Inspiration, Sharing, and Prioritizing Through the Noise

As we creep closer and closer to the school year starting, I start to see patterns in my social media feeds. More and more teacher wishlists for books and basic needs pop into my feed. I am tremendously grateful for all the people who donated and shared my new book initiative, but these also make me sad, that schools don't fund these materials, or trust their teachers to give them the money for these initiatives.

The other thing I start to see are comments about Instagram and Pinterest teachers. Google Instagram teachers, and you certainly get an eyeful. The biggest complaint I see is a focus on a pretty, color-coordinated classroom that in no way focuses on the needs of the students in it. I think it's part and parcel of the compliance structure that invades schools in the U.S. Sit in rows, sit in groups, put everything in order. Sit with bell, dismiss with bell. These mechanisms, which are 150 years old by the way, treat all students as the same, and expect them all to act the same.

If teachers spend their week before school prep making sure their blue globe bulletin board has the perfect border and cut outs, but spends no time prepping how to make their students global citizens, that's an issue.

Pinterest and sites like Teachers Pay Teachers  are a bit different in their use I think. I think people tend to go to these sites because they search for something, and these come up in the search results. Maybe you're looking for a new science project, or organizer, something that is an improvement on what you use now. And I'm all for creativity and improving. I love seeing how other teachers set up spaces and use them, they give me ideas. But I admit, I struggle with the idea of Teachers Pay Teachers. On one hand, the work we create is valuable. We spend hours and hours designing assignments, projects, and that is not time we are compensated for. In most cases, it's not even acknowledged. And I get that. I get too the complication that many teachers are working 2-3 jobs because their salaries just don't cut it. But on the other hand, my focus is always going to be on the community, the collective, not on the advancement of one, but the improvement of all. I share everything I do/use/create, it's one of the reasons I love Google Docs so much. A teacher wants to see an AP reading list, here's my yearly calendar with hyperlinks. You want to see what guidelines I give for reading? Here. In fact- here is my entire high school teaching Google Folder.   Use it. Don't use it. Be inspired. Remix something. I don't care. Because I don't get being proprietary about teaching. If I have a great lesson or idea, and you need help, why don't I help? I would rather be the person that shares, contributes, and gives.

I posted earlier this month about tips and tricks for starting the year, but I thought in light of the conversations about inspiration, the internet, and different perspectives, I'd share some things that shift the conversation a bit.
You can't do everything, and as a new, or junior teacher, I think the visual expectations of what a classroom should look like can feel like easy marks to hit, things you can control and measure. In my 17 years of teaching experience, the following are the most bang for your buck.

