Toward a Hierarchy of Evidence

One of the posters that I have hanging in my room says HOW DO YOU KNOW? I refer to it often. As we continue writing consistently, it doesn't take long for students to become willing to share their opinions in what they write. However, providing support for their opinions and ideas is something that I have to continue to encourage.

One of the conversations we return to on a fairly regular basis is what makes supporting evidence effective?

This popped up in my mind again recently when I was retooling my mini-unit on sound techniques. Because where was the first place I looked for definitions on the different types of rhyme? Wikipedia. I feel like such a fraud!

But then when I went digging through my professional books and student texts, I noticed that Wikipedia had better answers! The wiki page had more detail, more examples, and clearer explanation.

It only gets more complicated when we start trying to compare good sources of evidence. Which is more important, an author's statement of intended purpose or a reader's response to the work? how valid are interpretations based on patterns in other works by the author? based on the author's social environment? based on the current social environment?

Dana Huff touches on this in The Essentials of an Effective Writing Assignment (check out the last paragraph of the post). I'm with Gardner on this, but... it is often difficult to explain the difference in validity between a strong, well-supported interpretation and an interpretation that either has less support or has support that is weak. It's just soooo nuanced.

And it's even MORE difficult to explain how different types of support should be weighted, particularly when I haven't really worked it out in my own mind!

And don't even get me started on Steven Pinker and Jonah Lehrer. That just throws everything out of whack!

Image thanks to ohspd.blogspot.com

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AST Playshop

Some days are more frustrating than others. I get SO TIRED of asking / telling students to listen without interrupting, to put snacks and drinks away, and to follow the dress code. Seriously! And what's especially frustrating is that it's not like they're being defiant (up until it becomes an issue when I mention it - then I get attitude). For the most part they're not even really being rude - just inconsiderate and/or thoughtless. Like they go to save the practice yearbook page they've been working on for thirty minutes and realize they're not sure how and all of a sudden it's MRS KEYS MRS KEYS HOW DO I SAVE THIS? when I'm in the middle of helping someone else. They don't even realize how wrong they are when I stare at them as though they've got lobsters crawling out of their ears.

I need to get a ticket dispenser...

ANYWAY, that's mostly a tangent. Yesterday several of the actors from the New American Shakespeare Tavern (in Atlanta) came to our school and worked with my seniors on Macbeth.

I hope to have some photos to upload soon; more behind the cut for now.

They started by getting everyone into a circle... sorta... We did a little movement with "spirit fingers... JAZZ HANDS! ... spirit fingers... JAZZ HANDS!" and then the Wave, which got them making some noise as well.

Then they went around the circle and had each person say either "bloody," "bawdy," or "villain." They did this a couple of times, first just saying it, then encouraging the students to do something with their hands and facial expression. And THEN they said, "okay, if you said 'bloody,' go over in this group, 'bawdy' in that group, and 'villain' stay on stage." (I think.) Anyway, it was pretty cool that the students were counting off by three and didn't know! Mwahahaha!

Next, they practiced acting with Shakespearean insults. These weren't the mix-n-match kind; they were actually lines from plays. (We'll get to "what? You egg!" soon... hee hee! I wonder if they'll recognize it...)

Running short on time.

Ok, then each group practiced two condensed scenes, focusing on interpretation - not everybody had a speaking part, but we had interactive scenery! More on this later.

Finally, we wrapped it up and the groups performed their scenes in order. Much applause! There was a little time at the end for a short Q&A with the actors.

I'm going to ask the students to reflect on it in their Writer's Notebooks today.

Image thanks to http://www.freewebs.com/palatium/

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I Can't Do It Alone

So last weekend I did get to go to some of the workshops run by Mischief Man, as well as (yay!) lots of panels on the YA Lit track and the SFLit track. And I realized a few important things.

1) I really, honest-to-goodness have NO interest in writing professionally.
2) You don't get to talk about books and/or the craft of story unless you're a published author.
3) Authors get to talk about books A LOT.

This is incredibly frustrating, because THAT'S what I want to do. I was constantly, constantly biting my tongue at the panels I went to and OMG it was torture.

And I only get to do this once a year! If I don't find some sort of outlet for book-geeking I am going to go crazy. I am going to go EVEN CRAZIER THAN I ACTED TODAY DURING FOURTH BLOCK!

So I need your help. (Very, very mild profanity behind the link.)

