You know I've been thinking more since I wrote about Readicide and what we as teachers do to kill the love of reading in kids. I always worry when teachers want to take YA novels and turn them into in class reading. Take for example, the Hunger Games trilogy. I've already talked about how popular the series is with students so in some teachers' minds, these books would be perfect to use as class novels to teach literary elements.
PLEASE DON'T DO THAT!!!
Sorry for yelling. But I get tired of great books being "read to death" in class, picked apart by teachers and turned into worksheet answers. Nothing kills the love of a great book any faster.
And I can say this because I've DONE it!!! Okay, embarrassing confession time is over, but I have. I've really great books and made kids hate them. And the sad fact is at the time, I didn't know what I was doing wrong.
Well, now as a librarian, I can tell you what I was doing wrong. Instead of letting kids read and enjoy a great story, I was picking it to pieces. Details, literary elements, themes....I turned a fun story into an assignment. Of course, we need to be sure kids understand the things they are reading. Of course we need to instruct our students in literary elements, themes in literature --all the reasons we all became literature teachers.
But we don't have to do it to every great story that comes along, especially at the moment the story is popular. In a few years, when the excitement over the Hunger Games has died down and another series is popular--maybe? maybe not? I still hate to see YA literature turned into an assignment. Some books are just meant to be read and enjoyed. Am I wrong?
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
My love for LibGuides
Not sure if I've talked about LibGuides before. But if I haven't, then it's time! LibGuides is probably the best website design tool ever made for librarians. I don't know what I did before I found it....well, I do...I stumbled along trying to make something work. But this tool has literally changed my library world! For the first six weeks this school year, we had 10,717 hits on our LibGuides pages. I know our library webpage has never had 10,000+ hits in any six weeks!
Springshare has done a good job of making a "plug and play" website specifically with librarians in mind. I've seen lots of differenct uses by lots of different libraries. Most university/ college level libraries use it to design course guides--help for students enrolled in different courses.
At the high school I use it more to design specific project pages for different teachers. This way, I can tailor it to the specific project. I add the teachers' assignment, due date and whatever library resources are pertinant to that project. I send the link to the teacher and link it to our library page; however, the class doesn't have to be in the library. And I know the pages get used because I can see the statistics.
Before LibGuides, I know our library databases weren't used to their potential. Now I know they are being used and I can tell you how much. I can add a link to our Destiny catalog and I have a standard page to add with all our Noodletools information. I add this page to every project--even if the teacher doesn't plan on requiring a citation page--sort of a "peer pressure" to encourage it anyway! We can also add links for Google books, Google scholar, embed videos, add documents and files or even ask survey questions.
I know I have not tapped the potential of the site--I'm still at a beginner level. But I tell you what--if I only had $500 in my budget--I would purchase LibGuides before anything else!
Here's the link to Springshare.com if you want more information from them.
Springshare has done a good job of making a "plug and play" website specifically with librarians in mind. I've seen lots of differenct uses by lots of different libraries. Most university/ college level libraries use it to design course guides--help for students enrolled in different courses.
At the high school I use it more to design specific project pages for different teachers. This way, I can tailor it to the specific project. I add the teachers' assignment, due date and whatever library resources are pertinant to that project. I send the link to the teacher and link it to our library page; however, the class doesn't have to be in the library. And I know the pages get used because I can see the statistics.
Before LibGuides, I know our library databases weren't used to their potential. Now I know they are being used and I can tell you how much. I can add a link to our Destiny catalog and I have a standard page to add with all our Noodletools information. I add this page to every project--even if the teacher doesn't plan on requiring a citation page--sort of a "peer pressure" to encourage it anyway! We can also add links for Google books, Google scholar, embed videos, add documents and files or even ask survey questions.
I know I have not tapped the potential of the site--I'm still at a beginner level. But I tell you what--if I only had $500 in my budget--I would purchase LibGuides before anything else!
Here's the link to Springshare.com if you want more information from them.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Readicide
I would recommend that every person involved in literacy instruction read the book Readicide: How schools are killing reading and what you can do about it by Kelly Gallagher. (Link courtesy of Amazon) This book describes what we as teachers are doing to extinguish the love of reading in our students.
Now I never thought what I was teaching would extinguish the love of reading, and I'm sure you don't either. But have you ever interrupted students in the middle of a passage to ask if they knew what was going on? Have you ever given study questions to "help" with understanding? I have --lots of times. And while there is a time and place for that sort of instruction, we don't give enough time to reading for reading's sake--the sort of pleasure reading you and I do automatically.
