reading/teaching

Arizona is banning books

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon Mexican WhiteBoy, by Matt de la Pena, is one of my students’ favorite books to read. Ninth grade boys, in particular, love the book.

It’s a story about a Mexican-American kid who wants to become his school’s star pitcher. His sister wants to go to college. It’s your typical American Dream.

But according to an article in today’s New York Times, you can’t teach the book in Arizona because it may promote racial resentment.

Here’s more background from columnist Michael Winerip:

In 2010, after several attempts, the Republican-controlled Legislature and the Republican governor passed a law prohibiting classes that advocate overthrowing the government, are designed for students of one ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of treating pupils as individuals. The state wanted Tucson’s Mexican-American studies program disbanded.

In other words, to make sure to perpetuate the status quo, Arizona is banning books. Other books you can’t teach: Chicano! The History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement and Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

There is some good news, however, to this story. Ana Verdugo, a student in Tucson, invited Mr. de la Pena to speak at the school. Instead of requiring his usual $1,000 speaking fee, Mr. de la Pena donated 240 copies of his books for independent reading, which is not banned.

He said, “If you are Mexican-American, embrace it. If the classes are offered, take them; if not, try to get them back.”

I applaud Ms. Verdugo and Mr. de la Pena for fighting against censorship. Reading should be open to everyone. No government should be able to censor the teaching of equality. favicon

teaching

Mike Daisey: The importance of teaching the truth

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon Today, This American Life retracted its radio show that included an excerpt from Mike Daisey’s monologue about working conditions at Foxconn, a partner of Apple Computer.

Mike Daisey lied and fabricated large parts of his story.

Like all liars and fabricators, Daisey is fascinating — and very disturbed. In an interview with Ira Glass, Daisey hems, haws, gets trapped, pauses for way too long, apologizes, rationalizes, and finally defends his monologue as theater.

Daisey — and his fellow fabricator-plagiarists Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair — all have one thing in common. They’re talented people who deceive because they’re afraid they’re not good enough. More problematic, they don’t think they’re hurting anyone.

I used Daisey’s monologue with my students. They were blown away. They listened carefully, and they still remember some of the details.

The problem is, Those details aren’t true. And I’m afraid that when I tell my students about Daisey’s lies, they won’t care.

I’m afraid they’ll say the same thing Daisey says: The overall story is true, and you have to do what you have to do to get your story out there so people will care. favicon

teaching

Group grades: Another way to increase homework

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon For a long time now, I’ve thought about ways to increase homework completion.

The Nightly Text was fairly successful, but still, homework decreased precipitously on weekends.

Last unit, without too much fanfare, I introduced a new idea to encourage students to read and annotate The Awakening.

I called it “Group Annotations.”

Up until this book, I regularly gauged my students’ reading by checking their annotations. It was simple: I’d go around, table by table, and do a spot check.

This time, I made a small change: Your annotation score was based on your overall team’s score.

That meant: If you did your annotations but your peers didn’t, you’d lose. And vice versa: If your peer did their annotations and you didn’t, you’d hurt them.

The results were excellent. Homework completion was more than 95 percent.

More than any other reading homework assignment I’ve done this year, Group Annotations encouraged students to do their reading nightly, to annotate closely, and to be prepared for classroom discussion.

My students didn’t want to be the one bringing down their team.

A bit of a warning: This idea likely would not work everywhere. After all, students have to care about each other and demonstrate social responsibility. In addition, the practice is a bit unethical; it’s a totally individual assignment with no group product that is being assessed collectively.

But it worked, and that’s what counts the most.

It’s intriguing to me how much better my students did with group accountability. When they’re working for themselves, they sometimes get lazy. When they’re working for me, they sometimes do so begrudgingly. But when they’re working for each other, their drive kicks in. favicon

teaching/technology

The Nightly Text as formative assessment

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon My experiment with the Nightly Text, this unit’s ongoing homework assignment, has been a major success.

Reading’s up, homework’s up, and the quality of discussions is up, too.

One additional benefit of the Nightly Text is that it’s been great for formative assessment.

Too often as teachers, we wait too long to find out that our students are falling behind. We spend so much time developing engaging culminating projects and daily lessons that we don’t recognize how important it is assess whether our students are making solid progress.

That’s where formative assessment comes in, and that’s how the Nightly Text is helpful.

When I receive a text, I get a quick snapshot of a student’s understanding. If a student is off point, I can intervene immediately instead of waiting until the next day.

Here’s an exchange I had tonight with a student (about The Awakening). Part of the homework was to write an analytical question for tomorrow’s Socratic seminar.

Student: Do you think women are still under men’s control?

Me: Maybe a good question for a social studies class, but there’s nothing in the book that will help you answer that. Text me back.
Student: Why do you think Kate Chopin decided to write against women’s gender roles in society?
Me: You’re getting closer, although this question relies heavily on speculation rather than textual analysis. Try to ask a question about the last 2 pages. Text me back!
Student: On the last page, Edna hears her father’s voice and her sister’s voice. Why do you think she hears her family’s voices and not Robert’s voice?
Me: OK, that’s good.
Student: Yes!

My student’s first question, although interesting, was not appropriate for a text-based discussion. His second attempt was closer — by centering on a major theme in The Awakening — but it was too broad and wouldn’t encourage his peers to delve into the text.

After a little direct prodding, however, my student was able to write a question that — although not perfect — will be a solid one for tomorrow’s discussion.

Sure, I could’ve checked his question tomorrow, but that would’ve been last minute. My student would’ve gone into the discussion without confidence.

Now, both my student and I can rest comfortably. He feels prepared to contribute, and I know that every student will have at least one solid question to ask. favicon

My students love the Kindle, #1

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon What’s happening in The Kindle Classroom Project makes me happy I’m a teacher.

Students are reading more, enjoying reading more, and asking for more books.

So far, I have 12 Kindles (the 13th is coming soon!) and 130 high-interest e-books (with more to come).

My students’ excitement for reading is palpable. Check out my first Kindle video below (about a minute). Princess is a big fan of many of the Kindle’s features, including the built-in dictionary and text-to-speech.

I’m hoping to put up more photos and videos soon.

If you know someone who’d like to contribute to The Kindle Classroom Project, please pass on the word! You can refer them to my Kindle posts, to the Contribute page, or to the Chipin! button on the sidebar. Thank you so much. favicon