Today I reviewed compound sentences with my middle school students. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone, that I am such a freak, but I really enjoyed it. I am impressed with how much most of them know, so it's not painful at all. Sure, I had to do one-on-one with a few, but even that proved to be fairly painless. It was even fun.
Fun? Over the years, I have come to terms with sentence structures instruction for the purpose of teaching where to put commas in sentences. I have a 2-inch thick folder with various handouts and practice papers I've used with different groups over the years. When I tell the students that I could on for days about clauses and sentences, I'm not really kidding...
So I'm a nerd. I like grammar. Why? I think it's because sometimes it's so tiring being a hippy-dippy English teacher. Sometimes having flexibility and options takes a toll on my brain. In so many aspects of what and how I teach, there are multiple answers. With grammar and mechanics instruction, there is one way.
It's the rule.
Simple.
(Yes, I know that "one way" is not always accurate, but a lot of the time it is!)
February 11, 2009
February 9, 2009
Lead Me On
My students' favorite way to begin an essay is to simply restate the topic.
The song that has impacted my life the most is...
If they are super creative, they might begin with a question lead that is really restating the topic.
Have you ever had a song impact your life?
I know at least one of their 7th grade teachers taught them about using different types of leads, but it is largely forgotten. So, I whipped out my little lesson on leads, which is not very creative at all. It's a list of different leads, and I walk through each one with them, explaining which might be useful for different types of writing, and giving alternative examples. Afterward, they identify different types of leads on a worksheet, which is pretty lame, but I emphasize that the real purpose is so student can have yet another paper full of examples. Afterward, students work in pairs, practicing writing different types of leads with potential topics.
Again, I know it's not exciting. It's direct and to the point. They have some different ideas with which they can begin their essays. When I did a quick poll of the students, most of them claimed that the leads lesson was a review of what they had learned, but they had learned at least one new idea for beginning a lead. (I also emphasized that the options are limitless. The ten or so I gave them are some basic, flexible options.)
After we did the lesson, I asked students to try writing three different leads for a piece of writing they had done, and afterward, they were asked to choose the best one (they could consult a peer about it, too.) That was our revision activity one day.
Imagine my shock when I collected the essays, and many of them didn't try on different leads--and those who did, resorted to the lame question lead which basically asked the reader to answer the question the writer is suppose to be answering in the writing. Bleah.
It took me a few days to look at all their bomber essays, and when I did I puzzled over a next step. Even my proficiency high school students, who aren't as good at writing as my middle schoolers, are receptive to the basic leads lesson. What's up with the 8th graders?
As it turned out, we had a library day scheduled the next day, so I made up a Leads Treasure Hunt. I sent them off to find interesting story beginnings. I know, and I told them, that some of those introductory lines could not work for all pieces of writing, but many of them could. I emphasized my concern about their lack of "interesting introductions," and I believed that perhaps they should immerse themselves in good writing.
I'm so full of bullshit sometimes.
Only I didn't think so at the time. It's a great idea! I observed students plowing through books, recording good beginnings and shunning the dull ones. I was so proud!
The very next day, students shared their beginnings in small groups. The essential question asked them to find the characteristics of good introductions so that we might steal ideas from good writers. Initially, students had difficulty articulating what made the writing effective. They simple answered, "It is good." But with a little prodding, they started looking at the word choice, sentence structures, and similarities in some of the techniques they had already learned. It was wonderful!
So, then...the next step was to again try to apply what they learned on a piece of writing.
However, when I started looking over the essays, guess what I found? The same crap found at the top of this post. I'm incredibly irritated. Yes, there are a few students who won't be able to write a cool lead for years, but my students are generally bright, and you know if I'm stressed about leads, the bodies of their writings are pretty good.
When their turned in their essays, which are best rough drafts that include revision marks, one of the three things they had to do was make sure they had a good lead. Was I not explicit enough? It was written on the board. We'd spent days talking about, searching for, and writing leads. Do they really thing their leads are okay?
The song that has impacted my life the most is...
Ack!
I'm sorry to have to admit that my next move does not include me being a nurturing, patient writing teacher. For the students who still are trying to use the question, but doing it like a thesis restatement, I offered suggestions about different types of questions to ask. I don't believe they are being difficult. But for the rest of them...it's the REDO stamp.
The REDO Stamp?
"Redo! This work is incomplete and/or substandard. Resubmit this work by tomorrow."
They will write inspiring leads one way or another.
The sooner, the better. The big, scary state writing proficiency exam is next week.
Double Ack!
The song that has impacted my life the most is...
