Six Traits and ShrinkLit

The Six Traits
This week a video and the reading focused on these Six Traits:

1. Ideas
2. Organization
3. Voice
4. Word Choice
5. Conventions (i.e. Spelling and Punctuation)
6. Sentence Fluency

These Six Traits are supposed to help students to develop and improve their writing.

The students in my classroom could use the first strategy during the pre-writing stage, then use the organization strategy in order to help them transfer that pre-writing into a first draft. After the first draft, students can use the trait of voice, word choice, conventions, and sentence fluency when they are revising and editing their own writing, then again when they peer edit writing. 

These six traits don’t only help my students, but they can help me develop my writing. I can model how I use these six traits to form and create my writing, as well as how I use it to make my writing better.

I wonder how much background knowledge students need to bring to the table in order to use these in their writing. For some students, they would need each of these traits introduced and focused on for a week, making the writing process six weeks long. Would I change the writing prompts in order to elude any boredom from my students, or would I keep the overall theme the same in order to make these traits easier for students to apply? Obviously this would depend upon the exit slips and the individual learning needs and pace for my students, but I can’t help but formulate in my head all of the different ways I may have to structure the six traits in order to make them most useful for my students.

Here is an example of analyzing a poem, Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott using the Six Traits:

Thirty Years ago, my older brother, who was

ten years old at the time, was trying to get a

report on birds written that he'd had three

months to write, which was due the next day.

We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and

he was at the kitchen table close to tears,

surrounded by binder paper and pencils and

unopened books on birds, immobilized by the

task ahead. Then my father sat down beside

him, put his arm around my brother's

shoulder, and said, "Bird by bird, buddy, just

take it bird by bird."

1. Idea: 

My father encouraged my brother to get started on a daunting task by taking it one step at a time.

2. Organization:

The setting was given first; the stage was set, before the action took place.

3. Voice:

This poem develops a strong voice; you read this poem as if she is telling you the story in person.

4. Word Choice:

She used the antiquated term binder paper in order to keep in tune with the fact that this event happened thirty years ago. She also used alliteration in her father's advice in order to make the advice speak even louder.

5. Conventions:

The punctuation causes flows and ebbs in order to capture the attention of the reader and in order to emphasize the emotions that her brother was feeling and how calming the advice of the father was to the son. Before the father stepped in there was little punctuation in order to make the reader feel how fast and anxious her brother was when they were on vacation; then when the father comes into the picture there are commas, which cause the reader to pause and feel the peace the father brought to the situation.

6. Sentence Fluency:

The sentences are purposefully left hanging at the end of lines in order to make the first word of the new line to be most powerful.

ShrinkLit

A strategy that was highlighted in the reading talked about the ShrinkLit strategy; besides the annoying lack of a space and the too obvious connection to the strategy, the students in my classroom could benefit from using this strategy. When a student uses this strategy, they are summarizing what they have read by writing a poem; this strategy is a bit more complicated and requires more advanced skills for students to use. In addition, this is a summarization strategy that utilizes poetry in order to make it stand apart from the other research and evidence-based practices already in use, such as RAP, SQ3R, or GIST.

There are five steps to this strategy:

1. Ask students to choose a few chapters in a novel or a short piece of literature.

2. Tell them to write a poem that focuses on the main ideas.

3. The poem should be ten lines long.

4. They should use figurative language.

5. Students share with a small group of peers or with the whole class.

Notice that this should be used mostly with non-fiction pieces of literature, with older students who have already studied figurative language, and with students who have built a community of trust so that students already feel as though they can share their work with the other members of the group or the whole class. While this may be a more creative way to have students synthesize information, there are too many constraints for some students and too little direction for others. I can imagine a student with a disability struggling or thriving to complete this type of assignment.

 

One example of using the strategy:

This is a ShrinkLit poem about the Six Traits.

 

Ideas create itineraries for writing; record them before they run away.

Organization makes or breaks the creation;

What goes where, and what will make my audience care?

Voice gives the story character; my voice lets them know I'm the narrator.

Word Choice can make the difference between boring and exploring;

Conventions, conventions, why do we need conventions?

Spelling and punctuation can get a work some mentions.

Sentence Fluency; where is the flow? Where will this sentence go?

Go through the steps once again, 1-6, thank goodness there's not ten!

When using these together, I'm guaranteed to become a better writer!

Sources:

http://www.adlit.org/article/39928/

Spandel, Vicki. (2013) Creating Writers: Through 6 Traits, Process, Workshop, and Literature. New York: Pearson.

Creativity and Choice in Adolescent Writers

Writing in history class can truly help students relate what they are learning to their own lives. In Chris VanSlooten's class, researcher Jane Hansen observed what happened when he asked students to discuss the various ways that the people they hang around with can reflect their character; this led into the study of Hayes's corrupt term. Not only did the students feel more personally connected to the study, but they could understand why the American people became so upset about Hayes and his actions in his office of leadership.

English class can also serve as a way for students to connect schools to their own lives. Students need to feel heard, and writing can give them that voice. In one English class, students wrote about how they would set up their own Utopia. For many of them, this involved ideas from the previously read novel Witness and personal experiences that have determined what the students value. Personal experiences determined the utopias students chose to create in writing; this was a reflection of the values each student held personally. This type of work allows a teacher to gain incredible insight into the background, experiences, and the values which students hold. This writing assignment was innovative and appeared to motivate everyone. The choice didn't lie in the prompt, but in how students could respond; this is the best form of differentiation in writing instruction in the classroom.

The hyperobolic statements about classrooms and teaching really cause me to resent the point authors are trying to make when they talk about writing. In chapter two of Calkins' book, The Art of Teaching Writing the classroom is described as an emotionally neutral place where teachers don't connect to students in a meaningful way as to bridge the gap between school and outside experiences. If Calkins has seen that in one classroom, then she can only talk about that one classroom. If she has seen it in a whole district, then she must realize if may just be the culture of that district. I have been in positive, negative, and neutral classrooms, and the one thing I have learned is that you can never make a general statement about American classrooms because they are so locally based just like you have to understand the uniqueness of each individual child when teaching every subject. True, there are some facts and trends, as quoted from NAEP and statistics on writing assessments, but these can even be picked apart sometimes to reveal deeper issues about the flaws in the test or the education system. But every classroom is so unique and every teacher may have such varying ideologies about writing that really what needs to be said are suggestions and recent research, not assumptions about my classroom or the classrooms of my colleagues.


I think the idea that creativity is needed for writing perpetuates the resistance that some students feel because they do not see themselves as creative or as writers or authors. I think that because I personally felt that over the course of my school work when an English teacher demanded the flair and creativity of an abstract, symbolic, non sequitur modern poem (which I still don't think is true poetry). Writing can be creative, but I think the more important point is that writing can give students a voice, and the knowledge that their voice is worthy of being heard.

This can be accomplished by calling students authors. In science classes we say that we are going to be scientists; in history we become historians; in English we should tell our students that they are authors. Ownership, pride, and motivation can stem from simply making a child feel as though their writing matters.

One question that remains for me:
Why is reading so evidence-based while writing is still seen as a free-form activity needing creativity to be good? If reading and writing are so closely intertwined as so many professionals profess, then why are we not researching how to make writing instruction more systematic for students?

References:
Hansen, J. (2008). "The way they act around a bunch of people": Seventh-grade writers lean about themselves in the midst of others. Voices from the Middle, 16(1), 9-14.
Calkins, L. M. (1994) The art of teaching writing. Heinemann: Portsmouth.

Writing to Understand & Develop Reading

Some professionals argue that writing should be added to the five areas of writing as the sixth area of a comprehensive reading curriculum. Writing can reinforce what students are doing in the classroom, strengthen word knowledge, and help students synthesize and communicate what they learn through reading. Some teachers use reader response journals in order to help students learn to write about what they read.

