Just Finished Chapter 6

After reading Chapter 6, I do feel "validated," that what I'm trying to do in my classes is the right thing, but at the same time, I am discouraged. In my "inherited" English 3 class, I have at least twenty students who choose not to read out of the twenty-three students. Perhaps the texts are too difficult; I don't know. I know that they choose NOT to read the assignments even when I scaffold the reading and support it with the audio books. I know that generous amounts of reading, writing, and talking about the reading and the writing are the keys to authentic literacy and intellectual development. I know that education and literacy are the keys to "upward mobility," and the author put it.

My frustration is that I am getting eleventh graders who do not know how to read thoughtfully or how to discuss their reading thoughtfully. I joined the Newberry Middle School SCRI MG group four years ago and met a whole bunch of teachers who are committed to improving literacy and academic achievement. My students this year have had some of those teachers. All of my students have been through two years of the "Janet Allen curriculum." I would think that I would see the benefits and have students who not only knew how to read closely, but also how to discuss the texts. Why are we not seeing the changes in high school?

As I took my notes (yes, I do read with a pen in hand, sometimes even when I'm reading for pleasure), I kept writing "I agree" or "agreed" or some other remark. There is nothing in chapter 6 that I don't agree with, and I am sincerely trying to implement the practices that Schmoker suggests are essential to developing authentic literacy. It's a battle, however. I feel like I'm the "Lone Ranger," although I know that I am not.

Perhaps we are putting too much emphasis on "The Test." We spend so much time preparing students for HSAP, MAP, and other tests that I'm not sure we are teaching students how to learn, how to read, how to think. Give my English 3 students a prompt to consider, they will not try; give them a multiple choice test, they will try. Whether they get the answer correct or not does not seem matter. The thing is that they will complete worksheet-type assignments that require only recall; they will not attempt anything more challenging or anything that requires that they synthesize what they have learned.

Authentic Literacy (Chapter 5)

Generous amounts of close, purposeful reading, rereading, writing, and talking are the essence of authentic literacy.

I have recently started to pay close attention to the buds beginning blossom around Newberry High. Its spring and though the late freeze might have gotten some of them, others are filling out nicely. There's an interesting metaphor here, because what has truly caught my eye is the blossoming literacy practices around NHS. There are pockets of greatness that I'm starting to pay attention to. Sometimes accountability (the freeze) can get them, but most of the time they are strong enough to endure.

There are several teachers that are experimenting with supplemental texts in their content area classes. The human growth teachers are a great example of this--they have truly taken the concept of literature circles and made them their own. Some of the social studies teachers are beginning to dip their toes and experiment with the possibilities that YA lit can bring into a classroom. English I and II teachers have incorporated the Janet Allen curriculum which uses YA lit to teach the universal literary themes that used to be taught through classics that didn't reach a single student.

This is what gives me hope. We are showing promise. We just have to get it to spread. "Literacy liberates." We have to teach our students the value of reading in order to help them leave their current world behind. Schmoker points out that 40% of those born into the bottom economic fifth stay there as adults. Literacy liberates. It is what our students need to break the cycle.

Of course we can't do this alone and it is easy to use the lack of parental support and lack of time as a crutch. As a reason for not trying as hard as we can. But what can we do?

How can we take our pockets of literacy excellence and spread them into other classrooms across the school? What can you do differently?

Chapter 4--Curricular Chaos

There were several different sections in the chapter that illicited a variety of responses from me while I read. Sometimes I felt good knowing that we have moved beyond what is happening across the nation and other times I knew that we were still in need of drastic improvements. Here are some things that caught my eye:

"What is a curriculum guide? A well-intended fiction." When I first started at NHS, my curriculum guide sat unopened on the shelf. Its kinda a scary thing to look at--3 inches thick with seemingly no end in sight to the expectations. However, if there is one thing that HSAP and EOCEP have helped us do, they have helped us follow pacing guides throughout the school year. Each year that this accountability system is in effect, we do more and we do it better.

A research group "found redundancy and inconsistency at every grade level." I'm sure that we are covering material over and over again, but what are we supposed to do when students don't retain what they have learned in the past? When they come to us, its almost tabula rasa--we have to start from scratch.

"The bottom line is that if we taught math, writing, and critical reading effectively, exactly as we know it should be taught, then students would do exceedingly well on state assessments. On a cautionary note, I'm not as sure of this approach in science and social studies." Yet we are still testing our students on 300+ years of history. Hmmmm.

"An inordinate amount of class time was spent completing worksheets." A thought has intrigued me over the last several years--our lower level students love a worksheet. If you ask them to move away from their comfort zone, then, as another teacher put it, all hell breaks loose. But these are the students who need alternative activities the most! How do we balance? I've been struggling with one of the abandoned English classes over the last few months. They were mired in worksheets for 3 months and now I want to do "fun stuff", for lack of better phrasing. Its been a daily battle with them and their behavior. However, I am winning. Slowly, but surely, I am winning.

"Students didn't use and were not taught to understand the state writing rubric." This is not happening at NHS. All of our sophomores have spent a great deal of time with the HSAP writing rubric--looking at examples, studying the different parameters, and even grading their own writing.

I am reminded every day that we are doing some great things at NHS--content area book clubs, writing across the curriculum, reading incentives...the list goes on. The day to day battle is not with the desire to be effective--its with time constraints, parental involvement (or lack thereof), state-mandated testing, too many committees and not enough time, etc. I feel like we all want to be good but feel ourselves fighting all the other outside sources. So what do we do about that? Where do we go from here?

What from the chapter caught your eye?

Brutal Facts

Improvement "takes recognition of and the moral outrage at ineffective practices."
- Roland Barth

It seems that the responsibility for our failing schools (and the buffer) goes from top to bottom. Mediocrity currently is protected at all levels. I would like to see teachers start a movement to change the system because I believe this is where it must start for teachers to really buy in to this idea of professional learning communities.

It has been my experience that when innovations come from the top down, teachers think "here we go again with the lastest education fad." Consequently, they only do enough to make it look like they are trying, but usually the fad gradually goes away, and we are back in our same comfortable rut. However, any real change is going to require adminsitration at the school and district level to really listen to teachers and respond to their needs rather than telling them what is needed. Where the rubber meets the road (teachers in the classroom) should have great input into all decisions regarding instruction of students.

I will be intereested in seeing whether Schmoker addresses this issue.

Chapter 2: Isolation

Chapter 2 has some harsh words towards the isolation that we may or may not feel once we get in our classrooms, shut the door, and start to teach. Some teachers revel in the isolation; some teachers determinedly leave the door open and insist on welcoming visitors.

One section in chapter 2, "Institutionalizing Mediocrity", talks about the lack of meaningful critique, support, and feedback. Schmoker states:

We have to take responsibility for the message this lack of feedback sends to teachers: that teaching, the soul of their chosen profession, doesn't much matter. Feel free to be an effective teacher, but it is not a requirement. Evaluations are occasional and meaningless. Barring some grave, usually noninstructional malfeasance, you will never lose your job.

In what ways do you see this as being true? What do we have in place to fight it? What do we need to do to take the next step to continue to fight the isolation?