Gettysburg

One of my not-education "hobbies" is family history.  It is exhilarating to me when I find a link to a relative, and especially cool when I can place that relative in history.I have found some relatives that fought during the Civil War - and on both sides of that conflict.  My Dutch-born great-grandfather, Anthony Duym, was at Gettysburg 150 year ago as a soldier in the New York 52nd Infantry. He was about 22 years old at the time.I often joke that my great-grandfather must have been standing in the back of the line for most of the Civil War; to my knowledge he was uninjured despite being in some of the more well-known battles of that conflict. 150 years ago today, his company was in the middle of the fighting in Gettysburg.In history class, I learned that people came out in carriages with picnic baskets to watch the battle as if it were a sporting event. How wrong that was! One of, if not the, bloodiest battles fought on US soil, visiting Gettysburg in modern times is a humbling experience.One hundred fifty years is a lot of time passed. It is easy to glamorize and forget the horrible parts of a battle and of a war.I wish I could have asked my great-grandfather to tell me about his time in the Union Army. I cannot help wondering how it changed him.

Change is good

Like lots of teachers, I am burnt to a crisp mentally by the time June arrives. Some years, this happens sooner - usually those are the years that can be identified as curriculum change years.This year has been a particular challenge. You see, this year, everything was new again. I have been teaching for a l-o-n-g time and while I never teach the same things the same way twice - which makes sense, the kids are different and have different needs - one would think there would be something that would be connected to prior years.Not true of the academic year that has just ended. We were charged with changing our math curriculum, our science curriculum, and our English Language Arts curriculum. The level of discomfort with curriculum was pretty high.The amount of time preparing was off the charts. Why? Because anyone in the education field can tell you that those Grade 3-6 materials suggestions are often (mostly) directed toward students in the middle of that grade span.  In other words, we - my grade level team and I - spent inordinate amounts of time trying to find comparable materials to teach our students.My husband tells me that I'm a "magic bullet" kind of person. I am continually looking for the just right solution.  To this end, I discovered a great book by Mike Anderson and published by ASCD: The Well-Balanced Teacher.  If you are a study-guide kind of person, here is a link you might enjoy. FB fiends (guilty!) might like this page.It has been an eye-opening read. And somewhat comforting to know that there are plenty of other educators feeling the same way I do about the need to work smarter and be more balanced.  Ten months of 10- to 12-hour days does not make for a happy, creative teacher.Summer is a time of renewal. A time to reset those parts of my life that have gone out of balance. It is time to make change good.

Educating the Whole Child

When you ask kids about their favorite subject in school, one of the most popular answers (after lunch) are "recess" and "gym". Why is that?

Kids seem to inherently know they need some physical exercise. They know they feel better when they get to move around. Brain and body breaks aside, kids need to exercise.So why is it that in the current educational culture, recess and gym are given the short straw? This school year, my students were allotted 10 minutes (including travel time) recess time and 50 minutes of gym instruction.  I'm sure they run (!) right home and go outdoors to play after school - not.From my perspective, childhood obesity is not just some sad story on the evening news. It is real. And we need to start by allowing students more time to get out there and move.

Making Lunchtime Civilized

About six weeks ago, I found an article in the Washington Post that caught my attention: School Lunch Can Be A Teachable Moment.Does the institutional nature of school lunch periods make a difference to kids? The idea that using place settings to create a more civilized lunch period sent me straight to Home Goods (our local source of discounted home furnishings).Our school days are short of time; devoting time for students and teachers to eat together as the author of the Post article advocates just doesn't seem to be possible. But there was something I could do. My idea? To use one lunch period each week to each with a small group of students.The environmentally-unfriendly styrofoam trays, and plastic baggie filled with a spork and paper napkin were replaced with actual silverware, plates, napkins and place mats. Each week we pick a day for a group of 4 students to eat upstairs - fancy lunch.It has been such a fun experience for all of us I think. First of all, the calmness of eating in a classroom was not lost on any of the students. Each group has commented on the quietness of eating together, of having quiet conversations.Many of my students don't eat at a table with the family for dinner or supper. They shared that they often eat in front of a television, in a living room, using finger foods. We practiced setting a table with silverware, we learn to utensils, we learn to cut food into bite-sized portions.We are learning to enjoy a meal together.

