I think you’re confusing “want” with “need”

I came across a blog post tonight that articulated a very familiar concern that I hear from many new and seasoned English teachers. Essentially the concern was the following question: Are we incorporating multiliteracies at the risk of not focusing enough on things like literature and essay-writing.

Here was my response:

Hi ____________,

I read your post while taking a break from working on writing curriculum for an adult ed English course. I understand your passion for literature; it’s part of why I became an English teacher too. One of the things I learned quickly, however, was that my job as an English teacher was not to create a bunch of mini-mes (I’m tempted to put an apostrophe before the s for clarity but I can’t bring myself to do it).

I work in Ontario, and the Ontario curriculum clearly articulates that literature is only a portion of the secondary English curriculum. Additionally, our curriculum documents do not specify which texts we must teach. I don’t teach my students Hamlet (or any other work of literature for that matter). I teach my students skills, using Hamlet. (I do not need to teach them the entire play either, but that’s another story).

And yes, I take a multiliteracies approach to English as much as possible.

Why?

a. I don’t have any courses that are explicitly English literature courses.

b. When I look at the curriculum (and sure, partly my own agenda), I see the ultimate goal being teaching my students to be effective critical thinkers and communicators. They’re already communicating in a wide variety of media and they’re not always doing it critically or effectively. Rather than create an artificial and inauthentic environment in which they communication meaning, I think it’s more important that I acknowledge the myriad of ways in which students communicate (and consume texts) and find ways to help them do that more effectively.

I still have to review comma usage with my grade 12s. And no I don’t blame texting because correlation does not equal causation.

I still teach students how to write essays, but I don’t think that the essay is the best way for students to demonstrate their thinking.

When you add in new things you do have to take out some things, but we need to ask ourselves why we are clinging to the “other things” so firmly. Is it because it’s a specific curriculum expectation? Is it because all the students absolutely need it? Or does it say something about our own firmly established paradigmatic views about the way the English class should look based on our own positive experiences in high school English? (or a few too many viewings of Dead Poets Society)

It’s not about what we like. It’s about what our students need. And sometimes we confuse the two.

 

The Answer

My grade 12s are currently working diligently away on preparing seminars for their classmates. We’ve been studying literary criticism and now they are becoming the experts, preparing a short story to present to the class and explaining how analyzing the text from a particular lens reveals certain insight.

It’s tough. It’s frustrating. It’s totally worth it.

As I listen to the conversations happening all around me, I hear students puzzling through really challenging questions, and some of them ask me, “But can you tell me what it means?” A part of me really wants to. Not that I necessarily know the answer, but I’m very tempted to tell them what I think. Still, I resist that urge, because I remind myself that the second I tell them what I think something means, a part of their brains shut down and that’s the very part that I want them exercising. The steam coming out of those ears is good.

It can be torture for English teachers to listen to students come up with off-base or misguided conclusions, but we need to restrain the urge to give students “the answer” and instead ask them more questions.

Whether students arrive at what we consider to be a “right answer” is much less important than whether or not they ask critical questions, look for support for their ideas, and have meaningful discussions with each other. If all we want them to learn is  “the right answer” then we are emphasizing lower order thinking skills at the expense of higher order thinking skills.

Some thoughts about change theory

I’m currently in my final course of my MEd before I do my project. (YAY!)

My professor posted this question in our discussion forum: 

 In describing his “systematic strategy for change” in Chapter 1, Ellsworth (2000) states: “[The] situation becomes even more pronounced when the core innovation under discussion is an emerging technology. Successful infusion of such an innovation will generally require accompanying innovations.” This relates to an example discussed in some breakouts regarding the the infusion of new educational technologies such as interactive whiteboards (e.g., Smartboard) or digital gaming in the classroom. Please elaborate on the meaning of Ellsworth’s statement and relate this to some of Fullan’s (2006) ideas regarding successful and unsuccessful change processes (theories of action) and/or also to Roger’s (1995) Diffusion of Innovations framework as described in Ellsworth (2000).

I’m posting my response here too, because it seems very relevant when considering current change initiatives involving technology. 

Ellsworth states that “[s]electing and coordinating the types of changes that one makes are also critical aspects of a systemic strategy for change” (2000). Essentially,  problems in education usually are not the result of one simple problem that needs to be set right. He goes on to write that, “[m]ost often [the types of changes] reflect a desire to bring new tools to bear to enable the system to meet new requirements.” And then cites the fact that although it seems logical that smaller class sizes would yield positive results, there is little evidence to support this. This is likely because the teaching methods have not been adapted to the needs of a smaller classroom.

This is very much like what happens with technology.  Students don’t appear to be reading or writing enough in a traditional sense. Where are they reading and writing though? Online. Therefore perhaps online technology is the solution for improving students’ literacy scores. But this idea, while appearing to be sound, is flawed on its own because it neglects one very important component: How must teachers’ instructional strategies change when implementing new tools for teaching literacy skills?

