TEACHERSCRIBE'S TEACHING THOUGHTS
Kurt Reynolds
About me
As Boring as We Want to Be
"The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for" - Ernest Hemingway
The news is so full of negativity that a few years ago I took to creating a positive story board on Pinterest to try and remind myself that there is good in the world.
Here is this week's example of what Hemingway was talking about - Toddler's FaceTime call saves his mother . . .
Book recommendation - The End of Education by Neil Postman
Bonus blog content -
Here are some thoughts about The End of Education from my first time reading it.
AIR
Joy and passion
Model failure
Teaching Thoughts - Week 12
Week #12 (Nov. 19-21)
Teaching Thought #50
Put an end to fake reading in your classroom.
Thought #1 – Make time for what’s important.
From the link - Making the decision to give my students 10 to 15 minutes a day to read choice books was easy once I thought about my priorities for learning.
Without a love of reading and the opportunity to practice reading skills, nothing else in my curriculum matters, and choice reading every day is one of the most effective ways I’ve found to support students in developing these skills.
Of course, as teachers, we know the it’s essential to make time for what’s important. That’s obvious. The key is actually doing this . . . and being able to live with the results.
Let me explain that in the context of my class. In College Comp I, students have a large 8-12 page research paper in which they must read two ‘classic’ novels from a list (a list I didn’t develop but I have added texts to over the years) and analyze the novels for three common themes. For each novel, I probably gave students a few week to read. We were making time for what was important. I wanted to ensure that they read the book – so I observed them doing it right in my room (or the commons or media center). I periodically walked around and asked them real questions about the book and offered suggestions for themes and examples. And I answered questions as best I could.
I had to live with the results, though, as it didn’t really look like I was ‘teaching.’ I wasn’t up in front of the room. I wasn’t having periodical checks. My learning target or “I can statement” for the week was the same every single day. I had to live with this. And I did.
The best thing about the two weeks I allowed for free reading was that I had students put their phones away. I literally had a box where students put their phones (and I did too). I warned them that if they didn’t put their phone in, and I caught them on their phone, I was taking five points off for their final paper for every time I caught them on their phone.
And something amazing happened. Kids enjoyed their books. I saw their jaws drop when they came to a particularly revealing section (as in Of Mice and Men, Enders’ Game, The Haunting of Hill House, 1984, Beloved, or Uncle Tom’s Cabin). Kids learned and kids enjoyed it. They enjoyed talking about their books with others who were reading it. They enjoyed talking with me about what they had read and – best of all – what they thought about it.
Don’t be afraid to set free time aside to allow kids to love reading again. And live with the fact that while it might not pass for traditional teaching, it might be the best thing you do all year.
Teaching Thought #51
Put an end to fake reading in your classroom.
Thought #2 – Give students ready access to books.
From the link - There’s something powerful about having a good book immediately available to hand a student. I’m constantly on the lookout for books from yard sales, thrift stores, used bookstores, and student donations, but last year I discovered DonorsChoose.org, and it has vastly improved the health and appeal of my classroom collection of books.
I asked my students to list books they’d like to read on my classroom whiteboard and tapped into the young adult book recommendations of my teacher friends on social media. In less than half an hour, I set up a Donors Choose project, and with a little bit of social media sharing and the help of some generous donors, I had boxes of crisp, new books for my students to open with great anticipation.
I love this idea. I’ve built up a considerable classroom library, which I usually use for my College Comp II class when they do their Sticky-Note book report unit. This is where I could really use the list of books idea.
Once I have the books, what works best for me is to give a note card to my students. On this I have them list three topics they love to learn about or are interested in. And I have them list three that they absolutely don’t want to read about. From this, I select a couple books for them to select from. And I bet at least 90 percent of the students enjoy the book they end up with.
Teaching Thought #52
Put an end to fake reading in your classroom.
Thought #3 – Make reading visible.
From the link - Students don’t always see the reading that’s going on all around them, so I’ve made it my mission this year to make reading more immediately visible.
