Time Flies When You're... Learning About Content Literacy?

Well, it's officially the end of the semester and our class is coming to an end. We have continually explored what content literacy is and what it looks like to be literate in our different classes. I have been focusing on what it looks like specifically in a math classroom.

Thankfully, I had an extra opportunity to explore this topic when I attended NCTM in New Orleans this past weekend! NCTM is the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and I received a grant to be able to attend the national conference! I was able to hear from some of the most incredible math teachers in the world and learn from them. And of course I made sure to go to a session on content literacy. Two women who teach high school in Michigan presented about their experience with content literacy. 

Unfortunately, these women have had a difficult time trying to convince their state and school that doing a "close reading" does not have to include a large paragraph of text. Instead it can include a set of shapes in which students must highlight or circle different parts of the shapes to show angles and parallel sides. Or it could be a difficult word problem with multiple steps included. There is a way to read something closely, mark it up, and analyze it in a math class. You just have to be prepared to think of it in an entirely new way.

In order to improve daily literacy skills, the women used graphic organizers for notes including vocabulary tables and other visual aids. They even came up with a 3-D rubric in order to more acurately grade their students' understanding of a topic. The students had to write a definition of a word provided and then provide a visual to help explain the definition. The rubric combined a grading of the definition, the visual, and whether the visual and definition matched.

They also provided us with a great list of resources which I hope will also be useful for you!

Books:
       Mathematician Reads the Newspaper by John Allen Paulos
       Common Core Mathematics in a PLC at Work by NCTM

Articles:
       Journal Writing Prompts for Math Students
       More Math Journal Prompts
       And...More Math Journal Prompts

This conference was such a perfect way to end this class. With an extra burst of exploration in content literacy. I hope to not only continue my growth in this area, but also to implement it into my own classroom very soon!

And as always...

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

Group Work and Communication: How Do We Do It??

As I write this, I'm sitting in a hotel room at the NCTM conference. I cannot tell y'all how incredibly excited I am to finally be here! It has been a long time coming starting in about October when I applied for a grant offered to undergrads at the university that I attend. Then, a few months later, I found out that I was one of three undergrads who were chosen to receive the grant! Now, here I am! We've only had one session so far, and it was great! But I'll write more about the conference next week. For now...

This week Tovani shared her thoughts on group work and assessment of them. I was interested to hear what she would say about this topic because the only experience I have is as a student in groups myself. We used group work very little in the classroom in which I did student teaching. I know that I strongly disliked group work (and still do) because it generally means a larger project and that I would be doing most of the work. Sadly, students cannot easily dole out tasks evenly in a group and do equal amounts of work. Because I am a planner and get things done, I was often made the leader of the group and had to do parts of the project that others conveniently forgot. And there was no choice on the matter whether to do their part or not, because I would get a bad grade if I didn't! Everyone got the same grade. It was awful.

But, Tovani works with her groups of students in different ways. She walks around and assesses individuals within the group to make sure that everyone is doing a fair share of work. She helps students to delegate different parts of the project. She also set clear standards along with the students of what was expected during discussions and group work. Everyone should have done any reading necessary, come prepared with notes and their book, and be ready to discuss and engage in a conversation. Tovani even brought in a friend to help her model to her students what good and bad behavior looked like in a group discussion without telling them what to think. She let them watch her and then she collected the observations of good and bad behaviors.

Through the chapters in Tovani's book, it is so clear to see the relationships that she builds with her students through communication. She takes care to write detailed feedback for each student which provides her with a students who trusts her more and is more willing to work for her. I loved the idea she had on a conversation calendar. It is a small sheet of paper with 2 rows of 5 boxes each. Across the top of the paper, the top 5 boxes are labeled with the days of the school week, Monday through Friday. Then, in the top box, students are allowed to write either something about themselves or ask her a question. It could be something that they were afraid to ask earlier or something about her. Then, the students record the grade (out of 20 points) that they think they should receive for participation and class that day. Tovani then responds to their comment in the box below and writes the grade that they actually received for participation that day. At the end of the week, Tovani totals up the points for that week and records it in her grade book. I love this idea! And though I am a math person, I think that I'd like to use this to increase communication in my classroom.

What do y'all think? Groups? Communication? How does all of this work?

