We Interrupt Your Regularly Schedule Lesson for this Tangent

Today we were working on teaching through our writing (a concept we're working on for the research papers we'll be starting to write soon), so we were practicing with the ways we had identified that non-fiction authors use to teach through their writing (you can see our messy brainstorming here). Instead of getting right into it, I wanted to have my students practice first, so I told them to pick any topic that they know something about, and we were going to take ten minutes to write a paragraph teaching somebody about that topic. Starting with a known topic would allow us to really focus on the craft of the writing. If my students have to write it, so do I, so I did. My topic? Chanukkah. Why? I don't really know other than it's what came to mind when I was trying to think of things that I know about, and we had just been lighting the candles with my nieces and nephews last week at my parents house. And then I shared.

First class: Went just fine. They seemed to like it and they identified the things I had tried to do in my writing. The topic didn't seem to phase them. It did however cause them to question why I chose that topic, which led to my explanation of being half Jewish and half Christian and a bit of background about growing up knowing both sides of my heritage.

Second class: Went fine again, although this time I got applause when I finished reading. That was appreciated because I was actually pretty proud of what I had come up with on the spot and how I had made it interesting for the reader, so I was glad they recognized that. The topic led to some questions again and the basic explanation was fine for them.

Third class (now we're getting to my 8th graders who have had me now for a year-and-a-half): Before I even had time to share my paragraph, Excuse this interruption in your regularly schedule lesson plan...the topic led to a fifteen minute discussion on religions, faith, heritage, the difference between religion's beliefs, where certain ethnicities originated, international travel, rich, poor, levels of wealth and if you can judge someone based on that, and cheese. Somehow we got off on a tangent and it just kept going. I'm not even really sure how it happened, but the kids were really engaged, and I even heard one exclaim, "This is the best language arts class ever!" Hmmmm...should I be concerned?

I'm thinking no. We want our kids to be critical thinkers and participate in discussions, right? Well, there was definitely some critical thinking going on there, and there was debating and making points and arguing perspectives and acknowledging others. It wasn't intended, but it was interesting to hear their perspectives, and the fact that this tangent led to interesting conversation, a little bit of learning (even if not what I thought it would be about), and caused my students to have to make points and defend them...well, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Students need to think, they need to be challenged, they need opportunities to construct arguments, they need the chance to share their thoughts, they need to think sometimes that language arts class can be fun...and if it happens to come from an unexpected tangent instead of a planned lesson or writing assignment once in awhile...well, I'm okay with that.

Now back to your regularly scheduled lesson.

Sometimes It's Best to Go With the Distraction

It was a dreary day in Southeastern Wisconsin today. I had lessons planned. After our Independent Daily Reading and choice quick write, we were moving on to looking at non-fiction books together to identify what types of things authors do to teach through their writing. You see, we're doing our big research unit right now, and I'm trying a new focus this year. But in my last (4th) class of the day doing this, after our quick write time, a student looked out our classroom windows and exclaimed about this.

How could I ignore that distraction? It was an eerie view outside those windows. My kids were totally distracted. So I made an on-the-spot decision to go a different direction and follow the distraction. Sometimes a teacher just has to do that. You see, I wasn't going to get them back and focused on the lesson at hand at that point. So we didn't even try.

Instead? I told them maybe we should work with the distraction and go with the nature at hand - let's write stories about it! We'd spend the last twenty minutes of class writing stories - the only stipulation was that the setting had to be what we were seeing outside those windows. We did a quick review of narrative structure and what elements should be included in a fiction short story, then we looked out the windows at our setting inspiration, and we started writing our stories. And, yes, I do mean we. I sat down to write a story of my own as my 8th graders were writing theirs. There were smiles, and engagement, and glances out the window, and giggling, and sharing of ideas, and the sound of pens scratching across paper...and every one of my students was writing for that whole 20 minutes. Sometimes it is best to go with the distraction. That other lesson? It can wait until tomorrow.

My last line at minute nineteen: As she tried to look beyond the edges of the white fog blanketing the woods, she heard the screaming start.

Being Encouraging

I'm sitting here staring at a blank screen trying to figure out what to write and getting stuck because I'm not sure what to write, and all I can think about is that my students must feel the same way sometimes as they're sitting in class having to start writing.  Today alone, I heard several times, "I don't know what to write." No matter how much modeling, instructing, and scaffolding I do, sometimes there will be kids who are still just stuck (like I am right now).

