie

Creativity on the decline

2011-08-13T00:34:00.005-04:00

University of Oregon educational psychologist Ron Beghetto observed the following about the effect NCLB and Race to the Top are having on America's students in a recent study on creativity:

"The current focus on testing in schools, and the idea that there is only one right answer to a question, may be hampering development of creativity among kids. There's not much room for unexpected, novel, divergent thought."

What a sad commentary on the state of our schools, which seem to be rewarding regurgitated factology and uniform verbiage. And just what are the repercussions of this creative drain caused by the beauro-corporate testing squeeze? Research scientist Kyung Hee Kim of the College of William and Mary:

"If we just focus on just No Child Left Behind — testing, testing, testing — then how can creative students survive? If this trend continues then students who look different, nonconformists, will suffer, because they are not accepted."

We are a culture obsessed with being "right." We've got to get the right car and the right house in the right neighborhood. We need the right music and the right phone. We need the right dress and the right style and the right attitude.

Students need the right answer, with the right bubble filled in the right way in the right amount of time. Teachers need to be giving students the right (corporately sanctioned) education in the right (one-dimensional) way, with the right (jargon-filled, administrator-approved) agenda and the right (factual, memorizable, testable) skills in the right (curriculum-dictated) order on the right (scripted) day.

Well, maybe right now is the time to call an end to this nonsense.

A review of Fish!

2011-08-11T11:46:00.014-04:00

Based on a recommendation from a fellow journalism teacher, I picked up and read the book Fish! - A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results. It was a quick read with a simple parable about how the qualities of a successful fish market in Seattle can be applied to any business or organization to make it a more productive and enjoyable place to work.

As the advisor to my high school's newspaper, I am interested in ways to make the staff more productive and engaged in their task of creating a quality scholastic publication. Fish! gives its readers a glimpse of the inner-workings of Pike Place Fish, analyzing the business for the qualities that make it a world-renowned market.

The authors found that the market's employees demonstrate the following: 1) they live in the present moment, 2) they aim to truly make their customer's day, 3) they infuse elements of play with their work, and 4) they're aware that they have the power to choose their own attitude each day.

That last concept is the most important. While we can't always choose the work that we do, we can choose the way we do it. By bringing positive energy to what we do, and by doing it to the best of our ability, we can transform mundane tasks into meaningful ones.

I am currently on vacation at the beach. A couple of miles down the road from where I am staying is a small coffee shop. Its ice coffee is flavorful, its breakfast sandwiches are hearty, and its wraps are a delectable balance of meat and accoutrement. What makes it special, though, are the employees who work there. The last time I was in, the woman behind the counter engaged me from the moment I placed my order until the second the door closed behind me on my way out.

The server spoke to me with energy and passion, excited about her culinary offerings and invested in making sure I got everything I wanted, in as pleasant and joyful a manner as possible. She referred to me as "honey" and "sweetie," and asked her coworker if he could "be a doll" and get her an iced coffee. The fancy chicken wrap sandwich I ordered not only had the word "fancy" written on it, it also had a picture of a bow, as if it had been wrapped up all nice and special, just for me.

These actions are those of employees who are engaged, living in the moment, and bringing energy to what some might consider the basic, even menial task of working food service in a small coffee shop. The way these people approach their job makes for an enjoyable customer experience. It also leads me to believe that their attitude helps make Cape Ann Coffees a fun place to work.

If you're looking for insights on how to boost the productivity of your workers and cheer up your workplace, I'd recommend this book. Its effectiveness lies not in the depth or profundity of its message, but rather on the few simple truths it manages to capture clearly and convey earnestly.

Vocabulary Videos

2011-08-09T22:49:00.003-04:00

One new idea for this coming school year involves having my students create vocabulary videos. While I have yet to formally think everything through, the gist is that every week or so, students - working in groups of two to four - would create a one-minute video on a given vocabulary word, Latin or Greek root, or literary term.

Each video would contain certain ingredients (a brief history of the word, its usage, parts of speech, synonyms, antonyms, appropriate background music, use of props) and would be uploaded to a private YouTube account which only students in the class could view.

Students would be given one or two class periods to do research on their word, strategize for their video, film, and edit. What they didn't accomplish in class would be homework. Then, on "viewing days," I would pull up the class's YouTube page, provide each group with a critique sheet, and we would watch the videos. Each group would be assigned to assess another's video. The assessment sheets would ask students to think about the required video "ingredients" and ask them to observe if they were absent, present, or exceptional (or something like that).

The idea is that if the video had all of the required pieces and conveyed the meaning of the word in an accurate, entertaining, and creative way, the group would get an "A" for the video. Points would be deducted accordingly for videos that didn't meet the various criteria. Students would be shown sample videos and given an opportunity to assess them before actually grading each other's. This way, students would hopefully be "calibrated" and have a grasp of what constitutes a complete and well-crafted project.

After all the videos were viewed, students would share their rating sheets with the respective groups whose videos they evaluated. This would give students an opportunity to discuss with each other the strengths and merits as they saw them. In the event a disagreement arose about a group's rating, I would step in as mediator and help the students work things out. In the end, I will have the final say about what each group gets for a grade, but I'm optimistic that the students will be fair and accurate evaluators of each other's work. When I've done peer assessments in the past, I've found students to be as - if not more - critical than I. The key is getting students to look for strengths as well as weaknesses.

The creation of these videos will serve as a substitute to more traditional vocabulary quizzes. Too often I've seen students cram for vocabulary quizzes, get the necessary information into their short-term memory, do well on a quiz, and then fail to use the words later on in their speech or writing. My theory is that by producing something and being actively engaged in "meaning-making," they'll retain the words and their meanings better (and hopefully use them more frequently).

The nice thing about uploading the videos to YouTube is that they'll be available for viewing later on. Then, maybe every four or five weeks, I'll have some kind of written assessment where students have to use the words in sentences or fill in the blank or match or write an antonym or something. In order to review for the written assessment, they'll be able to cue up the YouTube page and peruse the videos of the words they don't know.

While I'm sure there will be some kinks to work out and quirks I won't have planned for, I'm confident we'll be able to overcome them.

As for the technological end of things, I've been able to acquire a number of computers for my classroom over the years, and, thanks to websites offering educators steep discounts, I have a handful of Flip video cameras I can lend to students. They'll also, of course, be able to use their own devices to create and edit the videos should they so choose.

Look for me to post my own vocabulary video(s) in the coming weeks. Also, if you've ever done something like this before, or know of any possibly helpful resources, feel free to drop a note in the comments section. Thanks!

Video camera image by chelzdd

A School [We'd] Love To See

2011-08-07T15:54:00.003-04:00

Chris Lehmann from Practical Theory recently shared the following idea for a high school:

Every morning, the first thing everyone did was read the New York Times for an hour, [and] using some kind of Kindle-style software they can annotate with ideas, questions, etc... such that at the end of the hour, the school community could see who had similar questions from the day’s paper.

Imagine what it would look like if the kids spent the better part of the day researching those questions and seeing where that took them, with the end of every day being a "share out" where kids shared what they learned across a variety of media.

Wouldn't that be a better high school experience than many of the schools across the country? Wouldn't it be an amazing way to encourage life-long learning, inquiry-based learning, research, collaboration and presentation if kids did something like this every day?

Yes and yes. What Lehmann is really speaking to is the value and relevance of using newspapers in the classroom. As a former journalist and current classroom teacher, newspapers are a great way to expose students to professionally-written prose that is accessible and relevant. For seven years I've used various newspapers (The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Daily Hampshire Gazette, USA Today) in my journalism classroom. This coming school year, I'd like to extend this use to my other English classes.

One ~~of the few~~ good thing to come out of the Common Core Craziness is a renewed focus on using non-fiction texts in the classroom. While I haven't figured out exactly how I'd like to structure it, I would like to begin most of my classes with a 10-minute newspaper reading session to catch up on the day's events. After the 10 minutes, we might have a discussion, respond to a prompt, or simply segue into the next activity.

I'm a big fan of meaningful routines, and it's hard to think of one more valuable than starting each day by reading about the world we live in.

A redesign... and a return?

2011-08-05T18:26:00.005-04:00

As you might have noticed, I recently changed this blog's template. The text area is wider, and the font is larger. There's also a nice background image of a field and a trail leading up a hill. It's been a little while since I've posted regularly to Mr. B-G's English Blog. This is certainly not for a lack of ideas or a lessened desire to be a participant in the dialogue. Rather, obligations for my master's of educational technology degree with Boise State University have taken up much of the time I used to dedicate to blogging.

As part of a "culminating activity" for my degree, I will need to create an electronic portfolio full of blog post reflections, discussions, and "artifacts" from each of the 10 courses which will comprise my degree. So far I'm about halfway there, ready to begin my fifth class, "Theoretical Foundations of Educational Technology," in a couple of weeks.

Aside from my EDTECH classes, I also took an online course from Kent State University this past June called "Teaching Photoshop." It was a great way for me to overcome my fear of using some of Photoshop's more advanced features. Each week we had to create a project that utilized a variety of tools and filters. The lessons built on each other, requiring us to truly grasp earlier concepts if we were to have any success on the more complicated projects.

As far as learning tangible skills, it was one of the best online courses I've taken. I'm excited about the opportunity to help my students take their Photoshop know-how to the next level.

So, yeah. Graduate school. That's my excuse for not blogging as frequently. It's certainly valid, but it's not the sole reason. Truth be told, so many of the harmful developments in education, and the hurtful and derogatory ways teachers have been portrayed in the media and, subsequently, treated in reality, have given me pause about the number of years I have left in this profession.

Could I still end up spending my entire professional career in education? Sure. Does the possibility of doing something else also entice me, especially in the wake of the testing craze and the blame-teachers-for-all-the-ills-of-society rhetoric? Yes.

This summer I taught myself how to build a computer. So far I've built two complete systems, with two more in the queue. I've really enjoyed the process of specing out a unit, amassing the components, and then putting them together so they function at an optimal level. It's very rewarding to be able to take the steps from concept to creation.

As a kid I was interested in making things from salvaged or second-hand parts. In fourth grade I created an "inventor's club" at my elementary school, which featured regular meetings and trips to area museums. It was neat stuff, being on the cutting edge of an idea or the implementation of a theory. One "invention" I recall involved ripping the guts out of a standard walkie-talkie and retrofitting it with parts from old radios to boost the performance.

After changing out a few things and stringing 20 feet of wire up a large evergreen tree in my backyard, I was able to listen to and speak with truckers on their CB radios. I remember this being quite awesome, especially because it was made possible by my own tinkering.

***

I hope to return to this space more frequently as I work out my own feelings about where public education is headed in this country, and what my role will be. Shall I stick it out and work to be an implement of positive change (assuming this is still actually possible), or will politics and an edu-corporate agenda drive me to test the waters of free enterprise?

Stick around to find out.

Pine Tree image by chikachika72

Matt Damon and his mom represent in D.C.

2011-07-31T21:26:00.001-04:00

Damon to America's teachers:

"The next time you encounter some simple-minded, punitive policy that’s been driven into your life by some corporate reformer who has literally never taught anyone anything, please, please, please know that there are millions of us behind you.

"Our appreciation for what you do is so deeply felt. We love you, we thank you, and we will always have your back."

Well said Mr. Damon, well said.

Springing to the finish

2011-04-23T22:40:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow I head to Central Mass for Easter with my wife, folks, and sister. After that it's back home to read some essays, tackle this week's assignments for my Evaluation for Educational Technologists graduate course, write a letter of recommendation for a friend interested in becoming an English teacher, and catch the latest episode of Game of Thrones.

On Monday I'll be busy compiling seniors' midterm grades, and on Tuesday and Wednesday I'll assist with the visits of our two finalists to fill the position of principal when our current leader retires at the end of the year. I'll also be putting in extra time to assist my journalism students as they work to create their next issue of the newspaper.

Spring is a busy time in the world of education. It's also an exciting time, as students become giddy with the warmer weather and the anticipated arrival of summer. Before school lets out, though, there is much to be done. My seniors are currently working on in-depth research essays on the subjects of their choice. The topics run the gamut, and include: the science of the Big Bang theory, methods of treating autism in adolescents, the makings of Ray Allen's jump shot, the dangers of texting and driving, and the prevalence of supplement use among high school and college athletes.

Left to their own devices (and with proper scaffolding), students picked some meaningful topics that they all had some connection to or personal interest in. The essay itself involves research, a personal interview, and effective use of both exposition and narrative. It's a variation of an assignment I taught during my two years at Plymouth State University as a graduate student and adjunct composition instructor.

This essay is one of my favorite assignments, as it requires students to do meaningful, scholarly work on a topic relevant to their lives. Helping students think through their theses and assisting them with their research sources is rewarding. The end result generally yields a product that I both look forward to and enjoy reading.

Three on three

2011-03-20T22:59:00.008-04:00

Last week I participated in a three-on-three basketball tournament at my high school. I decided to play two hours before the tournament after one of my students asked me if I'd be on his team at the end of class. Having played basketball in high school - I was a force in my town's recreation league, but lacked the requisite size and quickness to make the cut for the official school team - I agreed.

I can recall quite vividly one game my senior year where I scored 18 points, hitting five 3-pointers and completing an "and one." That game was probably one of my top 10 highlights from high school. The fact that the team we played that day contained a number of former members from the high school team (who decided for whatever reason to play rec league that year) made it even sweeter.

While it had been almost three months since I shot a basketball, I can honestly say I did not embarrass myself in the tournament, which was a real possibility. While I was by no means "good," I set solid pics, had a few assist, hit some open jumpers, and tossed in a few old-school post moves. While my basketball skills weren't as rusty as they could have been, my overall lack of conditioning made me a defensive liability. One of my students buried two 3-pointers in my face, then took me off the dribble on a baseline move that rendered me incompetent.

After two games I was exhausted, chugging my water bottle whenever there was a break in the action. By the sixth game, I was having trouble focusing, and was incapable of keeping track of the score.When my team finally lost after I threw up an airball that could have tied it, I thanked my teammates for some good games, gathered my stuff, and limped to the car.

Since that game I've decided to put an end to this winter of sloth. I went for a 2.5-mile jog yesterday, and went for a long walk today. I stretched, and even did a few push-ups and sit-ups. In order to ensure I can enjoy myself when I go hiking on the Appalachian Trail this summer, it's important that I begin exercising regularly now. I also wouldn't mind an opportunity to play a few of my students one more time so they can see Mr. B-G's still got (some minute semblance of) game.

Image from Cherokee Boys Basketball, accessed 3/20/11

A quick hello

2011-02-13T20:11:00.002-05:00

I haven't been posting much, as obligations with graduate school and a new course I'm teaching have taken up much of my blogging time. I still regularly read education blogs and articles, but rather than posting reflections and implications for my teaching here, that output has gone toward assignments and discussion postings for my classwork, and the creation of new lessons and units for my Accelerated English 12 class.

I've also been using Twitter to post links to articles I find interesting and useful. You can follow me there by clicking on this link: http://twitter.com/mrbg.

As I have more time I hope to provide some updates of what I've been up to recently. I hope everyone is having a good year.

Literatue and the Carter Effect

2011-01-18T13:30:00.011-05:00

On a recent trip to get a haircut in the city of Northampton, I ended up giving a homeless man $2. The man, who looked to be in his mid 40s, had positioned himself in front of a set of lights at an off-ramp. He held a cardboard sign with a simple message scrawled in marker. At first I instinctively went into defensive mode upon seeing him, locking the doors of my car and beginning the painful wait for the light to turn green so I could be on my way. Within seconds, though, I had a change of heart.

One of my earliest memories of encountering homeless people is set in the city of Boston. I am young, five or six, with my parents and sister. We're walking to some museum or attraction, and there they are, seated on the sidewalk with small containers of coins and $1 bills. As a child, these people fascinated me. Sometimes they would address me or my younger sister specifically, asking us for help. My father would instruct us not to look or talk to them. We were to keep moving and get to where we were getting.

At the time I didn't understand why my dad insisted we hurry past them. While I knew there was something unusual about grown men spending their days propped against the wall of buildings begging for money, I never felt threatened by them. Perhaps that's because I was just a kid, when one's oblivious to the dangers of the world. Regardless, I eventually learned to treat homeless people with a weary eye.

This was probably for my own good, as this outlook as a youngster kept me out of uncomfortable situations with vagabond strangers. When or if I have children, I will likely impart a similar dictum, as a good father needs to be protective of his children. While it was impossible to know if the risks of interacting with homeless people as a child were real or perceived, I suppose any dad worth his salt doesn't want to find out.

As a young man, my first meaningful experience with a homeless person occurred my senior year of high school. I had taken a trip to Grand Bahama Island with one of my best friends during February vacation. As we sat on a pier overlooking the ocean and the evening stars, a man approached and engaged us in conversation. He was affable and good natured, and told us a story of how he'd been homeless for 10 years. His advice to us was to stay in school, a decision he appeared to have regretted. We offered him some raspberry ginger ale, and after a cordial goodbye, he was gone.

My interaction with this Bahamian of no address went a long way in helping me to see that most homeless folks are people of poor circumstances - some brought on themselves, some by external factors. Our conversation enabled me to experience this man's humanity. Afterward, I saw homeless people as individuals rather than members of some collective. When I could, I'd donate .50 cents or a dollar to their coffers.

Through the years, I've given to a wide range of homeless individuals. Some just beggars, others musicians or artisans offering something - a song, a drawing, a trick - in exchange for a schilling. All of these people I experienced face to face. I had stood next to them, looked into their eyes, occupied the same physical space. It wasn't until recently that I finally decided to give to a "traffic braver." And it was because of a book that I decided to roll down my window and extend my hand with two crisp dollar bills to a pair of gloved fingers.

Over Christmas vacation I finished Justin Cronin's 766 page tome The Passage. One of the characters, Carter, was a man who because of destitute circumstances, became homeless. For part of the story, Cronin explains the various reactions Carter would receive from motorists as he stood by a highway overpass with his cardboard sign and extended hand.

When I saw this man standing by the off-ramp, I eventually thought of Carter, and how much Carter would have appreciated my charity.

One of the reasons we read fiction in school is to engage in the telling and appreciation of a good story. Through the stories of others, we discover more about ourselves, our motivations and dispositions, and we acquire a greater understanding of - and compassion for - those around us.

Stories don't need to be true to affect us in the realest of ways. Indeed, it's often works of fiction that have the most meaningful and lasting impact.

A look back at what was

2011-01-09T19:12:00.004-05:00

Now seems as good a time as any to look back over the highlights of 2010...

January 2010 - I enrolled in a Master of Educational Technology degree program through Boise State University.

February - Spent school vacation with my wife, parents, and sister at my late grandmother's condo in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

March - Attended the Massachusetts Poetry Out Loud semi-finals in Western Mass, where I got to see some of the state's top student poets recite the likes of Byron, Dickinson, Plath, Frost, and others. The quality of their recitations was both inspiring and humbling.

April - Our high school's newspaper, which I advise, was recognized for excellence in both regional and national scholastic journalism contests.

May - I completed my first two MET courses, Introduction to Educational Technology and Internet for Educators, earning A's in both.

June - Students at my high school selected me as one of three Teachers of the Year. It's the greatest honor and compliment I've received in my 10 years as an educator.

July - Hit up Vermont's Long Trail with my old buddy Dan from high school. We spent about a week in the woods and got great weather and fantastic vistas, none better than the one from Camel's Hump. When I returned from the hike I proceed to go on a Wire binge, watching all five seasons in less than a week.

August - I spent a week at the beach with my wife and read a number of books, including The Kite Runner (disturbingly enjoyable), A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (heartbreakingly incredible), and Doing School (which caused me to reflect on the way I grade and assess student work).

September - I returned to the factory. For the first time in seven years, I am not teaching freshmen. This is due in part to my success at growing the journalism program sufficiently to warrant two sections of the class. My other preps involve one low-level senior class and two honors-level 12th grade English classes. While I miss the energy and enthusiasm of 9th grade students, I appreciate the opportunity to see how students I had three years ago have evolved and matured. I also get to meet new members of the class of 2011.

I begin the third course in my Master of Educational Technology program, Instructional Design.

October - I have a great time mingling with fellow English teachers at the New England Association of Teachers of English annual conference. Next year I'm definitely going to spend the night and attend the offerings on both days. It's so rare that teachers actually have an opportunity to talk with one another about instruction and ways to improve our practice. I know I was sad to leave at the end of Friday's session, as there were a number of new people I really enjoyed meeting. In addition to attending both days, I might even present!

November - Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There's great food, you're with the ones you love, and there's no pretense to make purchases. It really is a time to be thankful and appreciative for what you have, and I am.

December - My Instructional Design class finally comes to an end. While the course exposed me to a number of relevant strategies designed for planning and assessing instruction, many of the course's requirements seemed grounded in academia, without any realistic application in the real world of public education. For example, the "culminating assessment" worth 40 percent of our grade involved creating a 35-page instructional document on a lesson designed to take 1 to 3 hours. In an average week I'll teach about 22 1-hour lessons. Assuming I created one instructional document for every 2 hours of instruction, that would mean I'd be generating 385 pages of instructional materials each week. As you can see, this has no grounding in reality.

It would have been more beneficial to ask us to implement strategies and theories into existing lessons as opposed to creating one which can only live within the Ivory Tower. I am hoping that my next class, Evaluation for Educational Technologists, is more practical.

I spent Christmas in New England, and dedicated a large portion of the holiday break to reading Justin Cronin's The Passage. It is by far one of the most gripping and enveloping stories I've read in years. I found myself reading late into the night until my eyes glazed over. When I wasn't reading, I was thinking about the characters, and eagerly anticipating the next time I'd be able to pick up the book. At 766 pages, it's certainly a commitment, but reading was 100 percent willful pleasure. I am deeply upset that I have to wait more than a year for the sequel.

Technology Presentation

2010-11-30T09:15:00.001-05:00

Today after school I will be giving a technology presentation to new and veteran staffers as part of my high school's mentoring program. The program is designed to pair teachers new to the district with those who have been around the block a few times and established themselves within the system.

Six years ago when I was a new employee, I had the good fortune of being paired with a fellow English teacher who would both challenge and nourish me as a person and educator. One of the highlights of our first year as mentor and protegee was taking advantage of release time to visit other teachers and sit in on their lessons. I greatly appreciated the opportunity to see some of my fantastic colleagues in action, and also to experience life as a student. By the end of the day both of us were both exhausted and had trouble focusing. Teaching is certainly fatigue-inducing, but so is life as a student in the factory.

During the hour I have been given to present, I hope to provide a brief overview of Google Docs, Blogging, Twitter, Dropbox, Grou.ps, Photo Story, and Feedly. There's no way an hour will be anywhere close to sufficient to cover just one of those topics, but hopefully by providing teachers with links to various resources, they will be able to explore something that interests them on their own time.

Field trip

2010-09-29T20:57:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow my Journalism students and I will venture to a nearby city for a tour of one of the area's daily newspapers. This will be my fourth year taking the students to the paper, and I have no doubt that it will be - as it has been in the past - one of the year's highlights.

The editor-in-chief has graciously agreed to give some of his time to the students and lead them through an editorial exercise where they will be responsible for selecting the stories that would have run on both the main and local front pages. Students will split into teams of four, be given a list of about 20 articles the paper was planning to run, and then decide what gets prominent placement and what doesn't.

After the students reveal their choices, the EIC will display that day's paper and explain why they ran what they did. It's a fast-paced, authentic activity that simulates the decisions editors must make as they work to create each issue.

This will be followed by a tour of the newsroom and the paper's printing press. Finally, the students and I will adjourn for lunch before heading back to school. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday.

200th post

2010-09-01T22:09:00.000-04:00

Today concludes my second day back at school. It also marks my 200th blog post! So far the year is off to a good start. I'm enjoying getting to know my new students, and it's nice to see them engaging with the work. My only complaint would be with the heat. It's been in the mid 90s these first two days, and looks to continue through at least tomorrow.

I've started tweeting my homework assignments on bgassignments. Some students seemed to think this was cool, while others didn't know what to make of it. In time I think they will grow to appreciate having an easily accessible list of assignments that also includes key handouts in digital form. I imagine parents will also be interested in this, as it provides a lot of information about what students have been - and will be - doing.

I'll have to celebrate reaching 200 posts this weekend. There's still two days left in this week, and a lot to do before Friday 2 p.m.!

The plunge

2010-08-30T20:45:00.005-04:00

Well, I'm back at it. The first day with students is tomorrow. Today was spent in meetings, with about two hours to work in our classrooms. Fortunately I went in three days last week, or I would still be at school. I'm ready for tomorrow, and I know where I'm going and what I want to do, but I need to tweak some old handouts and generate some new ones before we can get there.

I'm planning to do a number of things differently this year. I'd like to use social media tools like Twitter and Ning. I want all my students to have Gmail accounts so they can submit writing via Google Docs. I'd like to do less evaluation of writing in exchange for more writing, more feedback, and greater emphasis on process.

I want to do more non-fiction reading, with students reading periodicals and magazines and newspapers and other credible sources as they become knowledgeable on things that personally interest them.

I plant to tweak the way I do outside reading books, and launch something called the occasional paper.

Plenty of ideas, and plenty to blog about. Stay tuned for updates.

Have a great year.

Thank you, summer

2010-08-25T00:20:00.003-04:00

Thank you, summer, for lazy mornings of blueberry-strawberry smoothies and iced coffee on the porch.
Thank you for The Wire, all five seasons consumed in less than two weeks.
Thank you for Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, allowing me to get lost in an alien world, save the galaxy from Saren and the collectors, and earn Paragon points.
Thank you for A Long Way Gone, The Kite Runner, Doing School, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, and the first two books in the Tales of the Otori series.
Thank you for allowing me to catch up on my subscriptions to Rolling Stone, GQ, Esquire, Men's Journal, English Journal, Wired, Maximum PC, Computer Power User, Backpacker, and Vanity Fair.
Thank you for time to reduce my stack of Boston Sunday Globes.
Thank you for hoops in the driveway.
Thanks for a family Red Sox game.
Thanks for inspiring me to tie up the running shoes and hit the pavement.
Thanks for four glorious days on Vermont's Long Trail.
Thank you for Camel's Hump - the view was spectacular.
Thank you for time with my wife.
Thank you for time with my sister.
Thank you for time with my parents.
Thank you for Good Harbor Beach, riding and diving into waves.
Thanks for lobster rolls and fresh clam chowder and baked scallops.
Thanks for time to pause.
Thanks for time to reflect.
Thanks for time to recharge.
Summer, you will be missed, but you've done your work, and I am grateful.
Thank you.

Mass Ed Board Adopts National Academic Standards

2010-07-21T18:59:00.021-04:00

From the Boston Globe:

State education officials have been exploring the possibility of adopting the national standards for more than a year, a controversial proposition for a state known to have some of the most rigorous academic standards in the nation.

The national standards, which Massachusetts officials helped to develop, specify what material should be taught in English and math at every grade level. The voluntary effort was spearheaded by associations representing the nation's governors and state education leaders and has received the support of President Obama, who is now pushing states to adopt the standards by offering financial incentives.

***

I'm not sure how I feel about this. To be honest, I don't know enough about the national standards to make an informed comparison. I do know that Massachusetts has spent billions of dollars implementing its own standards - standards which have launched the state to the pinnacle of the student achievement mountain. That old adage about not fixing something if it ain't broke seems to reverberate loudly with this decision.

Of course, as the Globe article states, this choice is as much about money as anything else. When states appease Obama and sign on to his national standards, they are eligible for federal dollars. The question is, how much cash will Massachusetts get, and is that amount worth giving up control of an educational system that - while certainly not perfect - seems to function better than the rest of the country.

Links: National Common Standards, N ew York Times Common Standards Discussion

Photo by Joanne Rathe, Boston Globe Staff

Making comments

2010-07-05T22:33:00.001-04:00

Ah summer, thank you for this time to read. In the spirit being an active and contributing member of the blogging community to which I belong, I am going to read and post comments on some of the blogs on my blogroll. Once I do that, then I shall write something new here.

Thank you to everyone on my list for your engaging and fun-to-read postings!

Happy summer!

2010-06-24T13:38:00.000-04:00

Congrats to all teachers out there who have made it through another year of trying to do right by your students. If your experience is anything like mine, I know that you've fully-immersed yourself in the world of your students and your school as you've worked to leave your kids in a better and more informed place than they were when they walked through your door last August.

There are a number of things I plan to blog about over the course of the next two months, including summer reading, new ideas and initiatives for next year, my graduate program, and other musings and meanderings that fancy my attention and interest.

Right now, however, my overgrown backyard is beckoning for a rendezvous with my lawn mower.

Another spin

2010-06-08T23:50:00.009-04:00

Last Sunday marked one more year that I've been around to partake in the earth's celestial voyage around the sun. As Lenny Kravitz once sang, "I'm old enough to see behind me / But young enough to feel my soul." After a full and bustling school year, I'm ready for the summer downshift that shortly awaits.

Aside from a hike on Vermont's Long Trail and some quality R & R at one of my favorite beaches, I plan to do a lot of reading, including summer reading books for school like A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, books for pleasure like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and a revisiting of literature for the two Accelerated English 12 courses I'll be teaching next year like Brave New World and 1984.

Three pedagogical texts I want to peruse are Ravitch's The Death of the Great American School System, Pope's Doing School and Jim Burke's latest, What's the Big Idea?

I'm also planning to jog regularly and make it a priority to carry over a fitness regimen to the new school year. And I'm going to get to the links a few times to try and improve what could graciously be considered an "emerging" golf game.

Summer will fly by as it always does. I hope to return to school renewed, refreshed, and ready for the commencement of another year.

Image from http://www.newzonfire.com/2009/05/19/26-outstanding-photos-earth-space/

Motivating journalism students

2010-05-31T13:30:00.004-04:00

Do I have apathetic students? Sure.
But do I also have motivated (or willing to be motivated) students? Yes.

I motivate my journalism students by reminding them of their power and obligation as knights of the keyboard. I let them know that they will sink or swim on their own merits. I do my best not to edit their work for grammar and typos. As staff writers and editors, it is their responsibility to catch these things. Will I advise them on content and organization and leads and quotes and meaning and subjectivity and prominence and newsworthiness? Of course. But I refuse (despite strong inner-yearnings to do the opposite) to be a copy editor.

