D&Z Chapter 8-9 / Book clubs and Independent Reading Time (Dun Dun DUN!)

As a future English Language Arts teacher a main concern I have been battling within my mind is whether I will have time to form book clubs and independent reading time.  Sometimes I tell myself: "Yes! Independent reading time is essential" other times I find myself saying, "how will I teach and still have time for independent reading time and prepare kids for testing?" (and then I proceed to cry internally about my future teacher struggles).

This chapter gave me tingles of excitement!  Because, it made me feel like it is possible to have independent reading time and book clubs.  I knew this was going to be a great chapter when I read, "We want our students to leave us with an enduring curiosity about our field, plus the motivation and the tools to continue the learning"(221).  Thankfully, I had great English teachers while in school which left me with this exact feeling after I left high school.  My high school teachers (and my mom who was also a teacher) always encouraged reading and writing throughout my life but also left me with a lifelong love for literacy.  Even after high school I kept blogs, a writing journal, I review restaurants on Yelp! (Follow me here ;), I even wrote a novel at one point (which I sadly lost) and of course I read many different kinds of books in my free time.  These are the type of things I want my students to find love in and continue to do even after high school.  I had teachers who brought me up to the library and had me select a book for independent reading time; I had Mrs. Grant who would hold Socratic Seminars a couple of times a year; Mrs. Garces who would help use analyze novels and of course Mr. Occhi who would encourage us to keep writing.

What I truly loved about these chapters is how they explained step by step how to hold student's accountable.  On page 228 there is a section where it explains how if you notice your students are struggling with a literary concept (Some examples could be: Theme, plot, contrasting texts, similes, etc.) you can actually teach a mini lesson.  This also ties in with the CCSS in: 

CC.K-12.R.R.1 Key Ideas and Details: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. (www.Corestandards.org) The textbook suggested that using post it notes, student portfolios, or even making reading journals could be an excellent way of holding kids accountable. Book clubs were also an important aspect of individual reading.  I can see this being incorporated into a learning center which would be awesome! The text also emphasized that the teacher's role should be to assist, observe and facilitate.  This also emphasizes the idea of a community of learners and having students doing the work instead of the teacher. (Can I get a hallelujah?)  This chapter also made self assessment an important aspect of the book club. It ties into what Professor Horwitz is doing with our class.  She has us grade ourselves but this chapter adds a second layer emphasizing that it is important for students to improve themselves and see what they are doing well and what needs more work. This chapter also emphasized that rubrics and requirements can be invented by the class as a whole. Requirements being invented by the student's also adds a sense of comfort, self-assessment and account- ability.  I absolutely loved these chapters - they made me excited to start teaching. These chapters were great for ELA, were they equally as great for other subjects such as Math, History, Science?

D & Z Chapters 6 & 7

First of all I thought it was a bit ironic how the textbook we are reading says "[the teacher] then assign[s] those six or seven pages every day to 'get it done.' (177)" We are reading the whole textbook in this class, Lol!  Actually, this textbook is one of the best textbooks I've ever read, so it's okay... I'll let this one slide.

Some points that really stuck out were how textbooks can be used in classrooms but that the ideas should be uncovered rather than just going over them.  Chapter 6 has a set of questions that teachers can ask themselves before they go over the material - to see if it really is that important to go over.  I thought this was especially important for history, math and science concentrations.  Since, we all know that it would probably be impossible to go over the whole entire textbook in one school year.  Do I hear a challenge being made?

Vocabulary is also a point in this chapter where it points out that Tier 2 words (which cover multiple disciplines and meanings).  Should be taught to our future students.  Vocabulary was always easy for me because I would derive a lot of the English word meanings from Spanish vocabulary.  I think vocabulary is one of the most important yet most forgotten tools in our units.

What I did not like about this chapter was how it hit me with a harsh reality.  Many state tests will dictate what kinds of texts we need to train our students to be prepared for.  In the section "Find out what's really on the big test" it says explicitly that teachers need to see what kinds of texts are in the tests.  Later on in these chapters it says "The Common Core Standards focus pretty much on learning outcomes rather than classroom processes but not entirely. (206)"  This is contradictory because on one hand Common Core only shows the outcomes teachers should get but the tests want to test students on certain texts.... so basically I need to teach what the government wants me to teach... Cool.  Slowly but surely I can see classrooms turning into the novel 1984 by Orwell.

Don't get me wrong, I think that there should be a set of standards every teacher needs to follow.  But, I do not agree with children missing time in class to do a test.  Maybe I will agree with the test later on in my career but for now I will give it a exagerated eye roll.

On a brighter note I loved how chapter 7 reinforced the community of learners outlook on teaching.  As a high school student I remember one of my favorite teachers being Mr. Occhi.  He really inspired me to become an English teacher.  One thing I remembered was he would nickname his students slowly as the year would progress.  My nickname was "Mighty" while this seems like such a random thing to do I felt like I had a connection to him.  While this does not exactly connect to what the text says about creating a community of learners, it put a lot of the students at ease.  The text says "Make the classroom a place where students trust the teacher and believe it's safe to take risks, a place where it's OK to ask questions when they don't understand something, and they can expect to receive the support they need to handle challenges. (206)"  Part of creating a community of learners is to accept children for WHO THEY ARE - This is something Dr. Cook also encouraged.  Hopefully our class as a whole as well.  

Daniels & Zemelman Chapter 4 & 5

 After reading these chapters I could connect a lot of the main points to my actual life.  Around page 65 Daniels & Zemelman talk about how many non-fiction books use a solid organizational pattern.  Non-fiction books in sense ease in the reader to what is to be learned or what the main point of the

book is.  A connection I immediately made is how books actually teach the reader.  Which I thought was interesting because I have always heard people talk about Malcolm X’s biography but I have never once heard anybody remark on something they have read in a textbook about Malcolm X.  This shows me that giving students non-fiction books can inform them sometimes better than a textbook.

Another point that I connected to my life was: “26 states are officially moving towards as they develop the Next Generation State Standards – depth versus coverage.”  This made me so excited because I will be starting to implement the Next Generation State Standards in my summer position.  On Friday I attended a meeting where we talked about how we will be implementing more hands on activities into our summer curriculum.  Totally excited!

After reading that some schools had a standard that their students had to read forty books a year, I was impressed.  I remember in middle school I had teachers who would set aside reading time for their students in class.  In those ten minutes I remember I would read and that is where I would find books that I actually liked.  That is where my lifelong love of reading grew.  A quote, which I enjoyed, was: “But real readers, lifelong readers, assign themselves (69).”  I think a lot of English majors can relate to this because English majors typically love reading, analyzing and talking about all areas of literature.

Chapter 5 was a compilation of tools for thinking for literature.  I read the tools and totally overlooked the chart that Daniels and Zemelman included.  Wow, so awesome that they included an actual tool for the tools, such a foolproof tool.  It shows to me that they really took time to think over what they wrote and are credible.