Life's Lessons in a Commencement Address

Recently I happened upon a video of Steve Jobs giving the 2005 Commencement address at Stanford University.  Having sat through a number of such addresses - and well aware of how rare is the speech that is remembered 30 minutes afterwards - I was curious what, beside the celebrity of the speech-maker, might be the substance that made this video worth watching.If you have 15 minutes, the video is posted here, but there is also a transcript link here.The take-away? Three of life's most powerful pieces of advice - trust your own instincts; don't settle, pursue your dreams; live your life as if today was to be your last.In the current education environment under which I work, it is difficult and near impossible to follow this advice. My instincts tell me that trying to squish a load of (ahem) stuff into the heads of young learners isn't working. It is making for miserable kids who don't excel in the learning mode that is required to perform "successfully" (quotes on purpose). I wonder what the percentage of students who just plain give up might be.I worry a lot about the future of education. Imagine a time when a student being able to pursue the study of something like calligraphy either in high school or college, just because. There is far too much pressure on students and on their training to be successful after graduation(s). Had Steve Jobs not taken the path through college that he did, Apple's dedication to elegance of design in all things Apple, from fonts to hardware, may not have happened.I am at a turning point in my career - I don't have many years left to do this thing that I love so well. "Don't settle, pursue your dreams...." and "live each day as if it were your last." Is what is happening in classrooms today the way I want my students to remember their early education? When the answer is no, there is work to be done.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

When Teacher Has an Aha Moment

I am an avid reader of the Choice Literacy website. I love reading what the leaders in literacy have to say and particularly value those who not only share their pedagogy and thinking, but also work in classrooms with real students.  Franki Sibberson is one of those contributors on Choice Literacy; her writings always make me consider changes that can be made to the way I think about and deliver lessons to my students.This is Franki's post from this morning.  When I read it, it became clear to me that while the pull-outs for Tier 3 interventions give my struggling readers support the way instruction at K-2 does, my on- and above-grade readers need greater independence. And - surprise, surprise - every student needs the opportunity to read independently.  That's something I've said all along: Readers can't grow to be better readers if they never get the opportunity to try out or practice reading on their own. Oddly, I feel validated now - and more determined to make this happen in my classroom.As an experienced teacher, what Franki shares about learning - and letting go - with intermediate readers really resounded with me.  We struggle at our school with  providing just-right support to the readers who should be able to soar as readers with greater sophistication and skill alongside those who need greater support.  Reading Franki's article in Choice Literacy this morning made me see things in a new light: in my new 3rd- and soon-to-be 4th-grade classroom, I have two very different groups of readers. The level instruction must be different and will look different.This appears to fit with what our District reading guidelines.  As a district, we are moving toward book clubs and conferring in Grades 3 and 4. It is a model that I've dabbled in with my third graders - and now it will become more frequent. Our struggling readers receive Tier 3 supports through a pull-out program for 30 minutes a day - that will be their "guided reading".  Thinking of these two models side-by-side helps me to understand how to differentiate the literacy block for all readers.Teacher has had an aha moment.

And that's a wrap....

