The Importance of Incorporating Reading Across Disciplines....

As you know, it's my professional goal to incorporate practice of a reading strategy in each unit of Foods.  I figured this aligned with the building goal, as well as our department and vertical team goals. This is something that I'm very excited about, I was a struggling reader, and wished that someone taught me how to pull out key concepts, etc.


 The Jr. High recently started using the services of a literacy expert, Elise. She stated training the English department two years ago and now she is training the other areas, to help spread literacy practices though out the school.


This is where I get a little agitated with this goal and the way that it has been addressed. The literacy initiative has been working in phases, the core classes: English, Math, Science are first to be trained. Then Social Studies, ELL, Special Ed and Physical Education. Then somewhere around year three that we have been working on this, they decide it's important to include the elective areas (Art, Facs, Music and Language Arts) If this is a building wide goal....shouldn't be be trained at the same time?! Do we read and write any less because we are an elective area? I just feel like we are a second, or third after thought.


In a discussion in BLT we were talking about upcoming staff development. I expressed the concern that some areas (electives) may not feel supported in this goal. Nothing was really said except, it takes time to train everyone. The question is will the same time, attention and services be provided for these people? Or will the other staff be expected to teach us what they remember? Maybe it should be voluntary not required, if you want the training here it is.... if you careless....good luck. 


During my last observation I had a discussion about this same topic. If it is a building wide goal, why isn't everyone having access to the training of best practice. She didn't really have an answer but she said something that really stuck with me. "This is what good teachers do. They vary texts, the check for understanding, they teach tricks and tips. This is something that you do Larissa, you are a good teacher." Sure it's frustrating that I'm not getting "support" but I'm sure Elise doesn't have all the answers, and I won't either. I'm committed to incorporating literacy in FACS, because yes we DO read and write, even if we are a second or third after thought.

Being an ally to GLBT youth

With the recent tragedies in the media regarding GLBTA youth I was curious to look more closely at my GLSEN emails. GLSEN is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network which is “the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students.” (http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/about/index.html) In one of their recent emails they highlighted an article titled “What can you do to make a positive difference?” I looked through the suggestions of what I can do to make a positive difference and realized that I could sure do a lot more.

One main suggestion that the article made was that teachers should try to be a visible ally to LGBT youth. I think that I attempt this by making it clear that no slur homophobic terms are allowed in my classroom, but I could do more to be a visible ally. The article suggests printing stickers and posters (some that the website provides) and placing them in your classroom. The website has a few posters that you can order (with a price) found here: http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/library/record/1641.html

The website also suggests that you can be a visible ally to LGBT youth by talking about important people and moments in LGBT history. I was not aware that October is GLBT History Month. A new GLBT icon is highlighted every day on the website with a video and other information about that icon. I think this is something that could easily be added into my classroom even if it is just once a week or so for this month. I thought that as opposed to only focusing or informing students about the negative things that have happened to GLBT individuals (in regards to recent events in the media), why not highlight some iconic GLBT individuals who have made a very positive impact on our world. To check out the resources available to you for GLBT History Month check out this link: http://www.glbthistorymonth.com/glbthistorymonth/2010/

Homework

My main professional goal this year is to increase the rigor (without leaving behind some students) in my junior/senior “Basic English” classes. One of the ways that I intend to increase the rigor is by assigning homework more often. I hesitated to assign too much homework the past two years in “Basic English” because students would usually not do any work outside of class and grades dropped when I assigned any homework. I thought that one way I could fix this would be to get students into the habit of doing homework early on in the year. So far it has seemed to work and students are doing a great job getting their work in on time.

I am being very careful that the homework I assign is not just busy work and is really beneficial for students to spend time on. Barb McNulty passed on some articles having to do with homework and I looked through them and felt like I was on the right track so far with what homework I have assigned. Cathy Vatterott’s article “Five Hallmarks of Good Homework” indicates that homework should:
#1 have a clear purpose
• “Our goal is to give students methods that are purposeful for them, methods that work for their learning style.”
#2 require thinking
#3 should allow students to feel some ownership over their work
• “When we customize tasks to fit student learning styles and interests, the task becomes theirs, not ours.”
#4 should be something that students can do on their own and feel competent at
#5 should be aesthetically pleasing
• “Every day, students make decisions about whether to do a homework assignment on the basis of their first impressions. The way homework looks is important”

Better late then Never

Oooops...Forgot to blog in September...as you may have guessed the first month has been hectic with several new kids learning "the ropes" (aka rules and privileges) and the other kids trying to act cool because they already know them. (Not that they always adhere to them...but at least they know them) My professional goal was two-fold for this year. Create a 3 year revolving curriculum in Social Skills class and to increase positive feedback to parents and family. Only two one-day suspensions to date so things are off to a much better start then last year. I've started increasing the positive feedback and the parents really appreciate it. They are not as fearful to pick up the phone when they see the school caller ID number on their phones. Anyway...hope everyone has settled in and is having a great year. Take care
Steve