To be a more effective teacher (by setting a good example for my students and demonstrating the behaviors I want them to practice), I need to write more.

To be able to talk about books A LOT and thus preserve my sanity, I need to write more.

So. I am going to write more. (Imagine me doing one of those hitting-my-own-palm gestures.) This month, I am going to update Epic Adventures with original content three times each week: Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. Plus the Carnival on Wednesdays, but I'm not counting that. Next month, I am going to complete a series of exercises designed to get me thinking about fiction - specifically, a novel. And then the month after is November, which means NANOWRIMO, during which I will write The Damn Amazing Book (working title).

(This should not, of course, be confused with the Damn Book.)

(Also: I told you it was mild! You naughty thing, you!)

There weren't (alas!) any workshops called "Writing Is Like Broccoli: You'll Learn To Love It." But I did get a chance to corner Mischief Man, who suggested - in all sincerity, though he was chuckling a bit - that I tell myself that it's fun. That I love doing this.

Guys, I am just not that good a liar.

I need YOU to lie to me.

Tell me it's worth it. Tell me that it gets easier. Encourage me to keep going. Tell me that adversity builds character. Tell me you can't WAIT to read my next post. Oo, here's a good one: remind me that I said I would, because it's WAY harder to let things slide when I feel like someone's counting on me.

Lie - and maybe I'll believe it.

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SSR times

Over at 88 Generalizations about Free Voluntary Reading, Stephen Krashen says that free reading time (which I call self-selected reading) should be done every day. (In fairness, he does have it marked as "insufficient research available.")

My concern with doing so is that we then spend 10-15 minutes reading, and that's a short enough time period that my nonreaders can "fake it."

I think as we get into next nine weeks, I'll probably do independent reading AND independent writing every day. But what I'll do is I'll flipflop how much of each we do. So M/W/F we'll start with 20 minutes of reading, and then do a 5-min quickwrite. T/T we'll do 5-10 minutes of reading, and then 10-15 minutes of more in-depth writing.

We're finishing up the proofs for the book. And I have students who are SCHEDULED to be in pictures - senior stuff - and they're just not showing up when they've said they will.

AND, one of the students who's working on a particular page has been out for several days, so of course nothing has been done.

I have grading that absolutely MUST get done tonight, and the book WILL come in on time. Period. It is not my book. And if the students don't get the work done, I'll fix anything that's an actual mistake, and then the book will go in.

I am SO OVER IT.

I'm tired. I'm ready for the school year to be OVER - and we've still got 45 more class days left.

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Fools Rush In

So I've started Writer's Workshop. Not real happy about what I'm doing (at least not yet) but oh well, I'm going for it. :P It may get a bit messy, but hopefully nobody will end up dead or anything.

"Write Beside Them" is at this point an unattainable ideal. If I'm not up and policing the room, they're not writing. GRH. And during SSR, I have nooo problem walking around with a book in my hand, but writing while ambulatory is a skill that I have not yet mastered. Maybe if I had some kind of desk-harness, like the drummers get for marching band, I could do it.

Actually... that would be kind of cool. A wearable desk/podium. Even cooler, of course, would be a Segway with a podium up at the front of it... and a power outlet by the controls. Hm. Maybe that should be my next entry in my Writer's Notebook:

Dear Santa, I want a Ferrari and a customized Segway.

Day before yesterday I noticed that two of my students simply weren't writing. I felt my temper flare up... I mean, it just annoys me to NO END when I give clear, specific, SIMPLE instructions and they aren't followed. GOD that pisses me off.

But... I didn't chew them about about it. In fact, I didn't even say anything until the next day. See, they were reading their SSR books, and I could tell by their posture and their expressions that they were really into the story. So I didn't redirect them at the time.

I dunno. Maybe I should've. I did talk to them later and say "look, we have time for reading. And we have time for writing. I'd like you to show respect for our class and for your learning by following the directions I give you." And they seemed to be cool with that - they did spend writing time writing yesterday.

***

I'm tired of feeling like a n00b. It's frustrating. This is something I'm being pushed into, I'm not ready for it, and it annoys me to feel like I'm fumbling around, just kind of HOPING things work out. This is my fourth year! I should be past this stage, dammit!

But without being pushed into it, would I have incorporated a writer's workshop? I like to think so. I think I would've started out with reader workshops first, and then as I got more familiar with the workshop setting and became more comfortable working in it, I would've begun doing writing workshops as well.