For some of our most important stories, I will read them over and offer general feedback. Rarely do I make specific suggestions. Instead, I'll say that sentence needs to be cleaned up, is awkward, rambles, etc. I'll say the lead doesn't do the story justice. I'll alert them to problematic areas. But they need to fix them. It is their paper.

Our school's publication has been around for 90 years. I let the students know that they are torchbearers, keeping alight a flame kindled long before we walked the earth. Once kids buy in and put forth effort, they will win awards. And suddenly they've created an award-winning paper. And they feel good about that. And they will be intrinsically motivated to continue that tradition and keep the flame burning for their successors.

Student journalists preserve history. What they do matters, and has repercussions far beyond what most of them can currently perceive. As teachers and advisors with the benefit of greater vision, we must remind them that their work will be felt across time, and we must challenge them to live up to the weighty obligations they took on when they signed up to be part of the school newspaper.

Image from http://casualhardcore.wordpress.com/

Technology's Role in 21st Century Education

2010-05-24T21:52:00.009-04:00

The teenager clad in sweatpants and Ugg boots shuffles in her seat, disinterested, as her teacher drones on about the major themes found in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The girl, a senior, started counting down the days to graduation back in December. It’s now March. She only has to endure this state-sponsored "education" for two more months before she’s finally free to move forward with life on her own terms.

Suddenly, she feels a small vibration from the right inside pocket of her sweats. It’s her iPhone signaling that she’s just received a text message. She glances up at the teacher to be sure she’s in the clear, then carefully cradles the phone in the palm of her hand as she begins to read the message from a friend about a road trip they’re taking this weekend to visit her older brother at college. As the girl looks up, she’s startled by the authoritative stance of her teacher staring over her shoulder.

“Jessica, put that phone away now, or it’s mine,” says Mr. Brown. Because Jessica attends Antiquated High School, she is forced to comply with her school’s prohibitive electronic device policy. However, if she attended the forward-thinking Health Sciences High and Middle College high school, she would likely be using her iPhone for academic purposes thanks to a “courtesy policy” that governs the use of electronic devices during school hours (Fisher & Frey, 2008).

Rather than using her phone to solidify weekend plans, Jessica could have been listening to a Podcast on how superstition affects human behavior, or browsing a scholarly text on how blind ambition leads to one’s downfall, another theme prevalent in Macbeth.

Jessica could have been posting a discussion question to her class blog, or using Twitter to respond to a question her teacher posed regarding Macbeth’s most loathsome character. Instead, she’s half-listening to her teacher’s lecture, her body in the classroom, her mind already assembling her outfit for Friday night.

It’s not that Jessica’s ditsy or genuinely disinterested. Her GPA puts her in the top quarter of her class, she regularly does her homework, and she’s generally polite and courteous to her classmates and teachers. Unfortunately for her, Antiquated High School – no different than the majority of American high schools – is failing at its three essential functions, which, according to school technology leader Scott McLeod, are to develop students who are socially functional, economically productive, and able to master the dominate information landscape of their time.

Jessica’s classroom is aligned in rigid rows where students sit isolated, tasked with individual desk work that requires little collaboration or use of resources beyond their text and the teacher’s lecture notes. In this class, Jessica isn’t able to use the latest Web 2.0 tools because her teacher doesn’t know much about technology and has little desire or incentive to learn. And even if he did, her school’s Internet filter blocks blogs, wikis, Ning, Twitter, Facebook, and other social, academic, and compositional Internet resources.

Because Jessica is able to memorize information, she does well on quizzes and tests. Because she sufficiently models her teacher’s writing exemplars (most of which are provided by the state department of education) she scores above-average on her essays. Jessica’s high grades have given her an inflated sense of self as a student. What Jessica lacks is an independent and curious intellect. Rather than break new ground and take chances, Jessica plays it safe while keeping risk-taking at a minimum.

Heidi Jacobs, author of Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World, would argue this problem is not entirely Jessica’s fault.

Schools tend to teach, assess, and reward convergent thinking and the acquisition of content with a limited range of acceptable answers. Life in the real world, however, demands multiple ways to do something well. A fundamental shift is required from valuing right answers as the purpose for learning, to knowing how to behave when we don’t know the answers – knowing what to do when confronted with those paradoxical, dichotomous, enigmatic, confusing, ambiguous, discrepant, and sometimes overwhelming situations that plague our lives (Jacobs, 223).

This lack of ingenuity and creativity will hurt Jessica’s chances of employment in the long run. Because she hasn’t learned to tap the power of the Internet for research, self-publishing, or networking, she’s already miles behind the students at Forward Thinking School District who have been cultivating positive electronic personas since elementary school.

Even if Jessica is able to land a good internship during college, she is going to require extensive training before she’s well-versed in the electronic networking and publishing software used by her company. Rather than coming into this new work environment as a leader and a source of innovation, Jessica is seen as unprepared and burdensome.

Some say schools are responsible for preparing students for the “real world.” Others take this a step further and say school should be the real world. Antiquated High School and others like it are stuck in the past, preparing students for jobs that no longer exist. Their true responsibility is to prepare students for jobs that have yet to be created, and they are failing, miserably. It is time for today’s educators to get serious about giving students a malleable set of skills they can apply five, ten, and even twenty years down the road.

This means that students can work effectively in groups. It means they can analyze, criticize, create, deconstruct, and synthesize. It means they know how to use technology for serious, academic research and investigation, not just social networking and gaming. Students will not learn these skills unless, we, their teachers, undergo a focused, constructive, cumulative initiative that challenges the current educational paradigm and reshapes it for the 21^st century.

This cannot happen unless the federal and state governments renew their commitment to education, moving away from drill-and-kill instruction and toward constructivist, open classroom environments where teachers facilitate learning though technology, collaboration, and exploration. The days of the teacher as the “sage on the stage” are gone. Our new roles are to serve as guides through an increasingly complex and ever changing digital maze of information.

We can’t lead our charges into this new horizon with the tools of the previous century. To remain relevant, school districts must acquire the digital hardware of today’s workplace, train teachers on its use in the classroom, and then give students the freedom to explore, experiment, and harness their skills as navigators, evaluators, and creators of tomorrow’s world.

References

Bonk, C. (2009). The world is open: How Web technology is revolutionizing education (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Frey, H. & Fisher, D. (2008). Doing the right thing with technology. English Journal. 38-42. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/journals/ej/issues

Jacobs, H. (2010). Curriculum 21: Essential education for a changing world. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Herrington, A., Hodgson, K., & Moran, C (Eds.). (2009). Teaching the new writing: Technology, change, and assessment. Berkeley, CA: Teachers College Press.

McLeod, Scott. (2010, March 16). Notes from India – My TEDx talk [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2010/03/notes-from-india-my-tedx-talk.html

Metiri Group. Multimodal Learning Through Media: What the Research Says. (2008). Retrieved from www.cisco.com/web/.../Multimodal-Learning-Through-Media.pdf

National Council of Teachers of English. Writing in the 21st century. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/press/21stcentwriting

State Educational Technology Directors Association. Maximizing the impact: The pivotal role of technology in a 21st century education system. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.setda.org/web/guest/maximizingimpactreport

Seniors 'Articulate' on final day

2010-05-24T21:27:00.002-04:00

Today was my seniors' last regular day of class. In both my World Literature and Journalism classes, we concluded the year with a game of Articulate. Featuring elements of both Charades and Taboo, the game requires players to describe to their team members a variety of people, places, things, and actions within a 30-second turn.

It's exciting, fast-paced, and rewards students for being knowledgeable and - you guessed it - articulate. When students get on a roll and they're in-sync with each other, teams can guess five or six items within the half-minute window. When students get stumped or spend too much time on one particular card (they're allowed to skip once), one or sometimes no correct answers are given.

I enjoy playing it with my students because it gives those who have different strengths and areas of expertise a chance to put their skills to use. For example, when the "nature" card comes up, students who are good in biology and the sciences are the best describers, as they're able to quickly break down the item on their card for their group to guess. The same goes for the "geography" and "people" cards. Students with specific knowledge can help their teams win, their smarts rewarding them with instant social capital.

The game is also great for team building. In my Journalism class, we played seniors vs. underclassmen, and the seniors narrowly scraped out a victory, despite having almost twice as many players. The members of the class of 2010 left the game with their dignities in tact, while the sophomores and juniors had every right to feel proud as they held their own.

Time...

2010-05-11T19:20:00.002-04:00

...is always better when Chuck Norris is telling it.

Teaching the New Writing

2010-05-01T17:08:00.005-04:00

Teaching the New Writing is a compendium of teacher anecdotes, lessons, and insights on what writing instruction looks like in the 21^st century classroom. Edited by UMass professors Anne Herrington and Charles Moran, and sixth grade teacher and blogger Kevin Hodgson, the book offers educators of all levels an opportunity to learn from colleagues as they go about bringing 21^st century skills into their classroom.

Included in the book is an index of technology terms ranging from multimodal composition and vodcasting to digital storytelling and weblogs. Seventeen teachers representing a full range of grades and classes across the education landscape contributed to the book, which features a variety of student work to go alongside lesson plan notes and reflections.

The book is divided into three sections. The first spans the elementary and middle school years, the second focuses on high school, and the final chapter extends to college. Given this range, Teaching the New Writing is apt for a variety of audiences, including classroom teachers, parents, administrators, curriculum coordinators, and pre-service teachers looking to gain a holistic glimpse of writing instruction in the 21^st century.

Some of the choice chapters include Chapter 4: Digital Picture Books – From Flatland to Multimedia, Chapter 5: Be a Blogger – Social Networking in the Classroom, Chapter 6: Poetry Fusion – Integrating Video, Verbal, and Audio Texts, and Chapter 12: Technology, Change, and Assessment – What We Have Learned.

One of the core concepts of the book is that we need to rethink our definition of writing. In fact, we should replace it with the word “composing,” and consider composition as the creation of “texts that might include words, images, sounds, and hyperlinks that connect any and all of the above to other words, images, sounds, and hyperlinks” (199).

As far as integrating technology into the classroom, the authors recommend patience, as it will take time for new technologies to intertwine themselves with curriculum. The authors warn that business-as-usual professional development will not work.

“The usual kind of staff development – the one-shot training workshop mandated by the principal or superintendent – will not produce the desired effect, or perhaps any effect at all” (203). Until that model changes, teachers will bring technology into their classrooms gradually, over time, and at different rates. Membership in professional organizations focused on technology integration and attendance at regional and national workshops will be vital to providing teachers with the training necessary to bring their pedagogy to the 21^st century.

Online education

2010-04-25T22:35:00.005-04:00

For those interested in learning more about Boise State University's EDTECH graduate program, take a look at the video below. I'm only two classes into my degree, so I haven't had a chance to take a class that makes use of Second Life. It certainly looks like it could have promise.

I think good educators draw on a variety of resources and strategies to get students engaged in the curriculum. Could the virtual world of Second Life be one of these resources I use? Sure. Does this mean that the concrete here-and-now goes out the window? Of course not.

As an online student, most of my learning occurs through a pixilated environment. As a high school classroom teacher, the majority of my interactions with students are face-to-face; this despite the fact that they spend one-third of their day interacting with screens. While there is definitely a benefit to incorporating virtual worlds and online interaction into my teaching, it's worth noting that some of the most meaningful classes I've had have occurred in the format of an old-fashioned Socratic seminar.

Teacher and student

2010-04-25T21:50:00.002-04:00

With the end of the school year in sight, it's no surprise that I find myself busier than ever. What's different this year than previous years is that not only am I juggling curriculum and assessments for the five classes I teach, I am also busy completing work for two classes I am taking for my master of educational technology degree.

I have about one week to write a major research synthesis essay for one class and create an in-depth WebQuest for another. It is going to be an arduous stretch. I will complete it, though, and thankfully will have a little break before I once again juggle the roles of student and teacher in the fall.

As those of you who are teachers know, teaching is a full-time gig. I'm at school by 6:45 a.m., and often stay past 4:00 p.m. And unlike most professions, my work day doesn't end when I get home. There are always lessons to plan, assignments to correct, and constituents to get back to. This is just the reality of being a teacher. While it's time consuming, it's also wholly engrossing, meaningful, satisfying work. If I didn't enjoy what I do, I wouldn't do it.

Because I give a lot to my job, I have a limited number of hours to give to my wife, myself, friends, and family. With two graduate classes also in the mix, it's safe to say that my cup is near overflow. Fortunately, I've been able to keep sipping away before any drops spill, but it hasn't been easy. Knowing that a respite is near helps motivate me to take the final necessary gulps.

Although my graduate work will soon be over, my responsibilities as a high school English and journalism teacher will continue through the end of June. When we return to school tomorrow, my 9th graders will be turning in poetry anthologies, and my seniors will be submitting major research papers. The journalism kids will assess their latest issue and begin planning their final paper of the year. With the seniors finishing at the end of May, there will be a changing of the guard for the last edition, as underclassmen take on the major editorial roles.

My seniors' last unit is Lord of the Flies, which we'll start tomorrow. The freshmen will end with Speak and Romeo & Juliet. Best wishes to students and teachers everywhere for a swift and fulfilling journey to the finish.

A digital initiative

2010-04-14T22:25:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago I was selected to be part of an innovative team of educators who will be responsible for laying the groundwork for an online high school in Massachusetts. Thanks to a $400,000 grant, pockets of teachers from across the state will develop quarterly online courses that can be administered to students via computers through the Internet.

I met recently with five other content area teachers at a regional educational collaborative. There we were given laptops and offered an opportunity to explore various Web 2.0 tools. Once we become familiar with the electronic options available to us, we'll conceptualize how to best put them to use to teach students the curriculum they need to earn a high school diploma.

The majority of my work will be done in the fall, when I will actually create the class using the Moodle content management system. Once the course is set up, I will administer one pilot section of it in the spring. The goal is to fine-tune the course for the state so that eventually, other tech-savvy, certified educators will be able to teach the course to students from across MA.

Online learning has a number of benefits. The asynchronous nature allows for students to engage with the content during the hours that are most suitable for them and their lives. The discussion-board style discourse gives all equal voice. This is a contrast to brick-and-mortar classrooms, where the most vocal or loquacious students run the risk of dominating classroom conversation. Rather than get caught up in the heat of the moment, posters also have a chance to reflect on what it is they are learning, and how exactly they want to portray an idea or show their understanding of a concept.

Given that students spend nearly eight hours per day in front of screens, online learning also provides comfort and familiarity. The main drawback, obviously, is that students miss out on an opportunity for face-to-face contact and interaction. It's hard to truly get a"feel" for your teacher and classmates until you actually spend time with them in the same physical place.

One nice component about the course I'm piloting is that the students will be in a room with other students taking the class, and they'll have the assistance of a paraprofessional. Thanks to Skype and other video conferencing programs, students and paras will be able to converse with the "behind the screen" teacher to ask questions and receive immediate feedback.

As an aside, one of the teachers in my cohort was an old friend from my undergraduate days at UMass whom I hadn't seen in more than 10 years. It was great to reconnect with her, and served to further drive home the notion that it really is a small world, and we are connected in more ways than we realize.