• I'm a big fan of routines and pattern recognition in my classroom. We follow the same schedule every day, we do certain things a certain way, all the time. I do this for a few reasons. One, the stability in my classroom is important to the class culture I want. You know what to expect in my classroom, not that we're boring though, but the fact that there is a touchstone is important for me to offer for my students. I also think the routines help students. But you have to be clear about what you expect, how class runs, and you have to dedicate time to establishing them, and involve your students.
• My students sit in groups, and I ask them to leave one desk empty, so it's easy for me to join conversations.
• Each group has a bin with markers, highlighters, a stapler, Post-Its, a stress ball, toys, Play-Doh, glue sticks. They have everything they need right at their seats.
• I started using station rotations last year, and again, it's a routine you have to set up, but once you do, it's great!
• I am a big fan of color coding. Personally, and I tell the students this, I like to be explicit in why I do things, it makes my life easier if I can tell just by looking at it what class a thing is for. So my AP Language class is pink, freshmen are purple, Read 180 is orange. The documents I give them the first week or so are printed on colored paper. Their Google Classrooms and other resources have icons/colors that differentiate them, so it's easy just to look and see what class they're working on. I also share other ways I color code and organize, but I always offer them as ways that might work, a model, they are free to do whatever works for them.
• I inherited my classroom library, and I'm making big changes this year, so one thing I'll do next week is color code using Avery labels, all the books by genres- real broad- Native/Local, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Lit Circles. I'll make a sign that explains the color coding, and organize the shelves. In years past, the upkeep with the shelves was a mess, so I'm hoping this helps students "see" types of things they want to read AND helps with organization. I've also put stickers for trigger warnings on books.
• The other day on Twitter people were talking about whether or not teachers required notebooks, and man, the people that jumped in and stated unequivocally that anyone who required a notebook was a monster who failed kids and killed creativity. For years, I used interactive notebooks because I taught mostly freshmen. I found the routine, the model, helped students learn how they could organize and take notes, while also having a lot of leeway. Interactive notebooks are pretty easy to start with, you can start simply- open a notebook, the two page spread represents one day. The right (roughly) represents the class notes, the material given to the students, and the left represents the work they do with that info. So maybe the right is a whole class close reading exercise, and then the left is a response paragraph on that reading. I did a lot of copying and pasting, "arts and crafts" with mine, different ways to interact with the material. I've blogged about how my students started copying more than they were creating though, so last year I transitioned these notebooks in Daybooks, where the students have more control. I still keep a model notebook they can reference, and I show them specific pages (doing the work with them). It seemed to address a lot of what I wanted, and this year I want to build on this. Since these books represent most of what we do in class every day, it's 25% of their grade. I grade them once a week, and the student chooses the page they want me to grade, what they think represents their best work. I grade it by completeness/participation mostly, check, check plus, check minus. 60 if there's nothing. 
• I set aside a whole day the first week to walk them through the work I want their notebooks to do, and decorating them. I provide washi tape, stickers, different colored Sharpies, markers, highlighers, you name it. They make them their own. 
• I write my lessons/model in each notebook for each class, I have a separate one for each, and it's always up front, and they can borrow it to see what they missed.
• Be organized. Seems simple right? It's not. Being organized, having a system, for doing things is key to your survival and sanity. It will also free up a lot of time.
•  Pick a planner. Make your own like a bullet journal, or get one from Staples. I am not a fan of most teacher-oriented planners, because like Teacher Instagram, I think they focus on the wrong thing. For years, I swore by Jim Burke's Teacher Daybook. I got one every year, and loved how it provided a format for thinking about my teaching. They do not make them anymore (although seriously, he should crowdfund to make them again) but most of the resources are available from the link above. I still use a lot of those documents. This year, because of what I'm focusing on in my classroom, I've ordered Planning to Change the World. I heard about it late, so I don't have it yet, and I really want to play, but based on the materials I can access, I'm really excited to use it.
• I put all my meetings in it at the beginning of the year. I color code lesson planning with different colored pens. I'm an Understanding by Design gal, so I start with the end of the marking period and work backwards. As much as I love tech, and do all my work in Google Docs, I need the paper copy.
• I also keep an anecdotal log, where I take notes on phone calls, meetings, etc. 
• I use a Google Spreadsheet (populated by student info) to track parent contact each week. I call 5-10 parents a week. The first week of class I call every parent.
• My school phone doesn't allow long distance, so I use Google Voice, which I also use to text parents, which can be easy, and many prefer. It's also the number my students have for contacting me.
• I also use the Remind app.
• Make a routine or system for parent contact. In addition to the calls above, which I alternate with student interventions and students doing well, I send home a weekly email to all classes. I tell them what we're doing that week in class, any upcoming deadlines, school activities, etc. This takes five minutes and has tons of benefits.
• I keep a 3' x 4' whiteboard calendar in my classroom. I put what each class is doing, every day, on it. Students can always see it. They also have access to the Google Doc calendar, which is our entire year, same information. I print out each marking period for them (on the colored paper). Last year, many students named this as one of the most helpful things. It helps them see the class, and I talk a lot about upcoming deadlines, how to plan work, and time manage.
• Create a system for grading, handing back work, letting students know about grades. I have an inbox on my desk, although a lot of their work is emailed to me. I aim to empty both each day, and most of the time I do. I grade, give feedback, and write the grade in a paper gradebook. I mark whether things are on time or late (I circle the grade), not because I penalize for this, but it helps me see work patterns. Once I put the grade in our online system, I highlight the assignment. Graded work goes in organizer for that period, and students or I hand it back. I am a firm believer that work needs to be turned around quickly. 
• I always get pushback on this. I have been told REPEATEDLY over the years that the only reason I get things done/can do so much is because I'm single and don't have a husband or kids. First, this is crap. Second, I am able to do the things I think are important because I make time for them. I have systems and routines that allow me to have the time.
• Here's the thing- if it's important, then it's important. That's all there is to it. I do a lot of conferencing, looking at drafts, so a lot of this is easier, but too, I've found that part of the reason I can deal with this during the school day is BECAUSE of the systems I have set up for things, so I'm not wasting time on nonsense or administrative stuff. If you think feedback and improvement is important to student  growth, you need to show them that.