And hopefully once I get this yearbook submission sent in, there'll be less all-around scrambling on that front and I can concentrate on setting up the rest of the WWs.

Image thanks to http://www.directortom.com/

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Running around like...

So last Friday's lesson went well. Today's lesson went... well, not terribly poorly, but not so well. I don't think we can do reading workshop and writing workshop on the same day. There's just too much to do.

Today, for example, we did a grammar starter, looking at three model sentences for prepositions & capitalization/punctuation & writer's intent. Silly me, I thought it MIGHT take ten minutes. O no. It takes 15-20. AAAURGH.

So then I extend SSR time, because there's really not much point in having, say, 5 minutes of reading. It's way too easy to fake. Half an hour into the period, we start the minilesson, which is feedback on their friendly letters, which they did for homework due Friday and I gave back today. (Supposedly.) Maaaybe a quarter of the students turned them in. (There is definitely a "you can't flunk all of us" mentality here - although I don't sense resistance, just... inertia, really.) Anyway. So after explaining that I want the letters to be more personal and use specific details & examples, I model writing a letter to the dear BRAT who is insisting that I read a BORING BOOK!

I can't believe it took me as long as it did. It was like … fifteen minutes JUST for the letter! And then we discussed it – what I did and why, and how I might've made it better. Another five minutes there. Yikes!

So then we started "The Last Dragonboy," which SHOULD have been an easy read. Apparently not so much. They chose small groups (another five minutes there) and read it round-robin, out loud to their group. While they did that, I paced the room, encouraging them to stay on task and saying things like, "well, instead of telling me what you DON'T know, tell me what you DO know! whose story is it? what does he want? why?" and such. That sort of thing goes well, and the super-reluctant ones kind of got back into the story. But I feel like if I get into a conversation of any length, the group across the room is goofing off.

The IDEA, then, is for the groups to create mini-posters for terms (like dialogue, conflict, protagonist) that include the term, the definition (on the board!), an example, the name of the source the example's from, and a brief explanation of how we know the example fits the term. By this time we are EASILY an hour into the period, and bugger it all, I didn't remind them to write down their homework assignment, nor did I explain how what we're doing fits in with the standards, or go over our Focus Question (I've always thought that "Essential Question" – which is what we're SUPPOSED to call it – sounds incredibly pretentious).

At this point I'm merrily cussing inside my brain, and trying to remember that they're supposed to write the first 20 prepositions on our list from memory before the period ends, so, like… fiveish minutes before the bell, they've MAYBE gotten one mini-poster done, so I tell them we'll come back to it, hang onto those, I collect the markers and the stories, they put the desks back in order and get out notebook paper and something to write with and start scratching away...

UGH! Of course the bell rings and they're not done. Maybe that's a good thing, because all of them except for one student out of both classes stayed AFTER the bell, presumably to keep working! So as long as I don't do that regularly, they'll be used to working bell-to-bell.

Tomorrow's reading assignment has been scratched; I'll use mini-lesson time to go over a few more literary techniques - these SHOULD be review - and then have them read the story some more and continue working on the mini-poster. I'm keeping the performance read of "The Southpaw" for Wednesday - developing a strong read-out-loud voice is one of my main goals for this semester. And then Thursday I'm going to scrap the story and just workshop their business & friendly letters all period.

I think I need to have something on the board that says "today during workshop your job is to da da da." Only filling in the das.

We'll see how it goes.

Image thanks to http://www.projectstrategy.com/ and http://www.reuniondatabase.com/

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Why I Haven't Posted

So we are a little more than halfway through the first half of the course (since we're on semester blocks). This week, the English department went to training for America's Choice. So there were lots of teachers gone, and we had no control over who our subs would be. Woot.

We are in theory supposed to incorporate the America's Choice practices into the courses we're currently teaching (for those of us with 9th/10th classes). Never mind that the course is 30% over. I am all with the WTFery, but if I can, I'm gonna try to weasel out of Julius Caesar, which I really don't wanna suffer through. (Sorry, Doc.)

And of course we don't get planning time at the seminar. This is AFTER I stayed at school until 9:20 on Tuesday re-checking the newspaper and uploading it before Open House, then staying to make sure that my sub plans for Wednesday were clear.

Anyway, so I was gone Wednesday and Thursday - at least during the school day (ends at 2:55). I got to the school for Journalism Club at 4:15ish. Get the students started on their work. (Make posters to advertise that we'll be selling the paper at lunch on Friday.) Go check my mailbox.