Photo credit iStockphoto

A teen summit on bullying

2010-04-04T00:47:00.002-04:00

Area teenagers discuss bullying with reporters from the Daily Hampshire Gazette. For those looking for a deeper understanding on the root of bullying behavior and its effects, this is a worthwhile view.

Restive times

2010-04-04T00:23:00.004-04:00

It's been the kind of day that's evocative of summer. Balmy temperatures, neighbors operating lawn-cutting machines. The smell of burning leaves and twigs from a nearby brush fire. I spent much of the day outdoors, patching a divot in the driveway, assembling a shade umbrella for the back porch, and wiping off the deck chairs and table. Physical tasks to quell a restive mind.

A conglomerate of national and international media gathers outside my high school as a DA's investigation into a student's suicide yields charges and arraignment hearings. A school community desperately tries to heal while an impassioned public calls for heads to roll. Slick and self-righteous media figures feign compassion as they grasp at half-truths and call for justice.

It's the story du jour, the outrage of the moment, the latest flaming spectacle. Somewhere under the media light lies nuance and truth. Yet the cameras and microphones pick up simplistic anecdotes, condensed for the masses into 30-second digestible bites. All flash and sensation. Emotion and conviction. We know. We know. We're hundreds of miles away, yet we know. We'll give you your objects of ire. See where our finger points. We're infallible. Omniscience is our coxswain.

Despite the media's barrage, life goes on. Students come to class ready to learn. Their resilience is remarkable. Is learning just a convenient distraction, or is it the nature of the teenage mind to be elastic and malleable, always seeking to absorb a new experience and perspective as world view is created inside expanding neurons?

Existential thoughts color day-to-day interactions. Justice, redemption, remuneration, repudiation. Reactions, accusations, justifications, recalculation.

Next week will bring arraignments and pleas. A community braces. A nation - and a world - awaits.

Inventing the new paradigm

2010-03-17T16:50:00.006-04:00

At a recent TED event, school technology leader Scott McLeod admonishes the current educational establishment for sticking its head in the sand and failing to adjust to the digitally and globally connected world.

In this video, McLeod describes 21st century classrooms that look nearly identical to the classrooms of 1890. He calls for a rethinking of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and states that every kid needs access to a computer.

"It's a digital world. We're going to have to stop pretending that it's a paper and pencil world in schools," McLeod says.

As currently constructed, school environments are set up to prepare kids for the last 50 years, not the next 50 years, McLeod observes. He says schools are failing in their three essential functions, which are to develop students who are socially functional, economically productive, and able to master the dominate information landscape of their time.

"We can see quite clearly that we have some disconnects that cannot continue to be maintained."

I happen to agree with a lot of what McLeod talks about. It is for some of these reasons that I chose to go back to school for a master's degree in educational technology.

As I wrote about recently, it's made for a full year. In the end, though, the effort will pay off, as it will help me provide my students with a 21st century education that's relevant to their lives, needs, and the world they will inhabit.

Power outage

2010-03-14T23:52:00.000-04:00

At around 4:00 in the morning, we lost power. Last night was an evening of fierce winds and pounding rain, and eventually the electric lines in my neighborhood surrendered.

No power meant no leisurely Sunday morning hot coffee. The blender that usually prepares a berry smoothie sat silent and forlorn. The pile of laundry in need of washing waited idly in its basket. Because we get our water from a private well - whose pump depends on electricity - our faucets were dry.

Rather than sit around and panic, my wife and I did what any other couple would do in our situation. We went out to breakfast.

We hoped that upon arriving home, power would be restored. Alas, it was not. When we finally received notice that we'd need to wait until evening, we settled into non-electric tasks. For me, this meant finally reading the stack of old newspapers that had gone neglected on the coffee table since January.

Periodically I kept hoping the power would come on earlier than expected so I could catch the Celtics/Cavs game. Fortunately for me, a man who bleeds Green, I wasn't able to tune into another disappointing loss for what's quickly becoming an embarrassing team.

Being without power isn't so bad, but on a day like Sunday when you need it for a myriad of tasks, it's quite an inconvenience. I say this with a grain of salt, though. I thought a few times about earthquake victims in Haiti and Chile and quickly regained perspective. I live a charmed life, with all the comforts and amenities one could ask for. I have shelter, health, and family. My choice occupation brings stability and a sense of purpose.

While going without the things we rely on can be a hindrance, there's a renewed appreciation that awaits when what was missing is finally restored.

Sylvanic scurryings... and basketball

2010-03-07T22:11:00.005-05:00

This afternoon I went for a jog through the woods behind my house. While this certainly isn't groundbreaking news, in the larger scope of things it signals that spring is on its way, as the snow was all but melted. I am ready for longer and warmer days, and ready to recommit to an exercise regimen.

It's tough. Many of us make New Year's resolutions to improve our activity level at a time when nature's creatures are dormant and the weather makes it easy to stay inside and lounge. Aside from personal health, another more pressing motivation for me to stop slothin' around is this Thursday's student/faculty basketball game. Yup, I'm playing. I hope to score a few points, make a couple stops on defense, and not completely embarrass myself.

It's likely the students will beat us, although, who knows? I've heard some of the faculty members have game, and if a couple of us get hot, anything's possible. If the students push the ball and run every time, they'll likely have an easy victory. But it we can get them to play slow-it-down basketball, we have a chance. I really don't care about the outcome of the game. What's more exciting is the chance to interact with some of my colleagues as I attempt to relive those glorious days of my high school rec league.

Poetry and promise

2010-03-06T08:12:00.002-05:00

Shorty I will be leaving to attend the Massachusetts Poetry Out Loud semi-final event in Springfield, where one of our students will represent our high school in the annual recitation contest. Three years ago I brought Poetry Out Loud to our school. While participation in the event hasn't been as robust as I would like, each year we've been able to field a competitive contestant.

Not only will my morning be filled with poetic recitations from some of the areas brightest high school kids, but the sun is out and temperatures may creep into the 50s. I'm looking forward to getting outdoors later, maybe to shoot some hoops, go for a jog, or explore the rail-trail behind my house. Winter for most of us here in Mass has been - for lack of a better word - weak. When other parts of the country were getting pounded with powdery blasts, we either had rain or nothing at all.

I wouldn't mind experiencing one solid winter storm before officially yielding to spring, but at the same time I'm also ready right now for the regenerative spirit that comes as the earth rotates toward longer and warmer days.

Giraffes!

2010-03-04T14:30:00.000-05:00

Because everyone can use a good laugh...

Oh boy

2010-03-02T19:20:00.006-05:00

Midterm grades to compile and enter. Course work for my Master of Educational Technology degree to complete. An interview tomorrow to help develop and pilot a Massachusetts Online Curriculum. It's already been a 12-hour day, and there's still much to do.

This, of course, is in addition to daily lesson plans that need to be created, parent e-mails and phone calls that require timely response, and ongoing student work that must be read and evaluated. And then there's special education forms and field trip forms and writing assessment forms and other forms whose names escape me.

Oh, but surely you must have time in the school day to do these things, right?

I have 55 minutes to make photocopies, clean my boards, write the new day's agenda, write the new day's homework, organize handouts, and use the bathroom before a bell rings and students begin to fill my room.

In education, there are essential things that MUST get done each day. What you don't accomplish in your 55 minutes becomes a responsibility that has to be completed on your own time. While I love the work - it's engaging, rewarding, fulfilling, and stimulating - I sometimes wonder if it's burning me out. Since my graduate classes started, I haven't had time to maintain my New Year's Resolution of jogging consistently. At some point, I'm going to need to give more consideration to my health. And if my wife and I decided to ever have kids, I have no idea where I would find the time to be a father given my current schedule - something would definitely have to give.

If we had kids, our children would need to be at the top of our priority list. As a teacher, you see what happens when children are neglected and their parents aren't there for them, and it's trying and sobering. Life is hard stuff, and children need mindful ambassadors to lead them through its peaks and valleys. If your parents aren't responsible, nurturing, and involved, you're at a distinct disadvantage.

Being an adult is about being able to juggle many things with finesse, dexterity, and care. It's about meeting multiple priorities and finding balance. Right now that balance seems elusive, but I'll eventually muddle through and find equilibrium.

Thoughts from Ft. Lauderdale

2010-02-17T18:31:00.008-05:00

I've spent the last week at my grandmother's condo in the beautiful (and usually temperate) Ft. Lauderdale. As those of you in the New England area know, this week is February vacation, where students and teachers have a five-day respite from school.

This year my wife and I got together with my parents and sister for a rendezvous in Florida. The plan was to soak up some Vitamin D and enjoy a break from the frigid temperatures of Massachusetts. While it has been sunny, it's also been unseasonably cool. The average temperature for this time of year is a toasty 78 degrees. It's averaged about 65 since we've been here, which has been a bit of a bummer, but it's still been warm enough for us to get out and enjoy the surroundings.

The above photo illustrates the view across from the balcony at my grandmother's place. She lives in an area of Ft. Lauderdale that's divided by a series of waterways - a la Venice - and home to a number of gorgeous multi-million dollar residences. Most of the homes here easily start at $3 million. I've jogged around the area and have been blown away by the overt opulence. Beamer, Mercedes, Lexus, Porsche, Range Rover, and Lamborghini camp out in the driveways of these estates, many of which are behind iron gates.

To the right of my grandmother's balcony is a boat docked in the canal with the name "Insatiable." It's a fitting metaphor to describe the lavishness with which some of these people live. Would I like to one day have a residence on the water? Sure. But it would need to be modest, as there's a certain point where the accumulation of material goods becomes offensive.

The arc of our lives depends largely on the environment we're born into. The social norms of behavior, the availability of resources, the cultural and familial values, all of these are as important as one's work ethic. Am I a hard worker? Yes. Am I successful? Yes. But there are millions of Americans who work as hard as I do yet are floundering economically because they don't have a means of upward mobility.

Education truly is the great equalizer. However, millions lack access to fundamentally sound learning opportunities, and many of those who are so fortunate take it for granted. Life really isn't fair. Those who deserve more often have to give the most. And sometimes those who are undeserving are given the keys without any gratitude or appreciation for what they're able to drive. Knowledge is the ultimate key to rising in the system, but even that alone is no guarantee you'll be able to ascend to a respectable place.

As I sit on this balcony and appreciate the soothing sounds of water and the orange glow of the setting sun on the palm trees, I realize I'm fortunate. Yes I've worked hard to get to where I'm at, but I was also positioned to succeed. I was born in a safe and prosperous country to parents who took their responsibilities seriously and whose families valued education and its role in helping one become a happy and productive member of society. It was assumed I would go to college and eventually pursue an advanced degree. That was the norm of my family, and as such, it was easy to accept that as what my reality should be.

I think one of the greatest gifts an educator can bestow upon his students is the gift of vision - to help them conceive of a personal reality that stretches beyond the borders and limitations that have been placed on them or that they have placed on themselves. And one of the greatest challenges educators face is the sense of entitlement and infallibility that those who have been given the keys feel they've earned just for showing up. It's a constant challenge to balance the multiple personae necessary to motivate and educate a classroom of students. On some days it's an impossible task, yet on others, when all parts are playing harmoniously, there is nothing more rewarding or satisfying.

LCD Projector Giveaway

2010-02-17T15:43:00.003-05:00

Take a moment to vote for a chance to win a free LCD projector for your school. The 10 schools with the most votes will win. All schools located in the United States are eligible. For more info, click here.

Meeting Tomorrow Audio Visual Rental

Note - Usually I don't feature contests or advertisements on my blog, but occasionally if I feel something is warranted, I will include it. As a teacher interested in the integration of technology in the classroom, I believe the benefits of sharing this information outweigh the potential downsides of featuring a corporate promotion in a blog post.

Sweet acoustics

2010-02-08T18:37:00.000-05:00

I stumbled across this guy on YouTube. His renditions of some of my favorite Beatles tunes are the best covers I've ever heard. He's worth a watch and a listen.

Some good news

2010-02-07T22:09:00.002-05:00

Payton Manning and the Colts lost the Super Bowl. I am happy. If you're from New England like I am, your allegiance is to the Patriots. And as a Patriots fan, it's your duty to loathe Manning and the Colts. I didn't watch one minute of this game, as honestly, I didn't want to have to view Manning's face on my 46-inch Samsung DLP projection TV. A bit harsh? Perhaps. But I've been saturated with images of Manning for years. It's hard enough suffering through his television commercials.

In the More Good News Department, there's a little snow in the forecast for Wednesday, and in five days school will be out for February break. Since I started teaching high school six years ago, I have to say that the past few weeks have been among the most challenging due to the barrage of local, national, and international news coverage over a tragic incident involving one of our 9th grade students. I know I speak for my colleagues and many of my students when I say that we're in need of a break and meaningful time spent with friends and family.

21st Century Literacies

2010-01-24T15:43:00.004-05:00

I enjoyed this short video about students using technology in their English class. While I have yet to incorporate Twitter into a lesson, it's something I'm open to trying. The National Council of Teachers of English has recommended that teachers begin working 21st century literacies into the classroom. The NCTE has also put together a policy brief for teachers and administrators about what 21st century literacies are, and what they look like in the classroom.

Here is one more video about using Twitter specifically in the classroom.

A long week

2010-01-18T12:56:00.002-05:00

Last week was one of the longest and most difficult I've experienced as an educator. The first source of stress was the closing of Second Quarter grades. The second was our monthly faculty meeting, although that really wasn't as stressful as much as it was simply a time commitment. Despite much of the negative publicity that seems to surround teachers and faculty meetings, it's my feeling that our principal really tries to make our meetings as relevant and engaging as possible. For the most part, he succeeds at this task. I can honestly say I actually enjoy some of these meetings!

The third stressor was the fact that we weren't allowed to use our computers because a Trojan had infected the entire network. This was a MAJOR problem for me, as so much of what I do in the classroom is dependent on technology. It appears that most computers have been fixed, but the mini-lab in my room still needs to pass a clean bill of health before I can reconnect to the network. Given that my 9th grade students are working on short stories, I really need the ability to do word processing. They could initially write their stories by hand, but eventually I want the stories posted to their class blogs, so the sooner we have the ability to get them into digital form, the better.

The greatest stressor though, the one that really puts those above three items into perspective, is that one of my students, a 15-year-old freshman, killed herself. It's an unbelievably tragic event that has really rocked my world and the school community. While some of my peers have met tragic ends - via cancer, a motorcycle accident, and suicide by hanging - I've never had a student so young die, let alone take her own life.

The circumstances surrounding why she killed herself are complicated, and currently under investigation by local and state authorities. As such, I'm reluctant to say much more. I do know that the word of her death devastated me for the past few days. I found myself thinking about her constantly, searching for some kind of insight or solace. One of the last things she said to me involved a conversation she had had with a former student of mine. "Mitch said I'm really lucky to have you as a teacher," she told me. I told her I appreciated the sentiment, and that I enjoyed having Mitch in class. What I wanted to tell her, what was on the tip of my tongue, what I would have said had I not at that moment been distracted by one of my other students, was that I was equally as lucky to have her as a student.