Writing Next Report (2007)
This meta analysis allowed Graham and Perin to determine the consistency and strength of the methods used in the classroom in order to enhance writing and reading instruction. Below are the eleven ways in which teachers were effectively improving the quality of writing from students if the writing instruction was based upon each individual student's needs in the classroom.

1. Writing Strategies: this includes planning, editing, and revising writing in order to refine ideas. There are few writing strategies utilized in all classrooms; this is an area in which we can really grow.

2. Summarization: students who learn how to summarize what they read develop deeper comprehension skills. There are even summarizing strategies that teachers can teach in order to improve summary skills, such as the PEER, RAP, and SQ3R strategies.

3. Collaborative Writing: when adolescents learn how to write together, they can help each other out in the planning, draft creating, revision, and editing process. Many group projects demand a little bit of this in some way or another.

4. Specific Product Goals: gives a student a goal or audience for their written work. Persuasive essays come to mind when thinking about this type of writing because asking a student to take a stand and sway an audience gives the student a purpose for writing.

5. Word Processing: students using computers as instructional supports can help with spelling. This is especially effective for students who struggle with spelling or who may have a learning or intellectual disability.

6. Sentence Combining: teaching students to build more complex sentences can begin young, and allows a student to write more sophisticated sentences. Students need to start this type of instruction as soon as students learn what constitutes a sentence and sentence parts; students can even learn this in juncture with learning about vowels, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and the parts of speech that enrich writing.

7. Prewriting: helps a student generalize or organize ideas into a cohesive composition. In the Being a Writer program the earlier grades really learn explicit strategies such as creating a list, using an experience, and being inspired from a book, in order to get ideas for writing.

8. Inquiry Activities: students engage in in analyzing data that will help form ideas for writing. I have personally seen this method used in more advanced classes, but this could be used in a math class when learning about charts, graphs, or diagrams.

9. Process Writing Approach: workshop type of instruction with extended writing opportunities, writing for a real audience, all while interweaving several types of individual, unique writing experiences.

10. Study of Models: students get the chance to read, analyze, and copy structures from excellent models of writing. One such example would be using the "Where I'm From" poem structure by George Ella Lyon.

11. Writing for Content Learning: indicating exactly what it sounds like, this method prompts students to write about subjects in math, science, social studies, art, music, or physical education class.

Though this list is comprehensive, the authors should have helped teachers out even more by sequencing these steps into a developmental timeline in order to help teachers begin with the most developmentally appropriate elements for the age or grade of student that they teach; in addition, the authors need to include other resources or materials needed to constitute a cohesive writing curriculum. However, it is helpful to know that through the meta analysis, these were the eleven most effective elements to writing instruction for adolescents. Further research into each method can help teachers decide which method would work best in their classroom, as well as how to incorporate multiple of these strategies throughout the year as the students move through different content and themes.

 Writing to Read Report (2010)
In this report, written by Graham and Hebert, the researchers ask three questions:

1. Does writing about the material that students have read increase reading comprehension?
2. Does teaching writing specifically enhance the reading skills of a student?
3. Does increasing the amount of writing students do improve how well a student reads?

Before you read on, how would you answer these questions in your own words? In your teaching or schooling experience, has writing helped and improved your reading?

Personally, I know that if I write something down I will remember far longer than simply reading. So for me, the answer to each of the above questions are positive; however, I have always found writing easy, and I have not struggled as some students do with spelling, articulating ideas, or synthesizing new information. When I worked with students who have disabilities, specifically in the areas of spelling and writing, I am not sure if the same applies. Not only do they learn differently, but sometimes writing can be so painstakingly slow and laborious that orally discussing text provides more benefit to the student. For some of those students, we use speech-to-text technology so that the student can simply say what they are thinking, and the computer will write the statement for them. Then the student simply has to go back and edit the writing, which is guided at first by the teacher. When the students reach independence, and take the initiative to write about what they read on their own, then the student will reap the most rewards for their work.