There is a note from the sub.

Boy o boy. My 2nd block class isn't as unruly as my 4th block was last year - but I have a lot of the same yahoos! And will a full class (31), when they get even a little talkative, the noise level skyrockets. Then of course they have to talk louder to hear themselves over each other, and... UGH.

They did not get their work done. They did not sit quietly. They goofed around & did whatever.

SO. I spent Wednesday evening on the phone. Calling, calling, calling parents. Ms. Clix was NOT a happy cookie. Thursday morning I called the school & reminded the secretary to please call me if she heard about any issues with that class - I would call back & she could patch me through to the classroom & I'd speak with them as close to "in person" as I could get.

Thursday afternoon when I went by for Journalism Club the secretary mentioned that she'd also asked the principal to stop in and speak with the class. Go Ms. Secretary! YAY! Needless to say, with the parent calls AND the visit from the principal, things went MUCH better that day!

Plus, the papers were in - and I hesitate a little, cuz I've seen y'all's - but they looked good! I was really, REALLY pleased with the photo quality and the writing. The topics were a little dry, which is something they always struggle with, but overall, I was really happy.

It made me even happier when we SOLD OUT of the issue! *gleedance* At the end of the last lunch period, one of my Gremlins came tearing into the room with the news that WE SOLD OUT! I was a little skeptical, but then my editor came in and showed the empty box... plus the money was there! WOOT! I think it's more money than we've EVER made on newspaper sales.

However, I do make a habit of pulling copies - each advertiser gets ten, plus I keep some extras in case we forget to give copies to the library or administrators. And - don't laugh - I always give a copy to my parents. ;p

So, if you'd like some copies, email me at uncomfortableadventures at yahoo, and include the name & address to which I should send them. I'd LOVE to trade - I'm always looking for new ideas & examples!

All in all, the week went well, but it was VERY full. I don't know that I'll get much R&R this weekend - I think it's going to be spent attempting to catch up with my grading...

BTW, anyone know what happened to the Carnival!? I finally had a chance to read it this afternoon after school and it was gone!!

Images thanks to http://www.vipdisco.co.uk/yourevent.htm and http://mixedink.com/blog/category/newspapers/

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Easier Said Than Done

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

That Eleanor Roosevelt quote, however it actually goes, is a favorite of mine and one that I find particularly applicable to teaching and learning.

But lemme tell ya - the attempt? It's terrifying!

Y'see, it can be quite difficult to tell the difference between "the thing you think you cannot do" and "the thing you actually cannot do." So as you're doing this Thing, whatever it is, you're hoping and praying that you won't wind up blown to Kingdom Come.

Well, I have returned from several days at Yearbook Camp with the Yearbook Gremlins. As far as I can tell, we survived any and all explosions. Yey!

Example: Several of the Gremlins participated in a photography seminar. At the first break, I asked what they had learned. Response: "We NEED better cameras!" Because, of course, better cameras will automagically mean better pictures.

Sigh.

Yet at the end of the conference when they handed out awards for the competitions (photography and design), one of our students was awarded first place for one of her photos. And her camera was the most basic of the bunch - a digital point-and-shoot about the size of a deck of cards!

So, that was definitely a Teachable Moment. I emphasized to them that when they understand the capabilities and limitations of the cameras they already have, they will be able to work within those boundaries to create amazing photographs. (I probably should've told them that more expensive cameras would just mean more work trying to figure out all the kinks!)

At any rate, no one was injured. They created a cover design that they love. They came up with some great ideas for marketing and increasing coverage. They're excited about the theme and are looking forward to hard work! (Gasp!)

But most importantly, they have become a team.

When it's over, there is an incredible rush. Accomplishment mingles with relief, and I'm not sure which is stronger. I don't think it matters, though, because either way, it's a good feeling.

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A Truly Epic Adventure (so far)

I haven't gotten more than five hours of sleep at night since... I don't know if it's been a full week yet or not. Mostly it's been stress about the upcoming school year. I can't get to sleep before midnight or 1 AM, and then I wake up before 7. Without an alarm.

But last night it wasn't my fault!

So I've taken some of the Journalism Gremlins to yearbook camp. At 9:00 they tell me they're soooo tired and they don't want to go to the computer lab to work on theme stuff - in fairness, we did already get our theme and ladder mostly sorted out before the end of the year.