Lit Circle Jobs 2.0

2010-01-11T20:26:00.008-05:00

Today my district had a three-hour professional development day. While many teachers might cringe as they envision high-priced education bureaucrats and consultants lecturing at teachers in cramped auditoriums, fortunately my school decided to let the staff propose a variety of activities for which colleagues could sign up.

Our tech-savvy librarian offered a workshop on Google Documents. Our special-ed director led a seminar on the school's co-teaching initiative. And I participated in an independent study where I did research and created a new assignment.

One of my most popular blog posts from a couple years ago was about literature circles. During today's workshop, I created six new literature circles roles. When I originally started using literature circles, I had the basics - Connector, Illustrator, Quoter, Question Creator. Click here for my first version. I worked to refine the wording and increase the amount of written response over the last couple of years. At the start of this year, I added two new jobs and tweaked the titles for all. So, in September my students were greeted with this document and presented the following options: Line Illuminator, Connection Captain, Word Warlock, Question Commander, Illustrious Artist, and Summary Sultan. Pretty snazzy right?

For the most part, students got excited about their roles, met my expectations, and effectively used their "jobs" to facilitate both small group and whole-class discussion on the reading. And just when you thought it couldn't get any more exciting, along comes Lit Circle Jobs 2.0! featuring the Character Commandant, Mood Maven, Insightful Identifier, Symbol Sleuth, Mind Muser, and Reactionary Revealer. I'll be trying out these new jobs with my seniors as they read Treasure Island, and my freshmen when we dive into The Old Man and the Sea.

If you have any questions about how I use literature circles, or if you've had your own success using them in your classroom, I would love to hear about it. Those of you who do use my work in your classrooms, please give credit to Mr. B-G, bgenglish.blogspot.com. Thanks!

Circle image from Wassily Kandinsky, www.prints.co.nz/page/fine-art/PROD/7104

A decade of my life

2010-01-03T15:33:00.014-05:00

I first saw the format for this post on Epiphany in Baltimore, the honest and insightful blog of a 30-something high school English teacher in Baltimore City. I really appreciate his candor, and at times wish I could be as forthcoming.

When I started this blog at the end of 2006, I made a decision to publicize it with my students, colleagues, and administrators. As such, at any given time, the superintendent of schools, my department chair, or Johnny's mom could be reading. That doesn't bother me. In fact, I am elated to have a variety of readers. What it does mean, though, is that I sometimes filter feelings and raw emotion, which, in turn, makes my writing not as powerful or affecting as it could be. Yet that's OK. This blog's purpose is not to serve as a drippy digital journal where I reveal my innermost thoughts and secrets. It's primarily designed to be a sharing and learning tool.

With that said, I will now, ironically, reveal more intimate details about my life than ever before...

2000: Graduated from college with a degree in Journalism and a minor in English. Landed my first full-time job as a newspaper reporter at a mid-sized daily in central Massachusetts. While living at home, I managed to save $7,000.

2001: Quit my job at the paper to fulfill a dream I'd had since high school - hike the 2,175 mile Appalachian Trail. I manged to last three months and 1,000 miles before succumbing to two straight weeks of rain. Wrote a series of columns about my hike called "Tales from the Trail." Landed my first "job" in education as a volunteer tour guide at a nature reserve, which eventually led to a full-time middle school sub position.

2002: Survived the year as a building sub and decided if I could handle that, I could handle just about anything the world of education could throw at me. I enrolled in graduate school and spent the summer working at a really fun arts camp for kids.

2003: Had success teaching composition to first-year college students. Gained experience working at a writing center where I learned of the "non-directive approach." This would have a significant effect on my teaching philosophy.

2004: Earned a M.Ed. in English Education. Landed my first full-time teaching gig at a small high school in Western Massachusetts. My first year of teaching proved to be challenging and more work than I had imagined. I made it through the year, but had doubts about teaching as a career choice.

2005: Spent the summer mulling my future in education. I eventually switched to a larger high school in a nearby community. This was fortuitous, as I was paired with a mentor who would validate my ideas about education and encourage me to stick with it. He became an outstanding professional resource and great friend.

I met the girl I would marry at a coffee shop. She was a grad student studying to be a teacher who agreed to meet me on the condition that I would help her prepare for the teacher test. Fortunately, our next date did not involve test preparation.

2006: Served on a variety of committees at my school. Was given better classes to teach, including a Journalism elective. Started blogging. Won a grant from the New England Association of Teachers of English, which went toward the purchase of a new classroom computer. Hiked a 100-mile section of the AT with an old high school friend. Decided I would finish the trail bit-by-bit, knocking off various chunks during summer vacations.

2007: Proposed to my wife outdoors on snowshoes. Rewrote the Journalism curriculum. Had my students published in a national poetry anthology.

2008: Got married. Purchased my first home. Earned tenure. A huge year.

2009: Took a breath after all the action of 2008. Settled into married life and home ownership. Revamped the school newspaper as advisor and enjoyed success as students won awards. Earned the title of Certified Journalism Educator. Enrolled in a Master of Educational Technology graduate program.

This year I will...

2010-01-01T20:55:00.012-05:00

Thanks to Kevin for sharing this cool little New Year's Resolution generator. While I have a number of goals for this year (which will likely be the fodder for future blog posts), I like the simplicity of how "JOG" fits neatly in the center of this image. This also makes for a good metaphor, as jogging has always helped keep me centered and feeling right, both mentally and physically.

I ran cross-country in high school, and was a captain my senior year. My best mile was 5:10. While I don't necessarily have ambitions to run that fast again (although I'm certainly open to the idea), my plan for 2010 is to make running a regular part of my routine. Starting today, I vow to run at least two miles four times per week. By doing that consistently, I will be able to bring balance into other areas of my life and have more energy and mental focus. Here's to good health for all in the coming year.

Canon S90 Review

2010-01-01T16:55:00.011-05:00

This holiday season I received a present that has rekindled my enjoyment and appreciation of photography, the Canon Powershot S90 digital camera. Ever since the digital revolution began at the turn of the century, my experience with photography has been limited to point-and-shoot cameras that had paltry manual controls. Given the high price of digital SLRs, I was content to compromise camera creativity and artistic freedom for portability and convenience. Well, with the S90, I no longer need to make that trade-off.

While the S90 doesn't have the image quality of true single-lens reflex cameras, it packs an above-average size sensor that's closer to those found on full-size rigs. It also has a fast f/2.0 lens that lets twice as much light in as most compact cameras. The larger sensor and wider (faster) lens provide greater image quality and better shots under low light conditions. But I did not decide on this camera just for its sensor and lens. What sets the S90 apart from other point-and-shoots is a fully programmable control ring on the front of the camera that allows the user to adjust shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focus, zoom, exposure, or white-balance.

The selection of the front ring's function determines the setting of a second control wheel located on the back of the camera. For example, I have my front ring set to control aperture. As a result, the rear wheel defaults to control shutter speed. And, as if that weren't enough manipulation, an easy-to-access programmable shortcut button allows me to change the ISO with the flick of a finger. In the days of film, a photographer would be stuck with whatever speed was in the camera. When I used to carry my Olympus OM-2 everywhere, I usually went with 200-speed film. It provided some flexibility in low-light situations, while also allowing for high-quality outdoor shots when lighting was optimal.

With the Canon S90, I now have the portability of a point-and-shoot with a full array of easy-to-manipulate manual controls previously found only in SLRs. While it's going to take me a little while to learn how to wield all of the camera's features to their potential, I'm looking forward to becoming acquainted with this new camera that's willing to let me be an equal participant in composition process.

If you're seriously considering purchasing this camera, I can't recommend enough Richard Franiec's S90 Grip. Aside from making the camera more sturdy to hold, it's also made it more enjoyable to use, as it really feels right on your fingers. Plus, it looks cool, and appears to have been part of the camera's original construction. The image of the S90 above features the grip. The first link in this post takes you to Canon's website where you can see the camera without the grip.

S90 image from lensmateonline.com, accessed 1/1/10

My classroom

2009-12-16T22:05:00.044-05:00

Ever since I started this blog, I'd been meaning to post photos of my classroom. Well, here they are:

Above is the door to my room.

Here is the view once you walk inside.

My semblance of organization. Class handouts and important documents can be found on this desk.

The other side of the desk where I conduct my business.

My quad-core Intel i7 PC and sweet 23-inch LCD monitor, gifts to myself at the start of the new school year. Also pictured is a wide format color inkjet printer, an old HP LaserJet that still gets the job done, and, on the left corner of my desk, a netbook our assistant superintendent purchased for me to use with my students.

The back of my classroom, featuring nine fully networked, Internet-ready PCs. The one on the far right was purchased for my classroom by the school. The others I acquired secondhand over the last couple of years.

The Literary Treasure Trove, my classroom library.

The wooden Thai frog that I "play" to get students' attention when we're transitioning to a new activity.

Writing Without Teachers

2009-12-13T17:06:00.020-05:00

I recently picked up Peter Elbow's "Writing Without Teachers" because I'm looking to re-ground myself in authentic ideas about the writing process and what actually leads to good writing.

If you stay in K-12 education long enough, there's the chance that your foundational, intrinsic understanding about how meaningful learning occurs will be eroded by bureaucrats who prescribe to have all the right solutions despite lacking the necessary background and/or classroom experience to make such claims.

One of the current popular methods of writing instruction involves showing students models and "exemplars" of writing that meets the highest criteria (usually a set of numbers from a standardized rubric), with the expectation that students - like mimeograph machines - can simply duplicate that product when they're asked to respond to a similar writing prompt.

The problem is that the template for good writing can't be mimicked and reproduced from assignment to assignment, because no such template exists. When students DO try to copy formulae for "good" writing, their writing ends up sounding vapid. That's because quality, authentic writing is generated, not parroted from nameless "model" papers.

How do we teach students to write? We teach them to think. We teach them to develop content. We help them understand ideas like elaboration and explication. We provide them with opportunities to stretch their minds and flex their intellectual muscles. We give them opportunities to pump out words and ideas without fear of judgement. We teach them how to think critically and make sense of their musings and meanderings. We show them how to tailor and edit and rethink and resee and rearrange. We empower them to be creators.

This type of work is not easy. Years and years of practice are required for most of us to learn how to string words and sentences and paragraphs together in engaging fashion. Before one can write well, one needs to have something to say. Yet sometimes we don't know what we really have to say until we begin writing. When I started this posting, had I already preselected the words and points and contentions I wanted to bring up? No. I knew I wanted to write about how I felt writing instruction in many K-12 schools has become weakened by the advent of formulaic writing and the five paragraph essay. I knew I wanted to get down a few of the techniques that have helped me become a better writer. But I did not use a graphic organizer. I did not make an outline of three main ideas, topic sentences, or supporting details. I simply sat on my couch, kicked my feet up on the coffee table, grabbed my netbook, and attacked the keyboard.

(Once I finished my draft of this post, I went back and read what I wrote, deleted lines, changed words, added phrases, and asked myself, Is this really what I mean to say? I needed to tweak a number of paragraphs before the final product reflected my intentions. Before I could use the chisel, I needed to have the block.)

Among Peter Elbow's many contributions to writing pedagogy is the spreading of the concept of freewriting. In essence, freewriting encourages writers to lay down ideas without stopping, reflecting, or editing. It proposes to help us "get the junk out" so we can later go back and mine the gems worthy of extraction. Freewriting helps us explore ideas and permits us to open the valve connecting thought and expression. When we no longer feel constricted and restrained, we are more likely to explore greater depths and take risks. Rather than saying what we think we're supposed to say in the manner in which we think we're supposed to say it, we can express genuine ideas in the way those ideas are best meant to be expressed.

Does this mean models and exemplars are bad? Of course not. What it means is that they're a limited resource. They show you what the container looks like, but they don't show you how it was filled. Only through the labor of idea exploration can we learn how to fill those containers. And each container - once filled - will be unique, its appearance and contents determined by the reason for its creation.

Elbow describes this organic process:

"The turning point of the whole cycle of growing is the emergence of a focus or a theme. It is also the most mysterious and difficult kind of cognitive event to analyze. It is the moment when what was chaos is now seen as having a center of gravity. There is shape where a moment ago there was none" (35).

I hope that after finishing Elbow's book (which I am finding to be very affirming and validating about some of my core beliefs about writing), I will have a renewed sense of confidence about how good writing is created, and I will have ideas I can implement in my classroom that will help my students experience what it feels like to create writing that's truly worth reading.

A snow day

2009-12-09T23:27:00.007-05:00

At 5:35 this morning, the message I had been waiting for finally scrolled across the screen of my laptop: "Xxxxxxx School District No School." After a late night of grading, the news couldn't have been sweeter or more timely. I hopped back into bed for another three hours and woke up refreshed and ready to enjoy this found day.

Rather than rushing to make a breakfast to eat on the run (usually a bagel w/ cream cheese), I was able to take out the blender and enjoy a mixed berry smoothie along with my coffee. It's a treat usually reserved just for the weekends. While I was preparing the coffee, my wife - who is also a teacher and also did not have school - started a fire in the woodstove. As I sipped my beverages and watched the flames work their way from twigs to larger pieces of wood, I made sure to appreciate the moment.

Inside my living room, I was shielded from the harsh weather outdoors. And it was because of the snow and wind and frigid temperatures that the normal hurriedness of my day ceased to exist. It's the duality of life, the simultaneous existence of extremes. It's why at any given time, every emotion and experience that's possible to have on this Earth occurs. Birth and death, joy and sadness, frustration and relief. Sometimes I wonder, if it were possible to quantify the sum of all human emotion, where on the spectrum would the reading register? Do we, as a collective species, experience more good or bad?

These are the thoughts one has when the mind has a moment to wander. We all need times like today to reflect, pause, and let our thoughts travel where they may.

The image of the wooden wind chime was taken on my back porch after the snow stopped.

The Occasional Paper

2009-11-28T19:36:00.010-05:00

While reading the latest version of NCTE's English Journal, I came across a reference to a teaching idea that first graced EJ's pages back in 2003. It was an assignment called the Occasional Paper by Bill Martin.

The premise is simple. Once or twice each quarter, students write a brief essay on a topic of their choice and read it out loud to their classmates. The idea for these papers is that they are miniature reflections and meditations on life. Martin asks his students to be observant of the moment, and to "explore occurrences that would usually be dismissed as unimportant." The assignment isn't graded, and the teacher refrains from making negative comments. Martin explains:

If a paper is bad, I don’t penalize. By not
penalizing for lack of effort, I make it shameful not
to put some effort into it. By not counting off for
laziness, I make laziness a lazy choice. Carelessness
is prevented by caring more.

Once students have something worth saying, they will
struggle willingly to say it right. Eventually, students
will start to see what it is that makes a paper have impact.
The student who tries to get a grade without any effort does
not come across as a clever trickster who “got something
for nothing”; instead the student is seen as
someone who gets something and gives back nothing.

The motivation to do good work is like the motivation
operating on the playing field or on the
dance floor. It is motivation from inside and from
pride in doing good work. Ironically, by not assessing
content I put more pressure on students to come
up with something substantial.

