Halloween Tradition

This tradition is book related. Every year on the school day closest to Halloween I read scary stories to my students. About mid-October the older ones remember the tradition and start to ask when we will do the scary stories. I read from the book Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The stories aren't truly frightening-they just end with a scream. The set up is the most important part. The lights have to be off. The reader has to speak softer and softer until the startling scream at the end. This year I read to fourth, second, and third graders in that order. The fourth graders covered their heads and faces as I read. I don't know if they were scared or didn't want anyone to know they were scared. One of the second grade boys kept interrupting right as the story was getting scary so I stopped after two stories. The rhythm of the story was ruined by the interruptions. But the best group was the third graders. They sat in a circle on the floor. The lights were off. The story went perfectly. They all jumped at the scream and then fell over laughing and laughing at the fun of being scared. I love it!

Water

Today is blog action day and the concern is clean water for everyone. We take water for granted. We have plenty, why don't others have what they need? I heard about a young boy who became concerned about clean water and used his own money and asked others to match his money until he had collected enough for two wells!
Now the problem isn't as much access to water as access to clean water. I don't know that much about it but you can read more on a blog I follow called 'Don't Eat Alone.'
That's all for now.

Grumpy ole me

Why am I so grumpy with some folks? I think I have gotten over all the allure of teaching ELLs. I love to teach them, don't get me wrong. I wouldn't want to teach anything else. But I am so tired of folks who want to fix everything for them. Let's have a special program, let's be sure to have a translator, let's do this and that to impress the parents. Uhgggg! How about treating them like everyone else, not some sideshow. How about asking what they want before assuming what they need? How about asking what is being done before trying to take over or duplicating what is in place?

I must have had too much sugar or too little sleep or listened to someone complaining too long. Give me a break. If you are going to do something, whether I say 'yes' or 'no', then don't ask for my opinion. Just sayin'.

Another thing-people are coming to observe and decide if their money that paid for a workshop was well-spent.

OMG & HMJ

On the plus side-I am thinking about how to teach writing with K-2nd. More later on that.

Good Book-A Beginner's Guide to Acting English

Can't believe I didn't write anything in September. Guess I was too busy with birthday celebrations and school.

Anyway, I just finished a really good book written by Shappi Khorsandi. She was born in Iran and came to England as a preschooler with her family. The book is a wonderful window on the homelife of an immigrant. It is full of funny stories from Shappi's childhood. I loved her recollection of starting a fire behind the sofa in her living room. Her brother was the instigator and it was really funny to read about their childish idea of wanting to play firefighter with real fire. I had a student who started a fire in his house but he didn't or wouldn't tell anyone why he did it.

There are some parts of the book that could be very helpful to teachers of ELLs everywhere. I am going to share one or two short parts with teachers in workshops. We forget that just because a child doesn't speak our language doesn't mean the child is not thinking and taking in how we treat them and the other students.
If you can find a copy of this book, it is worth reading.

History with kids

Last week I started meeting with my students. They started school the week before but I had to test new students and attend a workshop, so Wednesday was our first meeting of the year. I decided to read a couple of books about the national anthem since everyone is now singing it every morning. The first book was by Peter Spier and was an illustration of the words of all four verses of the song. That really interested the boys because of the "bombs bursting in air" parts. It was hard for them to wrap their minds around the idea of no cars, phones, cameras, etc. at the time the song was written. Another picture book told the story of how Francis Scott Key came to write the poem/song. I had forgotten the background and even why we were fighting the British. Again, the kids were interested and now, I hope, more motivated to sing every morning.

Once again, building background is so important for these students. Not only do they not know the national anthem, even though many were born in the US, but most of the adults at school assume that everyone has some familiarity with the song.

This leads me back to my rant about testing. It is so unfair to judge teachers, students, schools, and communities by one test score. There is no way to show what students know by this method. Now the mania is pushing down to kindergarten when the person in charge of instruction wants to know how many sight words a kindergarten student should be able to read by the end of the year. What? How about one-their name. Or a few-like McDonalds, Wendy's, Cheerios, stop.

An idea that some pencil pusher in some office in DC extrapolated from business-not education-has us going in exactly the wrong direction to keep our students learning and motivated to be the type of innovators we have had in this country in the past. Check out Susan Ohanian's website for more about our unfair testing system.

Finished The Help

Okay, I finished reading The Help. For the most part I really enjoyed it. The story idea was interesting and kept my attention. The details drove me nuts. I have heard that other Jacksonians of my age also had problems with the details. If a writer is writing fiction, I understand that characters are made up and if the settings is made up, that's fine with me. But if a writer writes about a real place, he/she should get some basic info correct. There should have been someone reading it from this area who was also familiar with the time period. I don't think the author was alive in 1960. She should have checked with people who were. The end notes said she asked her father for info about Jackson at the time. Apparently he wasn't paying attention. Oh, well. It was a good book except for that.
First day of school tomorrow. After three days of meetings and talk about testing, testing, testing, I'm not sure anyone will really feel like teaching. I have a little encourager to share. I'm a little hesitant to share but feel some of my coworkers really need a boost of something positive. I heard one teacher has applied for a job in another field because she is so unhappy. I know I'm not in charge of her happiness but I feel like I should do something to encourage her. She is a good teacher. Teaching is hard enough without sitting and listening to rants about test scores. Help me, Jesus.

Reading Council Pump Up

This past weekend I attended a workshop for reading council leaders in Dallas. It was filled with reading teachers, professors, and other reading professionals. Everyone was to bring a book to share/trade with someone. I took a lot of time deciding which book to take to share and then when time came to trade I was too shy to share it. What's wrong with me? I couldn't go up to a complete stranger and start a conversation. The directions were to choose someone from a different part of the country to share. I thought we would be paired up or grouped up by the leaders. I remember an activity my psychology professor had the class do when I was at U of GA. He turned off the lights and we were to go around the room silently greeting others-shaking hands, etc. I stood in the corner until the lights were turned back on. The book sharing activity was like that. I just couldn't go up to someone and start talking. That seems so strange to me because I have no trouble talking before groups of people when I do presentations. Weird?

The workshop was very helpful and I have lots of ideas for improving the state reading council. But my job is not starting new local councils, I'm the treasurer. I hate being the treasurer but I don't want to give up the job either. When I think about the whole organization, national, state, and local, I find that I most enjoy the time in my local council. I look forward to sharing with other teachers in my area. The state group seems like a bunch of people who are either pushing their own agenda or just too busy to do much. I don't want to be part of the downfall of this group. I joined because of one outgoing person. I wanted to be her friend and part of the vision she had for Mississippi. Now she has retired and moved away. No one has come along to take her place as a charismatic leader. I know it won't be me but we need someone to inspire us soon.