Even so, I was not expecting a call on my cell phone from them at quarter of eleven. "Ms. Clix! There's nothing on TV!" Huh? Why are you complaining to me about the lack of quality programming? "No, no, there's stuff ON, but it's all stuff you have to pay for. We ordered pizza and we were gonna watch a movie, but it's pay-per-view." Look, just watch cable. "There isn't... oh... wait. OH! There it is. I was just doing it wrong."

So I drift back off to sleep... only to be awakened by ANOTHER call at about ten after midnight. AFTER MIDNIGHT. "Ms. Clix! You gotta take a dare!" First of all, I do not 'gotta' do ANYTHING at this hour. Second... what is it?

I ended up struggling out of bed at quarter past midnight and going to the door to eat a hot wing in front of the entire group of Yearbook Gremlins. "You HAVE to eat the WHOLE THING, Ms. Clix!"

I did.

They were unbelievably impressed.

I went back to bed - although I did re-brush my teeth first!

I guess this means that at least the "create staff unity" goal is a definite check. ;)

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The Spies Among Us

I just read this past Sunday's Dilbert last night... it seemed eerily appropriate for the situation in our department! XD

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Civil Unrest

The rumors about Writer's Workshop persist, yet my questions and concerns have not yet been answered. The principal is supposed to meet with each department at one of our department meetings each month. Far's I know, in four months, we've had him stop in ONCE. Dammit, I want answers. I'm tired of being uncertain and confused.

Workshop questions:
1) Minilessons: How "mini" is a minilesson? What happens when they don't get it? Do you keep trying right then or come back to it another time? When do you tell those who are still staring at you blankly "nope, sorry, we've got to move on without you; if we spend all term attempting to teach the difference between action and linking verbs we'll never even get to subject/verb agreement, let alone comma splices!"
2) Work time and conferences: How the heck do you keep other students on task?? And how can you have a productive conference if you've got to look up every four seconds and say "Sh! Do your work!" or something?
3) Sharing time: What if they don't? Should those who are not sharing be allowed to continue working quietly, or is this a sit-and-listen-silently time?

Things came to a head at lunch today. My department is NOT happy. I'm hearing a lot of "this won't work" sort of comments (though I don't know if anyone just came flat out and said that). But I think the true frustration is "this won't work because we're being shoved into it with neither training nor support." I don't think that's necessarily true, because the teachers in our department are phenomenally talented. However, it WOULD be a bit easier to accomplish this successfully if we WERE trained and HAD support. Grh.

Still pondering my questions about standards-based grading and not giving zeros. More on that later.

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Minor jangling of the nervous system

So... posted this to a couple of my livejournal communities:

Today we got handed a packet about Writer's Workshop. It sounds intriguing, but all the information is in anecdotes; there is absolutely no data that shows which students benefited from this particular style of teaching, which students did about the same as they would have in a traditional classroom, which students did worse, etc. It's just little stories.

I feel very... uninformed. ;p I got a little bit of "what," a whole lotta weak "why" (lots of theory and idea, no statistical data), and "how" was left out of it entirely.

This is at the high-school level, by the way. How long is each one-on-one workshop? How can I believe that 31 freshmen, left to their own devices, will work quietly and cooperatively? How is subjective, individualized work going to align with our computerized gradebook that demands a grade from every student on the same assignment? What's the difference between "introspective writing" and "imaginative BS?" Between "self-reflection" and "self-absorbed navel-gazing?" How do we judge the authenticity of the work? What about when students just don't DO the work?

Can anyone fill me in?

A book I've particularly enjoyed recently (well, in the last few years, anyway) is Wendy Shalit's A Return to Modesty. One of its criticisms is how much Shalit uses anecdotes, rather than statistical data, to support her ideas. While it makes for a fun, thought-provoking read, it does cause one to wonder how reliable her conclusions are.

I'm concerned for my students. They NEED practice with fundamentals - I have high school freshmen who, when they arrive in my class, cannot differentiate between action and linking verbs, let alone between verbs and, say, gerunds. That's the MAJORITY of the class. A significant minority cannot find action verbs in a sentence of any complexity.

Don't get me wrong - I like trying new things. Believe me, I have NO wish to turn into a slime-covered, mosquito-ridden pool of stagnation. ;D Change, even just for its own sake, can be a good thing. But I'm worried about change without thought. I wouldn't mind doing something different even if there wasn't much of a positive outcome. I just don't want to make things worse for my students!!

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