Teaching Reading Again by Christine DePetrillo

I haven’t taught reading in ages. In the school where I teach, we’ve always switched classes for different subjects. While I have taught reading even in the switching model, it’s been a while since that subject was officially on my plate. I’ve been teaching math, writing, and social studies for the past several years.

Mostly I waded through math. I love numbers and computations and problem solving and how a square is a rectangle but a rectangle isn’t a square.

But teaching math? Well, that’s another story. With the standards we are required to teach, I often feel like I’m attempting to teach college-level mathematics to eleven-year olds which, by the way, is preposterous. I know I wasn’t solving for “y” until at least eighth grade.

In my old schedule, once I muddled through two periods of math, I looked forward to two periods of writing where we were writing machines, letting the creativity flow freely. Social studies always involved a trip to Revolutionary times which students consistently found fascinating.

Teaching reading this year, however, has breathed new life into my at-work experience. I’ve read so many children’s books over the summer and during these first weeks of school. I now see what I’ve been missing—the sheer joy of sharing treasured stories with children. I’m also digging the connections I can now make for students between reading AND writing because I can teach the two together to the same group of students. Our conversations have been so deep and meaningful and mature. I love hearing students’ thoughts about character, theme, and conflict. Watching them get lost in books is like watching magic happen. Listening to them talk to one another about stories is wonderful too, especially when they say things like, “I believe the life lesson the author is trying to convey to the reader is…”

Seriously. One of them used the word convey. I can die happy.

What’s really awesome is that many of these books we are sharing in reading class aren’t just entertaining for kids. I’ve laughed and cried through many of the pages, the stories truly moving and so well written. Even if you don’t teach or don’t have kids or grandkids, these are books you can enjoy just for the poignant tales they tell, the poetic words the authors use, the life lessons they offer. You might even learn a thing or two about writing.

Here’s some of the children’s books I’ve read so far (and the pile of to-be-reads grows every day):

The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo

Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur

Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech

Sophia’s War by Avi

The House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park

Freak, the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

The Promise, by Nicola Davies

A Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson

Mr. Lincoln’s Way, by Patricia Polacco

As I said the list is endless. I’ll never live long enough to read all of them. I’ll give it my best shot though, and I can’t wait to discuss them with my students.

What’s a favorite children’s book that has stuck with you?

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

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Plans for Change by Christine DePetrillo

It’s May 14^th and in approximately one month, THE SCHOOL YEAR WILL BE OVER!

It’ll be my 17^th year completed teaching the same grade (five) at the same school in the same room.

So, yeah. I need some change.

But not too much because I don’t really like change.

Here’s the plan. Stay in the same grade at the same school in the same room, but change up the schedule, the subjects taught, and the room configuration. For all of the 17 years I’ve been teaching, the two fifth grades in my school have always switched classes to get students ready for switching classes at the middle school and to play upon our own teaching strengths. I’ve taught Math and Writing for most of my time at this school with a side order of Social Studies.

Next year, I’ll teach ALL the subjects and keep my own homeroom all day. This has many advantages. I can have longer periods for each of the subjects because transition time doesn’t have to be factored in. If I want to extend a period to do a more in-depth study of a topic, I can because I’ll always have the same set of students. If I want to teach a topic across disciplines, I can. If I want to take a thematic approach, no problem. Project-based learning? You betcha. Time to address the emotional-social needs of students (which seem to grow in frequency and magnitude each year) will now be available because I will have a better understanding of my core students instead of trying (often unsuccessfully) to get to know twice as many students.

I’m hoping for a better connection to my class. I want to really immerse them in learning. The kind of learning where they don’t even realize that the end of the day has arrived. I feel as if this year’s students did a great deal of “clock-watching.”

Honestly? So did I.

Whether that was my fault or theirs, I'm not sure, but I don’t want that to happen next year. I’m looking for the type of teaching and learning that brings things into the 21^st century and really ignites a passion for knowledge and discovery. I’m also hoping to arrange my classroom in a more comfortable, casual learning space. Something that promotes collaboration and innovation. I already plan to swap out my individual desks for larger tables in hopes to create a more laboratory, this-is-where-we-figure-stuff-out-cooperatively setting.  

And I’m obviously psyched to be teaching Reading again. The opportunity to talk about books with students as both readers AND writers excites me! I’ll also get to dive into Science, which will be great because I’m head of our school’s Roots & Shoots Team and really would love to get more outdoor learning into the mix. And the Science Fair? Ugh. It needs a facelift in the worst way. We've already made it digital, but the students really need opportunities to think more about real-world problems they can solve or inventions they can make. Something more than which flavor of gum lasts the longest. Bleck. 

With all the plans I have for next year, one hundred eighty days probably won’t be enough time to do it all, but I’ll channel the energy into making those days the best my new fifth graders ever had. I have all summer to strategize (while I’m not writing), and we’ll see how things go.

When does the school end where you live?  

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

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Alternate Careers

I’ve been giving thought to alternate careers lately. I’ve been a teacher for seventeen years now. The same school. The same grade. The same room. It’s been a good run. It really has.

But…

I think back to all the reasons I became a teacher. I wanted to shape the future, inspire young learners, better humankind. Lofty goals, but good fuel on which to stoke the fires of a career.

Have I reached any of these goals? I’d like to say yes. I run into former students on a regular basis and a good many of them have turned into something productive. Most have gone on to college. Some are already beginning their own careers. A few have written to me, thanking me for my guidance. These are all good things. Things that help me wake up each day and get my ass into work.