Yesterday, we - my class and I - wrapped up our standardized state testing for 2013.  What a long, strange, trip it has been.Starting last March with our Reading MCAS test, my students have been demonstrating their knowledge of third grade skills.  That's right, last March, when we were 7 months into our academic year (minus the week of snow days), my students had to demonstrate their end of year proficiency in Reading.  I may not have been the best math student on the planet, but I know that 7 months does not equal an entire school year.Yesterday, students completed their Mathematics tests. They worked so hard it is easy to forget that they are not taking the SAT or PSAT; they are 8- and 9-year olds performing on tests that take unbelievable amounts of stamina even if you are older.Kids are kids. While one child finishes a 45-minute test in 20 minutes, another will take twice or three times that time. One student completed the test twice - she literally went back to each question, reworked the answer and then wrote a sentence or two explanation for why her math was correct.  Two and one-half hours later, she finished this 45-minute test. After months of telling kids to "check, check, and double-check" your answers, I certainly was not going to discourage her effort!We had the usual events out of our control: no glasses.... sick.... Hopefully the impact of those variables won't be too great; however, my experience with MCAS - and now that it plays a part in my own teacher evaluation this becomes more important - is that it can have an impact and I do need to document just in case. Sad but true, MCAS is not just about student achievement.So yesterday we put a period at the end of "MCAS 2013", and today we return to our regular classroom routines. I can't put a quantifier on it, but the classroom mood sure seems a lot lighter. 

Do You Loop?

This week my principal approached me with an intriguing question - would you be willing to loop to fourth grade with your students?I needed a little time to think about that, but not for the reasons you might assume. My hesitation had nothing to do with a repeat year with my students, some of whom have been quite a challenge this year.You see, I've been in my classroom space for the past 6 years; the thought of moving (again) was just depressing. Imagine the amount of treasure I've saved in those closets "just in case". Secondly, not all of our classrooms have been equipped with the projection and MOBI technology that we have been using this year. Would my "new" space - because I would be trading classrooms with a colleague from Grade 4 -- have this technology installed?In the end, of course I said yes. The fourth grade teacher with whom I will share this adventure is similarly excited and we've already begun to meet to toss around ideas for making transitioning easy for both of us.I look at my students differently already. I know I get an opportunity to start a school year with them at an advantage: they already know me (and my limits) and I know them too.So while I needed a moment to consider this idea, I am excited to start planning and preparing for another year with the same students. And I am looking for advice from teachers who have done this. Do you loop?

The Aftermath

Their uncle called them "losers".What can make a difference in the life of a youth whose behaviors are at once destructive to humanity and self-destructive?We hope and wait for answers to the "why" of the Marathon tragedy; those answers may never materialize. Why was there such a disconnect to the rest of humankind? Why would creating bombs and firing guns be an answer?Last year, Adrien worked to photograph a wonderful organization working with Lowell area youth. The group, UTEC, (United Teen Equality Center) has the mission to "ignite and nurture the ambition of Lowell's most disconnected young people to trade violence and poverty for social and economic success".  Listen to the stories these young people tell of how they were once disenfranchised and the difference UTEC has made in their lives. The following short video and the story of the project are the results of Adrien's association with UTEC last summer.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJDkEJ8XgNE&feature=youtu.be]

At this time when we are wondering what triggered the Tsarneav brothers to disconnect from humanity, it makes me pause and wonder if there was a moment that might have changed their course as well.  This is, of course, a mammoth leap of speculation.We may never know that answer to why the Tsarneav brothers did what they did, why their uncle called them "losers". But we can be thankful for the UTECs of the world who help the disenfranchised become successful members of the world in which they live.

Tell Me About The Good

It has been a hellish week, this vacation week that so many of us in Massachusetts looked forward to. Today we are about and around in sunny, but unseasonably cool spring weather. The grass has finally decided to green up, daffodils feel safe poking up from the damp earth. Most of our routines have returned normally - things seem the same, but they are forever changed.In New England we continue to feel pain. Words fail most of us. So we hug, we cry, we read - and some of us write, or at least try to do so.Yes, the suspects - or at least the ones who seem directly connected by evidence - of this heinous atrocity seem to be either dead or locked up. But I defy any human not to think of the four victims of Marathon Monday's bombing without an indelible sadness of 4 lives that were cut short too soon. Or the lives of those people who, simply by going outdoors on a fine April morning, now have the climb of a lifetime ahead of them. Will we ever feel safe again in a crowd?Yesterday, a priest at St. Irene's Church in Carlisle gave one of the most powerful homilies about evil and good that I have ever heard. At the end of his talk he read this Facebook posting from Cam Siciliano, which I quote here:

I don't want to know his name. I don't want to see his face. I don't want to know his life's history, his back-story, who his family is, where he went to school, or what he liked to do in his spare time. I don't want to know what "cause", if any, he was fighting for. I don't want to know why he did it, or may have done it, or what possessed him to carry out his actions. I don't want to know. Because that's what he really wants. I'll be damned if I'm going to give him what he wants.Put him on trial, but don't cover it. Tell me when you decide to jail him for three lifetimes - because that number matters. That's the number of lives he has to now pay for. That's all I want to know about him. Nothing else.Instead, tell me about the first responders who ran towards the fray, within seconds, fearless. Tell me about the ones wearing the yellow volunteer jacket, or the neon police vest, or even the ones in the regular everyday t-shirt who became a helper. Tell me the story about the first responder who held gauze over a wound until they made it to the hospital. Tell me the story about the volunteer who held the hand of the injured spectator until they got into the ambulance. In six months, tell me the story of those who lost a limb, who beat the odds, pulled through countless surgeries, and are learning to walk again. Tell me the story about the love, the compassion, and the never-ending support of thousands, millions, of people who support the victims here. Tell me their stories. Tell me everything you can, because they are the ones that matter. Tell me of the good that they have done, are doing, and will continue to do, regardless of... No, not regardless of, in spite of. In spite of that someone who would do them harm. Because that's what freedom in this country means. It means coming together in the hardest of times, even in the face of unfathomable adversity, to make life better for all those around us.Tell me the good stories. That's all I want to hear.

I know that at some point I need to learn about the two alleged perpetrators of this atrocity. If there is something that can be gleaned from their self-destructive path that will help the disenfranchised students that I often-times see, I will need to reflect on that. Maybe there is some connection that can be made, maybe not.But for now, I too, need to hear about the good, the kind, the compassionate humans who rose above the evil that we have just experienced this past week. Don't we all?

To My Congressional Representatives

I know that I have only one voice. But I have one, and I am determined to use it.On the four month anniversary of Sandy Hook, we are reminded that nothing has been done to prevent yet another shooting of this nature.  Listen to the family members of the victims in this tragedy. They live the aftermath of our society's inability to do something. 60 minutes 4-7-2013Today, family members of the victims of this tragedy will be in Washington, DC. I implore our representatives in Congress to listen - do not rush by arrogantly and claim you are "all set" as one insensitive Connecticut representative does in the video.  Listen, listen to these people who will live with the aftermath of this tragedy for the rest of their days.We cannot afford to be complacent, afraid of controversy, or stubbornly one-sided in these discussions. This is a complicated issues -- along with gun control, we can no longer ignore those who face mental challenges, and yet, through stigma and misconception, are outcast from receiving meaningful help and assistance. We cannot allow, as the NRA has suggested, our schools to become armed bastions.Something needs to change here. It's not just Sandy Hook - violence impacts families and communities every day. Read, or at the very least, look at the graphic of mass shootings found this article from Mother Jones.My own students sometimes come to class - third grade - with stories of guns going off in their neighborhood. They know the difference between a car backfiring and the sound of a gun. Is this the kind of childhood we want for our children?Please contact your own congressional representatives.  I have. 

Adventures in poetry

I'm afraid we didn't get very far in "diving deeper" into today's poetry selection. Mostly, today was a lesson in multiple meanings of words. By that, I mean, a word that meant one thing in the mid- to late-1800s (when this poem was written) and the colloquially accepted meanings that kids hear today.First of all, there was quite a bit of twitter about the fact that the poet of our first selection - Emily Dickenson - has a name that makes immature minds go into hysterics. Because, you know, her name has DICK in it. At that point, I knew this selection would be trouble. I just didn't know how much trouble I was in for.Here's the text of the poem:

AUTUMNEmily DickinsonThe morns are meeker than they were,The nuts are getting brown;The berry’s cheek is plumper,The rose is out of town.The maple wears a gayer scarf,The field a scarlet gown.Lest I should be old-fashioned,I’ll put a trinket on.

