Last but not least: Final thoughts

“If teachers become distant from their own learning they will most certainly become distant from the learning of their students.” - Alisa Wills-Keely

In the end of Cris Tovani's (2004) book, she states in one sub-heading that we will never have all of the answers. This is more of a self reflection on ourselves as teachers. One statement that I thought summed up our careers as teachers was something someone said to Tovani. The women said, “My wish for you is that each of you look back at your career and laugh with embarrassment about the way you used to to teach. If you do this, you will continue to learn and grow” (Tovani, 121). I know this is silly but every year that I teach I feel that it gets easier and that my methods get better. This is for the fact that I always look at the lessons and the units that I teach and reflect on what worked and what did not and there is always room for improvement no matter how good a lesson is.

A Reflection on this book

Sorry if this is a cliche but this book was incredible insightful. A lot of the ideas in this book are ideas that I will use in my classroom or will use to build on strategies that I already use. The ideas that I found the most useful are the reading strategies for help struggling readers. I really like how Tovani sums up her ideas at the end of each chapter. This make is easy for teacher to use this as a manual to implement these ideas in their classrooms. The ideas in this book are not complicated and do not need to be taught as a huge lesson plan. These are strategies that are to be done in a repetitive manner because we want the students to make use of these strategies and, hopefully, make them second nature.

Remember, in the end, it is all about the students and what makes reading easier of them. We should not just dismiss our students lack of motivation of reading as just being lazy but we need to find out what the problem is and teach them these ideas. Remember, as teachers, we made it this far because we became good readers. We just one day become good readers but we became good readers due to finding out what works best for us and we should not take that for granted or even keep these strategies to ourselves but share them with our students because in the end, it is all about the students.

More than one way to assess!!!

One thing that challenges teachers is different ways of assessing their students. I guess, as my experience as a low achieving student in elementary, middle and high school, I sympathize with my students when it comes to taking a test. Me, personally am not a very good test taker. It is not an issue of testing anxiety but rather it is an issue of remembering what I have read or picking the right answer. Usually when I give a test or am ready to assess students when we are reading or have just finished a novel, I believe that the best method of seeing whether or not a student grasped the novel is to give choice. So, when it is time to assess, I usually offer a written test, require a paper and offer a huge list of project options. In the end, it balances out. If a student cannot is not a great test taker he or she can still succeed with a project or a written paper. I never require my students to have a book report. I always tell them (remember, I teach high school) that they did book reports in the third grade. So, with projects, I want them to be able to explain the book in a variety of ways such as, diorama, write a screen play for one of the scenes, rewrite one of the scenes, act out an interview with one of the characters, etc.

Another thing I do is to have students keep a reading log. With technology nowadays, this would work with what I am doing now; create a blog on that book. The last book that I taught was Night by Eli Wiesel and my student we asked to keep a reading log of each chapter. They had three columns that included: a summary of the chapter, one thing that stood out to them in that chapter, and a personal response on how that point make them felt and why that stood out to them. I have to say that almost all of my students were very successful with the reading log. Tovani (2204) suggests that students should keep a weekly log but I had them keep the log from chapter to chapter to stay organized.

Another activity that I did with the students concerning the same book is the have guided reading questions. I would come up with a small list of questions concerning the chapter. I would have the students read the questions aloud before we start the chapter and clarify exactly what I want. The students would have the questions with them as they read the chapter so they know what to look out for.

There are a number of ways for us teachers to assess our students' knowledge of a particular piece of literature. We have to remember that no one way is the best due to, as I have mentioned numerous times, that not all students learn in the same manner. We need to give our students choice when it comes to assessment because the point is to make sure they understand what they are reading.

Let's talk: Class Discussions

I try to make discussion the backbone of my classroom. Like mentioned in previous blogs, when I was in school, I was told what to think and not how to think. I want my students to be different and I want them to have an opinion. I always tell them in the beginning of the year that I encourage to challenge thought and criticism is allowed as long as it is done constructively. Meaning, saying, “that is stupid!” is not constructive but saying, “I disagree with you because ...” is constructive. Speak to someone and not yell at them. I teach a law class and we have huge class discussion that might even be classified as arguments especially when it comes to some controversial topics plaguing our society today; specially in politics. It is important to show students how to collaborate or discuss as a class or in groups.