The researchers state three things:
1. Make sure students write about what they read.
2. Teachers must teach students the writing skills and processes that allow students to create text.
3. Increase the amount of writing for each student.

Common-sensical, right? Have students write about what they read, teach them how to write, and have them practice writing a lot. All of these things will increase the quality of a student's written work, and can enhance a student's reading abilities, as well as comprehension and retention.

Structure and Delivery Part 1

My apologies for the delay in this post. The next chapter is overwhelming in both length and content, and this chapter has fallen right as I transition from my first student teaching placement to the second. Saying good bye to my second graders, I now enter into a third through fifth grade special education room that also goes into general education classrooms as collaborative teachers. But more on that in a later post.

Structure and Delivery, the name of this section in Lemov's book, refers to how the content is given to the students, the techniques, and the ways to make the content most comprehensive and retain-able. Due to the exhaustive length of chapter three, I am going to break this down into more readable sections with headers about the technique to which Mr. Lemov refers. 

I/We/You Do
This technique is also known as direct instruction (notice the little di, not the big DI). For those who are not oriented to this teaching method, there are many studies that show the effectiveness of direct instruction, especially for students with disabilities. Lemov is accurate in noting that many students in classrooms are let go to do independent work without a chance to see a positive model, or practice and feedback. Many times when this happens, teachers are shocked when a student does not perform as well as they are expected, but common sense should dictate that if a student is not given guided practice with feedback while they are learning, then misconceptions and misunderstandings will persist.

The Hook
What a popular term! I have heard 'hooks' mentioned since my very first education class ever, when I was an undergraduate at James Madison University. Not much to elaborate on here.

Name the Steps
While this seems simple, there are parameters in naming steps that students will take to solve the problem at hand. Acronyms are helpful, such as RAP, PEMDAS, KWL, etc. to help students remember steps, something to hang their hat on, if you will. But an acronym taht is too long or with steps that are too complicated will cause a student to feel defeated before they begin. For example, using an acronym for the steps in the scientific method? Sounds great. Then try it. 1. Ask a question; 2. Do research; 3. Form a hypothesis; 4. Plan a procedure; 5. Implement the experiment; 6. Record the date; 7. Analyze the data; 8. Draw a conclusion. (Hint: A song or another technique to remember this may be a bit more conducive. Just in case you've never tried to teach this and you were wondering.) And that's why you have to think about what steps are good, what steps are useful, what steps are most important, then how you can frame those steps in a memorable way. Good point, Lemov.

Board=Paper
This technique has proven true with the little elementary school students I teach. When I write a word on the board, they ask where it goes. If I give them skeleton notes, they ask how to spell what goes in the blank, and then when I write it, they again ask which blank the word goes in, even if the students repeat after me the entire sentence with the blank filled in with the word.
Common sense, such as, 'Oh, the next word goes in the next available blank,' does not compute yet, and the only way to ameliorate all the questions and concerns, as well as preserve that precious classroom time, is to make sure that the board looks exactly like the sheet of paper in front of the students, and that I am filling in the paper at the same pace as the students.

Circulate
What a complicated, multidimensional section! There are mini sections in this section!
Position of Power- Power stance most effective way to hold a students attention without overpowering the student. Feet hip width apart, shoulders down and relaxed, arms fully extended but hands clasped behind your back. This stance isn't defensive (such as when you cross your arms in front of you) and not domineering (such as when a teacher stoops over a child), but allows the child to know you are confident, and what you have to say is important. In addition, when speaking to a child, you must get on their level so that you can look them face to face. Leaning over them overpowers the student, and being lower than the students causes most students to lose a visual of what you are saying or doing (unless stadium seating is the structure of the classroom; then they have nowhere else to look, really).

Since this chapter is so long and there is so much to take in, this is to be continued....

Reference:
Lemov, Doug. (2010). Teach like a champion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Planning: What is the MOST important thing?

The entirety of chapter two, titled Planning that Ensures Academic Achievement, talks about planning to ensure academic success. In all honesty, this chapter again seems too short and filled with assumptions about students and the teachers reading this book.