If they are super creative, they might begin with a question lead that is really restating the topic.
Have you ever had a song impact your life?
I know at least one of their 7th grade teachers taught them about using different types of leads, but it is largely forgotten. So, I whipped out my little lesson on leads, which is not very creative at all. It's a list of different leads, and I walk through each one with them, explaining which might be useful for different types of writing, and giving alternative examples. Afterward, they identify different types of leads on a worksheet, which is pretty lame, but I emphasize that the real purpose is so student can have yet another paper full of examples. Afterward, students work in pairs, practicing writing different types of leads with potential topics.
Again, I know it's not exciting. It's direct and to the point. They have some different ideas with which they can begin their essays. When I did a quick poll of the students, most of them claimed that the leads lesson was a review of what they had learned, but they had learned at least one new idea for beginning a lead. (I also emphasized that the options are limitless. The ten or so I gave them are some basic, flexible options.)
After we did the lesson, I asked students to try writing three different leads for a piece of writing they had done, and afterward, they were asked to choose the best one (they could consult a peer about it, too.) That was our revision activity one day.
Imagine my shock when I collected the essays, and many of them didn't try on different leads--and those who did, resorted to the lame question lead which basically asked the reader to answer the question the writer is suppose to be answering in the writing. Bleah.
It took me a few days to look at all their bomber essays, and when I did I puzzled over a next step. Even my proficiency high school students, who aren't as good at writing as my middle schoolers, are receptive to the basic leads lesson. What's up with the 8th graders?
As it turned out, we had a library day scheduled the next day, so I made up a Leads Treasure Hunt. I sent them off to find interesting story beginnings. I know, and I told them, that some of those introductory lines could not work for all pieces of writing, but many of them could. I emphasized my concern about their lack of "interesting introductions," and I believed that perhaps they should immerse themselves in good writing.
I'm so full of bullshit sometimes.
Only I didn't think so at the time. It's a great idea! I observed students plowing through books, recording good beginnings and shunning the dull ones. I was so proud!
The very next day, students shared their beginnings in small groups. The essential question asked them to find the characteristics of good introductions so that we might steal ideas from good writers. Initially, students had difficulty articulating what made the writing effective. They simple answered, "It is good." But with a little prodding, they started looking at the word choice, sentence structures, and similarities in some of the techniques they had already learned. It was wonderful!
So, then...the next step was to again try to apply what they learned on a piece of writing.
However, when I started looking over the essays, guess what I found? The same crap found at the top of this post. I'm incredibly irritated. Yes, there are a few students who won't be able to write a cool lead for years, but my students are generally bright, and you know if I'm stressed about leads, the bodies of their writings are pretty good.
When their turned in their essays, which are best rough drafts that include revision marks, one of the three things they had to do was make sure they had a good lead. Was I not explicit enough? It was written on the board. We'd spent days talking about, searching for, and writing leads. Do they really thing their leads are okay?
The song that has impacted my life the most is...
Ack!
I'm sorry to have to admit that my next move does not include me being a nurturing, patient writing teacher. For the students who still are trying to use the question, but doing it like a thesis restatement, I offered suggestions about different types of questions to ask. I don't believe they are being difficult. But for the rest of them...it's the REDO stamp.
The REDO Stamp?
"Redo! This work is incomplete and/or substandard. Resubmit this work by tomorrow."
They will write inspiring leads one way or another.
The sooner, the better. The big, scary state writing proficiency exam is next week.
Double Ack!
February 6, 2009
La Cucaracha
It had to happen sooner or later in our new school...a cockroach was spotted during my 3rd period class.
Apparently it darted into the printer.
So then the question is, "Should I try to take apart the printer to find the offending bug?"
It will come out eventually, right?
"Yeah, probably after it leaves behind some eggs," one boy said, smiling at the ensuing chaos over a mere cockroach.
Ew.
Apparently it darted into the printer.
So then the question is, "Should I try to take apart the printer to find the offending bug?"
It will come out eventually, right?
"Yeah, probably after it leaves behind some eggs," one boy said, smiling at the ensuing chaos over a mere cockroach.
Ew.
February 4, 2009
The Useless English Text
Today one of my students asked me if they were ever going to use "the green books I gave them." That would be the new writing and grammar textbook that I was required to check out to all students. I'd probably complain if I didn't have enough textbooks, just like I'm complaining about having to check out the grammar text.
(This is where some of you will hate me. I deserve it. We have so many resources, both print and online, that using any of to excess is probably not going to happen. It is nice to be able to piece things together. And it is actually necessary to piece things together. Read on.)