I like this concept, and it’s something we tried outside of the media center. Kelsey asked several of us about our favorite book. I chose my favorite horror book of the moment, the classic The Traveling Vampire Show, by Richard Laymon. I took a picture. Kelsey then had an image of the book. Then she interviewed me talking about the book and put that on a QR code next to my picture. It would be interesting to see if anyone actually came in to check any of the books.
Podcast of the Week - Live Inspired, Featuring Nurse Roy
We are all vital. Never underestimate the roles we play. You never know when you're playing the role of Nurse Roy for a young John O'Leary.
Video of the Week- Seth Godin's TED x - Stop Stealing Dreams
Seth's take on textbooks alone is worth your time.
Bonus video . . .
Tech Tool of the Week - Autodraw
Think of the possibilities!
Or just turn it over to your students and see what they can come up with.
What I "sketched" on my computer.
What Autodraw suggested
Chief Inspiration Officer of Room 205
I am married to the most amazing person in the world, Kristie. It was love at first sight. At least for me. And it still is.
We have four wonderful children, Casey, Koko, Kenzie, and Cash. I also happen to have the greatest job in the world: teaching English to high school students. I'm even blessed enough to teach an Intro to Education class at UND during the fall.
I am about to begin my 21st year of teaching at Lincoln High School. I graduated from Lafayette High School in 1992. I come from a family of teachers: my grandmother was a country school teacher for a number of years before finishing out her career at Knox in TRF; my uncle Jim was an English professor at Western State in Gunnison, Co. My niece, Amanda, is a math teacher in Wayzata, MN. Teaching continues to run in the family.
As a result of my family influences, teaching was always something I wanted to do. The deciding factors, though, came because of two amazing teachers, Mr. Mueller, my fourth and sixth grade elementary school teacher and assistant baseball coach, and Mrs. Christianson, my 9th grade English teacher, respectively.
I attended Northland Community College, and had my life changed by the amazing Dr. Diane Drake. Then I transferred to Bemidji State University in 1995. There I had amazing professors who further inspired me to teach English (Dr. Helen Bonner, Dr. Mark Christensen, Susan Hauser, and Gerry Schnabel). I graduated with my BS in English Education in 1997.
I student taught with the wonderful Lisa Semanko and then began teaching full-time at LHS in 1998.
I took a year's leave of absence in 2001-02 to return to BSU for my MA in English. There I had the privilege to teach and work closely with my greatest mentor, Dr. Mark Chirstensen. I earned my MA in English in 2006 and was honored with "Thesis of the Year" for my creative non-fiction, braided, multi-genre memoir, "Meeting Myrtle: A Biography."
In 2013, thanks to my dear friend and mentor, Dr. Jodi Holen, I was offered an adjunct teaching position fall semester at the University of North Dakota. Tuesday nights I teach Intro to Education: Teaching and Learning 250 from 5-8. Those three hours fly by in about ten minutes.
Then in 2016 I was blessed to win a WEM award (thanks to a nomination from a former student - and now an amazing elementary school teacher in her own right, Ciera Mooney).
In 2017 I became part of the #pineconepd podcast club along with Brian Loe, Jeff Mumm, Kelsey Johnson, Kelly Weets, Josh Watne, Tevia Strand, Megan Vigen, Mariah Hruby, and Laura Brickson. This has been one of the best forms of PD I've ever been a part of. They make me a better teacher every time we meet. Please think about joining us in the summer at the Pine Cone Pub from 6:30 - until we've solved all the world's problems. For that evening anyway.
Thanks to the inspiration of Shane Zutz (our former principal), whose weekly newsletter "High Impact Leadership," is directly responsible for influencing me to create this newsletter.
I devised this as a way to distribute my Teaching Thoughts and add more content to, hopefully, help out and inspire others.
Email: kurt.reynolds@myprowler.org
Website: www.teacherscribe.blogspot.com
Location: Thief River Falls, MN, USA
Phone: 218-686-7395
Twitter: @teacherscribe