Begin with the End, which mirrors the educational philosophy of Understanding by Design, simply reminds teachers to form an objective instead of just creating an activity. Again, my disappointment is that any well-educated, Masters-holding teacher who applies what they know already does this. His technique is a great synopsis of the planning by design framework, or any other philosophy that flows from unit planning to lesson planning. The only important question he asks here is: Why are you teaching the material that you are teaching?

The 4 M's expand on what objectives should be and what objectives should look like when used in lesson planning. Objectives should be manageable, measurable, made first, and most important. No arguments here; teachers need to think about if an objective is manageable for one lesson, or if there should be more time allotted for certain skills (much of this comes from experience in the classroom and knowing your students). Is the objective measurable? How do you know when students master the objective? This is pertinent; the best teachers hold students (and more importantly, themselves) accountable for the learning that is happening in the classroom, and a measurement system of some sort must exist in order to push and motivate students to learn. But some of these measurements may be goals that students write themselves, or portfolios. That detail was left out of Lemov's field study notes. Made first again reflects the idea that teachers begin with the end in mind, which is the exact goal of the Understanding by Design framework; if you've never read this before, you should really read it (Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe). Whether you agree or disagree, it's important to know about the philosophies in the field. In addition, it will give you more structured detail than Lemov. In his text, most important is in regards to whether the lessons focus on the most important things on the path to college.

The last two M's are disheartening to me. The only reason that made first does not sit well with me is how he says an indication that the objective was retrofitted to an activity is if a teacher uses a standard for the lesson. While I agree you cannot retrofit objectives or standards, and they cannot just be applied in isolation without forming a theme or building on previous learning, the presence of a standard is not an indication that the objective was fabricated to fit an activity. The other beef that I have with most important has to do with his exclusive mindset of what is important for students. Is the path to college the only thing that should be taught in classrooms? I vehemently fight that education should be create life-long learners and students who love learning, regardless of post-secondary plans. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character- that is the goal of true education."

In post it, Lemov talks about posting the objective in clear view so that all students can see what is expected, review the objective, and be reminded that the objective is the goal. While this is a good idea, this would mostly (and almost exclusively) be successful for secondary native English-speaking students. Younger students and students who are English language learners would need more support in understanding what the objective means and why the objective is posted.

Shortest Path talks about creating the shortest path in lessons to meet the objective. However, Lemov pairs this with talking about how champion teachers pair this shortest path with enriched activities set at an appropriate pace; these are critical caveats to walking the shortest path. He also specifies that almost any method of teaching are neither good nor bad, except in how they relate to the goal. If my objective talks about creating critical thought and debate, lecture is not the best style of delivery, whereas a Socratic seminar may be more beneficial. This is again, something that all educated and experienced teachers learn at some point in their career.

Double Plan is actually a new technique that I have not heard of before; the first in his book yet! Most teachers plan what they will be doing as the teacher, but champions plan what the students will be doing. When I read that, I thought at first, 'So simple! We make worksheets, they are taking notes, they are answering questions...' Then I read on and realized that I plan what students are doing at certain points when I should be thinking about what students are doing in between these points as well. Good point, Mr. Lemov! In my teaching placement I have already used this technique to revamp my unit lessons for the content on magnets, and the unit went much more smoothly due to my awareness of what the students would be doing at all points in the lesson. Off-task behavior, boredom, and inattention declined greatly when I was teaching about magnets because I planned what the students would be touching, thinking, writing, or saying at any point in the lesson.

Draw the Map is a highly controversial topic. Basically, Lemov says a teacher must plan the layout of their room while asking these questions:

When should students interact?
How should students interact?
What interactions support learning objectives?

