Literacy Now

With the New Year, as we are setting goals related to our health and well-being, we are both focusing on pilates. Kim’s interest has evolved through years of practicing pilates regularly. Jan’s interest is new, and arises with fresh concern (and discomfort) associated with sitting in front of a computer for hours each day and getting very little exercise at all.

Fortunately, goal setting, breaking and establishing habits, and taking risks have similarities, regardless of the context. Basically, we are both thinking of how to extend ourselves in our health practices.

Similarly, neither of us have much balance in our lives. We work far too much and take care of ourselves and our personal lives far too little. Rather than saying, however, “Balance is just impossible for us,” we’ve begun to push back on these feelings of overwhelmedness. Instead, we’re asking, “Given that we won’t be perfectly balanced by New Year’s Day 2014, what can we do to become more balanced this year?” Becoming more balanced feels doable.

Many educators are understandably overwhelmed by the Common Core State Standards. It seems that the field of education is changing at light speed, with little margin for reflection. If the CCSS feels bigger than you can take on or if you just don’t know where to start, try nudging your instruction in the direction of the Common Core with gentle stretches.

None of us will figure out a perfect Common Core implementation—there will always be new ways to shape and refine our work with students—but we can extend our work in the direction of the Common Core. These extensions of practice align with sound instruction, whether you are thinking about the Common Core or not, so you can adopt and adapt these ideas to fit your practice today.

Here are five ways you can start stretching:

Stretch 1: Plan lessons that address more than one standard.
For years now, school districts, books, and consultants have told us “one standard per lesson.” We’ve been ardently encouraged to FOCUS. The Common Core is different in that the anchor standards are interconnected, and you really can’t work on one without working on others. So in reality, our efforts to narrow our instruction to a single standard have been an exercise in impossibility. All lessons teach more than one thing. With the Common Core, we can begin to think about the ways these connections between standards can serve students.

Stretch 2: Select texts that give students a lot to think about.
We refer to anchor standard 10—“Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently”—as the “Read to Think” standard. Basically, rather than getting lost in lexile levels and grade-level bands, you can dip your toes into the Common Core by selecting texts that make students think more. Is there something substantive to consider in the book you are sharing with students? If there is, then they will practice looking closely at the text, whether it is the exactly right level (as if such a thing exists) or not.

photo: myyogaonline via photopin cc

Stretch 3: Make your modeling messier.
Typically, our instruction along the gradual release of responsibility begins with modeling that is very tidy. The context illustrates the meaning of the word we are trying to figure out. The paragraph we are summarizing has just enough sentences and makes a clear point. While contrived practice can be helpful, it is inauthentic and doesn’t mirror the work students will need to do as they read independently. When you are modeling in read aloud, shared reading, or guided reading, let yourself have some problems. Don’t plan everything you are going to say so perfectly, but put your planning time into finding a text that will engage students and give them something to think about. In sum, make the modeling you do look more like real reading.

Stretch 4: Watch and listen more. Talk less.
This fourth stretch is deceptively simple, but when we work with schools, we find that educators really struggle with this. Basically, we have to close our mouths more during lessons and open our eyes. Don’t spend every minute of independent reading conferencing with students. Take some time to walk around and watch them. Make notes. Administrators who are reading this are getting nervous! We aren’t implying that teachers sit back and relax. We are saying, instead, that all the frenetic activity of classrooms may not be accomplishing as much as everyone thinks. Slow down a bit. Watch and wait. Plan. Work smarter.

Stretch 5: Foster problem-solving rather than dependence.
This stretch is really the simplest and probably and perhaps the most powerful. By changing your language in subtle ways, you can encourage students to take risks and stick with difficult tasks. Instead of sending students off to work independently by saying, “Raise your hand if you need help and I will come help you,” try one of these:

• Raise your hand if you solve a problem; I want you to show me how you figured it out.
• Raise your hand when you have a page of writing; I want you to read it to me.
• Raise your hand if you learn a new word from the book you are reading; I want you to teach it to me.

