It's been a hard week. I think that the first week after a break usually is for some reason. You should be rested, you probably are but somehow either the shock of being back at it or all the things you left to do till after your break come back to haunt you. So, here I am on Friday evening so tired that I can barely keep my laptop from sliding off my lap.
I haven't missed a day of writing since February started so I couldn't not write tonight but I must admit that till a few minutes ago I had nothing to write about other than to say I'm tired. Then I read a tweet which suggested that there should be an academy awards for teachers. It seems to me that there already is something like that in England or was as some point in the recent past. I won't say that teachers shouldn't be recognised and appreciated for what they do but that should, in no way, manifest itself as an awards ceremony.
The academy awards are about stars and star wannabes trying to improve their standings and their fame in order to make more money. It's also about big business making money. (I know I'm being a bit cynical here!) That isn't what teachers and teaching is about. Is it fame I'm after? The answer is obvious. No! I learned early on, as a grad student teaching an intro French class for science students at university that I loved teaching, that a got a real buzz from it! I intended to be an academic but at each turn I came back to teaching teen-agers. I've never wanted 'fortune and glory', I've only ever wanted successful learners, including myself. I don't think I'm very different from most of my colleagues.
Yes, I do like being acknowledged for successes but I hope that my successes are the success of others. None of this needs to be celebrated by an award or a ceremony. Am I alone in this? What do you think?
Friday, 27 February 2015
Thursday, 26 February 2015
Post 26: WW1 and Key Words
I have talked before about activities to assist students in learning how to generate search terms. Today I had two classes in to start their research on the theatres of war in World War One and this is what we did.
1. I started by asking them what they used when on a search engine or in a databases to find information on a particular subject. Surprisingly it took a moment to come up with with the term, key words.
2. Then I asked them to take 30 seconds to write a few key words which would generate results on WW1 as a broad topic.
3. They already had World War 1 (one) and after a whole class discussion, we came up with:
World War 1
First World War
The Great War
Then we added 1914-18 as a modifier to the first two, after discovering that sometimes you also got results on World War 2 (the Second World War) and by adding the dates, that probably wouldn't happen.
I also explained that The Great War would probably be sufficient since no other war was known as that. We looked at the results for The Great War and discovered that some of the results were the same as they got when using the other two terms. However, there were also results that hadn't shown up with the other terms.
4. Students were asked next to come up with more keywords, this time based on what they already knew about about the theatre of war they were going to research. This netted some more search terms, which they shared with the class.
5. The next step was to take the assignment sheet and look at the topics suggested in each theatre of war. Students were able to add more key words from there.
6. Finally, I had placed a selection of books on each of the 4 tables relating to the theatres of war. Students were asked to go through the index or tables of contents to compile more key words.
7. At the end of the session, students had a list of key words to start their research. I have encouraged them to continue to refine their lists by adding new words and eliminating words which give them no real results.
It will be interesting to see if their research results are better than they have been in the past.
Tomorrow both classes are back to work on a topic in science and I am hoping that they can go through the same process we did today but by themselves. We shall see!
1. I started by asking them what they used when on a search engine or in a databases to find information on a particular subject. Surprisingly it took a moment to come up with with the term, key words.
2. Then I asked them to take 30 seconds to write a few key words which would generate results on WW1 as a broad topic.
3. They already had World War 1 (one) and after a whole class discussion, we came up with:
World War 1
First World War
The Great War
Then we added 1914-18 as a modifier to the first two, after discovering that sometimes you also got results on World War 2 (the Second World War) and by adding the dates, that probably wouldn't happen.
I also explained that The Great War would probably be sufficient since no other war was known as that. We looked at the results for The Great War and discovered that some of the results were the same as they got when using the other two terms. However, there were also results that hadn't shown up with the other terms.
4. Students were asked next to come up with more keywords, this time based on what they already knew about about the theatre of war they were going to research. This netted some more search terms, which they shared with the class.
5. The next step was to take the assignment sheet and look at the topics suggested in each theatre of war. Students were able to add more key words from there.
6. Finally, I had placed a selection of books on each of the 4 tables relating to the theatres of war. Students were asked to go through the index or tables of contents to compile more key words.
7. At the end of the session, students had a list of key words to start their research. I have encouraged them to continue to refine their lists by adding new words and eliminating words which give them no real results.
It will be interesting to see if their research results are better than they have been in the past.
Tomorrow both classes are back to work on a topic in science and I am hoping that they can go through the same process we did today but by themselves. We shall see!
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Post 25: Know the Battles You Can Win, and the Ones You Can't!
I have spent far too much time and energy in the past, fighting battles I can't possibly win. I realise that I have been ranting about a certain department at my school and their attitude towards recreational reading, when there was really little I can do through a direct, confrontational approach. When all is said and done, I suppose that I haven't been confrontational but I can be very direct. That doesn't necessarily endear you to people, does it! I've also expended far too much emotional energy on this. Yesterday at the department meeting, I had already come to the realisation that I had to just sit back and not say what I really thought about the summer reading lists, and that is what I did.