I anticipated "gayer" would cause a reaction, so I spent some time explaining that "gay" had another meaning when the poet was writing.Of course the little congregation of 9-year old boys at the back corner of the rug thought "nuts are getting brown" was hysterical. They couldn't contain their delight -- definitely wanted to share their unique perspective with all sitting within earshot.Maybe now that we have worked out all the vocabulary minefields, we can study this poem as the curriculum developers intended. Or not.

Poetry.... a little silly

We are beginning a new unit of study in English Language Arts this week - poetry! Going through this new unit I discovered a poem by Emily Dickenson - Autumn. And that reminded me of something Adrien shared with me long ago.You see, you can sing almost every Emily Dickenson poem to "The Yellow Rose of Texas". Try it. These folks did: Sing-a-Long-With-Emily. Still not a believer? Here's another:

"Hope" is the thing with feathers

254"Hope" is the thing with feathers—That perches in the soul—And sings the tune without the words—And never stops—at all—And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—And sore must be the storm—That could abash the little BirdThat kept so many warm—I've heard it in the chillest land—And on the strangest Sea—Yet, never, in Extremity,It asked a crumb—of Me.

Emily Dickinson

More serious analysts of literature will tell you that the meter of Dickenson's poetry is common meter - the same rhythmic pattern used in hymns. But for me, the Yellow Rose is indelibly etched into my head every time I try to read Dickenson. And now I dare you to get it out of your head as well.

Go Ahead.... Make My Day

My students started their state testing yesterday.While it continues to aggravate me that my kids are getting tested as if it were the end of the school year (which, believe me it is not!), the test is here and we need to deal with it. By the way, did I mention the test is scheduled before the second trimester has ended? And that this year the students will have had a week's less of instruction because of the snow days we've piled up here in Massachusetts?In the end, all I can do is ensure that my students have some strategies under their belts: strategies for decoding those challenging words - especially important for my English Language Learners, strategies for deriving word meaning within context, strategies for understanding what they're reading, and strategies for making the best out of this testing situation.I have no idea how my students did on yesterday's test. I am not allowed (by law!) to even take a look through students' completed test booklets to see that they haven't skipped a question. I do know that I saw children who are 8- and 9-years-old diligently reading (read the directions, read the italics, read the questions, THEN read the selection), and underlining, and rereading, and writing.If effort and persistence were something we were assessing, every single one of my kids would be proficient. And that makes my day.

Monitoring Language

Teaching in an urban educational setting has many challenges. Of course, there are challenges associated with trauma and with poverty and other social problems.One of the greatest challenges, in my opinion, is to work with students whose primary language is not English. In my current classroom, the ratio of native English speakers to English Language Learners, or ELLs is about 1:3. Just to be clear, 17 of the 23 students are acquiring English and learning in English simultaneously.I have a lot of admiration for my ELLs.  First of all, I attempted to learn a foreign (to me) language - and not just as a whim in high school.  After about 30 minutes of the teacher speaking to our group in the new language, in my case Italian, I thought my brain was going to burst. Hanging on to my minimal grasp of Italian and understanding about 10 percent of what was being said is exhausting! By the end of a three-hour class, I could have curled up into the fetal position and never come out.In a classroom with such a large percentage of ELLs, we accommodate English and English acquisition all of the time. We work with realia, we check in and monitor when vocabulary is incomprehensible, we shelter our students' learning as they acquire the language in which they are expected to work and perform.One of the most important things I think I do for my students is insist on speaking. If that seems like a "duh" moment, realize that when managing 23 personalities in group discussion and activity how easy it is to accept a head shake or pointing or some other gesture in place of using words.I - and we - accept gestures in communication all of the time. The importance of using verbal communication is in learning the constructs of English and in increasing the vocabulary word bank of my ELLs.Even after so many years in this teaching environment, I catch myself accepting nonverbal communication from my students. It is an easy habit to slip back into - for both of us! But it is one habit that we constantly monitor because the success of my students who are acquiring English as they work in English depend upon it.