We look forward to facilitating a pre-convention institute, “The Common Core Literacy Block: What Will It Look Like In My Classroom?” at IRA’s 2013 Annual Convention. We are excited to have Barry Lane, Dorothy Barnhouse, Mary Lee Hahn, and Vicki Vinton join us as co-facilitators. The day promises to be filled with music, poetry, ideas, lessons, and laughs. We hope you can join us!

Jan Miller Burkins is the founder of Jan Miller Burkins Consulting and Literacyhead.com, and is an author of PREVENTING MISGUIDED READING: NEW STRATEGIES FOR GUIDED READING TEACHERS (IRA, 2010).

Kim Yaris has worked as both a classroom teacher and a literacy coach for 19 years. Currently, she serves as Executive Director of Literacy Builders and in this role she provides literacy staff development to school districts across Long Island, New York. She works daily alongside teachers in grades kindergarten through eight demonstrating lessons, coaching for more effective teaching, mapping curriculum, and providing thoughtful training seminars in reading and writing workshop. Kim regularly presents her work at local, regional, and national conferences, maintains literacy-builders.com, a website designed to serve as an online teaching resource center for educators, and blogs daily about the Common Core with Jan Miller Burkins at burkinsandyaris.com.



The Common Core State Standards for Literacy: How Do We Make Them Work?

Teaching Tips: What Should Be Common in the Common Core State Standards?

by Dr. Richard E. Ferdig

The creation and adoption of innovative technologies often provides opportunities to rethink current education practices. For instance, the development of low-cost laptops and their portability helped schools rethink 1:1 technology initiatives (one computer per child). The high adoption of gaming devices at all age and socioeconomic levels gave rise to new thinking about the gamification of learning environments. And the engaging nature of virtual environments have helped teachers reconsider the concept of the field trip.

A new report from the State Educational Technology Directors Association follows suit and asks readers to reexamine and reconsider textbooks and the delivery of content to students. In "Out of Print: Reimagining the K-12 Textbook in a Digital Age", the authors even suggest not calling this new media e-texts or e-books, as they suggest such terminology perpetuates "the old notion of a single textbook per subject as being the optimal source of instructional material" (p. 6).

The authors make a strong argument that there are a variety of important reasons for schools to shift away from traditional textbooks. "It is not a matter of if reimagining the textbook will permeate all of education, only a matter of how fast" (p. 6). The authors note the challenge is that most schools are ignoring digital texts. "The educational environment isn't exploiting digital content for all of the benefits that can accrue for today’s learners. The gap is widening for what we do in our lives—how we communicate, work, learn, and play—and how we’re educating our kids" (p. 5).

According to the authors, the benefits of using digital content (the re-envisioning of the current textbook) are many. Content can be updated immediately; students are no longer required to engage old content just because schools can't afford new print books. Students can also access their texts anywhere they can take their electronic device. And, teachers can push personalized learning immediately to their device. Finally, given the widespread development and availability of open education resources (OER), content can be much richer and more engaging.

The report includes examples from multiple states where e-content is currently replacing traditional textbooks in all content areas. For instance, "the work of CK-12 focuses on middle school and high school Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) subjects; but Utah will be using the platform for support in K-6 and language arts as well" (p. 19). The report also highlights requirements to make this a smooth transition, including recommendations at the policy and practical level.

What impact does this shift have on and for literacy educators? There are at least five considerations.

1. Perhaps the most obvious implication is that literacy educators need to reexamine their current textbooks. What does an anthology of literature look like in a 21st century digital format? How could one draw on the affordances of such tools to move beyond just print stories? How do vocabulary textbooks draw on the promise of personalized learning through just-in-time delivery of differentiated practice and feedback?
2. Successful programs prepared teachers for these transitions. How are we preparing our literacy educators to live in a world where delivery and consumption of content will be electronic?
3. There has been strong argumentation for the connection between literacy, digital literacy, and 21st century literacies. There has also been important research into how students are learning to read and write online. Removing print text will force a deeper understanding of how to best support our readers and writers. As such, there is an immediate need for more funded research in this critical area.
4. A related, critical area of study is multimodal composition. This is the notion that students are not just reading and writing print text in a digital format. Reading and writing is being expanded to include multiple media such as movies, blogs, animations, voice, etc. We need to make sure that the push to digital content does not fall back to print only. And, perhaps more importantly, we have to ensure that teachers and students are not just consumers of such content, but also producers.
5. How can e-content support struggling readers and writers? At the surface level, there is strong argumentation that such text could support such readers and writers more than traditional methods because of the affordances of the tools involved (the report has a timely discussion of CAST's work on UDL). However, just because it can support them does not mean it will do so automatically.

