Choice Novels

I believe that most teachers teach one novel at a time, or at least I do.....

If a teacher fully teaches one novel at a time, then that means that most teachers will teach approximately four novels during a school year.  A mere four books a year???

At the beginning of the school year, the language arts supervisor introduced the idea of choice novels. Her theory is that there are so many books in the world, and why would we limit students to four books a school year that are normally teacher selected? She proposed that we allow students choice in what they read, meaning that there may be lots of different novels being read at the same time in the same class.

At first I just could not wrap my mind around this idea. I was wondering, how would a teacher monitor if students are reading, how would I teach reading skills and concepts, how would I control this???

However, I started to grapple with this idea, and I know that I am madly in love with teaching literature, because I am always trying new things and trying new things helps to keep me relevant and intensifies my love for teaching literature.

With three other teachers who make up a Professional Learning Team, we decided to give this choice novel idea a try. We met to discuss the different possibilities, we created new things, and one by one we started to implement the idea of choice novels into our classrooms.

I decide that I would start with choice short stories with my tenth grade students. So, I selected five short stories and put students into groups. The groups decided which short story they would read, and they read the stories, worked on literary activities and vocabulary, and they also completed a visual that portrayed the theme and their likes and dislikes of their selected story. My people, this worked better than I could have ever imagined. The class was alive with students discussing literature and literature concepts. Their final visual depictions of their short stories blew me away:

After this success, I talked to one of the librarians, and I did something that I have not done in eighteen years of teaching; I took students to the library to actually browse around and find books that they would like to read. They asked questions like “Can I read a book about somebody?” Can I read any book in this library?” You should have felt their joy when they realized that the library was their playground.

I gave the guidelines for reading their choice novels, and we are reading in class, working on activities, and discussing literature. I am no longer having to beg students to read; they are reading and reading and reading, and the added bonus is that I get to read in class every single time that they read.

My people, change can be scary, but it can definitely be liberating. I would rather try something new and fail then to do the same thing over and over and over again......

The one thing that is consistent is change, and those who refuse to change become obsolete!

Loving Choice Novels Today!

A Spring Day in the Life of a Teacher

I have to tell you about a great spring day in the life of a teacher. Not every day is a good day, but that's really in the way that you see things. So, most of my days are pretty darn good as a teacher.

So, yesterday, I got up around 6am, took a shower and ate the same breakfast that I eat every day. (Old fashioned oatmeal with cinnamon and a protein shake with a few blueberries.) I grabbed my lunch that I prepared the day before and my bicycle, and I headed out the door.

My first class started with a student doing a presentation on Romeo and Juliet. Once she said that she was doing her presentation on Romeo and Juliet, I gave her this puzzled looked and asked, "Did I give you permission to do that play?" She said that I did. I was wondering why would I say yes to doing a presentation on Romeo and Juliet when it is taught extensively to every student in this school? But, Oh well, I sucked it up and got ready for ANOTHER presentation on Romeo and Juliet.

This student totally shocked her classmates and me by giving a very refreshing spin on William Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet. She even introduced some ideas that I had never heard before. Her presentation really gave the class a warm feeling, and we all left feeling upbeat, or at least I was feeling upbeat. (We really thought that we knew everything that there was to know about Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet.)

My next class was working on essays on Romeo and Juliet. (As stated before, every student in this school extensively studies Romeo and Juliet.) I had to talk to them about the fact that my name is not editor. I want them to get use to the idea of reading over their own papers, correcting their mistakes, then asking me to correct the mistakes that they do no find. This went pretty well. I ended up reading six or seven essays that were actually good. (I must pat myself on the back.)

After that class, I had my planning period and lunch. So, I ran to wholefoods to get an omelet and later talked to a teacher about Treayvon Martin, the Revolution, the faculty meeting that would be held later etc. Then, I scurried to my classroom to get some work done: answering emails, grading papers, planning, and adding more things to my "to do list."

My last class of the day was a group of ninth graders who were working on Greek Mythology projects. It was so great to see students working in groups to create a puppet show, comic strip, powerpoint or any other idea that they would like to demonstrate their understanding of their chosen Greek Myth. We ended the class by watching a PBS special on God and Goddessses

After my last class, I headed downstairs to a faculty meeting where we were given ice cream and discussed a training that our entire school will participate in next year. (I didn't eat the ice cream. Hooray for me) The meeting was quite interesting.......We have to wait to see how the training goes next year. (I am keeping my fingers cross, because we all know how those trainings can go.)

Then, the other part of my life started!!!!

I changed into my biking gear, and my co-workers and I rode our bikes into DC to see the famous Cherry Blossoms. What a fun filled, good for the heart, ride in more than one way!

I got home around 7:30, had a great salad, and thought "Everything's gonna be alright!"

Teachers do "A Million Things" in a single day and usually with love.

I wonder what non-teachers do at work? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm