teaching

The mystery of student focus

Posted on by Mark Isero

 What focuses students? I’ve been teaching for a long time, yet I’m still unsure.

I mean, I know all the basics: relevant curriculum, high expectations, structure, relationship-building.

But today in my Advisory, my students were particularly focused during a writing workshop. Besides all the normal things — I was in a good mood, set up a good frame, provided an essay example, and offered help — I didn’t do anything special. And yet, my students quickly found a flow.

Here are nine seconds of goodness:

Some of my colleagues might tell me, “Enjoy it when it happens!” Certainly I understand that sentiment. Maybe the stars were aligned. The problem is, I’d like this to happen every day, no matter whether the students are in a good mood, or whether I do a fantastic job.

After all, by this time in my students’ educational careers, the achievement gap has become a chasm, and we need to grasp every possible learning moment.

I took some pictures, too, of my students writing their post-graduation plans. I’ll ask them tomorrow what exactly happened today that led to their flow. 

teaching

Reality has set in. The honeymoon is over.

Posted on by Mark Isero

 It’s Week 10 in my AP English class, and reality has finally set in. The honeymoon is over.

My students are tired. They’ve been working hard, most notably on their writing, which has grown markedly. But with college applications, the stress of senior year, and other APs competing for my students’ attention, I’m finding that it’s hard to keep the flow going in my class.

It all started last week when we began Beloved.

My friends and colleagues warned me: It’s a tough book to teach. But what could go wrong? After all, my students had blazed through the first three titles, happy as clams (grammar alert: misplaced modifier!).

No more. Despite my efforts, my students gave up on the book on the first day. Toni Morrison’s non-linear style confused them, and they didn’t know how to deal.

Since then, I’ve been trying to get my students motivated again, but my efforts have failed. It’s tough to find a re-entry point; for my students, it’s overwhelming to catch up.

I’m frustrated, and I’m nervous, but I’ve learned a lot. Here are some tidbits:

1. Reading is always the first thing to drop off. Reading takes a long time. It’s hard work and takes daily dedication. It’s done by yourself, privately and silently. Reading for school is usually not fun. While it makes you feel proud when you read, there’s no huge reward for doing it and no huge penalty for skipping it.

2. My students need much more scaffolding on their reading, particularly at the beginning of a book. Although it’s true that their introductory college English class will assign large chunks of reading, it’s not true that my students are there yet. We need to build, step by step, to that standard.

3. It’s a long year, a long haul, there will be failure, and it’s OK to fail. It’s important to build academic character, to show to my students that part of succeeding is failing. That’s why they write 18 AP practice essays this year. And that’s why they’ll read 12 books this year. My students have been so used to succeeding, but the only way to grow is to struggle.

(I need to tell myself the same thing sometimes.) 

 

teaching

Essay of the Week: The heart of AP English

Posted on by Mark Isero

 The heart of my AP English class is the Essay of the Week. Each week, a lot of important work goes on.

Here’s how it works:

  • Monday = Drafting Day. Students write an AP practice essay in class and then type it on Google Docs before 11 p.m.
  • Tuesday = Review Day. Students get their essay read by three people: me, their personal online writing mentor, and their peer reviewer. Everybody leaves comments and suggestions for improvement.
  • Wednesday = Revision Day. In class, I do a Writing Workshop based on patterns I notice in the essays. Students revise their essay by applying what they’ve learned and by looking at their reviewers’ comments. In addition, eight students meet one on one with grammar coaches.
  • Thursday = Publication Day. Students print out their essay, turn it in, and cheer for their hard work. I go home and maniacally grade the essays and write brief comments.
  • Friday = Celebration Day. In class, I give back the essays and note trends. After a drumroll, I unveil the recipient of the Essay of the Week, which has become a coveted prize.
  • Weekend = Reflection. Students read the Essay of the Week, published on our class website, and write a comment. They also look at their “My Writing Growth” document, attached to their essay, where students and their reviewers chart their reflections.

It’s pretty amazing it all happens. After all, the process involves 51 people: 23 students, 23 online writing mentors, four grammar coaches, and me.

Perhaps even more remarkable is that the whole cycle takes just one week, Monday to Friday. The Thursday turn-in is crucial. So is getting the essays graded overnight. That way, Fridays are saved for celebration, I don’t have to grade over the weekend, and students can start fresh the next Monday.

It’s a huge effort, but it’s worth it. Students say it’s the most worthwhile part of the class so far. They work hard, they’re pushed, and they feel proud

Next steps: How can I bring the elegance of Essay of the Week to my teaching of the novels? How can I encourage students to value reading as much as writing? 

technology

Using technology to build classroom community

Posted on by Mark Isero

 I’m finding out that one of the most important things I can do as a teacher is to build classroom community. If students like being in my class, and if they like their peers, they’ll work harder and give up less easily.

One of the ways I’m keeping things positive is through technology. Here are some of the ways I’m using tech to infuse some fun:

  • I’m taking lots of pictures. Students love them. Pictures say, “I notice you and care about you in addition to caring about your academic work.” I also have a student photographer who takes good pictures — of birthdays, presentations, whatever she likes.
  • I’m taking a lot of video. I like video because it accentuates everything. Something serious gets more serious. Something funny gets funnier. Students get ready for the camera and say something memorable.
  •  I’m keeping a Facebook page. Some teachers use FB to distribute information. I use it for funny updates, deep motivational tidbits, and photos. The whole point is to keep up morale and to make my class a “thing” — more than just a class.
  • I’m building an online community. My class website, iseroma.com, is quickly becoming something. Students post content and comment on each other’s work. They write status updates on the sidebar. They record mini-podcasts and produce short films. Although I joke about the site and try to keep things light, it’s clear that my students regard iseroma.com with pride.
The key is to keep students guessing. If a class becomes humdrum, then there’s nothing to look forward to. Technology does a good job of turning up the juice. 
technology

Whether to sync my classroom Kindles

Posted on by Mark Isero

 Now that I have six Kindles for student use, I have to decide whether to synchronize them or not. I don’t know what to do.

Disadvantages to Syncing

  1. It might confuse students reading the same book at the same time. Synced Kindles like to keep track of the last page read. If students are reading the same book at the same time, it’s possible they’ll lose their spot. What’s neat, though, is that syncing page numbers doesn’t happen without the reader’s consent.
  2. It might be harder to grade annotations. Highlights and notes are shared automatically across Kindles, which means students would have to include their initials before every annotation they made.
  3. Students have access to all my notes and highlights. Most of the time, this is a good thing, but sometimes, I’d like to keep my notes private.
Advantages to Syncing
  1. It makes reading more social. Students see what their peers have highlighted and noted and can have a conversation. Sharing notes can lead students to do more thinking. If more than one student chooses the same passage, for example, they can express their differing viewpoints.
  2. It makes reading more public. Reading is usually so private and undercover. Because notes and highlights are available online, I can use them in class to elicit discussion. Instead of talking about passages I select, we can talk about quotes students find intriguing.

It looks like syncing is the way to go. Next steps: I have to figure out public posting of notes. I’d like my students to post their notes to my class website or to our class Facebook page. It would be neat if students could post quotes for others to comment on. But right now, as far as I know, that’s impossible.