• Set limits. It is easy to watch your time get nibbled away by volunteering for things, and giving your time away. I am a big fan of contributing to your school community and being involved, but you can't do everything, so it's important to prioritize and set limits. For example, on Wednesday and Fridays, during lunch, I walk the track. It helps me center myself. So I am very clear to students that I am in my room during lunch for help, or to use the computers, or just to hang out, on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. But I also have a sign on my door that they're welcome to join me on the track. 
•  This applies to clubs, and extra work admin asks for. This year, because I have my book to finish, and I'm frankly tired from finishing the dissertation and teaching full time, I pulled out of just about everything I was on/involved with the last two years. I want to focus on my classroom.So I'm only doing three things- volunteering with our Bilingual seal program as a mentor,  working as part of our freshman academy, and running a Job Mentor Program that gives credit/job experience/support to struggling students. I will continue to run Saturday school, because I started that program, it is our most successful intervention, and I believe in it. Nothing else. And I quit the other stuff I was doing in large part because I did not feel like my work was valued, and so the time commitment also because an emotional drain and made me feel bad. I will continue to give up my prep to sub for other teachers as needed, because our students do better when it's a staff member covering a class. But those are my priorities, and I've going to be very stingy with my time. I'm not getting sucked in, which is easy for me because all you have to do usually is tell me it's for the kids, and if I don't do it it won't get done.
• If you don't learn to set limits, you will find that you do not have the time for what is important to you in your classroom.
•  I do not have bulletin boards in my room. So I had to buy my own corkboard strip for displaying work. I then dedicate wall space to make displays for each class. I lay out the marking period- the assignments, the readings, art, images, etc. That way it's a continuous reference in class I can refer to and students can use, for what we're doing. I also like the visual representation of the big picture.
• I'm thinking this year of trying to do a digital version? in Google Classroom somehow but I don't know.

For me, those are the big things, the things that both set my class culture AND enable me to do the work I want to be doing in my classroom.

What I did on my summer vacation

Teachers are often on different schedules than other people, treating end of year and before school reflections like others treat New Year's resolutions. We often spend the last days of school, or those first days of summer vacation making notes while they are fresh in our minds, corrections, things to aim for next year. I try to keep a "bug" list all year, so I don't have to try and remember that horrible disaster of a lesson from August in May. I also rough-sketch plan the upcoming year at the end of school using these notes. This way, there is no rush right before school to write the syllabus or calendar. It also allows me to ask students when they're right in front of me, what they wished the calendar or syllabus said or did, what they liked, and what was missing that they wanted. Then all summer, as I find a cool thing, I add it to my hyperlinked calendars (English 9, AP Language).

This summer, I had a lot of personal professional development I wanted to do. For me, this always starts with reading. The top four I'm in the middle of. The rest I read this summer. Some were more helpful than others. I'm not a big fan of educators who monetize their work for platitudes without any real plans or help, so those weren't super helpful. Neither was one that wrote only representing super privileged schools, with no explanation of how others could transfer.

In May, I was thinking about reading Lord of the Flies with my freshmen, focusing on the aspects of bullying and privilege. The #DisruptTexts focus seemed like it would really work with my students.
Then, as news evolved, I decided to change the novel to Farewell to Manzanar. I was looking for something students would engage in and that I could make real world connections to.

Then I read A Novel Approach which really helped me solidify wholesale changes I wanted to make to my classroom this year.

This summer I got to know  ProjectLit and was inspired by their work.

I decided to use these books as a stepping off point. Rather than a book club, I would use these books, in sets of 4-5, as literature circles in my English 9 classroom. The students would choose from these texts and Speak (which I already have copies of). They will read their books in groups, discussing them.
At first, I just thought I'd do this in place of our novel unit. But then I got to thinking. I wanted my students to be engaged. I wanted them to read. I wanted them to be able to transfer skills. Last year, I started every class with students reading in their independent reading books. Anything they wanted, no judgement, just 20 minutes at the start every day, reading, with me reading along with them. No work, no project, just read. I was really happy with the results. My students were totally laser focused, and really liked it. But the stuff we read as a class was really hit or miss with engagement. And I kept noticing that there was no transfer of skills from marking period to marking period, I was having to reteach things all over again.

