Tsunami

I had a wonderful summer like always. I was busy at the beginning of the summer, and it was a good busy. I spent time working with some awesome teachers and vacationing. The summer was perfectly timed, meaning that I had the three or four weeks before school started to really, really relax. I was feeling a kind of peace that passes all understanding.

However, school started and it felt like I was hit by a tsunami. This school year, it did not feel like I had that honeymoon period that I think occurs at the beginning of most school years, or maybe that honeymoon period is all a figment of my imagination. (Memory is abstract!)

Emails and Emails about students who would need lots of love this year, getting adjusted to a new co-teacher, getting use to a new on-line system, and getting to know my new students. Many days, I felt like I was literally running around like a rat on a wheel.

However in the midst of the craziness, I managed to read eleven books and write two articles for Booksource's banter blog.

Here are the links to the articles:

How I Reimagined the Whole Class Novel and Transformed My Students Into Readers

Rethinking the Literary Canon for Today’s Learners

ENJOY, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Dawn....

"It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn."

                                                                The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

For folks who are not educators, I want you to know that school starts and it keeps going and going, I mean it just keep going and going. Before you even realize it, it is the middle of the school year, and many folks who work with children are tired to the bone. 

This school year has been rolling, and I looked up to catch my breath, and it was the end of the first half of the school year. Students wanted to do make-up work from three weeks ago: NO! Counselors were moving students into my classroom one week before the end of the quarter: NO! And, parents wanted to meet: NO! 

Y’all, I felt a lot like this: 

I have been practicing sitting with my feelings instead of acting out or telling everybody and their grandma. I did pretty good, but I did call a friend and say something like:

“I’m done with teaching.”

“Teaching is for young folks.”

I noticed that being in this state caused me to push my students even harder, and you know how that goes; The harder you push, the more they resist. I finally heard this voice loud and clearly: “This ain’t about the kids, this is about you.”

Yep, I need to work on not being influenced by outside forces.

So, this weekend, I got some much needed rest and church, and I went to school and changed my attitude. No lie, my students have been reading and asking questions. We had a great classroom discussion based on this incredible short story, and overall, things went well. Now, don’t get me wrong, I was tested a few times, but I focused inward, and....everything was all good. 

"It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn.”

Today was DAWN!

One of my co-workers came in EARLY this morning to let my students and me know that he had finished his first book of the school year, and he wrote it on his reading log:

DAWN

During study hall time, I had a table full of students who came to get help with their writings; I thoroughly enjoyed working with that small group who would not allow me to take a picture of them. 

DAWN

As I was working with this group of students, one of our counselors came in to add two books to her reading log, and she would not allow me to take a picture of her either.

DAWN

Right after talking with the counselor and working with the students, one of our assistant principals came in to write book titles on her reading log and to talk about books. 

DAWN

While the assistant principal was in the room, two other teachers came in to get book suggestions for some of their struggling readers, and you guys know how much I love talking about books and reluctant readers.

DAWN

Finally, my last class came in, and I have a few reluctant readers who actually read today and were visibly engaged. At the end of the class, one of the students even came to talk to me about the book that he is currently reading.

DAWN

I swear, If you had asked me a few weeks ago about teaching, I’m sure I would have stated quite a few unpleasant words; however, 

"It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn.”

To all of my people out there who feel like you are barely holding on....

"It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn.”

Mindset in the Classroom: Building a Culture of Success and Student Achievement in Schools by Mary Cay Ricci

I so believe in this book, Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci, and I do not believe that this book is just for educators, but I think that EVERYONE could benefit from this book.

This past summer I was in the car with some of my cycling teammates, and we were having one of those sort of deep conversations that we have at times. Not sure what we were talking about exactly, but Lydia stated something like this: "A person may say that he/she can not change the oil in his car, but if he works at it; he can." I repeated this and thought about it, and I repeated this and thought about it, and this conversation has stayed with me; we can change ourselves through discipline, consistency, and effort. Basically, Lydia was speaking from the growth mindset.

So, you know the parent who states that my child is not good at math, or my child is not a swimmer etc. Or, you know the adult who states I want to be a runner, but I can't run; or the adult who states that I was never good at whatever. People who say things like this, are operating under the fixed mindset. They believe that their talents and gifts are fixed and can not be changed, and that is exactly what Ricci talks about in this book.

This book deals with the idea of changing the way that people, mainly teachers, administrators, parents, and students, think about success and intelligence.

Ricci and I believe that every student and person can master whatever he or she is willing to put effort into. However, how many people give up when things get difficult? How many of you know people who quit jobs or school, because it was difficult? Ricci thinks that with effort, we can make difficult activities attainable.

In my own life, when I go to cross practice, and I get to a difficult part on the course, my first mind thinks that this is not for me, but my second mind states thinks that with practice, I will get better. (Don't always trust your first thoughts.) At my first two races, there were some tough ladies out there, and my first thought was, I will never be great at cross, but my second thought was that with discipline and consistency, I will get better at cross and can possibly be great... I know that I will get better than I am now with discipline and consistency.

I have been implementing the ideas in this book in my classroom, and my students are really digging the idea that they can change their brains, their intelligence is not fixed, and that I believe that every student can be the 'smart one.'

I must leave you with this incredible video about the brain:

My people, read this book and change your life and the life of the people you influence.

