What Are You Reading Good?

My school district has provided me the unique opportunity to participate in the Smart Step Literacy Lab Classroom Project, a professional development opportunity for teachers of grades 4 - 12. It is based upon current research that supports educational pedagogy. Literacy Lab is a compliment to a standards based curriculum, not a prescribed curriculum, and it requires a two-year commitment. It consists of seven days of training each year. Both years are broken into three days of training in the summer and two days of training in both the fall and spring. I have already attended the three day summer session which I enjoyed very much. Crossett School District gave me $600 to build my classroom library this summer. As much as I love books, I was in heaven! My students have been reading those books like crazy! I only wish they had sent another $600 with me this time. I mentioned that to my assistant principal today at the workshop...for some reason, he just gave me 'the look'. :)

This Tuesday and Wednesday (101210 and 101310) I returned to Harding University in Searcy, AR to attend days 4 and 5 of my Beta 2 year. Yesterday consisted of fluency instruction in a reading workshop environment and designing, maintaining and perpetuating classroom libraries. Today consisted of an introduction to Comprehension Strategy Instruction; review of research and identification of the strategies and best practices in teaching; and Gradual Release of Responsibility Model. His workshops are interactive as he encourages input and questions. He makes a point to spend a significant amount of time asking all the teachers his trademark question, "What are you reading good?" He encourages teachers to ask their students this question every day to encourage reading rich conversations. His workshop was very informative, and I can appreciate the fact that he insists he is not teaching anything new but sharing research-based strategies that others have proven true and effective. On our last Saturday class at UAM, I didn't get to tell Dr. Zimmerly this, but I could hear 'Stamatis' in her presentation even before we saw the film of him. I caught up with him at break and actually 'name dropped' and told him that Dr. Zimmerly was my instructor. He knew exactly who I was referring to and was very sweet to take a picture with me. I told him I would include his picture on my blog, and he was happy to do it. Right now, I am reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. What are you reading good?

Broken Hearted

Ok, time to blow off some steam... We are reading The Outsiders in my classes. On Tuesday, the students were given a Character Trait worksheet, on the character Ponyboy, worth 25 points to be completed by Friday of this week. We are covering chapters one through three, and those chapters are full of references to Ponyboy's character. When I gave that assignment, I was thinking, "This will be easy points for these guys." I gave reminders each day and even handed out a couple of extra worksheets to those unorganized students who had misplaced theirs. Luckily for them, I had already decided to let them put finishing touches on their Character Trait worksheets as their bellwork on Friday. I was shocked at their unpreparedness. As I walked around the room during bellwork time, so many students hadn't brought their worksheets AT ALL! I was so tempted to let them just suffer the consequences, but I love them too much and want so badly for them to do well. I just passed out the blank copies to those that didn't have theirs. One student even had the nerve to say, "You expect us to finish this in only 15 minutes?" My response was, "No, I expected you to finish in 3 days. The 'only 15 minutes' part is your fault." Having said all that, my question is this: How does a teacher NOT take it personally when students choose not to complete assignments? It literally hurt my feelings that so many made no attempt to complete the assignment. I don't know. I'm going to either become cold and indifferent, continue with a broken heart, or find some happy medium. Cold and indifferent is not my style. The only way I'm going there is involuntarily. Continuing with a broken heart is taking its toll on me, but I don't know how to reach that happy medium. Until then, I guess I'll just be broken hearted. On the flip side of the coin, am I enabling them to be irresponsible by repeatedly providing 'lost' material? I guess I am having a hard time drawing the proverbial line in the sand regarding my expectations of them. I know this is just a blog, but feel free to offer advice if you have any. I would love to get some feedback on this. Thanks!