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

A Blog Triage

I am pretty excited about today's blog. I get to peek into the minds of my classmates through a medium rather than talking. I've been searching through their blogs and finding oh so much inspiration. And that's what classmates are partially for, right? To encourage us to go above and beyond! Sadly, that's not always what happens. In fact, most of the time students compete against each other or use each other as excuses to not do their best work. 

Well, I'm changing that. I want to use the inspiration from my fellow classmates to make me into a better teacher. And who knows, maybe along the way, I can help them too!

"Everybody has the right to his or her own thoughts. Most will probably different than mine but needless to say we all have thoughts. All thoughts are valid in our own head but it’s communicating them that get tricky. When other people share there opinions that are different than mine most times I shut down. If someone said they really hated The Walking Dead than I probably wouldn’t talk about it with them anymore. I would stop communicating my thoughts. That is what I want to put an end to in my classroom: non-communication of thoughts."

Teaching on Canvas

I loved how she put this! In school, children are supposed to be learning how to express themselves through writing as well as discussions. When there is a culture in a classroom in which students do not feel safe voicing their opinions, it stifles conversations that could enhance understanding. So I'm with you Teaching on Canvas. I want a classroom where communication is encouraged too!

"As our students become more technologically savvy, their reliance upon those things becomes greater. So, our experience with such devices needs to evolve as well. We need to get used to what our students will be bringing into our classrooms, as well as what they use in their everyday lives. This will help us connect with them better, and will allow us to use technology as a tool to increase our students content literacy within our classroom."

Apple Pi

One of my favorite topics in education is technology. Part of that is because of my own dependence on technology, and another part is because I am fascinated by the use of technology in the classroom and the many ways people approach that. I am actually attending a large math teachers conference next week and am going to make sure that I hit up a lot of sessions on this very subject! Technology is such a huge part of our culture, so why not bring it into the culture of our classroom?

"I realized that it is our job as teachers to make the importance of reading known to our students."

The Teach Fairy

So. Incredibly. True. This is one of the biggest lessons that I feel that I've learned during this semester studying content literacy. Students need to see a point to reading and know why they are doing it! I hate hearing people say that they hate reading, so I want to work against that attitude in my classroom.

"We should test each student when they come into our class for content literacy knowledge through reading and writing.  Based off of this we will know how to individually help them."

Pin It to Teach It

I love that this person is clearly concerned with the individual students and not just the class as a whole. Each student that we encounter is growing and learning in different ways. That makes my job as a teacher exciting but also difficult. And challenging. But I don't back away from challenges and I don't plan on backing away from this one. I want to help my students to learn and grow in the way that they do it best! If that means more work for me, so be it.

"My mother also told me each week she would pick a hard word from the dictionary to incorporate into her lessons all week. She wouldn’t tell the students she would just make sure she would use it more then 3 times a day every day. She said sometimes they would ask other times they would figure it out and before long they were repeating these words back to her in conversation without needing support… (it was at this point that I realized my mother also did this with her own children… felt like such a Guinea pig)."

Those Who Can't, Teach

This post made me laugh out loud! A mother daughter team who are both teachers. Each of them learning from each other. And I loved what the mom used to do both in and out of her classroom! Introducing a new and challenging word with out announcing it. Then, just use it throughout the day. I am very tempted to use this in my future classroom.

Well, there's a little bit of insight into my classmates' minds! Now go check out their blogs for yourselves!

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

Sticky Notes, Highlighters, and Pens. Oh my!

If you're like me, you sometimes will read an entire page (or chapter) and then realize that you have absolutely no idea what you just read. So then you have to go back and read the whole thing over again which wastes even more time. Generally, when students are reading for school, they are trying to get it done as quickly as possible so that they can move on to TV or video games. For me, I'm usually trying to finish so that I can go to sleep. (College life.) So, this extra time spent going back to reread a section of a book seems like a complete waste. Often, students will not even take the time to reread the section because of that waste of time. So how do we combat this? Use their time to get the most out of their reading so that they can move on to more fun things?

Cris Tovani, author of Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?, suggests a few different tools that teachers can use to help students hold onto their thinking so that they can use it later in class or on assignments. Some of the tools she lists include using highlighters and sticky notes. (Side note: I am probably in the minority, but there's nothing that I love more than new school supplies in all different colors. So the thought of new sticky notes and highlighters that color coordinate with topics? Sign me up.) Along with those tools, Tovani also mentions different worksheets that she gives her students called "Comprehension Constructors" and includes a blank template in the back of the book for other teachers' use.