For example, if a teacher wants to try blogging in her classroom rather than traditional reader response journals, she needs to consider the ways in which the affordances of a blog are different from those of a traditional model. What are the characteristics of a blog? How do individuals interact with them? What are the different skills that are needed?

The sheer novelty of composing online versus composing on paper may appeal to some students enough to engage them when traditional methods wouldn’t. But is engagement enough? And for how long? What about the students for whom this new form of composing is frightening and unappealing?  Shouldn’t we have a better reason for implementing the change?

This connects to Michael Fullan’s (2006) article when he describes flawed change theories. When he describes the flaw in the standards-based district-wide reform initiatives, he points out that  “If theories of action do not include the harder questions – ‘Under what conditions will continuous improvement happen?’ and, correspondingly, ‘How do we change cultures?’ – they are bound to fail.”

It’s not that blogging can’t be an effective tool to improve student literacy, but it’s bound to fail if the teacher or change agent doesn’t ask the harder questions. Often in education, I think administrators, and superintendents are looking for the “silver bullet,” the one simple magic solution that will solve all the problems and will be simple to implement and understand, without considering things like school culture, classroom culture, and broader pedagogical underpinnings that need to be in place for a change to be successful.

Ellsworth, J. B. (2000). Surviving changes: A survey of Educational change models. Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse (Chapter 1, pp. 20-30 and Chapter 3, pp. 44-58).

Fullan, M. (2006). Change theory: A force for school improvement. Centre for Strategic Education, 1-14.

Learning Skills 2.0

As the first day back at school drew to a close I found myself at my desk confronted by the reality of all the paper around me. I try to use technology to reduce the amount of paper I use but there’s still all this…. paper.

So I was rethinking the learning skills tracker. There had to be a better way. I want to be able to quickly track a student’s learning skills on a mobile device like my iPhone. So to make a long story short, I fiddled with the tracking sheet in the previous post and made a Google form that I could call up and fill out on any given date for all my students.

It basically looks like this, but instead of “Student Name” I have my actual students’ individual names and then a little tracking sheet with space for comments.

Screen shot 2013-09-03 at 20h12m02s Each time I fill out this form it will send the information to one spreadsheet. So I should, in theory, be able to select the data in the sheet and then at midterm make a more accurate assessment of their most consistent achievement in each area.

I just don’t know how. Any spread sheet wizards know how I could do this?

My advice to new teachers at the start of the school year

 

I first posted this in 2011, but I still stand by this advice. There are also some really great comments at the bottom that contain additional advice:

1) Be yourself (unless your “self” is rude, obnoxious, spiteful, arrogant, or similarly unpleasant in which case you should rethink your chosen profession anyway). When I first started teaching I worked very hard at adopting my “teacher persona.” I believe this was a result of some benign advice from an associate teacher or a professor at the faculty of education. The thing is, it’s exhausting and the kids see right through it. I tried to copy the teaching styles of teachers I respected and admired, and I suppose that’s not a bad way to start. It actually helped me figure out the kind of teacher that I’m not. I am not a stern no-nonsense disciplinarian. I am silly, laid-back, and occasionally irreverent. That doesn’t mean my students run amok, but I had to find my own way to “be a teacher.”

2) Dress up. A little. But dress your age. If you, like me, barreled on through your undergrad and straight into teacher’s college and then were lucky enough to get a position the next school year (I know… very lucky), then you’re… what… 23? Wow. You’re not much older than the grade 12s and you won’t look much older. You’re not going to fool anyone into thinking that you’re an ancient 30 something like I am, but when you’re 23, it’s embarrassing and awkward to be mistaken for a student (When you’re 32, it rocks). So, judge the vibe of your school. Some schools are more casual than others, but don’t think you can get away with the board short and flip-flop look that the eccentric, close-to-retirement, history teacher is “rocking” (questionably). If you dress up a little bit, it sends a signal that you think this important enough to dress up for and that helps–but don’t be afraid to out your own stamp on it that says “hey I’m not 32 yet.”

3) Don’t do stupid things. You’ve probably already been so scared by faculty of education lectures and gossipy horror stories that spread through your social foundations class about teachers who did foolish things on social media and were then fired. That’s not what I’m here to do. I do not want you to decide to erase your web presence and ban technology from the classroom because you’re afraid of all the horrible things that could happen to you. We are in an interesting place in our history right now and I suspect 20 years from now (I hope) we’ll all laugh about the angst we were having in education over social media. Rather than trying to eliminate your web presence, create a professional one. Start a professional blog where you reflect on and share evidence of your learning. Get on Twitter and start following other teachers (Not sure how to get started? Go here.). They will be a great support network for you and can help you out when it’s 1:00am and you really can’t hash out ideas with your department head and your girlfriend is sick of hearing about how stressed out you are. Don’t friend students on Facebook (I know some teachers who do and I have the utmost faith that they are extremely professional with their students but I won’t ever advise you to do it), but you may consider setting up a Facebook page for your class. If you teach in the Waterloo board in fact, it’s encouraged. That way you can keep in touch with students in with a medium they use, but they don’t have access to your personal information. Bottom line: never post anything online that you wouldn’t say in front of the class or in front of your principal. If you must vent, save it for direct messages and emails to your friends.