Another thing student need is feedback. I am not just speaking about when they mess up on something but actually feedback. I notice when I call a parent to tell them that their child is doing well and other compliments, the parents are usually caught off guard. This is because , like the students, they are usually only getting feedback when there is a problem. Students need constant feedback. When discussing with students, point out their points with their own quotes and build on that.

Another way that we can build students' skills with discussion is to include pieces that are interesting and even controversial. Think back to yourself when you were trying to build discussion with the students and the topic was very dry and whenever you prompt the students you get nothing back but blank stares. Students are only going to discuss topics that they find interesting. We, as teachers can find an interesting topic out of any issue. Even if the topic itself is not interesting, it does not hurt to side track a little on a topic that is somewhat related to keep the students interested.

One problem I sometimes have when hold a class discussion is digressing. The students and I will get into a conversation about the issue in focus and within ten minutes, we will be talking about something else. It is important to know when to bring the conversation back on track even though it feels good that the class is participating in a full class discussion. It is also important to know to keep a conversation going when the class discussion has stalled. When the class discussion has stalled it is important to have a follow up question or a prompt. Just make sure that these are open-ended because you do not want a yes or no question.

I don't remember what I just read!!!

When I started college, I had no idea on how to take notes properly or how to highlight passages in book if my life depended on it. Like mentioned in previous blogs, I was not a very successful high school student. A lot of it had to do with the fact that I really do not remember ever being taught on how to take notes. This is important because if you tell a student to highlight the important parts of the chapter or to just take notes and they do not know how then what inevitably happens is that they write down everything you say including coughs and sneezes and they end up spray painting the entire chapter in neon on yellow. Teachers can start by marking a text and go from there. Then from there you can discuss the text that was marked or ask an open ended question about the text. Students could also utilize student collaboration and discuss their partner(s) opinions on the matter.

Another way that students can help themselves understand and organize their thoughts around the text is to use a double-entry diary. Students can crease a simple lined piece of paper and organize it into two categories: 1) quote from the text and 2) and connections to the quote. Or student can organize it as: 1) quotes from the text 2) and questions that they have about the text. There is also a quad-entry diary. This is also like a word diagram that I use to use in my class for vocabulary. The students are to split up a lined piece of paper into four squares and the first square is for the definition, second square for a synonym, third square for a sentence using the word and the fourth square would be for a picture describing the word. The way that Tovani (2004) sets up a quad-entry is much like a KWL (Know-Want to learn-Learned). One example that she give (Tovani, 82) is with Algebra. The first column is the property, the second column is a diagram of the property, the third column is what you know about the property and the last column is what questions that you still might have about the property. This is really cool and it can applied to any subject and will help student stay organized. I am sure there are some great templates on the web.

We as educators should always share with our students what works for us to remember text. We just cannot keep the best strategies to ourselves. And what is sad is, at least with me, I did not learn these strategies in high school but rather I learned them from college. Remember, different strategies work for different students. Every student learns different and we should always teach to the individual students. This is what education is all about. Sorry if this sounded like a cliche or a bumper sticker but I think many teacher become complacent and forget why they got into teaching.

What does this have to do with anything ) :

When I was school many years ago, I use to hate when a teacher use to tell us that we were going to watch a film and then when it was time to watch the film, the teacher would show a few scenes of the movies because this was the most important parts and were the most relevant to our issue that we were learning. The opposite always the case when it came to reading text. When we had to read a novel, an article or a textbook section, we had to read it all. This is not fair. I said it then and I say it again. Students have to be given purpose when reading materials. When I say purpose, I mean that they need to think that the reading is completely relevant to the subject that we are studying. If not, the students will get bored or may refuse to continue reading. As students, we should not be afraid to pick and choose the important points of the text. A good example of this is when I would teach a unit on the American colonies and the first thing we would read as an introduction to the unit was from Howard Zinn's, People's History of the United States and it was a section called, “Columbus and the Indians”. We would read the whole book, just the introduction o get the students interested in the subject and the realities of the colonization of the Americas.

Another issue that we, yes, we have is that we are not clear with our instruction. I remember when I first started teaching about 5-6 years ago and I would hear students say, “What is the point of this?” That is hard to hear but it causes or should cause me to make clear exactly what we are studying. I do not me that we explain at the beginning of the unit but rather we should keep repeating this as we go along with our unit plan. Last year I taught a unit plan on the Holocaust, using the textbook, articles, documentaries, the novel Night, which is pretty much the most depressing book I have ever read. I was a broken man the first time I read it. Anyways, I digress. But whenever we would go from subject to subject in the unit, like the Nuremberg Laws, to Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) to the death camp, I would explain to the students why this is important and this topic is the point of the lesson.