The benefits of providing students an opportunity to write an "occasional paper" certainly seem to outweigh the drawbacks. In fact, it's hard for me to find the drawbacks, as the OP encourages students to be reflective and develop meaningful, personal compositions that show a measure of thought, creativity, and insight. It gets them up in front of the class reading to an authentic audience, and it guarantees them immediate response from their peers. And, because the only instructor feedback students receive is positive (as if the piece bombs the teacher refrains from comment), students will be more willing to go beyond the safe and predictable to the bold realm of imagination, creativity, and risk-taking - the realm where good writing lives.

50 Years of Research on Writing: What Have We Learned?

2009-11-23T19:04:00.002-05:00

Three of the greatest minds in the history of writing instruction come together to discuss the craft. If you're willing to be a patient viewer, they unearth a lot of valuable gems about writing pedagogy.

Faux swine flu survival

2009-11-14T15:19:00.001-05:00

I'm finally back to 100 percent after a bout with what turned out to be walking pneumonia. I had initially self-diagnosed my ailment as H1N1, succumbing to the swine flu hype. It took a visit to the doctor's office to confirm what I really had. When I first began feeling congested and fatigued, I assumed I had been bitten by the bad pig, and that a doctor's visit would prove futile, as media reports continued to say that doctors were turning away those showing flu symptoms because there was nothing they could really do to help.

After taking a couple of sick days where I did nothing but rest and drink fluids - and after showing no signs of improvement - I finally decided to call my physician. I was able to get an appointment that day. I went in, talked with my doctor, breathed through a machine, received a diagnosis, went to CVS, popped an anti-bacterial drug, and was on my way to feeling better.

Walking pneumonia really knocked me out. Since I started teaching high school students in 2004, I'd taken ZERO sick days until this faux-swine reprieve. While there have been times in the past six years when I've been sick, I always went to school and toughed it out. This isn't to say teaching when under the weather is something to boast about - it's not - but I suppose I wanted to keep my streak going as long as I could. Walking pneu was powerful enough to put it to an end.

It was a bit alarming how little I was able to do when I was sick. Simple tasks like taking out the garbage or doing laundry seemed impossibly arduous. Bringing in firewood or raking leaves were both completely out of the question. Now that I'm back to full health, I'm thankful for all of the things I can do, and I have a fresh awareness of the physical, emotional, and cognitive demands associated with teaching. Effective teachers need to bring it ALL to the classroom as they inspire, lead, explain, prompt, urge, and encourage their students.

Meditative mulching

2009-10-17T20:11:00.003-04:00

This afternoon I spent some quality time with my lawnmower and front yard. It's that time of the year here in Massachusetts when the leaves fall and cover the ground with their golds and reds and oranges. They're quite pretty to look at, but left unchecked, they'll turn into dark brown soggy bits of biomass that can ruin a lawn or make exiting the driveway dangerous once the Fahrenheit hits 32 degrees.

And so, today I pushed the mower up and down the yard in long vertical passes, trimming grass and grinding leaves in rather efficient fashion. My lawn-cleaning efforts are more effective this year thanks to the Gator Mulcher Blade that I picked up this summer. In mere seconds, leaves are pulverized into fine pieces of debris that actually nourish the lawn and serve as fertilizer.

After a few hours of work, the lawn was looking good. I then used the blower contraption on my Shop-Vac to clear the driveway of leaf bits and powder. How rewarding it was to see the results of my labor! Tangible progress before my very eyes!

As those of you who work in education know, the type of change and progress that we effect as teachers isn't nearly as immediate or obvious. Sometimes students need to regress before they advance forward. And it isn't uncommon for our teachings to have their full effect on our students after they have left our classrooms. People grow and mature at different rates. It's helpful to remember that just because we're not seeing immediate improvement doesn't mean our students aren't learning.

Often the passage of time yields the perspective we need to reach those epiphanies and experience those ah-ha! moments. Ironically, with added distance I can better see former teachers' motivations, intentions, and lessons. As our world becomes faster and more aspects of life become instantaneous, it's important to remember that true growth takes time.

The Lanyard

2009-10-04T21:32:00.000-04:00

Billy Collins has always been a favorite of mine.

Marathon days

2009-09-30T22:06:00.002-04:00

For the last couple of weeks, I've been arriving at school around 6:30 a.m. and leaving, on average, around 5:00 p.m. I've been planning, grading, organizing, messaging, filing, cleaning, e-mailing, calling, researching, tweaking, printing, copying, editing, recording, reserving, requesting, previewing, reading, and reflecting. I've also done some sighing, laughing, and talking, usually with others but sometimes just with myself.

There is SO much that goes into the planning and execution of a teacher's day. When students walk in it all seems so simple: there's an agenda on the board, a fresh handout to take, and a lesson to do. Students don't see the hours that go into the crafting of each day's plan. I sure do. I experience it at the end of each day when I come home feeling like I've been drained by Dracula. Yet somewhere I'm finding the reserve to go for a jog or lift some weights. One of my goals this year was to be active at least four days a week, hopefully more, but at least four days. So far I've been sticking to that plan, and it feels good.

Today for the first time I feel like I was actually able to do some advanced planning. I'm getting a better handle on where I'm going with all my classes, and it feels good. I'm starting to get to know the kids a bit more, and individual and class identities are starting to form. I like my students, and I love what I do. The thing is, there's just so much to do. And I want to do it all well, and as a result, I spend more time than I probably should on some things. Yet each year I become better and more efficient at older tasks, which gives me time to experiment and try new ideas.

The key is finding a balance between the new and the essential, keeping it fresh while also ensuring the foundation remains solid.

The The Impotence of Proofreading

2009-09-26T19:02:00.003-04:00

If your in kneed of a laugh cheek this out. Samoa the languid is a bit risk knee, so proceeds at you're hone wrist.

Rolling along

2009-09-22T20:42:00.005-04:00

It's hard to believe that midterm grades for first quarter close this Friday. I feel like it wasn't that long ago (because it wasn't) when I was introducing my students to my classroom and the expectations for the year. Fortunately, I have found some time to catch up, but I'm still working my way to a comfortable spot.

So far I've managed to tweak and improve a couple of my key handouts, including my Literature Circle Jobs sheet. Once I upload the new version I'll link to it here in this post and on my English Teaching Resources page. I've also made it a priority to be more explicit in my instruction and provide more silence and wait time than in the past to make sure all students understand what it is I want them to do and how I want them to do it. Adults speak at a faster rate than teenagers can process. As such, I'm trying to give kids enough time to digest what I say the first time, with the hope that this will reduce the number of times I need to repeat myself.

My 9th grade students are ready to dive into The Pearl. We'll read it in about a week, respond using literature circles, and wrap up with a Socratic seminar before writing an essay on value (what do you value, why do you value it, how is value determined, can you put a price tag on those things most valuable to you?).

My seniors will tear into Oedipus later this week, and my journalism students are already working on their second articles of the quarter. In two nights we'll have open house at my school, where I'll be able to explain to parents all the exciting things their children are doing. Open house certainly makes for a long day, but it's nice to make connections with parents and give them a little glimpse of the students' experience.

In October I'll observe an old colleague at his new high school, take a tour of the local newspaper with my Journalism class, and attend the New England Association of Teachers of English's Annual Conference. I've gone for the past five or six years. Each time, the conference ends up being one of the highlights of my year. It's a great opportunity to network, learn some new tricks and teaching ideas, and commiserate with other teachers of the trade.

I am still here

2009-09-16T18:16:00.005-04:00

For some reason, it seems like the school year started at about 85 mph. Despite this being my sixth year in the classroom, I feel like I've been treading water since day one. My students are great, classes are going well, but I'm struggling to find momentum.

I suppose a large reason for this is it's still early. In the beginning of the year I spend more time than usual talking, directing, and explaining. I'm trying to teach my students a variety of systems, protocols, procedures, and expectations, all while trying to delve into content. It's a balancing act that's confounded by picture day, fire drills, standardized assessments, and assemblies.

And then there's technology. One of the first things I have students do is create individual class blogs where they will post writing over the course of the year. For a few, the blog setup is quick and painless. For most, though, it's fraught with login errors, buffer overruns, browser freezes, e-mail attachment failures, and Internet crashes.

The key is anticipating and adjusting to the learning curve required to get the most out of the school's older technological devices. It's figuring out how to print, where to print, when to print. It's knowing when to log off or shut down, it's remembering to hit "save," it's opening a Word 2007 document in Word 2003. It's transferring text from Word Perfect to AbiWord to Word to a blog. It's learning the difference between "Publish Post" and "Save Now." It's understanding what a URL is and how to e-mail a link.

It's skills, competencies, strategies, and ways to navigate, manipulate, move, and display. It's systems and procedures and a good way and a better way and the best way. It's all happening in 55 minutes. That and homework and vocabulary and literature and a warm up responding to a quote. It's following an agenda and taking out a planner and writing notes and finding the tissues. It's where do I sharpen my pencil and how do I leave for the bathroom and is there any scrap paper?

It's all of that and so much more. Every day. Questions and needs. Problems and solutions. It's "what did I miss yesterday?" and "can you repeat that?" And there's a lot of "wait." I notice students say "wait" a lot. Am I going too fast? Is this too much? Stimuli flying at 85 mph nonstop in every direction.

Finally, a bell. Pack it up, put it away, bundle it for a journey to the next room. A new routine. More stimuli. Different variety. Again. And again. And again. And again. And again. Then a short reprieve, followed by practice, or work, or both. Then homework. Late nights. Early mornings. The shuffle and cycle of students moving through the machine.

The science of human motivation

2009-08-27T23:38:00.004-04:00

Author Daniel Pink on rethinking the use of incentives to get people to accomplish tasks:

"Autonomy, mastery, and purpose are the building blocks of a new way of doing things."

Summer sentiments

2009-07-09T02:39:00.006-04:00

Greetings from the land of summer vacation! School has been out for about two and a half weeks. In that time, I've read four books, gone jogging every other day, worked on my (absolutely horrible, but slowly improving) golf game, brought my car in for repair, had a checkup with my doctor, booked a teeth cleaning, tended to the yard, cleaned, saw friends and family...

There's a lot one can do when one has time. Many of the aspects of my life that I neglect during the school year can finally be tended to during the summer. When I am on vacation, I really try to focus my energies on things other than school. Periodically though, thoughts of school and teaching pop up.

Later this month I will meet with nine other teachers of freshmen in hopes of developing some common strategies to help the incoming 9th grade students acclimate themselves to the rigor and demands of high school work. We're meeting across disciplines to talk about ways to help them with organization, notetaking, reading, writing, study skills, homework, asking questions, speaking in front of the class... skills that can be used in any academic environment.

In August I'm going to hit Vermont's Long Trail with one of my old high school buddies, then after that my wife and I will spend a week at the beach on the North Shore of Massachusetts. After a few more days of R&R, I will trek back into school to begin setting up my classroom and preparing lessons for my new students.

Peace brotha

2009-06-25T20:16:00.004-04:00

Thanks for the music and the memories Michael. Those sweet soul tunes and deep funky grooves will stay with me forever.

Annabel Lee

2009-05-29T14:36:00.004-04:00

Our school's Poetry Out Loud winner advanced to the Massachusetts Semi-Final Poetry Out Loud Championship with her recitation of this classic Poe poem. Below is a creative interpretation of the work I found on YouTube. There's nice symmetry between the text and the video.

End game strategy

2009-05-20T20:37:00.006-04:00

As the year rambles to a close, it's worth noting one device I've employed that's allowed (at least thus far) for a relatively smooth finish - the distribution of end-of-year timelines in all three of my classes.

The week before April vacation I toiled as an alchemist, combining curriculum goals, the school calendar, and computer lab availability to create documents that detailed all the major activities I'd be doing with my seniors in World Literature, freshmen in Accelerated English, and juniors and seniors in Journalism. The guiding document wasn't too challenging to create for Journalism, as this is something I already do with each production schedule of our newspaper.

The 9th and 12th grade courses took a bit more planning, as I had to figure out the due dates for homework, a quiz and assessment schedule, and time for class discussions, mini-lessons, and group projects. My seniors (two days left!) finished the year with a research paper and Lord of the Flies. The 9th graders are ending with poetry, Romeo & Juliet, and a mini non-fiction unit that dovetails with R & J in the form of a "Verona Times" newspaper creation assignment.

Because I've taught the same classes for a couple of years, I am familiar with the curriculum, what I want my students to learn, how I want them to demonstrate what they've learned, and what they'll need from me to help them do it. I know the pitfalls. I know the potential snags. Of course there are always things I don't account for, but usually they're manageable, and don't impede our progress through the class itineraries.

Another thing that helps make these "unit syllabi" work is my administration's ability to minimize end-of-year class disruptions. I routinely read about other teachers whose classes are continuously disrupted by assemblies, events, and special gatherings that usually rear their heads with little - if any - advanced notice. My administrators aren't like that. They generally give ample notice of such events, and work to keep them at a minimum. The benefit of this cannot be understated.

To view my Romeo & Juliet schedule, click here.

This link will take you to the Lord of the Flies assignment and activity timeline.

The Journalism article & production schedule can be found here.

Remix Culture: Fair Use is Your Friend

2009-05-18T18:05:00.007-04:00

A decent primer on how to use copyrighted material in online videos. Click here to download the "Code of Best Practices" in PDF form.

A new netbook

2009-05-13T22:00:00.010-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I bought my first netbook, the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE. It's light, powerful, plays videos better than my laptop, runs Windows XP (no Vista compatibility issues or unnecessary resource hogging), and, best of all, has an incredible battery life of more than 8 hours on one charge.

I scored it at a funky tech web retailer called ZipZoomfly.com for $349 thanks to a mail-in rebate. The Eee PC earned fantastic reviews on Amazon, and has so far lived up to the hype. I like it because I can bring it to any room in my house and surf the net or check up on my Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team, the Alliteration Animals (who are currently in second place). I recently used it to read essays students had posted to their class blogs from the comfort of my living room couch.

The Eee PC will even pick up an Internet signal from the porch outside, which makes it the perfect companion for reading the newspaper online along with a cup of coffee and a blueberry smoothy - a morning delicacy I reserve for the weekends. Given that the weather is finally getting nice, I wanted the ability to bring the web outdoors so I wouldn't feel guilty about sitting behind a computer screen inside my house on a pleasant day.

A couple of weeks ago I made a request for my school to use some of President Obama's federal stimulus money to purchase Eee PCs for the classroom. The laptop computers at our school can be tempermental, and rarely hold a charge for more than an hour and a half. The beauty of the Eee PC is that one charge will get it though an entire school day, which means it can be used consecutively class after class after class.

The size of the keyboard is 92 percent that of a standard typing pad, which takes a little getting used to, but is still quite managable. Programs run quickly, the display is sharp and bright, and the Eee PC has a fast Internet adapter that works with newer Wireless-N WiFi routers. No word yet on if my proposal has been approved by the administration, but it would sure be nifty to have these devices available for use next year at school. I think the students would dig the chic style and fast speed, and the smaller size would help them fit the Eee PC on their desks along with handouts, notebooks, and other materials.

Green savage poetry

2009-05-06T23:12:00.005-04:00

I'm still here, just being consumed by the many end-of-year responsibilities that come with being a high school English teacher. My seniors have about two weeks left until they depart our fine educational establishment for good. I've been keeping them occupied with Lord of the Flies, which is an apt selection, as the urge to descend into savagery is strong at this time of year.

