reading/teaching

I love anonymous donors on DonorsChoose

Posted on by Mark Isero

donors Instead of assigning everything my students will read, I’m trying something new this year: a move to Reading Workshop in my English 9 class. My ninth graders will participate in The 1,000,000 Word Challenge.

When I look at the research (thank you, Stephen Krashen), it’s a no-brainer. Free, voluminous, voluntary reading is the way to go. Besides, test scores have gone down among ninth graders at my school (to only 27 percent proficiency) over the last five years, so something new needs to happen.

Still, it’s a controversial choice. Questions abound. Here are a few: (1) Will students actually read? (2) If they read, will their reading be rigorous enough? (3) Aren’t you giving up on “real” homework?

Instead of getting caught up in those questions, I’ve decided to focus my attention to connecting my students with good books. Donalyn Miller, Kelly Gallagher, and Nancie Atwell are my inspirations. If I unabashedly share my love of reading — if I show my students I know them and care about them through the books I recommend to them — they will like reading, too.

One of the requirements of a Reading Workshop is to have a substantial classroom library so students have access to high-quality books. Although Gallagher is correct when he writes in Readicide that “building a classroom library is a career-long pursuit,” I can’t wait. I need books now.

In addition to finding books at used book stores and Salvation Army stores, this summer I turned to DonorsChoose for help. It was easy: I selected the books I wanted, 10 to 15 books at a time, wrote up a little proposal, submitted the project, and waited.

I didn’t end up having to wait that long.

Six projects, 100-plus books, and an Amazon Kindle later, I can safely say that I love anonymous donors on DonorsChoose! Sure, a few of my friends and family helped out, too (thank you!), but my main donors have been strangers: wonderful people out there who love reading and learning and who believe in my project.

If anonymous donors have contributed more than $1,000 in just one 8-week summer, perhaps I have struck a chord. My donors will help me to withstand any criticism I’ll face and to remain singularly focused on working with students to deepen their interest in reading.

You too can be one of my anonymous donors! Here are my current open projects on DonorsChoose. (No pressure, you don’t need to remain anonymous!)

teaching

Sharing rooms, changing my vision

Posted on by Mark Isero

I’m still frustrated after hearing that I’ll be teaching in two classrooms and sharing my own. (It’s now “our” room.)

Since April, after all, I’ve been reading tons of books and envisioning a  new English 9 class, classroom library, and 1,000,000 Word Challenge.

Now I have to figure out which parts of my vision I can keep and which parts need to wait another year.

Things to Let Go

1. The Reading Zone. This year, there won’t be room for comfy chairs, a rug, a little table, and a lamp. When students enter the room, they will see my colleague’s prominent desk instead of my reading nook. (My desk is tiny and in the opposite corner of the room.) Therefore, students will read primarily from their desks. I suppose I can try to find some oversized pillows so at least a handful of students can sprawl out on the floor. But the dedicated nook won’t be a reality this year.

2. A Full-Fledged Classroom Library. I like a minimalist, uncluttered environment, and I wanted my classroom to send a singular message: We read here. But now, the classroom is only half mine. Several of the bookshelves are filled with my colleague’s curriculum binders and materials. As I acquire more books, where will they go? When I teach in the other room, how will students choose books?

Things to Keep

1. The 1,000,000 Word Challenge. I won’t lie: Coming back to school has made me more nervous about unveiling my new project. I sense cynicism and disapproval from my colleagues. But I cannot let their questions deter me from my excitement. The ninth graders will read a lot this year, and they will enjoy reading, and their reading skills will improve! Instead of getting bogged down by and worrying about adults, I will spend my energy with my students.

2. My Experimental Mindset. I’ve reminded myself over and over that I’m consciously changing my practice this year. Sure, I’ve had success as a teacher in the past. But what I want to do this year is fundamentally different. My hope is that my students and I won’t just “play school” but rather will be involved in something real. How I am as a teacher — and my expectancies for myself and my students — is more important than physical space limitations. I hope to learn day by day. It will take patience and confidence.

reading

My students will love ‘A Place to Stand’

Posted on by Mark Isero

Jimmy Santiago Baca’s A Place to Stand is an excellent memoir that I’m sure my ninth grade Latino boys will love.

This is not your run-of-the-mill, tedious prison story where violent acts are described, one after another, merely for shock value. Nor is it a sugary feel-good story that promises a happy ending through personal transformation.

Baca describes his childhood in an orphanage, his introduction to drug dealing, and his time in prison. While being locked up, he considers religion but instead discovers his voice through language, letters, and poetry.

The writing in A Place to Stand is excellent. Baca has an ear for language and writes prose like a poet. The prison scenes — murder, rape — are grisly but not gratuitous. The writing is accessible but does not pander. I’m pretty sure ninth grade Latino boys will connect with Baca’s experience and want to read more of his work. 

teaching

Back to school — already?

Posted on by Mark Isero

It’s always a shock to come back to school, but this year, it seems even earlier than normal.

Students return next week, so there’s limited time to finish setting up my classroom, writing my syllabus, and taking care of business.

All those things seemed challenging even before finding out just a few minutes ago that I’ll be sharing my classroom and teaching in two classrooms this year.

Ugh.

I don’t mind sharing; my colleagues are wonderful. But I was looking forward not to have to cart my stuff around the building all the time. There will also be implications to my reading workshop and 1,000,000 Word Challenge, not to mention my ideas with technology. Even though there’s nothing I can do about it, and even though it’s best for the school, I’m very angry. It makes me feel like my prep over the summer won’t matter. Is there a point, for example, to spend money on furniture for a reading nook if 1/3 of my students won’t have access? 

reading

Why do people complain about free reading?

Posted on by Mark Isero

A teen-aged girl to her brother, overheard in a hotel lobby while vacationing in Germany: “Is Pride and Prejudice as bad as the beginning?”

The brother’s response: “Why would I read Pride and Prejudice? That’s a girl book.”

These are teenagers stuck in assigned, required summer reading.

Just a week after Time Magazine proposed an end to summer vacation to counteract summer learning loss, particularly for low-income students, The New York Times reported yesterday that free reading in the summer helps students and their reading scores.

Nevertheless, the debate continues about whether adults should allow students to read freely. To some people, giving young people choice will somehow prevent them from getting into a good college.

In no way do I dispute the merits of challenging reading, and in addition to The 1,000,000 Word Challenge, I plan to assign my students this year plenty of difficult, rich texts.

But there is no way that a student will enjoy reading and read a lot without being able to read what he or she chooses.