Blaming the Common Core?

This morning's Washington Post carried an Op-Ed piece by Deborah Kenney, founder of Harlem Village Academies. Unlike many charter schools run by large (overseas) conglomerates trying to turn education into cash cows, this charter appears to have pedagogy and students at the center.The question Ms. Kenny poses? Is the Common Core causing school experiences to become rigid, developmentally inappropriate, prison-like experiences? Or is it poor pedagogy? Or is it something else?I started examining the Core when it first came out - partially because of my interest in mathematics curriculum development.  I do believe having the road map for instruction that comes out of the Core is beneficial. I know I may be lulled into subtly lowering expectations for my students because the topic is difficult or because there is some roadblock to students' learning. Checking adherence to the rigor that is expected of most students at grade level serves as a reminder of the goal and expectations.The contrasting examples Ms. Kenny cites - a Kindergarten class learning about verbs through interactive and directed play and the class where students didn't speak except for a rote response to a drill activity on the same topic - point to what I believe is the giant release the core gives teachers. Or at least what it should give us: we are free to address the standards in whatever way our students need. This is the aspect of the Common Core that excites me, the potential to address the curriculum as creatively as I want.Instead of relying on a textbook, series, or program, what if we plan collaboratively with our colleagues for the students we have in front of us without fear of reprimand for not using some mandated materials? Instead of using a textbook as a Bible, use it as a resource -- go to it when necessary? Unpack those standards, understand what happens vertically as well as in our own grade level.Raise your hand if you've seen large textbook publishers "correlations" to state or Common Core standards. Did they make sense to you? Well, most of the time they didn't to me either.  It seems as if those correlations are marketing materials aimed at purchasing agents within districts. The connections to what we are teaching seem truly fuzzy. Okay, I'll say it..... they are bogus. A lot of the time.As one of a team of teachers aligning our available materials to Common Core math standards, I frequently hear teachers complain that they have to go looking for materials. That's a fact, but it is a fact by design. There are many inventive teachers out there who relish the chance to tap into their creativity and deliver meaningful and memorable lessons.Our students deserve a rigorous education. They deserve one that is not stifling, or rigid, or devoid of the joy of learning. What we need is time to collaborate, time to research best practice, time to unpack standards.  

Well, That Was Ugly

I have always thought it important for students to learn to work cooperatively. When I worked in the private sector, we worked as teams or groups - almost never without some kind of interaction with colleagues.  Kids need to know how to work in collaborations, too.  And so, we set out this week to work in cooperative groups to create "rules" for defining two-dimensional polygons.I modeled the expected outcome (a chart listing the attributes of the four polygons each group was investigating). I semi-randomly created groups of 4 students with one eye on creating a heterogeneous group. Defined and had students take on group jobs - recorders, materials, etc. And sent the groups on their merry way to focus on the task.Which failed miserably. Why? Because despite our attention to polite dialogue (one student ended up telling her group to "shut the hell up"), the task of working with others needed to be broken down further. Even the simple - or so I thought - task of choosing one out of the four to record on chart paper was unattainable. I ended up spending much of the period on how to choose a recorder, what the responsibilities might be for the materials manager, etc.Clearly, this is something my students and I need to work on aggressively. After we re-gathered in our meeting spot to talk about what was not working, I knew we needed to work much more diligently on getting along in a group so that the task (remember that?) actually is completed. Yes, this is a very egocentric group; many try to have private conversations with me at the same time! But we need to learn how to get along in a group and how to negotiate working under group dynamics.And that, my friends, was the take-away from that math lesson.  