So, now I have come to the conclusion that I have two choices:
1. To try and find a way to demonstrate that students who rarely read, need books which will excite them if they are going to take time over the summer to read.
2. Give up till next year and leave the kids to the mercy of the summer reading lists as they are.
The second option is the easiest and would be the least frustrating for me. Or would it? It is very difficult for someone who loves to read and whose job is to encourage people to read, to sit by and do nothing. I see disaster ahead but at the same time, I don't actually think anyone will notice. The students will come back to school in August, do whatever they have to do based on their book (whether they read it or not), their work will be acknowledged in some way by the teachers and then all will be forgotten till this time next year.
Alas!
So, now I have come to the conclusion that I have two choices:
1. To try and find a way to demonstrate that students who rarely read, need books which will excite them if they are going to take time over the summer to read.
2. Give up till next year and leave the kids to the mercy of the summer reading lists as they are.
The second option is the easiest and would be the least frustrating for me. Or would it? It is very difficult for someone who loves to read and whose job is to encourage people to read, to sit by and do nothing. I see disaster ahead but at the same time, I don't actually think anyone will notice. The students will come back to school in August, do whatever they have to do based on their book (whether they read it or not), their work will be acknowledged in some way by the teachers and then all will be forgotten till this time next year.
Alas!
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
Post 24: This is the one where I rant about summer reading lists
I love getting those emails from a department head which say that since their list of agenda items is so short perhaps I would like to contribute something on summer reading lists at their meeting after school...today!
I see two problems here. The first is the fact that I am obviously an afterthought and if the department had a few more things to discuss I wouldn't be invited. How valued I feel! Next, they want me to talk about summer reading. If you have read any of my blog posts about the issue we have at school with recreational reading, you would see the irony of this. I sit in the staff meeting wanting to yell out, "if they aren't reading during the school year, what makes you think they'll read this summer!" And then there are the lists they have come up with. Before I had even opened the files, I knew what sort of books would be on them. I had even come up with some of the titles. Below is the list for students going from grade 8 (year 9) into grade 9:
I see two problems here. The first is the fact that I am obviously an afterthought and if the department had a few more things to discuss I wouldn't be invited. How valued I feel! Next, they want me to talk about summer reading. If you have read any of my blog posts about the issue we have at school with recreational reading, you would see the irony of this. I sit in the staff meeting wanting to yell out, "if they aren't reading during the school year, what makes you think they'll read this summer!" And then there are the lists they have come up with. Before I had even opened the files, I knew what sort of books would be on them. I had even come up with some of the titles. Below is the list for students going from grade 8 (year 9) into grade 9:
Things Fall Apart
Citizen Soldiers
Wuthering Heights
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold The Red Badge of Courage
An American Tragedy
The Mill on the Floss
The Sound and the Fury
The Reluctant Fundamentalist Catch 22
A Farewell to Arms
Dispatches (NF)
On the Road
One Hundred Years of Solitude All the Pretty Horses
Animal Farm
The Bell Jar
The Crying of Lot 49
Anthem
All Quiet on the Western Front Call It Sleep
The Catcher in the Rye
Marmon Ceremony Slaughterhouse-Five
The Autobiography of Malcom X
Not a single book written by a children's author. I am loosing the will to live! Can you imagine how the grade 8s will feel this summer!
Citizen Soldiers
Wuthering Heights
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold The Red Badge of Courage
An American Tragedy
The Mill on the Floss
The Sound and the Fury
The Reluctant Fundamentalist Catch 22
A Farewell to Arms
Dispatches (NF)
On the Road
One Hundred Years of Solitude All the Pretty Horses
Animal Farm
The Bell Jar
The Crying of Lot 49
Anthem
All Quiet on the Western Front Call It Sleep
The Catcher in the Rye
Marmon Ceremony Slaughterhouse-Five
The Autobiography of Malcom X
Not a single book written by a children's author. I am loosing the will to live! Can you imagine how the grade 8s will feel this summer!
Monday, 23 February 2015
Post 23: Back to School
Back to school today and its amazing how a week can erase so much! If I hadn't written a list of notes to myself, I would have forgotten all the things I needed to do as soon as I got back. It's good that I know myself so well that I prepare in advance for forgetting.
My biggest problem this morning was the smell that hit me when I walked through the front door of the library. It was strongly reminiscent of something animal, decomposing. There were the usual jokes about 'the body in the library' from every second person who came in. Unfortunately, the body was never found and I expect to open the door again tomorrow morning and be met by the same, overwhelming stench!