As I was reading this chapter, I found myself agreeing with a lot of what Tovani was saying about holding students' thinking while reading, but still having some questions. For example, I know that I've said in the past how I love math and plan on teaching it soon. How can I take the tools that Tovani is providing me with and apply them to a math class? She gave one example in this chapter, but I'd like to sit down with her and pick her brain on this idea.

I also really loved that Tovani gave some very practical tools for teachers to use. As I learn more and more about teaching, grading comes more to the forefront of my mind when planning assessments. Tovani spent a lengthy amount of time talking about helping her students learn to use sticky notes in books when reading to ask questions, make comments, and communicate with the text which is all great! But then how do teachers know that students have done that assignment? It's incredibly difficult to take home all of the books to grade, but Tovani gave an example of how to help out with that problem. She has her students write the page number of the book that the students put the sticky note on the note, and then the students put all of their sticky notes onto a sheet of paper. Voila! Suddenly a teacher goes from carrying home 150 books, to a folder full of papers to grade. Not to mention the lack of page turning to search for the notes.

I appreciate how Tovani writes. She is engaging and shares her struggles and pitfalls. It is encouraging to see how she works with students and little by little helps them to become more proficient readers.

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

Content Literacy for a Non-Education Major

Content Literacy is a concept that needs to be explored by each person. It will look different when you explore its work in your life and mine. Not to say that we won't have similar experiences, but a lot of our ideas and thoughts about it will be different. And that's a great thing!

For example: I have four older sisters, all of whom are married and have children. Two of them have decided to homeschool their kids in conjunction with a co-op group. In this group, the parents each have to teach a few classes during the school year. Over spring break, I spent some time with one of my sisters that is going through this process and she shared about some of what she's been doing. She is an extremely talented artist, so it's not surprising that the group asked her to teach some of the art classes. What is surprising though, is that they also are having her teach a couple of math classes. As I've said before on here, math is SO my thing. I love it and it makes sense to me. Not so much for my sister.

Of course I was interested in this class that she was to teach so I asked questions. My nieces piped in telling me that they were learning about circumferences. It seems like a simple enough subject, but for my sister who is 35 and probably hasn't had a math class since her freshman year of college, it might be difficult. She had to take the "basic" principals that she learned so long ago, and remember how she learned them. She had to put herself into her students' shoes and re-learn this subject. And this is what we all should be doing as teachers. A topic that may seem so basic to us will not be basic at all to our students. It's not just teaching a formula and how to plug numbers in. It's teaching kids the why and how behind that formula. My sister had to learn how to read as a math teacher and then as a math student again. If that isn't content literacy in action, I don't know what is!

And I think that this doesn't happen as often as it should. Parents should be helping their students with their homework, but often parents have forgotten the material and simply send their kids to tutors. What if we came up with a way for parents to remember how to read for those specific contents? Then they could help their students and maybe the students could help their parents as well? What would that look like?

Update: Apparently the class went well, (we talked on the phone last night) and my nieces seemed to understand the concept pretty well! I hope in the future to help my sister to create lesson plans for these math classes, possibly getting some artwork in return :)

What do y'all think?

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

What's the Point?

Each time I read a section from the book* that our class is using as a "textbook", I learn more about what it looks like to be a good reader. Many things that good readers do, they don't even notice. For example: Good readers ask themselves questions while they are reading to make sure that they understand the content. If they don't, they go back and reread the section. I don't know about you, but I did not even realize I did that. If someone had asked me last year what I did to be a "good reader", I probably would not be able to tell them. Now, I have begun recognizing some of the strategies I use that make me a good reader.

Something that Tovani discussed was the fact that good readers are able to recognize a purpose for every text that they read. Sometimes the purpose is pleasure or to let our minds escape to another world. Most of the time reading in a classroom does not have either of those purposes though. Usually the purpose sounds more like "to learn about this topic" or "to gain understanding of a subject". Those sound incredibly, mind-numbingly boring. I don't even want to read things that have that as a purpose and I'm a growing teacher! So let's change the purpose of the readings that we give to our students. We need to help our students find value in reading the texts that we give them. They need to see a reason to read the texts.

Tovani also introduced these things called a "conversation voice" and a "reciting voice". Our reciting voice is the voice in our head that reads the words, but that is all. The words go in one ear and out the other. It's what causes us to have to go back and read the whole chapter over again. Our "conversation voice" is the voice that helps us to have a conversation with the text. It asks questions and looks for understanding. Helping students to be able to recognize the different between these voices will help them to comprehend what they are reading and stay focused. I've done this my whole life and never had the correct words to describe it, but now I do! Thanks Tovani!

