5 things I loved about last week

 It's so easy to get overwhelmed and allow a sense of hopelessness take over when you're a teacher. The work just never seems to be finished. So in the spirit of Colby Sharp and Elisabeth Ellington, I'm going to focus on some of the amazing things that happened this past week.


1. Students owning their learning
My 8th graders are writing a reflective essay for their midterms and I'm having them use the comments feature in Google Docs to point out the skill-type things they learned like grammar, 6+1 Traits, etc. and in one period they pointed out to me things they had learned that I forgot to list on the requirements blog post or texts we had shared as a class. Apparently I missed an opportunity to create this assignment collaboratively since they were offering me things that I needed to add to the midterm. Note to self for the final exam.


2. Reading Epiphanies
I am going to pat myself on the back and say that I have been on my game as a writing teacher this year. But because I only teach writing, I haven't done so well motivating my students to read this semester. I want them to see the value of self-selected reading because I firmly believe it makes you a better writer, but having my classroom in a computer lab that is taking up precious bookshelf space (as well as precious space in my students' heads as to what they could be doing once they finish their work), I haven't been able to find a way to make books a part of our daily literacy diet.

Many of my students have said, "If books were actually about things I WANT to read then I would read them." A lot of them think that books aren't written with their issues in mind and clearly I haven't done a good job of communicating that there are lots of books out there for them. So I have decided that over Christmas break, I am going to reorganize my classroom library so that it is more appealing to my mature 8th grade readers. Clearly I am still in my 6th grade mindset and I need to move past that and appeal to my more mature readers.


3. But really, students are begging for books. I just need to pay better attention to their pleas.
To go along with #2, I have also been slacking on my read aloud this year. Students were so involved with NaNoWriMo for the month of November that we didn't read anything at all from Natalie Lloyd's A Snicker of Magic, and as December rolled around, we got busy doing things like preparing for midterms and having frank conversations about race through the lens of what is happening in Ferguson as well as the watermelon joke heard round the world at the National Book Awards that I lost track of our shared reading experience.

But on Friday, through the fervor of working on midterms, I mentioned that next week we would get back into the swing of our read aloud, when an unlikely student, one who rarely speaks and I often question his engagement said, "But you could just read to us for five minutes." Clearly I have been shirking my "literacy is everyone's job" responsibilities this semester.


4. Reason # I've-Lost-Count that I love Literati Bookstore
Last week, Literati posted this picture on their social media sites with the following description:

Since he was accidentally left behind at our store, Teddy has been acclimating to his new life. He alphabetizes books and keeps our typewriter filled with fresh paper. But he's secretly hoping for a holiday miracle to be reunited with his person. He asked me to put up one more post, just in case someone recognizes him.



I mean, how can you NOT want to shop at a bookstore like that?




5. Baby grand pianos have lots of practical uses. A Christmas tree stand, for example.

Is this not the perfect vehicle for a small Christmas tree and a place to put gifts? And I love even more that I don't have to move furniture around.

As you have probably surmised, I am still quite smitten with Tori, the baby grand. I love that now when I come downstairs, this is what greets me instead of a cluttered dining room table.

















What did you love about last week? 

Every day should be Read Aloud Day

Today is World Read Aloud Day. March is also Reading Month. While I love any excuse to celebrate reading, I also think every day should be read aloud day and every month should be reading month. Literacy isn't something we should just celebrate every once in a while. It is something that should be done with great joy and gusto every day of the year. By all means, let's use these opportunities to bring to light the importance of pleasure reading and shared reading experiences on this day and this month. But let's not reduce them to something we only do every once in a while, or God forbid, once a year.

So teachers, use this day to do something extra special: find an author to Skype with your class, have older students come and read to younger students, but please don't make the act of reading for pleasure or reading aloud a special occasion. These are experiences that are needed on a regular basis for students of ALL ages, not just little ones.

Why read alouds are important: from the mouth of middle schoolers

There is the presumption that when kids get older, like upper elementary, middle, and high school, that they don't need to be read to anymore. I was under that presumption for a long time, but then I realized after building a supportive personal learning network on Twitter what opportunities I was missing by not reading aloud to my class. Read alouds build community, they allow students to experience a reading role model, and they give a class an opportunity to just sit back and enjoy a great work of literature.

Often teachers think they don't have time to read aloud to kids when they get older because there's just too much curriculum to cram into a day, week, month, and year (high stakes testing certainly doesn't help with this presumption). 

A few years ago, I decided to make a commitment to setting aside time everyday to read aloud to my sixth graders, and their responses this year to their favorite read aloud only solidified my reasons for sharing this experience with my students, no matter how old they are.

Here's what some of them had to say:

Connor H:
My favorite read aloud was probably When You Reach Me because it didn't leave you bored at any time. Also it was kind of funny when everyone started arguing of what they think's going to happen.

Alice W:
My favorite read aloud this year was When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. I read it before, but hearing it read aloud is different, better somehow. I noticed details I had sort of mentally overlooked in my excitement to finish the book. I really enjoyed listening to it, as it is one of my favorite books anyway.

Samantha M:
My favorite read aloud this year was When You Reach Me. This was my favorite because there was a lot of suspense and it was very fun to predict what was going to happen. I also really liked Turtle in Paradise because it was easy to follow and in some ways, very relateable.
I hope the new literature/English teacher does read alouds. 

Rosie W:
My favorite read aloud was Wonder and When You Reach Me because I loved reading Wonder by myself and it was even more fun reading it with the class. When You Reach Me had so much anticipation! I loved it!

Andrew F:
My favorite read aloud was by far Wonder by RJ Palacio. It was very descriptive and was really funny in some parts. My favorite part was when Jack was being yelled at, so Justin walked up to the boys that were bullying Jack and showed them his fiddle case. The boys thought there was a gun in the case. They ran away screaming like six-year-old girls.

Tommy S:
My favorite read aloud was awesome. It was Wonder. It really made me think about what Auggie went through. Not to mention that the story was super funny and emotional. You (Mrs. Shaum) even cried! So I loved the book Wonder. It was easily the best.

Bea B:
My favorite read aloud this year was Wonder. I really liked the characters, especially Auggie. This book was very emotional for me and Mrs. Shaum. This book is one of my true favorites and always will be.