Some are recommending that e-content, e-books, or e-texts completely replace print textbooks within 5 years (p. 3). As literacy educators, we need to not just prepare, but also capitalize on this opportunity to re-think literacy instruction in the 21st century.

Dr. Richard E. Ferdig is a professor of ITEC and the Summit Professor of Educational Technologies at the Research Center for Educational Technology, Kent State University, rferdig@gmail.com.

This article is part of a series from the International Reading Association Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

 

by Nicole Timbrell and Jenny Power

Every class consists of enthusiastic and reluctant recreational readers. Online book clubs provide a new way for teachers to use the enthusiasm of engaged readers to influence those who are indifferent towards reading. We (Nicole Timbrell and Jenny Power), two Sydney-based secondary school teachers, combined our professional strengths, as English classroom teacher and teacher librarian respectively, and set out to enhance our students' engagement with recreational reading by adopting online book clubs. We supplemented traditional reading promotion strategies with online book clubs hosted by Good Reads and Inside A Dog, to develop greater interest in recreational reading. By structuring our classes around these online tools, we extended the scope of our role as enabling adults  to provide a stimulating reading environment that reached beyond the walls of the classroom.

Both Good Reads and Inside A Dog provide extensive databases of fiction and non-fiction which allow users to access book covers, blurbs, reviews and ratings for each book. Users create a profile and add books to their "online shelves" as a record of their past, current and future reading patterns. Teachers are then able to construct groups within these websites and invite their students to become part of the class book club. By adopting the model of social networking sites, both Good Reads and Inside a Dog allow users to become online "friends" in order to view one another’s profiles and share reviews and recommendations. The promotion of shared reading experiences among peers, and the ability of students to gain reading ideas and motivation from the more enthusiastic and capable readers within the class were found to be the most appealing features of these websites.

We managed our online book clubs by asking students to:

• Construct profiles to display current, past and future reading choices
• Reply to discussion points posted on the online book club home page
• Set personal reading goals to extend their repertoire and display these on their profile
• Write book reviews 
• Read other students’ book reviews to make and receive recommendations
• Use the search functions of the website to seek recommendations for future reading

Benefits for students participating in these online reading communities include:

• Increased enthusiasm and inspiration to read books their peers had enjoyed
• An ability to better locate and select books for their interest and ability
• Improved knowledge of the etiquette of online communication

Benefits for teachers include the ability to:

• Monitor all students’ reading progress and keep a record for use during discussions with students and parents
• Personalise recommendations and provide individual suggestions for future reading
• Construct closed online reading communities which enable younger students to communicate in a moderated environment
• Set authentic writing tasks due to the publication of reviews and discussion posts to a real audience in a "live" online space

Nicole Timbrell is an English teacher (Grades 7-12) at Loreto Kirribilli, in Sydney Australia.

Jenny Power is a teacher librarian at Loreto Kirribilli, in Sydney Australia. 

Nicole and Jenny share an interest in adolescent literacy, online reading comprehension and new literacies and work together to incorporate ideas from these areas into the English classroom.

This article is part of a series from the International Reading Association Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

 

by Judith Hayn

Lange, Erin Jade. Butter. New York, NY: Bloomsbury, 2012.

Butter weighs 423 pounds, and his nickname originates from a particularly repulsive act of bullying his freshman year. He narrates this cautionary tale of the first semester his junior year in a Scottsdale, Arizona, high school. He wants desperately to fit in and to have the girl of his dreams even notice him. The first goal appears to be possible when he sets up a website vowing to eat himself to death online on New Year’s Eve. The scheme to get the girl involves the assumption of another identity as he connects, again online, with his lovely classmate Anna; only she has no picture of him and accepts his fake persona of a rich, athletic student at a private local prep school. The popular kids latch onto the eating to death scheme as a way to amuse themselves at Butter’s expense as he becomes a large pet for the “in” crowd. The whole scenario is doomed from the start while Butter is in denial about the impending catastrophe.