However, what I said to my student, whose question compelled her classmates to listen up, was, "Well, it's hard to say. So far I can't find anything in here that we can use. Earlier this week, I wanted to find something that might help you write better conclusions, but there is a barely a paragraph on it--and that is basically telling you that an effective essay needs a good conclusion."
I felt a rant boiling up, "And you know, I had a student who came in after school asking for clarification about which titles should be underlined and which should be in quotations, so I explain it to her again, and I was going to have her go home and read her text, too. And maybe practice a little. She totally would have done it, too! Only there were no lessons for that! There was just a two-sentence explanation."
Maybe 8th grade students should know that book titles should be underlined and magazine titles go in quotation marks, so perhaps that is why there is virtually nothing about it in the writing and grammar book. But what about conclusions? It's a writing book! In my experience as a writing teacher, I have found that essay beginnings and endings are the hardest for students--at all levels. They'll even admit it! Yesterday I took an informal poll and asked, "How many of you have read a peer's paper that suddenly ended and you weren't sure if the essay was finished or if you were missing a page?" Half of the students in each of my classes raised their hands. Some of them started joking about how often they had simply stopped short of the conclusion themselves. How about some tips, examples, or practice in a writing textbook for writing conclusions?
I have a textbook that has such things. My high school students use it. It's a text specifically designed to help students pass the proficiency exam. Now, the company that prints the text does such texts for many states, and they are all probably the same. I've used this particular text in two different schools--in proficiency writing classes. You know, the class for the students who either didn't pass the test and are receiving desperate remediation so they can graduate, or students who are unlikely to pass the test without taking a special, focused class. That's not to say that the text can only be used for proficiency classes, but I betcha anything, that's how it's used in most schools.
It's a major pain in the ass being an English teacher sometimes. For one thing, our curriculum isn't linear. There are so many different things we have to teach. Sometimes it's divided up into writing and literature, but the course I teach is both. (At my school, in the 6th and 7th grades students have both an English class and a reading class, but 8th grade is just English, a combination of the two.) Teaching both means that I need a lot of resources, and sometimes even two official textbooks. And what a blessing if I have two different textbooks, which I do. What would be an extra special blessing if the texts were of any use at all.
I'll keep looking for reasons to use the text. I hope something pans out soon. We are moving into research soon. What do you think the likelihood of a nice fat chapter on research in the digital age? I mean, it is a new textbook...
And what you do you think? Might we save some students from taking proficiency classes if their middle school texts were more useful? Actually, I've seen some of the writing and grammar texts for high school, too. Not much more useful.
So it's all on the teacher. And teachers expect and are expected to use textbooks in their instruction. It's taken me years to build my files of instructional tools, for without those tools, my students and I would be left with the mere textbook.
In my first years of teaching, that's all I had. My poor students. I hope they eventually turned out okay.
(This is where some of you will hate me. I deserve it. We have so many resources, both print and online, that using any of to excess is probably not going to happen. It is nice to be able to piece things together. And it is actually necessary to piece things together. Read on.)
However, what I said to my student, whose question compelled her classmates to listen up, was, "Well, it's hard to say. So far I can't find anything in here that we can use. Earlier this week, I wanted to find something that might help you write better conclusions, but there is a barely a paragraph on it--and that is basically telling you that an effective essay needs a good conclusion."
I felt a rant boiling up, "And you know, I had a student who came in after school asking for clarification about which titles should be underlined and which should be in quotations, so I explain it to her again, and I was going to have her go home and read her text, too. And maybe practice a little. She totally would have done it, too! Only there were no lessons for that! There was just a two-sentence explanation."
Maybe 8th grade students should know that book titles should be underlined and magazine titles go in quotation marks, so perhaps that is why there is virtually nothing about it in the writing and grammar book. But what about conclusions? It's a writing book! In my experience as a writing teacher, I have found that essay beginnings and endings are the hardest for students--at all levels. They'll even admit it! Yesterday I took an informal poll and asked, "How many of you have read a peer's paper that suddenly ended and you weren't sure if the essay was finished or if you were missing a page?" Half of the students in each of my classes raised their hands. Some of them started joking about how often they had simply stopped short of the conclusion themselves. How about some tips, examples, or practice in a writing textbook for writing conclusions?
I have a textbook that has such things. My high school students use it. It's a text specifically designed to help students pass the proficiency exam. Now, the company that prints the text does such texts for many states, and they are all probably the same. I've used this particular text in two different schools--in proficiency writing classes. You know, the class for the students who either didn't pass the test and are receiving desperate remediation so they can graduate, or students who are unlikely to pass the test without taking a special, focused class. That's not to say that the text can only be used for proficiency classes, but I betcha anything, that's how it's used in most schools.
