Monday Mash-Up: The Real World

Happy Monday morning!  I am thrilled to call my first linky, Better Together, a success.  I needed help, so I reached out to my blogging friends for advice.  I love collaborating with other great teachers, and I can't express enough how much better we all are together.  I had four great entries- check them out!

1. "Collaboration=Creative Genius," from Katie @ The Oatmeal Chronicles contributed lots of great ideas: paired work, tiered questions, extension cards, and "switching students" in co-teaching settings.  I am especially excited about the extension cards, and am working on a set of those for my room today!  (And I used her narrative-songs-for-plot-structure lesson plan Thursday with great success!)

2. "Teaching Tuesday: Classroom Management," from Elizabeth @ E, Myself, and I discusses mutual respect, tough love, and being a team player.  My favorite part?  

"If you call me a b*^#@$, I'm giving you detention and calling home.  Every.time.  Period.  BUT, I'm not going to cause a scene about it, and I'm NOT going to hold a grudge.  The next morning, I will greet you with a smile.  When it's done, it's done."

3. "Better Together," from Suzanne @ The Curly Classroom offers some great advice for co-teaching, which I'm new to this year.  While I feel like my co-teacher and I are off to a great start, I definitely hope to start planning more together.

4.  "Stayin' Alive: My Classroom Management Survival Strategy," from Joanna @ Daydreaming in Maths has some good classroom management tips for surviving with those "trouble-makers."  I love the bit about spending quality time with them and getting to know their "why."  Plus, it's kind of awesome that Joanna is from Cape Town, South Africa!  

Keep your eyes peeled for my next Better Together Link-Up in October.  I'd love suggestions for topics!

Now, on to some of my other favorites from around the blogosphere this week-- which all seem to revolve around the real world.

"The 'Real World,'" from Josh @ Stump the Teacher is a deep inspection of what those two words mean.  Every teacher likes to think that s/he is preparing students for the real world, but what exactly does that entail?  We may not realize it, but many kids are already living in a world that's all too real.  

"Why I'll Let My Kids Get Teased at School," by Adriana Velez for The Stir is another one of those for-moms-but-could-definitely-be-for-teachers-too posts.  I have said for a long time that rather than constantly harping about eliminating bullying, we should spend as much time teaching our kids to develop a thick skin and react appropriately.  There will always be bullies in the real world, even in adulthood.  We choose to give them power over us-- or not.  Please know, I'm not in the business of ignoring bullying.  I just really like what Adriana has to say about the importance of letting kids learn to deal.

Similarly, "Have We Made Things TOO Easy for Today's Kids?" by Bill Ferriter for the Center for Teaching Quality focuses on the fact that teachers are working much harder than students in many classrooms today.  He compares modern classrooms to the ones he attended as a student, and the results are obvious.  Again, I'm not calling for a return to teachers who do nothing but lecture and dole out classroom spankings, but I do think it's time we give kids some responsibility.  After all, isn't that our job-- to prepare them for the real world?

Finally, a look into a classroom where kids are learning in the real world:  Katie @ A Hundred Affections has put together "A Crazy Idea That Just Might Not Be So Crazy After All."  In order to help her students connect to their American literature studies in a real way, Katie has devised a heartwarming, beautiful, educational service-learning project for her students.  They'll be writing a memorial book, creating a memorial garden, and even marching with The Wounded Warrior Project.  This is the kind of service-learning kids will never forget, and I can't think of a way to better connect classroom learning with the real world.  Major kudos!

Monday Mash-Up: Teacher Moms and Tin Foil

Good Monday morning!  It was a beautiful autumnal weekend at my house- so beautiful, in fact, that I'm not sure I'm ready for Monday to be here.  Alas, it is-- so here's some good reading to brighten your Monday.

"6 Words You Should Say Today" by Rachel Macy Stafford for HuffPost reminds us of the importance of encouraging words. Although written for mothers, this post (like many other mom-blogs) speaks to me as a teacher, too.  Take a look at these six words, and I think you'll understand.  Phrases like "I love to watch you write" and "I love to hear you read Juliet's part" come to mind.