I'm wrapping up my poetry unit with the freshmen. Poetry anthologies are complete, we're currently doing our poetry recitations, and then we'll finish with a poetry slam before moving on to Romeo & Juliet.

My journalism kids recently pumped out our fourth issue of the year. Last week we won two awards at the New England Scholastic Press Association's annual conference at Boston University. The final issue will be produced by the junior year staffers. Next year I'm hoping to have us also create a web site with video, soundslides, Twitter updates, and other content that will make our news organization more timely and relevant.

The Celtics just beat the Magic. Awesome. I love the Celtics' heart. It's hard to say for sure if they'll advance. The key is Rajon Rondo. If he plays like he did tonight in Game 3, chalk up another W for the Green. It's fantastic to have the C's relevant again these last two years.

MCAS passings

2009-04-10T18:09:00.005-04:00

The administration of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System's English Language Arts subject matter test (gosh that is a mouthful) went off without a hitch earlier this month. As an English teacher at my high school, I was required to proctor the exam. As a result, I saw one of my classes only once during the week of testing, and a second class only twice. Logistically this proved a bit challenging, but I planned as best I could to ensure students didn't get too far off track.

Administering the test is a bit nerve-racking. There are a number of high-security protocols that must be followed - any missteps, and an entire school's test results could be rendered invalid. Most students take the test seriously, as if they don't pass it, they won't earn a high school diploma regardless of how successful they are in their classes.

It surprised me that in the days leading up to the exam, no announcements were made by administrators urging students to get a good night's sleep or eat a full breakfast. For better or worse, there weren't any proclamations about the test before, during, or after its issuance.

At my wife's school, no other students are allowed into the building during testing times. This policy alone illustrates the significance the test is given there. At my previous school, breakfast sandwiches were purchased for all 10th grade students taking the test. This edible carrot also exemplified the test's importance at that school - which, incidentally, is annually one of the highest scoring schools in the state.

I believe if students read and write regularly, and are taught to think carefully and critically by their English teachers, they will do well on the test. There are certain skills we can teach students that increase their chances of a high score, and specific content we can review to put them in a position to succeed, but beyond that, the X factor is each student's personal level of motivation.

Most are content to do well enough to pass. A driven few want to outshine their classmates, but the majority don't have motivation beyond what is required. It's my theory that breakfast sandwiches, administrative encouragement, and a delayed opening would provide an additional boost beyond what many might expect.

These actions would show students that we really care about their success, enough that we're willing to shut down the rest of the school and provide them with food. If these strategies work at two neighboring schools, I have every reason to believe they would work at mine.

I should mention that our scores are better than the state average, and part of me is glad the administration doesn't make a focus on MCAS the end-all, be-all of academic instruction.

It's worth noting that if the MCAS was administered when I was in high school, I have no doubt that a warm ham, egg, and cheese sandwich on a toasted everything bagel would do wonders for my score!

Flying into spring

2009-03-17T20:29:00.009-04:00

Some observations and announcements as the ground begins to thaw...

Third quarter grades close this week. Fourth quarter here we come!

My seniors have a little more than 30 days left. Still enough time for their "three-search paper" and Lord of the Flies.

My journalism students won five scholastic awards at an area high school journalism contest. There were over 200 entries from more than 30 high schools across New England. I couldn't have been happier for my kids. Definitely one of the year's highlights.

I added a fifth student computer to my classroom. I saw one offered on Craigslist for cheap, and decided to pull the trigger. The workstations are great for group research projects, students looking to pull up and print an assignment, or those in need of a space to write before or after school. They also serve as backups if the school's laptop cart computers lose their charge or malfunction while we're using them in class.

I spent this past weekend in Salem. Visited the Salem Witch Museum, caught a live band at a Mexican restaurant, and went on a walking tour of the city. A much needed respite just before grades, MCAS, and general end-of-the-year craziness.

I recently formed a working group to discuss the possibility of creating a student-staffed writing center at my high school. Right now it looks like the logistics will prove too difficult, as there isn't much time in the school day for students to be able to visit a writing center, and there isn't funding in the budget to hire a professional staff member to supervise it and train writing tutors.

With April comes the poetry unit I do with my 9th graders. It's one of my favorite units, and the kids have a lot of creative freedom to pursue poets and poems of interest. They analyze poetry, write their own poems, and write a research essay on a poet of their choice. They bind all this poetic goodness together in an anthology. There's also poetry reading, poetry slam, and poetry recitation. Check out this past blog post for more info about my poetry unit.

Last week I joined a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball League with some friends. My team, the Alliteration Animals, is poised to dominate. Its strength lies in the infield and bullpen. Outfielders and starting pitchers are always easy to acquire as the baseball season gets underway. But good second baseman, shortstops, and closers are harder to come by. That's who I drafted.

Right now I'm about 170 pages into Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. It's engrossing, fast-moving, and extremely violent. With themes from Brave New World, 1984, and Lord of the Flies, it's right up my thematic alley. I know many of my seniors would love it, but it's probably too gruesome and morbid to ever make its way onto our high school's summer reading list or English Department curriculum.

I think it's time to end this missive and get the coffee ready for the morning. I hope all who read this blog are well. Happy spring!

Envy the Night

2009-03-01T00:09:00.014-05:00

It's been a while since I tore through a book in less than 24 hours. Faced with the luxury of a week off from school for February Vacation, I easily found time to digest Michael Koryta's latest offering, Envy the Night.

Up until a few years ago, I hadn't been a big fan of crime/mystery novels. I preferred fantasy tales like Lord of the Rings, the ramblings of Jack Kerouac, and non-fiction stories on technology, teaching, and travel.

It was actually one of my former students who turned me toward this genre. She was a fan of Mary Higgins Clark, and usually picked one of her novels when it was time to present an Outside Reading Book for my English class. I was always impressed with how into the books she seemed, and how well she was able to keep her classmates' attention as she detailed key plot events and discussed things like mood, tone, and theme.

Shortly after one of her presentations, I picked up The Night Gardner by George Pelecanos. I finished that in a few days, then went on to read almost all of his books. While searching for a new crime novelist, I came across heaps of praise for Koryta, and decided to check him out. He did not disappoint.

The plot of Envy the Night progresses quickly. Koryta's writing is detailed, yet never at the expense of forward movement. His protagonist, Frank Temple III, is both common and unique, predictable yet independent.

From the inside of the book jacket, Koryta sets in motion a story arc that seems headed for an obvious conclusion - that is, until things in Tomahawk,Wisconsin start to get dicey.

He moved at the first sound of her voice. Whirled and came toward her, fast and aggressive, and she had the sudden thought that surprising him like that had been a bad idea. The overhead lights were long, old-fashioned fluorescent tubes, and they didn't snap on like an incandescent lamp would. There was a hint of a glow, followed by a short humming sound, and then the room filled with light. By that time the guy had closed the gap between them to about five feet, and Nora stepped back, stumbling over the stool. When she pulled up short, he did, too, but her sense of command over the situation was already gone. He'd frightened her - she knew it, and he knew it. (45-46)

Koryta mixes action and insight effectively. Dialogue is authentic, and serves to advance the plot. Koryta also uses internal dialogue - which he places in italics - to provide emotion and backstory to his characters.

It's been a while since I was so engrossed in a novel that I didn't want to do anything else until I completed it. For those who enjoy a clean, plot-driven thriller with characters who don't try to step outside their roles, Envy the Night is highly recommended.

Tinker's 40th Anniversary

2009-02-15T20:02:00.010-05:00

In celebration of Scholastic Journalism Week later this month, my journalism students and I will be wearing black armbands in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the Tinker court decision, which affirmed students' rights to free speech within public school settings.

Other students, teachers, and even members of our school's administration - including the principal - will be wearing armbands in recognition of the Tinker children's unwillingness to allow school officials to censor them.

Because of the Tinker ruling, students in American schools are free to express their views, so long as that expression does not disrupt the educational process of the school. By ruling in favor of the Tinker children, the U.S. Supreme Court found that neither students or teachers "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."

The Tinker children's "crime" was the wearing of black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam war. School officials disapproved of the message, and suspended the students indefinitely until they agreed to not wear the armbands. More than two weeks passed until the students returned to school after their scheduled period of protest ended.

Once news of the school's disciplinary action got out, the Iowa Civil Liberties Union agreed to represent the Tinker family in court. The plaintiffs argued that the school's actions violated the Tinker children's rights to free speech. The nation's highest court eventually agreed, and as such, future generations of schoolchildren have a legal precedent that supports their right to free speech.

Because I teach in Massachusetts, my students have additional free speech rights thanks to the state supreme court case of Pyle vs. South Hadley. That case found that students may engage in vulgar, non school-sponsored speech, so long as it does not disrupt the educational process of the school. The case stemmed from two brothers' attempts to wear Coed Naked t-shirts during gym class. Coed Naked t-shirts - known for sexual innuendo - were popular in the early-to mid-1990's. I remember because I owned a few of them while in high school. As members of the cross country team, a number of us had the shirt "Coed Naked Cross Country: Do It To The Rhythm."

Other popular shirts were "Coed Naked Soccer: Use Your Head to Score," "Coed Naked Football: Bring Out The Chains," and "Coed Naked Hockey: Two Minutes In The Box Isn't Enough."

My classmates and I never experienced any flack from teachers or administrators over the shirts. However, a South Hadley High School gym teacher didn't appreciate their messages, and tried to ban students from wearing them. Eventually the Massachusetts State Supreme Court ruled that the "vulgar" standard was capricious and subjective, and that the true measure of if something could be worn by a student was if it caused a substantial and material disruption to the educational process.

My students and I are extremely fortunate to conduct our business within a Massachusetts school led by an administrative team that acknowledges and understands the value of a free independent press, and the importance of students being free to express themselves. John and Mary Beth Tinker, Mr. B-G's English Blog salutes you!

The Six Word Memoir

2009-02-11T19:40:00.005-05:00

It seems like this could be a fun activity to do with students.

Free Rice Goes Grammar... and Geography!

2009-02-09T20:11:00.004-05:00

Free Rice, the website that allows you to earn and donate rice to hungry people through the United Nations World Food Program, now has new ways for you to feed those in need.

New subjects include English grammar, art, basic math, chemical symbols, and geography. The site is a great way to help others and kill time without rotting your brain.

Check out all the Free Rice categories here.

A New Look

2009-01-25T00:22:00.006-05:00

I've decided to mix things up here at Mr. B-G's English Blog. After stumbling across what just might be the most helpful Blogger site out there, Blogger Buster, and perusing its beautiful link list of blog templates, I made the decision to make a switch.

A word of warning to any of you newer bloggers considering a switch: Most - if not all - of your widgets will be lost, and chances are the things you liked about your old blog won't necessarily reproduce themselves in your new blog. However, if you keep searching for the right template, it's likely you'll eventually find more things that you DO like with a new look that will make a switch worthwhile.

I suppose I grew tired of my bland background. I wanted something a bit more graphically appealing, yet still visually simple and easy to read. This template, called Zen, seemed to satisfy both of those requirements.

From the Teacher's Desk

2009-01-19T14:13:00.012-05:00

A sampling of musings from the mind of a suburban high school English teacher:

School administrators are using adjectives like "bloody," "gloomy," and "bleak" to describe the current financial state of affairs for the rest of this year and next. I am hopeful that Barack Obama will authorize federal legislation to help cities and towns deal with declines in state aid revenue. I find it a bit disconcerting that we can easily lend billions of taxpayer dollars to automakers and finance companies, yet are forced to pause and deliberate when it comes to ensuring all our country's students receive a solid education. Anyone who has ever worked inside a school can tell you, every dollar does make a difference.

Are there any teachers out there with writing centers at their schools? When I was a M.Ed. graduate student at Plymouth State University, I worked in the college's writing center. It was one of the most enjoyable jobs I've ever had. In order to get the hang of it, I underwent training in the non-directive approach to writing consultation. One of the most valuable things I learned was "silent and wait time." For the non-directive approach to be effective, the writing consultant must be patient and give the student time to ruminate on an idea or improvement. This was quite different than my days as a newspaper reporter, when editors would explain everything I did wrong and then fix it for me. I hope to eventually create a student-staffed writing center at my high school, as I've seen how they can be effective. I believe that if implemented with care, they can work at the secondary level. Please contact me if you have experience with high school writing centers.

Launching a high school newspaper advertising initiative in the middle of the year is difficult. For years my high school's newspaper was published in-house on an archaic printing press that only one teacher knew how to use. When he retired last year, so did the press and all that it produced. Left without a means to publish our newspaper, I was relegated to performing evening prayer rituals to Joseph Pulitzer in hopes of securing funding. My calls were eventually answered by my principal, who offered to give us enough money to publish five papers this year. My goal for next year (or perhaps even later this year) is to create an advertising department with a business manager responsible for generating enough ad sales to allow each issue to pay for itself.

We finally got around to hosting our Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest. The original date was a wash due to a snow day. As a result, interest waned, and only two students ended up reciting a poem. We do have a winner though, and she'll represent our school at the Massachusetts semi-final recitation contest this March.

Second quarter grades close this Friday. I should be in decent shape grading wise, as unlike years past, I made sure to not have a major essay due right before the close of the quarter. It took me five years to figure this out, but I am learning, albeit slowly.

I plan to add a new section to my blog called "student work." Recently two students did stellar jobs on their Outside Reading Book presentations. One created a movie trailer for Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," which he published to YouTube. I highly recommend checking it out, as it's professional quality. Another did answering machine messages for five characters from Stephanie Meyer's "Breaking Dawn." She captured the characters' essences to the T.

Felicem Diem Natalem

2008-12-26T17:25:00.007-05:00

Mr. B-G's English Blog is officially two years old. Two years isn't a lot of time - it feels like I've been blogging for about five. It's hard to imagine how I taught before this blog, as it's become so entwined in all I do as an educator.

This blog - and the subsequent network it spawned - serves a variety of purposes. This page is a space for me to reflect on my teaching, share the highs and lows of the profession, and network with other tech-savvy educators.

Since its genesis in December of 2006, Mr. B-G's English Blog has been seen by more than 32,500 people from across Massachusetts, the U.S., and the world. A quick look at my sitemeter profile shows recent visits from Osaka, Japan; Gostar, Iran; Rome, Italy; and Schniach, Germany. Closer to home, this site has been viewed by people in Arlington, MA; Princeton, NJ; Jackson, TN; and Los Angeles, CA.

There's been a measurable progression in terms of content and organization over the last two years. Within a few months of this blog's inception, I created a separate page for class handouts and teaching resources, and another dedicated to my journalism class and the newspaper I advise. I then created individual class blog pages where I posted student work.

New for this year was Mr. B-G's Blog Exemplar, a paged designed to help teachers and students create their own blogs. Rather than limiting my students' blogging experiences to individual class blogs that I control, I've taught my kids how to create their own. So far we've used them to post compare/contrast essays and book reviews. In a few weeks, students will publish their own short stories, followed later by an analytical essay on The Old Man and the Sea, original poetry, and Romeo & Juliet editorial columns.