It's a major pain in the ass being an English teacher sometimes. For one thing, our curriculum isn't linear. There are so many different things we have to teach. Sometimes it's divided up into writing and literature, but the course I teach is both. (At my school, in the 6th and 7th grades students have both an English class and a reading class, but 8th grade is just English, a combination of the two.) Teaching both means that I need a lot of resources, and sometimes even two official textbooks. And what a blessing if I have two different textbooks, which I do. What would be an extra special blessing if the texts were of any use at all.
I'll keep looking for reasons to use the text. I hope something pans out soon. We are moving into research soon. What do you think the likelihood of a nice fat chapter on research in the digital age? I mean, it is a new textbook...
And what you do you think? Might we save some students from taking proficiency classes if their middle school texts were more useful? Actually, I've seen some of the writing and grammar texts for high school, too. Not much more useful.
So it's all on the teacher. And teachers expect and are expected to use textbooks in their instruction. It's taken me years to build my files of instructional tools, for without those tools, my students and I would be left with the mere textbook.
In my first years of teaching, that's all I had. My poor students. I hope they eventually turned out okay.
January 31, 2009
Alphabetize Me!
A few years ago I heard a phrase that irritated me.
My children came home from school with homework where they had to put things in "ABC order." Would that also be known as alphabetical order? Why can't we just call it that? At home, that is what we call it.
In my grad class, we are doing this group annotated bibliography, and I've seen several of my classmates refer to the "ABC order" we need to use. What is wrong with alphabetical order? Am I losing my mind, or is alphabetical not a real word? It's pretty self explanatory, too--even for elementary students to understand.
I hate to say it, but I think the people using it are elementary teachers. They say weird things sometimes. I learned about hot dog and hamburger folds from them, and that really helps since the kids know about those, so sometimes those weird little things help. Although...horizontal and vertical should suffice, don't you think? Plus, I can't talk about hot dogs and hamburgers at certain times of the day without evoking distracting thoughts of lunch. Oh well, the scaffolding is there. It saves time.
But ABC order? Is that really necessary?
Do people also use 123 order?
If I go to work in an office, will my boss tell me to put things in ABC order? That would be funny.
Do we secondary school teachers say weird things, too?
I mean, other than what I caught myself saying to another teacher the other day: "You can't trust him; he totally tried to jack my shit when I wasn't looking!" That was a momentary lapse of class and age, but other than that...do we use weird terms, too?
Disclaimer: I say weird, inappropriate, and incorrect things. It's true. If it irritates you, tell me and I'll probably stop doing it. That doesn't include cool slang, though. I'm not quitting my slang.
My children came home from school with homework where they had to put things in "ABC order." Would that also be known as alphabetical order? Why can't we just call it that? At home, that is what we call it.
In my grad class, we are doing this group annotated bibliography, and I've seen several of my classmates refer to the "ABC order" we need to use. What is wrong with alphabetical order? Am I losing my mind, or is alphabetical not a real word? It's pretty self explanatory, too--even for elementary students to understand.
I hate to say it, but I think the people using it are elementary teachers. They say weird things sometimes. I learned about hot dog and hamburger folds from them, and that really helps since the kids know about those, so sometimes those weird little things help. Although...horizontal and vertical should suffice, don't you think? Plus, I can't talk about hot dogs and hamburgers at certain times of the day without evoking distracting thoughts of lunch. Oh well, the scaffolding is there. It saves time.
But ABC order? Is that really necessary?
Do people also use 123 order?
If I go to work in an office, will my boss tell me to put things in ABC order? That would be funny.
Do we secondary school teachers say weird things, too?
I mean, other than what I caught myself saying to another teacher the other day: "You can't trust him; he totally tried to jack my shit when I wasn't looking!" That was a momentary lapse of class and age, but other than that...do we use weird terms, too?
Disclaimer: I say weird, inappropriate, and incorrect things. It's true. If it irritates you, tell me and I'll probably stop doing it. That doesn't include cool slang, though. I'm not quitting my slang.
January 27, 2009
Butt...
It started a few weeks ago when I sent some girls out to take some pictures, and they came back with a dozen bad pictures, including...
"Why do we have a picture of a pigeon's behind?"
"Miss! It was a really cool-looking pigeon--see the coloring? It's different from other pigeons, so I wanted to take a picture of it," they tried to explain. It looked like a nasty pigeon to me.