While the reader roots for him to wake up to what is happening and take action, the feelings of self-hatred are too enmeshed in Butter; not even his amazing talent on the saxophone can save him. The discussion of options for obese teens offers avenues of hope, but Butter cannot seem to accept these; even the concerned advice from his therapist and music teacher, along with his mother’s misguided manipulation with food, meet resistance. Donna Cooner’s 2012 book Skinny deals with the same theme although her protagonist is a girl who chooses gastric by-pass surgery. Both are powerful texts and uncomfortable reads for those who struggle with weight and those who don’t but need to understand—many teen reviews of these books on the Internet reveal a disturbing bias about overweight people.

Dr. Judith A. Hayn is an associate professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

This article is part of a series from the Special Interest Group Network on Adolescent Literature (SIGNAL).

As children we often have aspirations for what we want to be when we grow up. For me, I knew I was going to be an actress and live in New York City—I was born with greasepaint running through my veins. Then, as I got older (16 to be exact), I told my mom I was going to medical school and find the cure for cancer. Many years of formal education later, and none of them spent studying drama or medicine, I am finally doing what I was meant to do—teach.

I had many careers prior to becoming a classroom teacher. I worked in Hollywood for a major production company, rubbing shoulders with celebrities. Life was good but something was missing. I moved to San Diego where I met my husband, got married, and studied for my paralegal certificate at the University of San Diego.

The day after graduation we moved to Seattle. For twelve years I worked as a paralegal in major law firms. I enjoyed the work and the people I worked with but still, something was missing. At the end of the day, a big question hovered over my head: what had I truly accomplished in the big scheme of the world? Had I provided the escape of entertainment from the worries of the world? No. Had I provided a cure for anything more serious than the common cold? Not even close.

It was time for me to move on and actually do something. This required that I figure out what I truly needed in my next career.

First and foremost was passion. A close second was meaning. Lastly, but equally important as the first two, was flexibility. I have my husband to credit for the brilliant idea that I consider being a teacher. That profession had never crossed my mind, but once it did, it seemed so obvious. Immediately I thought of my paternal grandmother, who taught in a one-room classroom in the middle of the farm lands of North Dakota. My mind was set and as with everything I do, once I set my mind to it, I run with it!

I started by conducting informational interviews and researching programs at the universities in Seattle. Eventually, I made the plunge. I chose Seattle Pacific University for their rigorous curriculum, certification, small student to professor ratios, and the caliber of their professors.

Five semesters later, I finished the baccalaureate program and was ready to begin my master’s degree in language and literacy with an emphasis as a teacher of reading. I had been discouraged by most of my professors from going on to graduate school. I was told I would price myself out of a job, it would be a waste of my time and money if I planned to only teach elementary students, and the debt would far outweigh the paychecks. My response was, “Why shouldn’t young students have the benefit of a teacher with a higher degree and specialty?” After all, one of the items on my career changing list was “meaning.” I chose to attend Wheelock College in Boston for their intense literacy program, credibility in the teaching field, and their dedication to children, not to mention the opportunity to live on the East Coast for a year.

The process of interviewing for a teaching job began well before I completed my master’s degree. I interviewed in Seattle during spring break and via conference calls. By the time I graduated, I had a job teaching fourth grade.

I worked for five years in a socioeconomically challenged school district. The majority of the students were on free or reduced breakfasts and lunches, spoke English as their second language, and were well behind the state standards in all subjects. Yes, I had my work cut out for me. But I also had excellent training in similar demographics. I felt prepared and ready to put all my hard work to work for my students.

By now I felt I had accomplished the first two items on my new career list—passion and meaning. But one was not quite at 100%—flexibility. As a writer working towards getting my novels and picture books published, I needed more than summers to write. My evenings and weekends were still devoted to my classroom teachings. It was time to make another plunge off another high dive.

I decided to retire from teaching in the classroom, and started my own business of tutoring from my home office.