You convinced me!

We all need a good laugh - or even just a smile - every so often. Just to remind us of the joy that can be teaching.In the midst of this silly season - this season when there is some hefty assessment going on - I had one of those moments as I corrected a sizable (read daunting) stack of persuasive reviews. Third grade writers are very earnest in their recommendations - even my less nuanced writers try their darnedest to convince me with their very best 9-year-old logic.Here is the writing that made me smile:

Slerp! Crunch! Ahh! China Buffet the place I love, I’ll show you, actually show you all the amazing features with a con about… China Buffet of course. I previously mentioned that earlier. The food: China Buffet has some good food like the refreshing cold and hot, (I meant for it to be hot and cold) beverages which will eternally rock your socks off. You will be doing your stomach a favor!And then there’s seafood, not much of it, but worth it. There’s about a dozen creamy rich flavored ice creamy smooth textured ice cream flavors. There is a fish tank with angelfish, clownfish, and tiger fish. It’s near Sleepy’s and Chuck E. Cheese (and Target).China Buffet has great service. You use tongs to “get” food instead of ordering on a menu and waiting for cooked food. It’s already done!And now for a con, one measly con. Your reaction may be “What! You can’t find the bathroom!” It’s silly yes, it’s there though. I’ve been there numerous times. (P.S. there’s fruit cocktails, pork fried rice, sushi, Jell-o, fortune cookies, chicken, shrimp, clams, etc.).So that’s why you should go check out China Buffet. I rate it 5 stars.

Come to think of it, I would like to do my stomach a favor! Hope there's a table available!

Going Rogue

When you need to just shut the classroom door and do what you know is right even when it seems to fly in the face of dictates or policy - through research, through professional experience - we call that "going rogue".Recently, I heard someone higher on the food chain that I, say that "we don't read for fun or enjoyment" any more. Seriously.  After I picked my chin up off the table, I began to think about this.  And the person was totally correct; we don't read for fun. We read for purpose and it is frequently not that much fun. For anyone.Before someone jumps on me for not be instructional, I do use literature to demonstrate, model, and instruct. Focused literacy lessons using carefully selected genres and books are necessary to expose students to lots of things they need to become more advanced and literate readers. Totally on board with the concept.  But shouldn't there be some room for fun? Shouldn't kids have some time when teacher reads aloud for pure enjoyment? A time when minds are engulfed in imagination? If we are raising a generation of readers, shouldn't THAT be part of the curriculum, too?This past week, I have gone off the grid not once, but twice. I have gone rogue.  Oh the horror - I read two texts just for fun. And guess what? My students APPLAUDED when I completed the book! They enjoyed it.I hope any of my administrators who read this will understand, it is not because I wish to be contrary or defiant.  I do this because I believe that if we don't include modeling WHY we read for recreation, we've missed the boat on a major purpose for reading. Along with being college and career ready, we need to foster habits for inquiring minds that will take these kids into their adulthood.  We need to read because it is fun.So, expect me to include reading simply for enjoyment more frequently.  I am going rogue.

February 3, 2013

I live in the Center of an Old New England town.  The wide stone walls that used to mark property lines or separate fields from farmhouses still stand in this part of town.  This wall still marks a border and delineates our property on nearly 2 sides.

Unlike the more roughly made stone walls that ran through property my parents owned in New Hampshire, this wall is massive - several feet wide in most places and about shoulder height.

On our side of the wall, the stones appear stacked with randomness, yet in the hundred or so years since the wall was built, they have stood strong. But on the other side - the side that faces an abandoned clearing of what used to be the estate for one of the town's more upright citizens, the wall is precisely assembled so that it forms a sheer wall of stone, carefully pieced together.

I like to hang out back near our wall. It is quiet there, through now overgrown with bittersweet vines, wild roses, and other herbage that was never purposely planted.

I wonder at the strength and the purposefulness of the builder of this wall. assembled long before machinery would have lessened the load.