"Okay, I appreciate that you are looking for out-of-the-ordinary things, but why a picture of its behind?"
"Well, it was running away from us, and it was really hard to get a picture."
So, at least we know who won't be taking basketball pictures this season.
And speaking of basketball...
We had our first home game yesterday, and the Giggle Girls showed up to take pictures. I coached them on angle to look for and where to stand, but they kept backing up away from the court--and I caught them trying to take pictures of action across the gym. I should have stressed, but I didn't. Lord knows I have wasted rolls of film trying to get great shots, and with our digital cameras there is no money wasted for bad shots. But then with our crappy digital cameras, it's nearly a miracle if we can get a clear shot.
During class, we uploaded the pictures, and I projected them on the board. Sure enough, many of the pictures had 80% gym floor and some tiny, grainy people. There were some good pictures, though. Some clear action shots with players' faces--from the other team of course. That is a total Yearbook Murphy's Law, by the way.
The rest of the pictures were of butts. Butts rebounding. Butts blocking. Butts dribbling the ball away from the camera. And cheerleader butts. Now cheerleaders don't move that much. Why did the Giggle Girls shoot from behind the cheerleaders? That was poor judgment. The other photos were just bad luck. I think, anyway. When they start saying, "Oh, but #24 has such a cute butt!" I have to wonder about motives, and I want to rip my eyes out at the thought. Thank goodness for delete.
So, much to the chagrin of my hip, young staff, I decided that Honky Tonk Badonkadonk should be our new theme song.
They are hardly amused by my sense of humor--or taste in music. Maybe torture by Trace (my country crush!) will motivate them to take better pictures. If not, at least I'll be amused during yearbook. And why shouldn't it be about me? Staffs come and go, but the yearbook adviser never dies. She just gets crazier.
Shhhh! Don't tell them that some of my favorite family photos are taken from behind. Is this okay, though? Let's wait to read the comments from my mother and my brother! ;-)
"Why do we have a picture of a pigeon's behind?"
"Miss! It was a really cool-looking pigeon--see the coloring? It's different from other pigeons, so I wanted to take a picture of it," they tried to explain. It looked like a nasty pigeon to me.
"Okay, I appreciate that you are looking for out-of-the-ordinary things, but why a picture of its behind?"
"Well, it was running away from us, and it was really hard to get a picture."
So, at least we know who won't be taking basketball pictures this season.
And speaking of basketball...
We had our first home game yesterday, and the Giggle Girls showed up to take pictures. I coached them on angle to look for and where to stand, but they kept backing up away from the court--and I caught them trying to take pictures of action across the gym. I should have stressed, but I didn't. Lord knows I have wasted rolls of film trying to get great shots, and with our digital cameras there is no money wasted for bad shots. But then with our crappy digital cameras, it's nearly a miracle if we can get a clear shot.
During class, we uploaded the pictures, and I projected them on the board. Sure enough, many of the pictures had 80% gym floor and some tiny, grainy people. There were some good pictures, though. Some clear action shots with players' faces--from the other team of course. That is a total Yearbook Murphy's Law, by the way.
The rest of the pictures were of butts. Butts rebounding. Butts blocking. Butts dribbling the ball away from the camera. And cheerleader butts. Now cheerleaders don't move that much. Why did the Giggle Girls shoot from behind the cheerleaders? That was poor judgment. The other photos were just bad luck. I think, anyway. When they start saying, "Oh, but #24 has such a cute butt!" I have to wonder about motives, and I want to rip my eyes out at the thought. Thank goodness for delete.
So, much to the chagrin of my hip, young staff, I decided that Honky Tonk Badonkadonk should be our new theme song.
They are hardly amused by my sense of humor--or taste in music. Maybe torture by Trace (my country crush!) will motivate them to take better pictures. If not, at least I'll be amused during yearbook. And why shouldn't it be about me? Staffs come and go, but the yearbook adviser never dies. She just gets crazier.
Shhhh! Don't tell them that some of my favorite family photos are taken from behind. Is this okay, though? Let's wait to read the comments from my mother and my brother! ;-)
January 20, 2009
Going Down a Different Road
It was a funky, crazy day, but some technology fairies came along on the weekend so we were able to stream the inauguration into our classrooms. The students were wound up and off the hook like it was Valentine's Day or something. Sheesh! The power of this Barack Obama guy. Kidding! I think my students will continue to have conversations in the next two days about the changes they anticipate in our country. In fact, it's the topic of the week for their essays. It's an exciting time, indeed!
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