In addition to this, I have had something else that has been heavy on my heart this week. Recently, a bill entitled "SB 167" has been passed in the Senate. It is basically a bill that will keep Georgia from using any nation-wide curriculum such as Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. It will also prevent students from being able to take any testing not created in Georgia including AP tests as well as the SAT and ACT. This bill is very scary to me both as a student and future teacher. I encourage you, if you're reading this, to contact your local representative about this bill as it is going to the House for a vote soon. I contacted the two representatives in my city and actually got an email response from one of them. Who knows what we can do when we all join together and share our concerns?

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

*Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? by Cris Tovani

Reading Ratios

So I've been talking about Content Literacy for the past month or so and trying to wrap my head around what it means specifically in the setting of a math class. Then, in the book* that we are using as a textbook in my content literacy class, I was introduced to the idea of "text sets". Tovani defines a text set as "a container organized by units of study". She got the idea from elementary school libraries and classrooms around the country where books are organized by topics and authors and genres. Now how do we take that idea and transfer it to a middle or high school classroom? And more specifically, a math classroom?

I've been exploring this idea over the past week and coming up with new ideas. After all, what does text even look like in a math class? Part of the point of these text sets are to help students at all different levels to gain the same understanding of the same content in a different way. It can be with readings of different levels of difficulty or, in my case, problems that range from easy (to some students) to extremely difficult. Here is an example that I have compiled of a text set to help students understand ratios.

The Math Dude - The Golden Ratio:
I mentioned The Math Dude in a recent blog post and here he is again! This is a video and blog post on this thing called The Golden Ratio and how many photographers use it to take more interesting pictures. This text and video could be used to help students find some interest and usefulness in ratios. Text sets don't have to contain only boring reading materials. This is an example of that.

Dan Meyer - My Ultimate Nerd Math Crush - Genius lesson plans:
I cannot tell y'all how much I love this man and think he is wonderful. I had the amazing opportunity to hear him speak last semester and the way that he went about teaching a group of math teachers with a simple but very real world problem blew my mind. If I had had him as a math teacher, who knows where I'd be know? Probably conquering the world... I digress. This link provides a few of his videos, worksheets, and full lesson plans on how to work with students on ratios. This is another way that kids can get practice doing word problems and making sense of ratios.

Sometimes Funny Things Help Students Understand Better:
This video is horribly cheesy, but I found myself chuckling, so maybe awkward middle school students will too? It tells the story of a girl going on multiple dates and each guy speaks a different number of words. One guy talks too much compared to her. Another doesn't speak much at all. Finally she finds a guy who talks the exact same amount as she does and boom! It's love. (Don't we all wish it was that easy.) It also talks about equivalent ratios and equivalent fractions which, I believe, can help students in their understanding of this topic.

Extra Practice:
This is a link to worksheets and extra problems that students can use to practice their understanding of ratios. There are different levels of difficulty that can be used to help students. Maybe after watching some of these videos or learning different ways to go about solving the same problem, they can practice what they've learned.

Notes - Different Ways To Think About the Same Problem:
Teachers have to understand how to do a problem in 12 different ways so that they can teach 12 different students to understand how to do it in their own way. In the text set, I've included some notes that I've taken of different ways to look at the same problem. Sometimes there is not enough time to teach 12 different ways during class, so this is an opportunity to help students take learning into their own hands and still succeed.

This concept is still a little bit foreign to me so join me as I grow in my understanding of text sets. If you have ideas, please let me know! After all, the whole point of this blog is to learn and grow from other teachers ahead of me. And I hope that this helps you too. If it does, let me know about that too. A little encouragement never hurts :)

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

*Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? by Cris Tovani

A Struggle With Reading... Or Lack Thereof

As I continue to work through Cris Tovani's book Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?, I'm exploring my own reading abilities and what has influenced them. I love reading! I always have. And that might be due to the fact that I've always been pretty good at it. Or the fact that I usually find books whose topics I enjoy. Or a multitude of other things. I'm even enjoying Tovani's book right now, surprisingly enough. How often do we get assigned a book to read for a class and enjoy it?! And how sad is that question? I hope that through this class and exploring how to make reading more enjoyable for students, my students will not have to ask questions like that. Reading in class should make students curious so that they are encouraged to do their own research on those topics.

