Journal 4-3

English 11

Today is a busy day. I teach a short grammar lesson (run-on sentences, punctuating titles), allow the students time to write reflections about their essays, collect the essays, review how to do Literature Circles, group the students for Literature Circles, pick jobs for Literature Circles and finally, work on Literature Circles. Students will use their preparatory work from today to lead their part of the discussion tomorrow.



Observation

I teach grammar through a sentence of the day. I post a sentence full of errors (Today's Sentence: pat and nancy want to see the musical the king and i im sure theyll like it). Students write what they believe to be the corrected version in their notebooks, then we discuss corrections as a class. As we discuss, students correct errors. Students who ultimately correct all errors (through their own efforts AND classroom discussion) receive a 100. Students who write the sentence correctly before classroom discussion begins receive 2 points of extra credit (and a sticker...to 16-year-olds...they practically KILL for these stickers...). There has been general uproar and accusations of trickery (I'm tricking them by giving them hard sentences), so to help out a little, I've been writing the major skills on the board next to the sentence (Today's Skills: run-on sentences, punctuating titles). Students are very invested in SOD (sentence of the day), and have become more and more outspoken as the year progresses. They are jubilant when they earn a sticker (it's all about the stickers!) and outraged when they don't earn one because of one error. I love that they're so vocal about the sentences...and they're writing notes in the margins of their papers to help remember the grammar rules!!



I only asked my morning classes to write reflections. Today's questions:

1) Why this prompt? (There were 5 from which to choose.)

2) Why this introduction? (We had a mini-lesson on strategies for writing effective introductions on Tuesday)

3) What did you hope to accomplish by choosing this introduction for your paper?

4) With what did you struggle as you wrote?

5) What did you do well.



I directed students to write in paragraph form instead of bullet points, and I got a LOT this time. Many students wrote 1/2 a page or more! I expected some grumbling, but there was none (that I heard); I expected students to struggle with their answers, but they got right to writing! I haven't read the responses - it's too soon, but I'm hoping for a little depth this time.



After collecting the essays, we moved on to Literature Circles. Students seemed to remember what to do (I explained anyway) and were so busy fighting for parts that in many cases, they didn't want to listen to directions. After the initial chaos, I redivided students so they were in groups with people sharing their job description (Discussion Director, Illuminator, Illustrator, Connector) and allowed them to work as they pleased. In some groups, students worked quietly, asking questions only if necessary; there was little collaboration. In other groups, students worked as groups - everyone had a little to add, and all the papers looked alike. This is fine with me! Some kids still need a little help while others are ready to go. I did notice that the classes reading Tuesday's with Morrie were a LOT more enthusiastic about the Lit. Circles than the classes reading To Kill a Mockingbird. I overheard several students say things like, "I really like this book," or "I'm going to read his [Mitch Albom's] other book when I finish this one," or "Can my mom/dad borrow a copy of this book?" The Mockingbird classes did the work, but there was none of the spontaneous enthusiasm that marked my morning classes.

reflection
I'm going to start at the end and work to the front... I have not had success with Literature Circles in the past. To clarify: the students complete the work, but they are unenthusiastic and in their end-of-year survey, students cite Lit. Circles as their least favorite part of the class more than any other activity or project. I am searching for ways to change this so that the project is not only more enjoyable, but also useful. I've stopped using Lit. Circle with smaller pieces and I'm using it only on novels this year...maybe that will help. I'm also allowing students to choose their novels for their Circles, so maybe that's the problem (they disliked the literature, and everything connected to it). Finally, instead of beginning with the students in small groups, I led the first Lit Circle that was held two weeks ago, and I'm only supervising small groups tomorrow. I'm also convening Lit. Circles more than three or four times in a year - they have one every 2-4 weeks all year. I'm curious to see if my manipulations have any effect on the students' engagement with the activity...or maybe I'm not a Lit. Circle-type of teacher? I'm also wondering the obvious: is it the frequency? the literature? my guidance (or lack thereof)? I'm a weaker literature teacher than a writing teacher (BTW: faithful readers...I want to be the writing teacher I had in 6th grade...Mr. G.), so I'm always searching for little strategies that will help me become a more effective literature teacher. As for Mockingbird versus Morrie, I think the kids like the book because we have our own Beloved Teacher from the middle school who is battling ALS (as is Morrie). The students read this book and can't help but connect - every single student in the district has taken a class from our Beloved Teacher. What if I allowed students to make recommendations from their own summer reading lists and then I could buy 4-5 copies of the most popular books for later book clubs?

The reflective activity that I had my period 2 and 3 students complete today was based on several articles I read last week. These articles dealt with reflective journal writing based on reading assignments, which is not my primary interest, but I AM curious. In these articles, it was recommended that I first create a semi-formalized structure for the reflective writing; second, I should remain consistent; third, I need to change my question...yet keep them the same. I also went back in to my folders from previous courses and examined my past reflective writing. I remember it being something I initially disliked. Later, though, I realized its value and was grateful that I had been pushed to produce.

SOD (Sentence of the Day) is something that I've been doing since I started teaching. I use packaged sentences that assess a wide range of skills in a spiral pattern (3-5 sentences w/ a certain skill, break for 10 sentences, then return for another 3-5 sentences). What I love about SOD is that it actually works. Students become more aware of and conversant in the language of grammar, and their mistakes diminish. What I dislike about SOD is that students are so competitive for the stickers that they cheat and lie to get them. Not all students, but one or two in every class. It's very disheartening - especially since the students who cheat don't actually learn anything while the students who try hard and value the stickers improve sharply. In addition to the packaged sentences, I use their own sentences from their work. I LOVE to do this after a particularly interesting writing craft lesson about participles or appositives. I slap some of their own work up on the overhead and watch the chaos ensue (I'm a cruel...woman). The students also vie for the honor of having their sentence chosen for public viewing...it's like a badge of honor because I always choose good sentences with BAD punctuation.