Once again, I ran with my new career direction. I had all my teaching resources gathered over the years. I also had an awesome classroom library of books that I accumulated over the years. And my practicum in graduate school gave me the resources I needed to perform my own student assessments in literacy. I had everything at my fingertips that I would need to teach—except for the students.

I designed my brochure and started a marketing and advertising blitz. Most elementary schools allowed me to leave brochures in the front office. The local independent bookstores and coffee shops have community boards that are perfect for free advertising, and I was able to advertise on our local township website as well.

I also turned to my teacher colleagues for student referrals, which is how I acquired my first student. He was a fifth grader struggling with the writing process. I worked with him for two years—first on writing, then on reading and math and other special projects. It was very rewarding to be a part of his academic progress. Recently, I received an email from his mother letting me know how much she appreciated my work with her son. He is now a freshman in high school and doing quite well.

Over time one student led to another and another and another. Most of my referrals have been from word of mouth and I have been able to maintain a workload that allows me to have all three items on my list checked-off: Passion. Meaning. Flexibility.

Three years have passed since I made the plunge to go out on my own and I have loved every minute. My students have ranged in age from Pre-K to middle school, both boys and girls. Sometimes they come to me with a specific goal in mind and other times I am their weekly academic booster, supplementing the classroom teachings, filling the gaps made ever wider by budget cuts and changes in the traditional home dynamic.

However, working from home as a private tutor is not for everyone. To be successful you need to be very organized, disciplined with your time, and be able to take the lean times along with the flush times. Not to mention that marketing your services is a constant endeavor.

But if you think you have what it takes or would at least like to give it a try, here are some tips:

• Contact your homeowners or renters insurance to confirm you have the coverage necessary to have clients in and out of your home. You will probably want to increase your liability coverage.
• Have a professional brochure designed that outlines your education, expertise, teaching philosophy, and lists memberships in pertinent organizations (such as International Reading Association or NCTE). In your absence, your brochure will be your one and only marketing tool that will make or break the first impression upon prospective clients.
• Purchase professional business cards. Don’t let the age of your students direct the look of your cards. Avoid a card that is laden with cutesy graphics, that’s too glossy, or that’s printed on flimsy stock. Remember, your audience first and foremost is parents.
• I highly recommend you have formal policies and “house rules” written up that you give to each family upon initial communication about tutoring. Having these in place will help avoid awkward situations later regarding public and private parameters of your home, payment policies, and scheduling, just to name a few.

photo: donovanbeeson via photopin cc

• Create a spreadsheet on Excel or similar program to track payments and sessions by students.
• Prepare file folders for each student that includes the assessments you prepare, lesson notes, and student work.
• Purchase or create lending library cards. I am very old-school about books. I love the actual books and I love to share them with my students. I use library cards to list each book a student borrows, the date they borrow the book and the date it is returned. I also supplement my inventory with books from the public library. (Have a policy about charging for books borrowed if they are not returned within a designated number of days or lost).
• Research the various online teaching resources for additional materials and resources to have at your fingertips. I use the practice pages, booklets, and online manipulatives depending on the student. I have chosen to use ReadWriteThink.org, Scholastic.com, edHelper.com, and Sadlier-Oxford.com. (Some sites require a nominal annual fee.)
• Have a professional website, a professional Facebook page, and a Twitter account that you actually use on a regular basis. I stress the professionalism of all of these social media platforms. One picture says a thousand words and you don’t want those words to portray you in a negative light.

My journey to working as a private tutor was long and by no means direct. Although I have not worked as a professional actress, lived in New York City, or found the cure for cancer, what I have done with my career has and continues to be very rewarding. I have found my passion, with meaning and flexibility.

Going out on one’s own is not for everyone. It takes guts and a certain amount of financial security already in place. However, if you are even slightly considering the big dive I highly encourage you to start with some informational interviews and see where they lead you.

Happy Teaching!

Kathleen A. Hunter, MS is a literacy tutor and aspiring children's book author. You can visit her online at www.KathleenHunterWrites.com.



Using Music to Inspire Young Writers

Teaching Tips: Bringing Children, Dogs, and Books Together