So, instead of waiting until 3rd marking period to do these literature circles with the students, I decided to start our 1st marking period like this, bump the non-fiction unit I usually start with. This marking period will focus on youth culture and personal narratives. Students will read these books, of their choosing, and I will use a mentor text to teach skills, that they will then apply to their own books. I really wanted to use Rebecca Roanhorse's Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™.
Levar Burton read it for his podcast, she's a Native author, and I thought it'd be cool for my students, to set the tone. I really love it, but I know the language would give me trouble with freshmen, so I'm casting around for something else. I want something relatively short to start, something accessible for all my students, that will make a good mentor text.

The first hurdle I faced though, with this idea, was getting the books. I made am Amazon Wishlist, and shared it on social media, explaining my rationale, and what I wanted to do in my classroom- have my students, 85% Chican@ and 5-10% Native, read texts they were represented in and could relate to.
I was overwhelmed by the response. People I did not know donating books. I bought a couple of class sets using First Book, another great resource.


As the summer progressed, and I started to thing through how I wanted to make this shift, I started to think of other things. I figured after 1st marking period, these books would then be up for grabs for students to read as independent reading books when we moved onto non-fiction, fiction short stories, fiction novel, drama, poetry. And I like that idea. But too, if I follow the research to its logical conclusion, in addition to this, I need to apply the same thing to our fiction novel unit. So students will again choose from these groups of books, read in groups, and I'll use a mentor text to teach skills.

I'm not sure what mentor text to use. The standard in my school is To Kill a Mockingbird. But since Go Set a Watchman came out, I've had serious misgivings about teaching this book. The #DisruptTexts has softened my view somewhat, but I'm still not sure.

I did drag out my copy and pulled all my old Post-It flags out of it. I relooked at it through the lens of using it as a mentor text, examples of setting, characterization, focusing on how Tom is the invisible man through the entire novel, themes, symbolism.

I'm still not sure. It's not a book I could teach without interrogating it. I don't think I want to submit my black students to the language. I wonder if I could teach the excerpt for these mini-lessons, and not the whole book, still problematizing it, disrupting it, but...I don't know.

I am not concerned about mentor texts for the non-fiction, short story, drama, or poetry units but I'm going to have to think more for the novel one.

I plan on disrupting my drama unit in a couple of ways. The first is to center our background on what New Mexico and Albuquerque was like in the early modern period.

We will watch Romeo and Juliet, the Baz Luhrmann version. I have a background in theatre, so I teach it very differently. First, too often we teach Shakespeare, and other plays, with no consideration of the genre. Plays are meant to be SEEN. So we'll do the background, then we'll spend a week watching it. Then we do close readings and choral performances of the Act I prologue, how it functions. Then we'll close read and analyze the balcony scene, comparing several different versions. Next, we work on 3:1, the scene where Juliet lists and imagines her fears, and we illustrate them. Then the final monologue. We talk about bigger themes, and ideas. 

In addition to reading for my PD, and reading through the Project Lit list, I've also been reading others, and these are some of my favs. I don't have lit circle sets for all these, but they'll go on the shelf for independent reading. I've also written short reviews in them, which I will encourage my students to do too this year.

Students will also personalize bookmarks- I made a bunch, printed them on colored cardstock and they'll put names on back/blank, and any notes they want.

I also bought a bunch of colorful magnets that can go on the whiteboard of literary elements that I can use teaching mini-lessons, for learning targets, and helping students identify them in texts.

For a decade, I've used Interactive Notebooks with my students. I taught mostly freshman, in AVID schools, and it did a lot of what I wanted- set good models, had an easy to follow template, and was interactive. Grouchy students complain my English classes are so arts and crafty.
Last year, I discovered Daybooks, and shifted my classes to this, and it addressed a lot of the issues I was having with my class- students not always engaged, copying my notes rather than doing the work.
So part of my prep for the upcoming school year is prepping my own Daybooks and notebooks. I used Don Murray's Daybook idea, but also Lynda Barry's Syllabus which is a continuous joy and goal.
This year, I want to build on my success from last semester, and focus more on doing the work with my students, and conferencing about reading.