This week I read her chapter on accessible texts and how to find accessible texts for your classroom when your students' reading levels are all over the place. There is this new concept of "Text Sets". Depending on the subject, teachers can create boxes full of reading material at all different reading levels, all "organized into different units of study". Tovani does a great job of giving examples of how to create these sets for all different subject areas, and I love the idea of this! I'm not sure how much I love the idea of actually carrying it out though. 

For example: How much is it going to cost to collect all of these materials? I know that some of the materials could be printed articles, but books are going to make up most of the set. How long is this going to take to create the sets? This is NOT a cop-out and me wanting to take the easy way out. I'm earnestly wondering if this would need to be an entire-summer-long project. 

Here are some major "ups" of this idea of text sets: It offers students with all different reading levels opportunities to learn the material in a class. It reduces the frustration of students not being able to understand material. Students can gain the same information that they would receive in a textbook but in a more interesting way. There will be may options for readings texts with different lengths and structures. The information obtained should be relevant and allow students to make connections to other classes and their lives.

So what is the consensus? I love the idea of text sets, but they intimidate me. Especially in the area of mathematics. Maybe intimidation is good though. It will require me to work through something difficult just like I will ask my students to. Maybe I'll challenge myself and start coming up with a list of articles to use in a math classroom. I can keep a folder on my computer for different units and file the articles in there. I don't think on a college student's budget I'll be purchasing many books yet. :)

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

What is my Classroom's Brand?

I recently found an article that immediately caught my attention. The title seemed so relevant to life in general as well as this thing that I'm trying to become: a teacher. The article is called The Importance of Branding Your Classroom by Terry Heick. It was intriguing to think about. Our society is filled with brands and people make a living out of helping companies create a brand. Of course, the best examples given in the article were Google and Apple. Everyone knows these companies and what they do. Their brand tells us what to expect out of their products and how to use those products to their fullest extent. So how do I do this for my classroom? How do I brand my classroom, help students to know what to expect out of my class, and help them to know how to use my class to its fullest extent?

I can't say that this article answered my questions completely, but it did remind me of a TEDtalk that I watched a couple of months ago by Simon Sinek called How Great Leaders Inspire Action. Sinek frames his talk around Apple's success in branding and this thing he calls a magic circle. You see, most brands advertise by telling people what they make/do and how they make/do it. Apple is different. They tell people why they do what they do. Then they show people how they do it. Finally, they let us in on what they do. That reversal of the order as well as adding WHY they do something pulls people in. It makes us feel like we understand Apple more.

So what does this have to do with my classroom? I want to help my students, parents, other teachers, and administration to understand why I structure my classroom the way I do. Then they can see how I structure my classroom that way. And finally, they will discover what I do.

And the article? Heick (maybe without knowing it) helps us to make a connection between this TEDtalk's branding and our classroom. He gives us four lessons to help us make the connection: 1. Brand matters. 2. Brand must be emotional. 3. Accessibility comes first. and finally 4. Brand is the product of an ecosystem. I strongly encourage you to check out this article for yourself to see what Heick has to say. I have to admit that I originally just thought that "branding" my classroom would simply include lots of time searching for cute classroom ideas on Pinterest and lots of trips to Hobby Lobby. Now I see that it's going to take much more than that.

We've also been discussing think alouds in our content literacy class recently. Here is an example of a think aloud in a math class. In any think aloud, a teacher demonstrates to the students how they work through a problem or section of text and use strategies to make sense of it. This allows students to see how teachers' minds work when going through a difficult text. I plan on using this in my classroom in the future and having students practice it as well.

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

Inspiration

Do you ever read an article that a friend posted on Facebook or a quote that someone has pinned on Pinterest and feel so inspired? It might be a verse or a chapter in a book sometimes for me that I highlight AND underline. I need to share the knowledge I've just attained. Sometimes that knowledge is incredibly overwhelming at the same time though. I kind of feel like that is happening to me as I attempt to learn what content literacy is and how to teach my students how to "read" in different subjects. For example, here are a few of the quotes that I excitedly underlined this week and highlighted. 