Some of his other questions exhibit a bias against social interaction in the classroom and his 'perfect' map of a classroom shows students sitting in rows by twos facing the front. This intrigues me for several reasons. Obviously, there is a secondary bias to this map, considering that a lot of elementary schools have tables and must use them. This map also shows an underlying belief that students are there to work, and that they cannot work in groups larger than two effectively without getting side tracked. A teacher-dominant approach is present in that this map has all the students facing the front at all times, and has students sit with as little connection points with others as possible. The walking route of the teacher is not planned well in this map; research shows that teacher who move around (and don't just stand at the front of the classroom) manage behavior more effectively and have higher student engagement. With the map drawn by Lemov, the teacher would struggle to walk up and down the aisles and be able to see what most students are doing at all times. Lastly, this map does not take into account the community or the ambiance that a classroom can create for specific lessons when arranged in several ways. When doing a Socractic seminar, a teacher can make an inner circle and an outer circle. When students are taking two sides of a debate, the students could sit on one side of the room, facing the other. If instruction is going to happen in centers, then clusters of four may prove more conducive to instruction. The set-up of the classroom should always flow from the isntruction, and a rigid, two-desk column system may prove more problematic than beneficial.

Whether any teacher or professional agrees or disagrees with Lemov, planning is the most important thing for a teacher, and not enough credit can be given to those who prep, plan, and revamp lessons in advance.

Reference:
Lemov, Doug. (2010). Teach like a champion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Techniques to Set "High" Academic Expectations?

Despite the fact that I had a few issues with some of the ways in which Lemov presents material previously in this chapter, he ends the chapter with good sentiments.

 Technique three, 'Stretch it', talks about how to challenge students to think deeper when they are answering questions. This can be done by asking students how they got the answer, how to change that answer into a different unit, etc. There are many ways to get a student to stretch their answer and their thinking. All teachers should be doing this on a regular basis because a correct answer is not enough; educators must make sure that students are thinking critically, and that they are not just remembering facts that they spit back out when context clues steer them towards that answer. Students do not have a true mastery until they can reframe, think critically, and evaluate the answers to questions in order to conclude whether they make any sense. Again, this is kind of Teaching 101 in my opinion, but many educators don't practice this already. (If you don't do this, you really really should! It's so valuable! And I think it's intriguing to find out how my students are thinking!)

His fourth technique, 'Format Matters', is somewhat of a soapbox moment for him. He complains about teachers who use rap songs in lieu of classical poetry in the classroom (or other substitutions in order to get students to relate and engage). He doesn't seem to have a problem with the use of colloquial materials, just when other materials are not also used in order to help students discover unknown academic passions from these experiences. Honestly, I think it depends upon the goal of the lesson and the students that are in the classroom.

In his fifth technique, 'Without Apology' Lemov overtly describes how teachers can negatively frame some material for students by saying, "This is boring, so let's get through it," or "I know you guys will hate this, but..." and rather describes how many students may respond well to materials in positive ways... if we let them by framing everything we present in the most positive light, and by exposing them to a full array of material instead of watering down materials. Please note, when I say watering down, I mean diluting or throwing out for the purpose of making teaching easier. Using scaffolds or gradually easing students into a topic or task is not diluting, that may be knowing your students well and setting them up for success.

Introducing materials in an engaging way, regardless of how a teacher feels, is hard, but it is opening up the possibility of being surprised by your students. Some students may love classical poetry or the historical facts surrounding an event, but if a teacher never gives the student a chance to explore and discover due to a preconceived notion about the students' demographics or background experiences, then the teacher may cause a student to miss out. Notice, I said notions about a student's demographic information, not a student's background knowledge. This must be enhanced for some students to access the content, and this takes extra work. But the work is well worth the effort, when done thoughtfully.

For example, this semester I am in a classroom that has 50% native English speakers and 50% native Spanish speakers. Think about the vocabulary enhancement needed for these students to all be able to engage with each other, regardless of whether they choose to engage in Spanish or in English (they are receiving instruction in Spanish half the day, and English the other half). The content requires the use of specialized words that students need to know, and that is the challenge for all of the students in the classroom. Do we choose to not teach these words, because we don't think the students can understand? Of course not. We scaffold instruction, act words out, use videos and visuals, create hands-on experiences, and try to get students to talk to each other. Not only does this allow them to practice academic dialogue, but the students who can explain what they have learned are true masters of the content.