So, today was spent doing all those little jobs that pile up over a holiday and all those jobs that come in at the last minute because teachers forgot before the holiday and need them done right away. Luckily, that part of it wasn't too bad. I had a request for a libguide on Renaissance people (artists, composers, mathematicians, writers, explorers, etc.) I have a template for creating a generic libguide and add and subtract those items needed or not. It took me ages to realise that that was to the way to do it rather than to create a new one from scratch each time. Have a look at the latest libguide if you are interested. The password will be 'magnolia' and you can access it for the next few days.
My biggest problem this morning was the smell that hit me when I walked through the front door of the library. It was strongly reminiscent of something animal, decomposing. There were the usual jokes about 'the body in the library' from every second person who came in. Unfortunately, the body was never found and I expect to open the door again tomorrow morning and be met by the same, overwhelming stench!
So, today was spent doing all those little jobs that pile up over a holiday and all those jobs that come in at the last minute because teachers forgot before the holiday and need them done right away. Luckily, that part of it wasn't too bad. I had a request for a libguide on Renaissance people (artists, composers, mathematicians, writers, explorers, etc.) I have a template for creating a generic libguide and add and subtract those items needed or not. It took me ages to realise that that was to the way to do it rather than to create a new one from scratch each time. Have a look at the latest libguide if you are interested. The password will be 'magnolia' and you can access it for the next few days.
Sunday, 22 February 2015
The Real Post 22
Today is the last day of my holidays and the moment has come when I face up to all things left undone! I don't remember at what point I started to think that certain things could be done on Monday and Tuesday because I had a very light time table those days. However, the number of things I have relegated to Monday and Tuesday are rising! I do realise now that I probably won't be able to do everything next week so today I will have to get down it and do some work. Once I do, I will feel so much better and it always goes so much more quickly than I expect. It's sad but despite the fact that this has happened before, I still keep doing it!
So the work for today is:
1. Red Nose Bake off entry forms
2. Red Nose Joke competition entry forms
3. Grade 11 workshop outline
Well, not as much as I thought and that give credence to my belief that what I have left to do is never as much as I think it is!
To other matters! Tomorrow, I will start my campaign to get students in grades 6 and 7 (11-13 year olds) involved in Battle of the Books. I have chosen 20 titles, both fiction and non-fiction, and including graphic novels and novels written in languages other than English.
Students will try to read as many as they can between now and mid June when we will have a team competition with questions on the books (rather like a pub quiz). The winning team members will each get a book prize and the whole team will be treated to a pizza lunch. I don't know if this is enough of an incentive but we have very competitive students so that alone should do it!
The titles of the books I have chosen are:
The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn (Samurai Mysteries (Paperback) Dorothy Hoobler
The Screaming Staircase: Book 1 (Lockwood & Co 1) Jonathan Stroud
The Savage Fortress Sarwat Chadda
Titanic: Voices from the Disaster Deborah Hopkinson,
Spy School Stuart Gibbs,
Moon Over Manifest Clare Vanderpool
Ungifted Gordon Korman
Ranger's Apprentice 1: The Ruins of Gorlan John Flanagan
The Thief (Thief of Eddis) Megan Whalen Turner
Rooftoppers Katherine Rundell,
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library Chris Grabenstein
Three Times Lucky Sheila Turnage
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp Kathi Appelt,
There is also a graphic novel based on the First World War and two or three translations of above books for our students who have a language other than English as their native language. I may also have missed a title or two but the above books are basically it.
I bought 5 copies of each so that I would have close to a hundred. That way there should be one book for every students in grades 6 and 7. To advertise, I will have every class in to the library for a short book talk and check out session and I will do a poster campaign around the school. I will also come up with various event to unfold over the next few months to keep the momentum going.
Wish me luck!
Saturday, 21 February 2015
Not post number 22!
(I started to write a murder mystery as a blog about 9 years ago. Recently, I've been thinking of developing it into a novel instead and am trying to get started on it. So here is a beginning but who knows where I will go with it.)
Death Writes a Blog
None of this would probably have happened if I hadn’t gone to that conference in Helsinki on the use of technology in the teaching of languages. Someone said, have you thought about using blogs with your students? I hadn’t. I didn’t really even know what a blog was. Well, yes, I knew what they were but I didn’t know how you would go about starting one and what you would even write about. At first i thought I would just throw it out there to my seniors. I’m always looking for something to inspire them. They probably knew what blogs were and could easily set one up and start writing. Then I thought that perhaps I should start one myself. That way I would know what they were talking about. I am the teacher, when all is said and done, and I should be the one leading the way. My department head would expect it too. The school had just spent all that money to send me to a conference. The least I could do, is apply what I learned.
So, that’s how it started, that conference and of course my philandering, good for nothing boyfriend, the scumbag! Now, I’m being held in protective custody with a murderer gunning for me and I can’t help but wonder how one thing led to another. Good question! And when I try to work it out, it just leads me back to dumb luck, or in this case, bad luck. I decided to write a blog, my boyfriend cheated on me and I stumbled into a murder.
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