"Teacher of any subject are going to help their cause by teaching their students to be better readers of their content. The industrial technology teacher didn't need to teach kids how to read poetry. He needed to teach students how to read directions and blueprints and whatever else students read in his class. Perhaps he does this reading so automatically that he isn't even aware of the skills required for it." Do I Really Have to Teach Reading by Cris Tovani p.25-26

Other times, that inspiration comes from a short but very clear talk. I will be the first person to tell you that I am a math nerd. I love it. I always do math homework first. I love helping my nieces with their math and pushing them to see how much they can figure out without being taught. Enough babbling... I just found this podcast by The Math Dude. Holy moley do I have a new math crush. Oh don't worry! Dan Meyer is still my main math man, but this new guy is slowly moving in... In this podcast he explains just a small part of how to understand the language of math. He literally took the words right out of my mouth. 

Students (and people in general) often say that "math is just not my subject" or "math and I don't get along very well." This could be due to an inability to speak math very well. I love that TMD (The Math Dude) compares math to a foreign language in which we need to be immersed in order to learn it. We also need "to speak it proficiently before we can use it efficiently." (Boy am I a sucker for cleverly placed rhymes.) This point almost begs teachers to teach their students how to read math. It begs for word walls in your math classroom like this one. Students need help learning this language and being immersed into the culture of math. Give them lists of words that they will see in the following units and allow them to sort these words into columns of "words I know and could teach to someone else" and "I have no idea". You can then allow students to help you in creating your word wall using words that are relevant and necessary in your classroom.

It may seem like I've gone off on a rant, but I've been inspired and so that inspiration had to be shared. Also, maybe if people know how inspired I am now, they'll continue to encourage me, as I become a teacher, to remember these lessons. 

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

Snow and a Learned Helplessness

As I'm writing this post I'm enjoying a view of white roofs and snow/grass men. (In the South we often do not get enough snow to make a man purely made of snow. He usually is covered in bits of grass as well.) But, I am cuddled up warm inside due to my "Learned Helplessness" of being a Southerner. I don't have the clothing appropriate for snow, nor do I know how to drive my car on the snowy roads.

Why did I bring up snow? And this "learned helplessness" thing? Well, there is a connection, I promise. I was listening to this podcast (#17) earlier and one of the first things discussed was learned helplessness. I think I've heard that phrase before, but for some reason it really caught my attention this time. The teachers on the podcast were discussing their classrooms and how students seem to come in to the classroom and immediately say, "I don't get it!" As teachers, it is our job to help students to "get it", but a lot of the time I feel like we, as teachers, are making our jobs even harder than they already are. Students have a job too. Their job is to learn. When assigned a reading or homework, if they don't immediately "get it" then it is their job to wrestle with it on their own until they can't anymore. Students are not taking ownership of their own learning. We often teach students a "learned helplessness" and make it all too easy to just give up. They know that after being assigned a worksheet we will write all of the answers on the whiteboard the next day. In my student teaching, students were even allowed to re-take tests for FULL credit with the help of their books. What are students learning from this? (I'm asking myself this as much as asking for your help understanding!) I also gained some insight on this topic from this blog post of a teacher relating her struggles of learned helplessness with her students.

The teachers went on to talk about reading which grabbed my attention again as I'm still trying to better define "content literacy". I am a good reader. I just am. My mom jokes that I learned to read in carpool lines. (Oh the joys of older siblings.) But I have always enjoyed reading. I like being read to. I never understood students in class who couldn't read very well. So, knowing this, you will understand how surprised I was to hear the podcast say, "We all thing we're good readers. {I don't think. I know.} But the truth of it is that we're all bad readers. {Maybe you are, but I rock!} It just depends on what reading we're given. {*jaw drops*}" Humbling. That makes sense. This also helped me to get into the mindset of a student who might have difficulty reading certain materials. It also makes me think that maybe different students should be given different readings that can push them but also encourage them and help them succeed. (I'm slowly realizing that teaching is more work than everyone thinks it is.)

So if some type of reading is difficult for everyone, what do we do when we hit that wall? I am too stubborn to give up, so I use a strategy. One strategy that we've been focusing on in my content literacy class has been double entry diaries. (This blog gives a great description of how to use and teach double-entry diaries.) You basically fold a piece of paper in half and write a quote or something from the "text" on the left side. On the right side you are supposed to add your thoughts or ideas on what you have written on the left side of the page. I've seen it used in math classrooms as well as literature classrooms and it seems to be a great strategy for some students. Not for me. I'm very much a highlighter and underliner. Sometimes I write in the margins if I need to. But there is nothing I like more than a good colorfully highlighted reading or book. It means I understand. Knowing this, I still know that many of my students are going to need different strategies. So I need to adapt. I need to learn more strategies. I want to know 15 ways to understand a text so that I can help my 15 different students understand their texts. I've got a long road ahead of me, but I'm up for it. But it will definitely require me learning just as much if not more than I am teaching.