Kids don't get the time now to just read for fun. If it's not going to be tested, maybe we don't have time for it--that's the prevailing attitude. And with good reason--we teachers are scared to death of test results. Our jobs, our livelihoods depend on these tests--often with circumstances we can't control. So we control what we can--our instructional time. Time must be alloted to those test skills.
But what about the good old fashioned notion of reading something because we love it? I hear kids say all the time how much they "hate" to read. I think it's a matter of they haven't found the right materials yet because I also have seen a student pick up the right book--whatever it might be--and read it straight through.
For some kids the right book is a novel--a sappy romance or a mystery. For some, it's a nonfiction book on sports, cars or animals. For some it might be graphic novels. None of these books lend themselves to being tested so we try to restrict our students to the "classics", the ones we've always taught. The ones we know we can ask questions about.....in a test......
Now don't get me wrong. There's a time and place for this sort of instruction. As an educated society, we all need to know what references to Shakespeare mean. Or we need to have read certain novels to have a cultural basis together.
But my point is don't let the fun reading get lost in this instructional time. Make it a point to give kids time for pleasure reading so you're not guilty of Readicide like I used to be.
Now I never thought what I was teaching would extinguish the love of reading, and I'm sure you don't either. But have you ever interrupted students in the middle of a passage to ask if they knew what was going on? Have you ever given study questions to "help" with understanding? I have --lots of times. And while there is a time and place for that sort of instruction, we don't give enough time to reading for reading's sake--the sort of pleasure reading you and I do automatically.
Kids don't get the time now to just read for fun. If it's not going to be tested, maybe we don't have time for it--that's the prevailing attitude. And with good reason--we teachers are scared to death of test results. Our jobs, our livelihoods depend on these tests--often with circumstances we can't control. So we control what we can--our instructional time. Time must be alloted to those test skills.
But what about the good old fashioned notion of reading something because we love it? I hear kids say all the time how much they "hate" to read. I think it's a matter of they haven't found the right materials yet because I also have seen a student pick up the right book--whatever it might be--and read it straight through.
For some kids the right book is a novel--a sappy romance or a mystery. For some, it's a nonfiction book on sports, cars or animals. For some it might be graphic novels. None of these books lend themselves to being tested so we try to restrict our students to the "classics", the ones we've always taught. The ones we know we can ask questions about.....in a test......
Now don't get me wrong. There's a time and place for this sort of instruction. As an educated society, we all need to know what references to Shakespeare mean. Or we need to have read certain novels to have a cultural basis together.
But my point is don't let the fun reading get lost in this instructional time. Make it a point to give kids time for pleasure reading so you're not guilty of Readicide like I used to be.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Another name game....
Well thinking about the random name generator reminded me of another way of calling on students--this time the old fashioned way. And I have to give credit to this idea to my dear friend Megan who moved to the land of VERY FarFar Away...
Get some craft sticks/ popsicle sticks. If you have just one class, write students's names on the sticks. Drop them all in a jar/ can/ container of some sort. Draw out names to call on students. You can leave the sticks out once you call on a student or replace them in the can--that way students never know if you might call on them again.
But in my situation teaching in the library, this is difficult if not impossible to do. I have classes come in and out and sometimes I may only have 10-15 minutes with them. But I could use a jar of numbered sticks--assign students a number and call on the numbers. You could put numbers on the desks/ tables where they will be sitting or hand out "tickets" with numbers on them as they come in the room. The idea is to be able to randomly call on students and make it easy to deal with multiple classes.
If you have any suggestions to help to engage students in lessons, I'd love to hear them!
Get some craft sticks/ popsicle sticks. If you have just one class, write students's names on the sticks. Drop them all in a jar/ can/ container of some sort. Draw out names to call on students. You can leave the sticks out once you call on a student or replace them in the can--that way students never know if you might call on them again.
But in my situation teaching in the library, this is difficult if not impossible to do. I have classes come in and out and sometimes I may only have 10-15 minutes with them. But I could use a jar of numbered sticks--assign students a number and call on the numbers. You could put numbers on the desks/ tables where they will be sitting or hand out "tickets" with numbers on them as they come in the room. The idea is to be able to randomly call on students and make it easy to deal with multiple classes.