Reflective Thinking on Being a Teacher!

I know that there are teachers who are on the battlegrounds everyday; schools where there are so many barriers to being an effective teachers. There are people who are 'called' to be in those schools, and I commend the work that they do. I have been there before, and I had to come to the realization that it was not for me. Not that I felt that I was above those schools that require a dedication that goes beyond the call of duty, but being on that type of battleground was just not for me. I gave it my best try, but I prefer schools that have textbooks, technology, a certain level of professionalism, rules and regulations that are followed, paper to make copies with, copy machines that work most of the time etc. You feel me; there are basic things that I prefer in order to help students to be all that they can be. Can I teach without these things? Yea, I can, and I have, but the toll on my body and personal life was enormous.

So, when I am in my two classes of nine and eighteen 12th grade students, I never take this privilege for granted.

This week we have been doing presentations on the self-selected books that they read during the summer, and I am  in complete amazement at the books that they chose to read and the depth of knowledge that they displayed during their presentations. I have heard presentations on Into the Wild, Macbeth, Hamlet, The Great Gatsby, Paradise Lost, and Frankenstein, all done with creativity, enthusiasm, and with quite a bit of research. I thought that I knew everything about William Shakespeare, and this year, I have heard a few things that I have never heard before. I am so thrilled about the possibilities of where these students and I can go. I am learning soooo much.

With my 10th graders, I am focusing on the fixed vs. growth mindset in order to help them to understand that yea, reading may be difficult for them, but they can use strategies to get better. I am reinforcing that their brains are malleable and with hard work, dedication, and practice; they can and will improve.

I put this on the wall in my classroom as a reminder to them and me that we can and will become better in areas that we work on:

Now, as the year progresses, challenges will come up: students will have attendance issues, will not do homework, will not pass test etc. But, I will try and remember to not complain and to be grateful.

I am looking forward to trying to stay focus on the students and not losing site of the big picture: taking students a little further than they were when I got them.

Happy Friday, My People

I love My Job! I Really Do....

Papers that I need to grade SOON!

Yesterday, my mom asked me "How was your work day?" and I said "Awesome." My mom went on to say that she had never heard a teacher say that before, and we had a whole conversation about why I love teaching......

I am constantly telling my seniors to try and find out what they really are interested in and turn that into their career choice, because you might as well enjoy your career.

I really love to read, and I read all of the time and not always for pleasure. I read a whole lot for my job. 

Right now, I have about one hundred essays to read, I need to start reading The Kite Runner for my senior English class, I am currently reading for a professional development group that I am apart of, I am currently reading for a cultural competency training that my entire school is participating in, and I am currently reading Cutting for Stone for pleasure. 

Another teacher stated: "I do not know how you read all of those paper."

I do it, because I love it. Crazy right?

But, I really do love it.

Reading is food for my mind.

Reading my students' essays is an assessment of how I am doing as a teacher and how they are doing as students. Also, if I do my job correctly, every essay should be different and generate new ideas and new things for me to think about. So, how could I possible not enjoy reading all of those papers?

Also, I need to read to find new books to introduce into my curriculum, to keep abreast of what is going on in education, to feed my soul.........

With all of the other things that I have going on, I haven't had the opportunity to read All of those essays. So, I will come in on Saturday, after my morning run, in order to get caught up and breathe again. (You know I got to get my run in first!)

People, I hope that you are doing things that you really enjoy or "change the way that you look at things, and what you look at will change."

Enjoy this Wednesday!

I Got To Tell It!!!!!

So people, I got something to tell, and I must tell it NOW.

Here it is......

I got fire shut up in my bones.....

and the fire was caused by Toni Morrison and.......

this awesome novel: Song of Solomon!!!!

I did a sigh as soon as I got that out.

I have read Song of Solomon so many times, and every time that I read it, the urgency that I feel is unreal: I think about it, and I think about, and I think about, and I see something new every single time, and then I have more to think about, and I think about, and I think about........

I am so blessed that I teach Advanced Placement (AP) English, and I get to teach whatever novel that I want  to, and you know that I start every year with Song of Solomon. The discussions that this novel generates is enough to make me need to run around the school at least five times just to squelch some of the excitement that is "shut up in my bones."

Last week, one of my students asked me a question about breastfeeding in relationship to one of the main characters in Song of Solomon who was breastfeed until he was "old enough to talk, stand up, and wear knickers." This lead into a discussion about the woman on the cover of Time Magazine who was breastfeeding her child who was "old enough to talk, stand up, and wear knickers."

I mean, I have a whole classroom full of people to discuss one of my favorite novels with for at least three weeks or until every last one of us get sick and tired.

And every single time I read and discuss this novel, I am given something new to think about....Oh, how BLESSED I am...

Now, I am on chapter four of Song of Solomon, and it's literally like "fire shut up in my bones." As I am reading it and writing this blog, my heart is racing, and I almost want to cry tears of joy that Toni Morrison wrote this incredible book that has taken my love for reading and teaching to a whole 'nother level.

Wow, if you have not read it yet, you MUST......

Please read this novel.....OK

And if you have read it before, Please read it again......

My heart is on fire........

I got to go; Song of Solomon is calling my name!!!!

By the way listen to Toni Morrison talk about Song of Solomon...

"Ain't she amazing?" or in my teacher voice "Isn't she amazing?"

I just had to tell it.........