"Character Foils-- That's a Wrap!" from Lori at The Curly Classroom brings dramatic foils to life with a hands-on activity involving real aluminum foil.  I love the creativity involved here, and how a few rolls of aluminum foil could easily cement a literary term in the minds of my students.

"Domestic Enemies of the Teacher Mom" from Rants from Mommyland is hilarious and oh-too-true.  I have taught lots of my colleagues' children over the years, and I know it isn't fun to be a "teacher's kid."  This piece focuses on the other half of that partnership-- the Teacher Mom-- and all the struggles involved in having two incredibly tough and important jobs.

Morning Meetings with Jesus: 180 Devotions for Teachers, by Susan O'Carroll Drake, isn't a blog like most of my Monday Mash-Up pieces; it's a book.  I have to share even if it breaks format. I found it while surfing for a few new Kindle books, and I love it.  Each devotion (one for every day of the school year) is short and to-the-point, and comes across as uplifting, not "preachy."  I read one each morning while I get ready, and I find that they're an inspiring start to my school days.

Finally, "No Defense for Webster's 'N' Word," from Secondary Solutions, is a great read for teachers and students.  English teachers encounter this word in lots of great literature. (Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn come to mind immediately.) It's always uncomfortable and can spark some heated discussion among my students, so I like to address it up front with the kids.  This article links to a great PDF, written by Earl Ofari Hutchinson, that I plan to share in class this week.


Did I miss anything great this week?  Please share fantastic "teacher-reads" in the comments. And-- don't forget to link up with me this week to share some tips for Better Together!

Blog Gems Brag / ErinCondren.com Giveaway

I have some awesome news, friends!  

First, my favorite ever blogger, E at E, Myself, and I shared my "Open Letter to New Teachers" in her Blog Gems post for last week.  Sooooo exciting-- really, go look!

I am thrilled . . . over the moon . . . to be recognized like this.  In honor of this little achievement as a new blogger, I'm hosting my first ever giveaway!!!!  I'm an English teacher who hates the over-use of exclamation points, so you can see how excited I really am.  I just used four.

The good folks over at ErinCondren.com have agreed to share a $25 gift code with one of my lucky readers.  They make beautiful, sophisticated-yet-adorable personalized stationery, life planners . . . and lesson planners.  I have heard nothing but good things about their products, so I'm super excited about sharing this with you all.

Credit

Contest ends one week from today, and I'll contact the winner via email within 48 hours of the contest end.  Get to it, y'all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Setting Soft Goals for Students

I just read an interesting article from Vicki Davis at the Cool Cat Teacher Blog called "Why you should set soft goals for your classroom this year."  Davis defines "soft goals" as goals that aren't determined by test scores or standards.  Instead, they are "to be" goals that must come before the "to do" goals you set.  We must decide what we want our students to be before we can get them to do.  In response to that post, I did some reflecting and brainstorming of my own.  What do I want for my students of 2013-14?  What do I want them to be?  



I decided I wanted my students to be more:
1. passionate
2. open-minded
3. perseverant
4. focused

Now for the hard part-- how to get them there?

I believe the best way to teach is to model, so I must consistently be all of these things.  That's not terribly hard for me, so what else can I do?  Some ideas . . .

To help my students be passionate about their school, I can use my brand-new newspaper elective class to build school spirit through writing.

To help my students be more open-minded, I can share examples of characters in literature who excel at open-mindedness (like Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird) and host class discussions about the benefits of such a trait.

To help my students be more perseverant, I can hold academic conferences with my students and help them set reachable goals for themselves.  
To help my students be more focused, I can use the new block schedule to divide class time into 15-20 minute mini-lessons.  When attention starts to wane, we'll be on to the next topic.

I'd love to see some of my readers' soft goals.  Please share!