4) Cut yourself some slack. You won’t be a perfect teacher in your first year. Actually you’ll never be a perfect teacher. That’s okay. Think of your goal for your first year as being one of survival and harm reduction. Do as little harm as possible to yourself and your students, and you’re off to a good start in my opinion. If you’re a good teacher, you’re probably going to spend a lot of time agonizing over decisions you made, coming up with different ways you could have but didn’t handle a situation, and generally berating yourself for sucking. You probably don’t suck. Lighten up. Have a beer. Go for a night out with your non-teacher friends (do you still have those?) and don’t talk about school–they won’t get it and it’s not healthy for you to talk about it all the time.

This is hardly an exhaustive list but you probably have enough people giving you advice. Hang in there. Have some fun. Don’t take yourself so seriously.

ENG4U and ENG4C Assessment Plan with links

Did a little more revising. And now I have both the Grade 12 University English assessment plan and the Grade 12 College English assessment plan finished!

If I haven’t made this clear before, this was created for strictly practical purposes. I am not uploading these as exemplary assessment plans. If they work for you, use them, modify them, share them. If you modify something, I’d love it if you shared it with me.

There are lots of active links in both documents. The documents are in several different formats and I’ll warn you. Some of them are in Word Perfect! But if you use Open Office, they’ll open just fine.

ENG4C Assessment Plan with links

ENG4U Assessment Plan 2013-2014 with links

Assessment Plans!

My favourite time to plan is right now as the year is wrapping up. So with no further ado, here are my assessment plans for ENG4U and ENG4C.

A few caveats first:

  • Some of the formative “assessments” aren’t really assessments but I wanted to give new teachers to the course a clearer picture of what the course entailed.
  • CCA = course culminating assignment. They’re not really separate units but I included them as though they were.
  • I know some of the assessment tasks may not make much sense, but I plan on posting digital versions of these charts to my website with hyperlinks linking assignment titles to the actual handouts/lesson plans I used.

If you have any ideas about how I could present this please let me know.

Happy summer!

ENG4U Assessment Plan

ENG4C Assessment Plan

Listening

Sometimes listening to my students talk in their book club meetings makes me want to cry big fat sentimental tears of joy.

When my ENG4C class begins its book club meetings, they discussions are shallow and clunky and stilted. I have to intervene to keep the discussion flowing.

We’re in our second last meeting and my group of boys reading Crank are so invested in the story they talk about it at lunch and text each other about it after school. Boys who used to groan about reading are raiding the library for more books by Ellen Hopkins.

My other guys who are reading Looking for Alaska are discussing how angry and sad they were at a certain point (except for one who’s claiming it didn’t affect him) the others are all begrudgingly admitting that they cried.

I don’t need to do anything now during these meetings. I’m just watching them and listening to them.

It’s kind of beautiful.

Here are the books my kids love:

Looking for Alaska

Crank

It’s Kind of a Funny Story

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Cut

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Where do we go from here?

path

Let me start off by saying I am quite happy where I am in my career at the moment. I love my school, my students, and my co-workers. I am not looking to jump ship any time soon.

However….

Lately I’ve been struggling with figuring out what my next step is. Where do I go next? I feel very frustrated that, at least in my board, it seems there are very few leadership opportunities beyond administration (My reasons for not wanting to be a principal are fodder for another post). I mentioned this at a leadership track workshop earlier this year and was shot down by well-meaning workshop leaders who told me there were plenty of opportunities! I could be a department head, or chair a subject council, or work on a team or task force, or become a learning coordinator.

The thing is, I’ve been a learning coordinator. I’ve been on a task force. I’ve chaired a subject council, and I’ve been a department head (acting, but still a department head). I’ve even been lucky enough to teach a course at a faculty of education. I didn’t mention all that at the workshop because even as I write it, it sounds kind of obnoxious.

I’d be interested in being a learning coordinator again if something popped up for which I was qualified, but those positions have been reduced.

At the risk of continuing to sound obnoxious, I feel like I have a lot to offer–or will have a lot to offer in the next few years–in terms of ideas about assessment and evaluation, curriculum, instructional technology, and differentiated instruction, but I don’t know what to do with it. I can’t become a learning supervisor or SO without being a principal first, and I can’t apply for jobs outside of my board without losing all my seniority.

I’m feeling a bit antsy and I feel like I need a good career coach.

If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.