If you have any suggestions to help to engage students in lessons, I'd love to hear them!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Great podcast
It's been a pretty hectic week for me and I've had a couple of incidents happen to make me question not only my sanity but also my future as a librarian. Sometimes I think the "Matrix" of technology is going to rule us all.
So I dug out this podcast from the University of London entitled The Future of the Book. Good listening and it will make you feel like we aren't out of date after all.....
So I dug out this podcast from the University of London entitled The Future of the Book. Good listening and it will make you feel like we aren't out of date after all.....
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
20 tips for project based learning
I found a great posting on Edutopia.org today entitled 20 tips for project based learning. So many people are moving towards projects for learning but don't take the time to structure the project. Assigning a group project doesn't mean you can just throw out the assignment and hope it works. "Front loading" the lesson--structuring and planning ahead of time-- will result in much better results for you and your students!
These tips cover items like putting teams of students together for a long term--6-8 weeks. The same group could work together on several projects. Another good tip--make hetrogeneous groups and let the group play off each others' strengths.
The formative assessments are vital in projects! Students need to know as they are moving through the assignment how they are doing. I've always found more success when I have interim due dates for pieces of large projects--"Your idea list is due on this date." "Your draft is due on this date." Yes, it means more grading --but you get more grades! I tended to carry a clipboard and just make these "check" grades--you have it or you don't which equaled a 100 daily grade or a zero. It wasn't hard and was a good way for me to touch base with each group to check on progress.
In the library I see so many times teachers who assign projects so kids will work independently for a few days. Well, that's all well and good but doesn't mean it's time for a teacher to sit back and read the paper (and yes, that happens all too often.) Managing projects in a classroom is not different than managing projects in a small business--you need to know the status of each one at any given moment!
Take a look at the blog posting from Edutopia--what other tips would you add?
These tips cover items like putting teams of students together for a long term--6-8 weeks. The same group could work together on several projects. Another good tip--make hetrogeneous groups and let the group play off each others' strengths.
The formative assessments are vital in projects! Students need to know as they are moving through the assignment how they are doing. I've always found more success when I have interim due dates for pieces of large projects--"Your idea list is due on this date." "Your draft is due on this date." Yes, it means more grading --but you get more grades! I tended to carry a clipboard and just make these "check" grades--you have it or you don't which equaled a 100 daily grade or a zero. It wasn't hard and was a good way for me to touch base with each group to check on progress.
In the library I see so many times teachers who assign projects so kids will work independently for a few days. Well, that's all well and good but doesn't mean it's time for a teacher to sit back and read the paper (and yes, that happens all too often.) Managing projects in a classroom is not different than managing projects in a small business--you need to know the status of each one at any given moment!
Take a look at the blog posting from Edutopia--what other tips would you add?
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Cutting for Stone
One of the best books I read this summer was Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. (link courtesy of Amazon.) The story concerns a nun and a doctor who go to Ethopia to work in a misson. The nun dies giving birth to twin boys--no one even knew she was pregnant so the whole mission was in a state of shock. The doctor can't handle the birth or the loss of his love and he runs from the mission, leaving the boys Shiva and Marion in the care of the remaining doctors and nuns in the mission. The story follows the boys as they grow to adulthood in the loving family of the various members of the mission.
The story is set against the backdrop of political upheaval in Ethiopia and eventually the story makes its way to the United States. The description of Ethopian countryside and the civil war juxtaposed with the medical descriptions of the hospitals makes for fascinating reading.
The reader can't be squeamish--the story gets pretty graphic in terms of medical descriptions. But as an epic story, this one ranks right up there with the best of them. It reminds me of a Michener epic, with its sweeping landscapes and generations of characters. A little more adult than a true young adult novel, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone but older, advanced readers. But I sometimes have trouble finding suitable materials for those readers, so this one fills that need.
Get this one for vacation time when you can really delve into it!
The story is set against the backdrop of political upheaval in Ethiopia and eventually the story makes its way to the United States. The description of Ethopian countryside and the civil war juxtaposed with the medical descriptions of the hospitals makes for fascinating reading.
The reader can't be squeamish--the story gets pretty graphic in terms of medical descriptions. But as an epic story, this one ranks right up there with the best of them. It reminds me of a Michener epic, with its sweeping landscapes and generations of characters. A little more adult than a true young adult novel, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone but older, advanced readers. But I sometimes have trouble finding suitable materials for those readers, so this one fills that need.
Get this one for vacation time when you can really delve into it!
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