Reference:
Lemov, Doug. (2010). Teach like a champion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

True Teaching Champions

As you know, the next book is Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov.

The introduction fascinated me with the profiles, statistics, and the way in which he frames the work as field notes. The facts and charts at the end of the introduction captured my imagination the most.

Unfortunately, as soon as I read past the introduction, I became disappointed for several reasons.

Many of his examples are incomplete, confusing, and do not explicitly demonstrate fully the concept the he tries to communicate. If I had not already learned many of these techniques in several of my education classes, I would have no idea what he really means or how I could apply this to practice.

He also dis includes extremely important factors in these tactics. For 'No Opt-out" he forgets to mention how to pick which students to call on in class, how to scaffold questions to move from easy to hard, or the fact that calling on only one students does not ensure that all the other students are learning. One student answering the question correctly is a review, not insurance that all students know what one student knows. Even if you use this strategy well, there will be students who will still not get the word correctly if you do not know how to teach using multiple means of representation or any real world applications.

While this book seems to be a great introduction to teaching in the classroom, genuine champions do much more than 'no opt-out' and 'right is right.' True champions balance IEPs with differentiated instruction in reading groups where students are all working on areas of weakness while continuing to building up areas of strength. A real champion among teachers can tell anybody at any time what the five areas of reading are, and how they teach those five areas in their classroom. True champions collaborate well with other teachers in order to ensure that every student is getting attention from teachers with the right expertise to ensure success. Champions know that they don't have all the answers, and are on a lifelong quest of learning in order to find the answers. Many teachers revamp lesson every year in order to make sure that the needs of every learner are met, and spend copious amounts of time observing and studying their own students in order to ensure that they actually know the true needs of the students in their class.

While I have great respect for Lemov, and I know these are good strategies that I use, so far his strategies are just tips and hints to make already great masters of teaching content into better teachers. None of these strategies help teachers teach better lessons, they simply help already great teachers ensure student retention and engagement. Nothing can replace a teacher's knowledge of the material or their ability to reach the students by knowing each student individually. I would not call this book Teach Like a Champion; I would call this book Basics on Improving Student Retention.

I would say my biggest disappointment is his emphasis on getting his students into college and improving test scores. Where is the love of learning, and cultivating life long learners? Where does he teach the independence students need to find solutions on their own in the real world? I hope to see this more in the upcoming pages of his book.

Reference:
Lemov, Doug. (2010). Teach like a champion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Better Late Than Never

Despite the persistence and determination with which I approached my summer reading list, I must say that today marked the first day of student teaching with the kids in the classroom, and I am just now going to start writing about Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov. And by that what I really mean to say is that I am going to write about this wonderful compilation of field notes and observations until I pass out in five minutes because I teach my first lesson tomorrow!

For starters, I like how Lemov sets up this book by explicitly stating that this book is not a handbook, field guide, or a Bible that can promote any teacher to "super" teacher status. Rather, he asks the reader to consider the techniques he describes in light of their own teaching environment; to consider our own individual strengths and weaknesses as a teacher, and how to use and exploit our strengths as we work on our weaknesses. This is the approach that he asks us to bring to each technique or strategy that he has listed and described. In addition, he mentions that these are observations, NOT research- or evidence-based practices. Therefore, I am going to look deeply into each technique in order to find any evidence that backs up these practices, and I am going to implement some of these practices myself this semester in order to determine what will work for me in my classroom setting.

Unfortunately that is all the energy I have tonight. Until next time!

When Summer Reading is Hard Part 2

Over the fabulous weekend of the fourth I was finally able to finish the book! Airplane reading for the win! My first thought after finishing this book? WOW, she was not kidding when she talked about hard questions. Over the course of my flight to and from Boston, I had to find many items to use as bookmarks for the second half of the book. SO many words of wisdom have inspired me and caused me to reflect upon my philosophies in education.