Pinspiration: Classroom Pins I Can't Wait to Try

  

   As promised, it's time to follow up on my "Favorite Things: Pinterest" post with some of my favorite pins right now.  I get ideas from Pinterest constantly, so these are just the ones I'm currently most excited to implement when school starts back.

- This pin links to a color-coded, chunked system of planning for block schedules.  This year will be my first year working with a block, so I'm happy for any colorful help I can get! It even comes with downloads for Microsoft Word to get you started.  

- A Teacher's Plan Book ($8.50 for download at TeachersPayTeachers) is going to help me get and keep my act together this year!  It doesn't hurt that it's really cute, and can be printed in black and white so that I don't have to buy a color ink cartridge.  It's even editable, so I can adapt some parts to better suit my high school block schedule.

Credit: The Teacher Wife

- This poster would help me fight a never-ending battle against a word I call "the R word."

- I want to meet this teacher, who uses memes to help go over rules on Day 1.  Totally stealing this idea.  Sometimes my freshmen look so small and frightened while I'm detailing expectations and syllabi and rules . .. this could definitely lighten the mood.

- This pin from Secondary Solutions links to a detailed plan for using Literature Circles in a high school English classroom-- complete with free downloadable Word documents!  I've been intrigued by Literature Circles for a while, but I've only used them in single-class activities for short pieces.  I think I'm finally going to take the plunge into Novel Circles this year!

- I just took a class at my alma mater on Modern Grammar, and these grammar journals might just be the coolest thing ever.  It's an idea from Scholastic, and is listed for grades 3-8, but I can definitely adapt it for use in high school.  What a way for kids to finally use grammar in context and in a meaningful way!

- More memes!  I love that these allow me to take something from pop culture, and something the kids identify with, and put it to use in the classroom.  This pin links to Hunger Games lessons in which students create memes to discuss serious topics.  This could easily work for any novel.

- This Push-Pin Poetry board would cost basically nothing, and would be an awesome interactive board for my kids.  So excited about this one!  

What are some of your favorite pins right now?

Meet M

I'm M.  I'm a wife and step-mom to two fantastic guys.  I'm also a small town teacher and lover of all things languages and literature.  Life is good in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia where I make my home, and I have to say that my classroom is one of my favorite places to be (most of the time).

I'm proud to call myself a Spanglish teacher.  Currently, I'm wrapping up my fourth year in this business and teaching English 9, Advanced English 9, and Spanish III.  I work with some of the coolest kids on the planet, and could not ask for a better place to work.

I suppose you could say I'm here because I need to write.  I preach to my students that writing is so important, but I'm ashamed to say I sometimes forget to hold myself to the same standard.  There are words in all of us, and mine just want out at this stage in my career.

Part of this stems from the National Board Certification process, which I am working toward now.  I'm putting the finishing touches on my portfolio this week-- more to come on that.  Honestly, it has been so much work.  But it's also forced me to become more reflective about my work.  And honestly?  Even though, for the first time in my life, I have my doubts about whether or not I can pass something-- it has made me a better educator.  For that, I'm grateful.  And I'm grateful that it's over so I can get my life back.  

I am also inspired to write because of all the "teacher-blogs" I read daily and adore-- namely Love, Teach (hilarious!) and E, Myself, & I (written by +Elizabeth Chapman, who is a fabulous teacher-mom and so very, very gracious and real).  

I have to say, though, that the primary reasons I'm writing this now are 112 teenagers.  As I say goodbye in a few days to the senior class of 2013 (who were once my first group of freshmen), I am reflecting on my practices. Quite frankly, I have a desire to show my students that I mean what I say.  Writing is important; I do have something meaningful to share with the world.

Thus begins M*Print-- my look at life from a classroom overlooking the football stadium: where I laugh, cry, laugh-cry, teach my pants off, and occasionally wonder what I'm even doing here.  Welcome!  I'm looking forward to sharing my classroom journey with you.

Comments are welcome-- but, as Ellen says,"Be kind to one another."