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

Oh, and the connection between snow and learned helplessness that I promised earlier? I realized that I am completely helpless about snow because I live in the wonderful South and have learned NOTHING about snow. It's cold and wet. And beautiful from a distance.

{Sassy}

Slowly But Surely Moving Forward

Week two of classes are now over and we've had more chances to talk about this Content Literacy thing. We read the first two chapters of our class textbook called Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12 and listened to this podcast to help develop our understanding. As we discuss and research this idea, I'm trying to come up with my own working definition. Currently it goes something like this:

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

So... With that in mind, how should that change the way that I will teach in the future and how I prepare to teach my students? I think that, first of all, it propels me to be literate in both of my choice content areas of math and science. I should be able to read a math or science textbook with some level of ease. And if I cannot? Then I will be working from the perspective of my future students. They will encounter difficulties while reading these textbooks and I will encourage them to use strategies to help them to build an understanding of the books and content.

As my teacher said, "You don't read a textbook like you would a fairytale. That is, from cover to cover."I don't think that I've ever thought about reading textbooks differently than reading any other book. Being a "good student" I generally do all readings assigned including any boxes on the sides of pages. I never thought about there being a different way to read it, but I'm excited to explore those possibilities.

In the podcast mentioned above, a teacher spoke about being chosen as a Presidential award winner for her teaching of first and third graders. I found myself being slightly cynical when she was talking about having her first graders type up notes on technology and almost kicked myself. I'm supposed to be a new teacher! I of all people should be optimistic about teaching kids and all of the things that students are capable of! Why wouldn't first grade students be able to use technology in this way? It has shown me a part of myself that may tend toward cynicism which I will have to actively work against as I grow and learn as a teacher. My students are capable of so much! They just need someone to guide them as they learn, and what a blessing to be one of the people who gets to guide them!

{Sassy}

Learning To Be A Teacher

Hello all. Or no one [yet]. I am a college student going through school to become a Middle School Math and Science teacher. I have a passion for working with middle school students and a love for that moment when you've explained something to someone and they get it.

I have just started a class related to content literacy which I have just now learned about. In the best way that I can possibly explain it as a math-minded person, it is this: People talk about how math is a different language (because it is, and it is beautiful). Content literacy is learning how to read that language of math. I hope that makes as much sense to you as it does in my head. Like I said, I'm becoming a teacher which includes learning how to fully explain my thoughts on a subject and not having to constantly say, "Does that make sense?" After reading a few articles on the subject of content literacy, I've gotten at least a good idea of what the topic covers. One of the points that an article made was that literacy in a content (or language) includes the ability to speak, write, read, and communicate in that language. This means that I will be walking with my students as they begin to speak the language of math and numbers; write, configure, and translate the difficult problems; read the confusing, but well-meaning textbooks; and communicate to students, parents, teachers, and siblings what they have learned. It looks like I've got a lot of work ahead of me. Feel free to help me build a greater understanding of this topic or put it in different words!

Through this blog, I hope to build a network of fellow educators who I can communicate with and learn from. I am not too far from having my own classroom and the idea both excites and terrifies me. It would be so incredibly encouraging to go into my classroom my first year with a network of educators whose brains I can pick and get ideas from. I already have a small teacher crush on a few blogs, so get excited. You could already be or become one of them!

Now why have I made a decision to spend the rest of my life in school? Well... Like many other women, as a little girl I would gather my collection of dolls together and teach them simple math concepts. Of course, all of my students were brilliant and thought that I was "Teacher of the Year" material. That was a just a game for me. Or so I thought. Then as I got older, I discovered a love of cooking and baking. My plan then was to go to a culinary school and become an amazing chef. (Side note: I still love cooking and baking and use it as my relaxation and de-stressor from school.) When going through middle school, I was involved in the ministry at my church and became very close with most of the staff. Then, when I graduated from middle school and moved into high school, I did not want to lose those relationships, so I began volunteering with that same ministry. I found a love for the middle school age group and continued to volunteer with that ministry all throughout high school as well as college when I could. This passion for middle school aged students put together with my love for math and science resulted in my decision to become a middle school math and/or science teacher. It just made sense.

[Sassy]