Previously Nathan talked about the RICO framework and the portfolios that are used to evaluate students. In this assessment, students create their own goals and these students assess whether they have met their own goals. Not only does this create intrinsic motivation, but this causes students to become more comfortable with giving and receiving feedback, which is on of the most important skills in the workforce today.

 For example, in my current job, I am coming upon mid summer evaluations for all eighteen to twenty of my staff; this is by far the largest unit in camp, and more evaluations than any other member of leadership. As I hold each evaluation in my hand, I think about what I have been able to observe, each staff member's strengths, personality, areas of improvement, and the activity this person was hired to run. How am I going to give each individual feedback that will encourage and challenge them? Have I spent enough time observing each individual? Have I learned how to create feedback into a loop so that all staff see work as a learning experience and a team collaboration for everyone? Will my staff receive this feedback with professional receptivity? All of these questions weigh heavily on my mind; I've never had to give honest feedback to a team of staff before, and thankfully most all of my staff have been impressing me so most all of these evaluations will be positive with one or two suggestions for improvement. But what about the future, when the situation is different, or when they evaluate me?

Due to my first year in a leadership and administrative role, I have truly appreciated the insight that Nathan provides about being in an administrative role, being open to criticism, leading discussions among staff, hearing feedback, and making some mistakes that we cannot fix without time, love, and intentional apologies. Any leader will make a mistake at some point, and Nathan's openness and honesty has left me feeling more willing to make leaps of faith that may result in mistakes that can eventually cause a positive change in the future.


The most fabulous part of the book for me was how she put words to the many issues that I have seen and meditated upon in the course of my classroom experiences in undergrad and graduate school. One of the greatest issues that Nathan brings up, race, is the issue I am most interested in, yet as she has observed, one of the issues that few professionals wish to engage with in the workplace. In all honesty, I see a broken system where selective segregation in the housing market and local taxes have the greatest impact on local school inequality. While this is separated by class, these decisions of where to live are also based upon race, and living in a "nice" neighborhood for those who can afford that luxury. How is it that these subconscious attitudes are still overlooked and understated by modern professionals, when there are clear indications that the current systems in place prevents lower class Americans from accessing education? Now, this is not intentional. No one has set out to make sure that certain races live in one area and all attend the same school, and that these schools in lower areas do not have highly qualified teachers. Humans are simply creatures of habit and of comfort, and are in desperate need of reflection and challenges that cause us to think out of the box and step into another perspective. One article that I read recently suggested that America invests in more magnet schools that can pull from mixed neighborhoods, or districts that integrate lower and middle classes with upper classes whenever possible. Both of these options may prove helpful in that students will have access and students will come into contact with more diverse students, which can increase their awareness and empathy towards others.
 
The tracking, poverty, social issues, and the inequality that exists in every classroom cannot be undone or voted away by heroic teachers alone, and the issues can no longer be overlooked by the populace if we claim to hold to such values as accessible education for all or equal opportunities. She advocates for the students that cannot speak for themselves because of a system that is not responsive to the needs of the students, yet is quick to blame parents or students when a problem may lie in the lack of real resources for these families.

One of the resources that Dr. Nathan mentions pertains to the knowledge that middle class families have when applying for financial aid and gaining access into the higher education system. I love her idea that open doors does not always mean easy access, or ready access, for those without resources at their disposal. Many lower class families and first generation college students hit road blocks that teachers would not anticipate because no one if the child's family has ever filled out a FAFSA form or learned about deadlines. I love the idea that teachers need to check up on students who may not know what they are doing and helping them with every step of the way, so that a child with college dreams and college abilities no longer miss out for lack of forethought.

This factor is another reason that urban education is more time consuming and intensive than education in middle-class America. Urban educators must go above and beyond, and cannot assume what students know or do not know. And this is one reason that I aspire to become an urban educator for children with special needs. Hopefully one day I can look back and know that I was an advocate for students who were predicted to fail, and these students succeeded.