We should not assume that students have to read everything to get the point. We should not be afraid to skim, or jump around in a text with our students. Being concise is the best way. We should not think that students will go along with everything that we through at them. If they have to ask what is the point of this?” or “what does this have to do with what we are studying?” then we need to re-evaluate how we are laying out our unit plans.

You can't make me read that!!!

One of the problems with the lack of motivation is that students are forced to view what is important because we, teachers, tell them that it is important. I remember when I was in high school and we were forced to read Shakespeare and hating. It was not until I went to college and learned about the canon or should I say the Western canon of literature. Wikipedia states that the pieces of canon have been the most important and influential in shaping the Western culture. Or, as I was taught that the canon are novels that are timeless and be applied to any generation. Nowadays and even when I was in school, the school district would mandate that we teach specific books every semester for every grade level.

I think many students get frustrated because they cannot relate to the novels that are thrown at them. If we have to push these books on our students then at least we can give them alternatives outside the demanded readings. When I would at a native boarding school years ago, my students were reading Achenua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. The book incorporated a lot of proverbs to help simplify and as a display of culture. To help the students better relate to the incoming colonization (forgive me if I ruined the story) and their own experience, students were to bring in proverbs and folklore from their own tribes and culture and then interpret them for the class. This help to show the students that even a Nigerian tribe can have a lot in common with a Native American tribe.

Students also have a problem with required reading materials because of the simple questions: What does this have to with our lives now? This is why we must always bring in outside materials to help complement a novel. Too many of us lay out vocabulary, have students read the chapter and have them answer the questions. It is great to incorporate current events along with a section of the story to show them that what is happening in the story is also happening now.

Another reason that students are unmotivated with class readings is because we never take chances with our text. We, as educators are always playing it same because we do not want our students to be exposed to issues that they probably already have been exposed to. A lot of the problem is not that we are afraid to expose our students to issues that are relevant but many times, we have to get materials approved and proves to be a problem. I remember teaching To Kill a Mockingbird and then hearing a segment on NPR that was discussing the fact that Kansas banned the book due to the racism and the use of the “N” word. God forbid that I student realize that America had a racist past.

Yes, we need to make good use of novels and textbooks but we cannot expect them to teach the class for us. We need to always be ready to innovate and keep our student interested and stimulated. If not, we might as well go make to worksheets and regurgitation.

I've been there before!!!

In Cris Tovani's book, Do I really have to teach reading?, in chapter 3 “Parallel Experiences: Tapping the mother load,” she starts out with a quote from another teacher which states that, “If someone could teach these kids how to read, I could teach them science” (Tovani, 23). Wow, this sums it up! The basic skill to grasping all of the subjects in school is reading. This just doesn't mean, reading a string of words that make a sentence but it means reading, understand and putting it into context. If they (the students) do not understand what they are looking at, then how are they going to get in depth???

One thing in the chapter that Tovani (2004) mentions is modeling. But first of all, we, as educators must find and understand what the students are struggling with. Is it: getting into the text or even reading uninteresting text, even starting a book? Or is it understanding charts, understanding a word problem or even making sense of literary elements in literature and poetry? How can we help our students when we do not even know what is it that they struggling with? What is the first step to AA, admitting that there is a problem, instead of just brushing it off as the students are just being lazy. Once we find what that problem is, then we model the correct way to help solve that problem.

One thing that Tovani (2004) mentions is that sometimes it is hard to sympathize with a student when you do not know what they are experiencing. One suggestion is that we take a text that is really challenging for us and then model it to the students. This what she call, “putting ourselves on the line” (Tovani, 27). With this, students can see that they are not the only one's that are struggling. As we struggle with our text, we need to be aware of what techniques that we use, as good readers, to work our way through the text. Then the students will see what we do and, hopefully, this will rub off on them. Hence, modeling!!!

Last, we need to show our students what work for us as good reader. We can show that if one technique did not work then we went on to another technique. We, as educators, should show our students in our modeling what the benefits of rereading the text. We can also show the students how we get through a boring text. We show strategies on how we stay with an uninteresting text.

Remember, how can we help our students when, first of all, we do not know what the problem even is. Then we do not know what they are going through, then we need to model strategies that help then get through their problems. We should not just brush off the students as being lazy but there is a reason that they do not like to read or that reading does not come easy to them. All we have to do is find out what it is.