As I look at the current state of education, however, I grow weary. Teaching is less and less about shaping the future, inspiring young minds, or bettering humankind. Teaching today is about accountability. Now, don’t get me wrong. I understand that we need ways to measure student progress and teacher effectiveness. We need methods to improve our educational practices. We need to hold teachers and students accountable for what goes on in our nation’s classrooms every day.

But we’re sucking the fun out of learning, peeps. Totally. And not just for the students. I don’t have fun at work like I used to.  

I’ve had a few moments more recently where I’ve been in the middle of a lesson and I think to myself, “Does anyone care about this? Is this going to change students’ lives in any way?”

Are those expressions on students’ faces ones of boredom? Is the inattention a sign that this is all too easy, too hard, not relevant? Can everything students “need” to learn just be googled nowadays on their cell phones? Am I less interesting than an online multimedia experience that can present the material in a more engaging way? A way that will capture students’ attention and keep it?

Sometimes I feel as if I’m competing so hard for students’ attention that I’ll never succeed. Gone are the days where my students and I would thoroughly explore a topic through good books and solid conversation with sustained involvement. Now it’s all two-minute videos with music and animation. It’s short, mini-lessons – quick hits – because the human attention span is like under ten seconds. It’s power-up-your-laptop-kids-and-click-your-way-through-your-education, followed by take-this-online-assessment-so-I-can-collect-buttloads-of-data-on-you. Data that directly affects the ratings I receive from my administration. Ratings that don’t take into account all the variables—many that I have absolutely no control over—that go into a student’s success. 

Meanwhile, kids don’t know how to talk to each other anymore. They’re going to grow up to be adults who don’t know how to talk to each other. Respect appears to be a non-existent skill too.

This depresses me.

I need an alternative… or I need to make changes. Changes that maybe don’t jive with the “requirements,” but make good sense. For me. For them. For society.

I don’t have any answers just yet, but I’m keeping an eye out for new opportunities. Mostly ones that have to do with writing. That’s where I always feel pulled. That’s where I always feel inspired. Writing offers the chance to live in a fantasy world where things make sense to me.

Where things are fun again.

So what do you think? Mid-life crisis? Real concerns? Shut up and be happy you have a paying job with health benefits? Weigh in.

  

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

The Maple Leaf Series – More Than Pancakes, Book One is always FREE! 

Grandparenting by Diane Burton

Nothing perturbs me more than feeling my age. And, believe me, I’m feeling my age this week. Hubs is, too. Since we retired, our mornings are very relaxed. If possible, we don’t schedule appointments early. He always dresses before coming out to the living room.I throw on a robe. We make coffee and then with the Today Show running in the background, Hubs reads the paper, and I read email. If I’m up before him, I’ll write. I’ll get dressed when I feel like it.

But not this week.

There’s a good reason we had children when we were young. Getting our kids off to school was a piece of cake. Since Hubs had left work an hour earlier, I did it all. No sweat. Getting grandchildren ready for school takes both of us.

We love our grandchildren dearly. But after that one hour in the morning when we have to get ourselves up and dressed (no time for coffee) before waking the kids, fixing breakfast, making lunches, and walking them to the bus stop, we’re both ready for a nap. Especially when the kindergartener dogs around and proclaims he doesn’t want to go to school. This from the kid who said the first day of school was “amazing.”

That was Monday. Yesterday was worse. It’s “spirit week” at their school. Yesterday was “crazy hair” day. Granddaughter wanted her hair in lots of little pony tails, curled around and pinned. Think Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) in Matrix Reloaded. Since her hair is long and thick, this took more time than expected. Meanwhile Hubs prepared lunches, got breakfast ready, fed the dogs, and even brewed a cup of coffee, which we shared. What was grandson doing during all this? Lying on the bathroom floor, still not dressed. Hubs was not pleased.

In the end, both kids had “crazy hair” and we all made it to the bus stop in time. Despite both of us using our "stern" voices often, we got hugs and kisses before they got on the bus. That alone was worth all the hassle. Since I’m writing this on Tuesday, I have no idea how this morning went. I’m sure we’ll be better at this morning routine than the previous two days. Thank goodness the parents return this afternoon.

As I’ve mentioned before, we moved to West Michigan because we wanted to be close to our grandchildren. We’ve definitely seen more of them this summer and now into the fall. Even though it’s exhausting, I wouldn’t trade the time we spend with them for all the relaxed mornings. The tight hugs at night, the big smiles when they see us are worth the exhaustion. After all, we can always take naps.

Beginnings and Endings by Diane Burton

 Last Monday, I wrote about the end of summer. So it seems appropriate that I write about beginnings. School starts today in Michigan. The beginning of another school year. Even though I don’t need to follow that calendar, I’m so aware of it. Who isn’t with all the back-to-school ads?

My daughter takes pictures of the kiddies on the first day of school every year. They each hold a sign proclaiming “1^st day of ___ grade” or in grandson’s case for previous years the class he was in at preschool. This year he starts kindergarten. Daughter is very happy since both kids are in the same school now. She also takes their pictures at the end of the school year—same place, different sign.

Beginning and endings. Isn’t that something we all experience? Whether it’s in our personal lives or in our careers, endings happen. As writers, we all know about rejection. The ending of that story with that publisher. Do we cry and never send that story out again? Nope. We begin again.

I saw this on Facebook and thought how appropriate to my topic.

On to new beginnings.


Diane Burton writes romantic adventure . . . stories that take place on Earth and beyond. She blogs here on the 8th and 30th of each month and on Mondays on her own site: http://dianeburton.blogspot.com/