I'll need to take stock at the end of the year to see if my students' writing is, overall, better than that of last year's students. My theory is that publication and greater control over the act of publishing leads to better-written pieces. Certainly the quality of my instruction and the opportunities I provide for peer sharing, editing, and revision have the greatest effect on the caliber of my students' writing, but all things being constant, my hunch is that their writing will be better because they have more ownership and control of its distribution to the masses. The fact that it's really easy to edit and revise the text of a blog post helps too.

It's hard to know what lies in store for Mr. B-G's English Blog in Year 3. While I don't post quite as often as I would like (usually 3 times per month), I do constantly add to my link lists. In addition to a place for writing, these blogs are also online bookmarks accessible to all. While I do use Foxmarks to sync my Firefox bookmarks on any computer I use, it's nice to have many of them saved in a public location for others to check out.

Over time I'd like to provide more opportunities for my students to post writing online. There's no substitute for an authentic audience that's ready and willing to give you feedback on your musings. To me, Web 2.0 tools make the writing process more "real," and give students a unique and powerful forum in which to communicate and learn.

Poetry Out Loud

2008-12-06T12:49:00.004-05:00

Our school is once again participating in the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest. Our school-wide event will be held on Dec. 19th, the day before holiday vacation.

Click here to check out the poster I made to advertise the competition.

Last year was our first year of participating. We only had two reciters, but that didn't really matter, as all we needed was one. On a blustery weekend in March, I went with our school's winner to the Massachusetts semi-final recitation event at a local college. There my student competed against a dozen other kids from Western and Central Mass.

While he was competitive, he wasn't among those selected to recite at the state finals in Boston.

This link will take you to videos of past student performances, focusing on the key attributes that make for a good poem recitation. Click here to get in touch with your Poetry Out Loud state contact about setting up a competition in your school.

For more info on my poetry unit and other ways I teach poetry, check out this previous blog post.

What Twilight Character are You?

2008-11-30T16:04:00.011-05:00

Writing is Essential

2008-11-20T15:32:00.003-05:00

A video on the writing process, produced by students at McKay High School in Portland, Oregon:

Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals

2008-11-19T16:53:00.007-05:00

Thank you Andy Samberg. This gets funnier each time I watch it. (And I've watched it a lot.)

Say hi to your mother for me.

Elegance in writing

2008-11-17T22:08:00.015-05:00

Props to Bruce Schauble for this post on elegance. I also appreciated the Universal Intellectual Standards he referenced.

This year my school is focusing on (among other things) higher order thinking skills, so the above materials are timely and appropriate.

Thanks, too, for these Reading Response Moves. For those of you who haven't checked it out, Bruce's blog, Throughlines, is a must read.

I snapped the above photo in a state forest in Western Massachusetts with a Canon PowerShot SD750 this October.

30 Ideas for Teaching Writing

2008-11-16T16:40:00.012-05:00

Some good suggestions from the National Writing Project. Click here to view in PDF format.
New 30 Ideas That Work

Teaching with easels

2008-11-14T13:24:00.018-05:00

Last year I bought four wooden, self-assemble easels from Joann Fabrics to use in my classroom. I had recently gone to a conference of The New England Association of Teachers of English, where one of the presenters - a former Massachusetts Teacher of the Year - used easel posters to engage a group of English teachers during a seminar.

Once the easels came in the mail, I went to my local hardware store and picked up four pieces of plywood. I set a piece of plywood on each easel, clipped easel paper onto the plywood, and voila! - I had four classroom easels for under $60.

The past two days I've used the easels to help structure discussions of To Kill a Mockingbird. In the first two photographs, students initially wrote quotes and drew images before going back to the easels for "round two" to explain the quotes and write down insights gleaned from the images. In a "final round," students used yellow reporters notebooks to write down the main idea they extracted from each easel, along with something they felt wasn't sufficiently explained and needed to be discussed in class.

In the third image, students wrote quotes and questions. They then analyzed their quotes in the reporters notebooks, and answered questions on the easels.

The fourth image contains some of the instructions I wrote on my front blackboard. The students are to be commended for both tolerating and actually reading my handwriting.

QUOTES & IMAGES EASEL 1

Use of the easels allow students to work collaboratively in groups, share their thoughts and insights with each other, and receive immediate feedback on their ideas from peers. It also gets them up and moving around the room. Both yesterday and today, students said "This period goes by so fast." It doesn't always, but when everyone is engaged, time is a rare commodity that I just don't have enough of.

For the easel activity to work, students need to have done the reading, done their homework (in this case, one of four literature circle jobs), understand exactly what they are supposed to do and in what order, and evenly delegate each of the tasks within their groups. My students have been working in literature circle groups of four, so we ended up having five groups in each class. At times a couple of the easels were "busy" when two groups were at the same one, but overall students did a good job working with and around each other.

In the past I've done other activities where there are four groups, so each easel is occupied by only one student mass.

QUOTES & IMAGES EASEL 2

I find if I don't offer students an alternative structure for class discussions, (lit circles, easel activities, Socratic seminar) I can end up dominating the conversation. That's not what I want. I'm not here to tell the kids what I know about To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm here to see what they're coming to know about it as they read it. I want to help shed light on ambiguities and clear up misconceptions. I don't want to recount plot or show them how brilliant I am at literary analysis. I can certainly model these things for them, but if they begin to get the idea that I'm going to tell them about the book and explain what things mean, they won't be inclined to read. Why should they if I'm going to give it to them in class?

QUOTES & QUESTIONS EASEL

I've found that groupwork can be a great motivator. If students in a group are responsible for different tasks or roles, and they know that each task is vital for the group to function cohesively in class, they're more inclined to do the assignment. I always check homework at the start of class on the day it's due, and I usually try to use homework as the basis for some kind of discussion, or to lead into new territory.

I'd be curious to hear of your experiences using easels in the classroom. I'd also be happy to provide more info on how I structure some of the activities.

CHALKBOARD INSTRUCTIONS

Our first paper

2008-10-29T14:01:00.012-04:00

In addition to teaching 9th and 12th grade English, I also have a journalism elective. Today the first issue of our newspaper arrived, and it looks pretty spiffy.

We're currently working on adding content to our website, which can be accessed here. As of this posting, there are no photos or articles online. Our student web editor hopes to get things up soon.

What is rhetoric?

2008-10-01T15:07:00.003-04:00

I define rhetoric as the art of using words effectively. Watch the video below to see how three college students tackle the meaning of rhetoric. How do you define it?

The dangers of plagiarism

2008-09-27T21:23:00.010-04:00

Last week one of my students turned in a plagiarized book review. After consulting my department chair and one of our vice principals, I decided to give the student an opportunity to redo the review for partial credit.

The student had taken phrases verbatim from an online book review site and used them in the review. Our school's student handbook says instances of plagiarism should result in a zero with no opportunity to redo the work. I chose to be a little lighter in my punishment because: 1) the higher-ups gave me the green light to do so, 2) I wanted the student to do the work the right way, and 3) because I believed in making this a "teachable moment."

I hope the student never plagiarizes again, because in addition to it being dishonest, this student's other teachers might not be as accommodating. I also know that once students get to college, plagiarism is taken VERY seriously.

When I was a M.Ed. graduate student at Plymouth State University, I had an opportunity to teach freshmen composition. When I reported to the head of the PSU English Dept that one of my students had plagiarized an essay, the verdict was swift and decisive. After meeting with the university's academic integrity board, the student automatically failed my course and was placed on academic probation. A subsequent violation would likely result in expulsion from the university.

Education is the business of ideas. Academic honesty is paramount. Over the course of the year I will teach my students that plagiarism is more than copying something word-for-word and not providing attribution. It is copying someone's idea and not giving credit where credit is due.

Almost all of my students told me that taking someone else's idea and putting it in their own words is NOT plagiarism. Wrong. It is! Plagiarism is idea theft. If that idea isn't yours, and you don't attribute it, it doesn't matter if you change some words around so it's phrased in your own language. It's still plagiarism!

By the time students leave my classroom, they should know what plagiarism is, and they should know how to avoid it. Those who plagiarize in the future will do so because they're unscrupulous cheaters, not because they're ignorant.

For more info on plagiarism, check out this link from The University of Maine at Farmington.

Image from http://sociology.camden.rutgers.edu/jfm/plagiarism/plagiarism-jfm.htm, accessed 9/27/08

What is written here

2008-09-11T13:21:00.010-04:00

I am in the process of teaching my students how to create their own blogs. As I wrote here, students will eventually have their own individual class blogs featuring writing from a variety of genres.

As the blogs pop up, I will begin posting assignments on a new page called Mr. B-G's Blog Exemplar. Here I will provide a simplified blog model for students to imitate, post writing assignments and comment instructions, and, over time, provide my own models of the assignments I would like students to complete.

To date I've been using Mr. B-G's English Blog to muse about my own teaching, take stances on all things education related, and post things I believe other teachers will enjoy reading.

I've also used it to post class assignments. In the future, all assignment instructions will be found on my "exemplar" blog. As usual, Mr. B-G's English Teaching Resources will still be the one-stop source for my handouts and links for the teaching and study of secondary English.

It is my hope that this new page will add an additional level of organization to Mr. B-G's English Blog. Feedback, as always, is appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

Image from http://www.masternewmedia.org/images/create-new-blog-commoncraft-0.jpg, accessed 9/11/08

Summer Reading Essay Blog Comment Criteria

2008-09-07T20:16:00.004-04:00

I would like your summer reading essay comments to answer the following five questions:

I - Describe your personal reaction to the story. How do you feel after reading it? What do you remember? What images do you see? What concepts or ideas are in your head? What did the story make you think about?

II - Did the conversation between the two characters seem authentic? What details, specifically, made the characters seem real and natural? If the character's dialogue was not believable, what is one thing the author could have done to make it better?

III. What was your favorite part of the story? Pick a line that you liked, copy and paste it into the comment box, put quotes around it, and explain what it was about it that stood out to you.

IV - Find one thing about the essay that you found distracting or problematic. This could be anything from improper use of dialogue, misused words (your vs. you're, it's vs. its, their vs. there), run-on sentences, sentence fragments, subject/verb agreement, simple word usage, boring verbs, etc.

Everyone's essay can be improved in some way. Help each other become stronger writers by identifying something that could be done better.

V - What is one piece of advice that the author might consider for future writing assignments? This should be phrased constructively (try doing ------- next time, consider --------) or inquisitively (what do you think would happen if you -------------?)

Comments should be five paragraphs (about 25 informative, well-written sentences). Your comments should appear below the story you are responding to. When asked to choose an identity, click "Name/URL," then sign your comment with your first name and last initial in the name field. Leave the URL box blank. Comments not posted according to these instructions will not be eligible for credit, and will be deleted.

I would like you to respond to three essays.

* Please bring a printed copy of your comments to class on Tuesday, Sept. 9th, as I will check them then. Your classmates and I thank you for your valuable feedback.

Three comments = a "check"

Two comments = a "check minus"
One or no comments = zero credit

For general information about posting blog comments, please click here.

Vocabulary Quiz Stories

2008-09-06T12:00:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I gave my freshmen and seniors the vocabulary words, literary terms, and Latin and Greek roots they'll need to learn for next week. Over the course of a 10-week quarter, students can expect to have about eight of these weekly quizzes.

The quiz consists of three components. The first is a story which utilizes 10 of the 11 vocabulary words they're assigned. The story is about 300 words long, and contains 10 blanks where the vocabulary words are supposed to go. There's a word bank, and students put the right word in each blank.

The next section involves defining and providing an example or examples of three literary terms. The final section asks students to define four roots, pick a word that contains that root, and use it correctly in a sentence.

I am creating the quiz for next week. After that, the students will take turns in pairs creating it each week. I provide students with instructions on how to make the quiz, and I make myself available before and after school to help them edit the quiz to ensure they followed the instructions. If they create a challenging, fair, and solvable quiz, the students each earn 100 for a quiz grade.

If they fail to make the quiz, they earn a zero. If they misuse a word or part of the quiz is unsolvable, the students lose 10 points for each error. The goal here is to create a coherent quiz that a student who has learned the words can succeed on, and one who hasn't will likely do poorly (i.e. a fair assessment).

Students e-mail me the quiz in electronic form, and I am easily able to: 1) edit it with them, and 2) reproduce it on paper.

The vocabulary words come from literature we're reading and a list of the most common words found on the SAT. It is common for students to mention that a word they learned for my class appeared in their biology or history textbook, or in another book they happened to be reading outside of class.

The literary terms and definitions all come from the Massachusetts Department of Education, and are terms they are likely to encounter on the MCAS test.

The roots come from the same list of common SAT words, as these "word parts" are used to comprise many of those words.

If you're interested in an example of one of these quizzes, leave me a comment and I can send one by e-mail. Next week I plan to post a PDF copy of the vocabulary quiz creation instructions on my English Teaching Resources page.

Enjoy the weekend. Go Pats!

Blogging into summer reading essays

2008-09-03T11:16:00.008-04:00

We're just about a week into the new school year, and so far, things are going well.

My freshmen and seniors have been working on summer reading essays. I asked them to pick two characters from two books they read and have those characters meet and interact in the setting of one book. They needed to use dialogue, be descriptive, and keep it between 500 and 1000 words.

Most seem to have embraced the assignment. One of my seniors was working on an essay where James Bond meets Harry Potter. I can't wait to read it.

Students were asked to save their essays on my USB drives, which I am using to upload the essays to our class blogs. Students will then be able to read each others' work and post comments. Once the kids get the hang of reading and posting blog comments, I'm going to teach them how to create their own blogs. The idea here is that by the end of the year they'll have an electronic portfolio of writing in some of the major English genres (poetry, short story, personal narrative, analysis, compare & contrast, and research).

An added benefit of individual student blogs is they'll be in a much better position to revise, as they can take the feedback they get from comments and use them to make changes and improvements to their essays on the blog. For the past two years I've used class blogs that I control as the means for sharing student writing. These lacked a mechanism for revision, as students could not add or alter content.

Now, with individual pages, students should be able to experience the power that comes with publishing writing and the ownership of knowing they can alter and post content whenever they choose. Hopefully the blogs will spur students to write beyond the requirements for my class. If their usage of MySpace and Facebook are any indication, there's good reason to feel optimistic.

And so it begins

2008-08-26T22:09:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow I report bright and early for the official start of the 2008-2009 school year. The students come on Thursday. I was in today for seven hours and accomplished maybe 1/10 of what I had wanted to do.

It was almost surreal being back in the classroom and seeing how fast the time goes. I suppose this is one reason I really enjoy my job. It totally engrosses me, to the point where I wish time would stop so I could do what needs to be done. I honestly enjoy about 90 percent of the responsibilities that the job entails. The other 10 percent? A topic for a future post.

One new thing I am doing for the start of school is providing students with a "map" of my classroom. It will explain where everything is, from the electric pencil sharpener and printer to the hand sanitizer and tissues. On the back of this illustration will be FAQs about the class. It will contain some procedures, reminders about the grading system, homework, weekly quizzes, etc.

I want it to be informative and user-friendly, unlike the syllabi and teacher expectations guide we are required to distribute, which I find too dense and verbose for students who are inundated with paperwork the first few days back.

Hopefully it will answer their questions, put them at ease, and allow them to focus on their assignments, as they're going to have a lot of work to do! (And, alas, so will I.)