But then something encouraging happened in my classroom today. As I walked around and checked in with students on their first drafts, many of them commented that what they had wasn't good. Even as I reminded them that our first drafts don't have to be great because we get to revise them to make them better, they didn't seem convinced. That was the discouraging part. But then I had some conversations. I made sure those short conversations were focused on encouraging the student that his/her ideas were a good starting point to revise into even better or that the ideas they had were already good. And I saw faces change; I saw attitudes become more positive; I saw students more willing to work; I witnessed students being more confident in their own writing. All from just a few encouraging words.

And, gee, isn't it the same for me? A little encouragement goes a long way. Something to remember...especially when it comes to something as personal as one's own writing. I'm going to convince my inner critic to be more encouraging, I'm going remember to focus on keeping my talk about students' writing encouraging, and I'm going to look for those encouraging reminders for myself.

What is "real" Reading?

In helping my students think about increasing their reading stamina now that they're in middle school, I often look for ways to make it clear what reading behavior looks like in the classroom. I want to help them avoid the "fake" reading that often happens before they're fully into their books and to understand that I do realize it happens, but give them ways to try to become more focused so that they aren't distracting others and are able to make use of their reading time in class. I came across some anchor charts on Pinterest showing Real Reading vs. Fake Reading. I liked the idea of the chart delineating what each looks like, but as I started to make my chart I realized that I really disliked the idea of there being such a thing as "real" reading.

Something about that terminology just didn't sit well with me. I want my students to be motivated to read the books they choose based on their interest, and what I really want to see when I look around the room during reading time is a roomful of engaged students. Ones who are engaged in their books, instead of distracted by or distracting others around them. So as I compiled my list for the anchor chart to present to my students, I made a slight adjustment to the idea I saw. I talked with my students about Engaged Reading vs. Distracted Reading.

I introduced the chart saying that the distracted behaviors are ones I've seen in observations the first few weeks, but that they're also things I've occasionally done myself if a book isn't jiving with me or something major happens that distracts me that I can't stop thinking about. By acknowledging that it happens to all of us, and is something that even I (a "real" reader in their eyes) struggle with at times, I think it helps them be less worried about admitting they do it, too. They don't have to worry that if they sometimes do these things, they can't be "real" readers. But by presenting the engaged behaviors, it also gives them something tangible to try to do to move from distracted to engaged reading behaviors.

And whether engaged or distracted at a given moment, all of my students are real readers.

Who Will You (Choose to) Be?

If you follow any teacher pages on Pinterest, you've probably seen this bulletin board idea.

Via Pinterest from Entirely Elementary's Be yourself theme 

I know I did. And I wanted to put it up in my classroom as a kind of mission statement for the school year.

Be... 

The idea behind it for me is helping my middle schoolers have a visual reminder every day of what they're working toward as a member of our classroom community. Kids who are reminded to Choose Kind after hearing Wonder read aloud last year. Kids who have the Core Values of the school they're expected to demonstrate. But here's the thing...I didn't want to just put up another bulletin board that they might just ignore, or only read when they're bored. I wanted it to be something meaningful to them. I wanted them to take ownership of the idea. I wanted them to live this statement this year.

So why not have them create the words to fill the board?

I started with this; my mission statement for the year (+ above Be, I added Snail's reminder from our first day of school read aloud on bravery and friendship, The Story of Fish and Snail) on our classroom "Identity" board reminding us of what makes us who we are.

Then I introduced the idea.
I shared a read aloud of One by Kathryn Otoshi (a fabulous book with a powerful message - If you haven't read it, you should!)
I told them they would be filling in the blank: Be __________
I showed them my train of thought for what I chose: Be you. Be yourself. Be your best self.
I gave them some thought-provoking prompt questions: What matters to you? Who will you (choose to) be?

They had time provided to brainstorm a list of ideas.
They were encouraged them to choose the one that really spoke to them.
They discussed with classmates.
They showed me what they chose.
They got a blank piece of paper to fill in the blank in whatever way they chose.
They created a board that is better than any pre-created one I could have had...because it is meaningful to them. It is their ideas, and their classmates ideas, and their reminders of how/who they want to be this year.