If you know me, you know I have a massively impressive t-shirt collection, and like to wear my activism. I've decided to report back to work 6 August for our week of PD signalling where I stand. A lot of the conversations I've listened and learned from this summer on Twitter, especially from the #EDUColor community has pointed out how much more I should be doing. I need to stand up for my colleagues who are women, and women and men of color, I need to use my privilege for good, and I need to stand up for my students.
It may seem silly, but for me, wearing these, and signalling to my department and school is a good start. And maybe, just maybe, it sparks questions and conversations.

Next week is the last week of summer vacation, although it is also now chock full of appointments, things to get done before returning to work, so it'll be a busy week. It's always this time of summer that I start to get really excited and eager to get into my classroom, rearrange the space, make copies, set the tone, email parents...start WORKING. 

• I am excited about my students seeing themselves in the books we read, although there's room to grow there. So, one of the things I've realized, teaching high school here the last few years, and especially with my new move to use more representative books, is that there are few books for Chican@/Natives that reflect my students New Mexican experiences. Hispanic and Latinx texts are situated in NYC or LA, and that is not my students' experience. I asked Twitter/NCTE for suggestions. I said I knew Jimmy Santiago Baca and Rudy Anaya because they were local. I got recommendations for Sherman Alexie, which I explained I won't teach because he's an abuser. So, if you know of any texts that my NM students could relate to, I appreciate the recommendations!
• I am excited about refocusing my class around reading conferences and writing workshops, diving deeper on things, and doing more with less. 
• I am excited about the idea of using mentor texts.

I still have more PD books to read. I'd like to focus on one a month. But I also want to stay focused on the above things, and really focus on them and not get overwhelmed, and the above are already really big changes.
I am a little concerned about pushback on the topics some of these books cover, especially I think, The Hate U Give, All-American Boys, and Ghost Boys.  I feel like I can justify it and back it up, but I also know that doesn't always mean anything. So I've prepped a document to defend representative texts.

So that's been my high school teaching summer. But that's not been all my summer months have focused on. In addition to all of this, I spent the summer tackling revising my dissertation into a book. I did not put in for summer school or do anything else, because I wanted all my time to do this. I also, despite loving my classroom and students, really prefer to be alone, so my summer hermitage helps me recharge for the year.
I tackled the pamphlet chapter first, it was the "new" chapter that didn't exist in the diss, although the idea was in the original diss. I am glad I did it first, as it was a lot of mental wrangling- figuring out the one thing I wanted the chapter to say, but also envisioning what the book looked like.
I then moved onto chapter 1, the first revised/reorganized chapter using material from the diss. This was hard in similar ways to the pamphlet chapter, as things I thought I would argue didn't work with the texts. But again, I'm really happy with where it ended up.
Next, I moved onto chapter 2, and this went easier, because of the previous work. I have reorganized it, and a couple of weeks ahead of my schedule, am ready to start reading through and revising/rewriting. 

I am really glad I focused on this all summer, because I needed the dedicated time to work through things, set it aside and let things percolate, and just DO the work.

I have budgeted one month per chapter, like I did this summer, for the remaining two chapters, and the intro/conclusion. That should then leave me a month to go through the whole thing, and make throughline revisions before the January deadline. Having done the heavy lifting this summer, I feel good about where I am and meeting this deadline. It will be a bit tricky once I go back to work, but except for teaching Saturday school, I've pulled out of all other responsibilities so I can focus on this, and frankly, I've done more work with less time, so I feel good.

I have also prepped my job market materials for the higher ed job season starting in September, but frankly, I'm not confident. I did decide I only wanted to apply to SLACs and community colleges, because this last year I realized I really wanted to be somewhere I could focus on my teaching. I'm not getting any help, which I'm not surprised by, but it also means I'm not super enthused about what this does for my chances.

Part of this summer (and finally being on medication for my anxiety, which has devastated me the last few years), has been making peace with where I am. I hope this means that going back to school, starting the year, and being happy, is easier.

Anyway, that was what I did on my summer vacation.

I'm not sure where the last two months went exactly, but I'm excited about the upcoming year!

Postscript:

I've also ordered Teaching for Black Lives and Rethinking Schools' Planning to Change the World Planner to help me stay focused this year, and try and make my minority black students, in a mostly Chican@ school, feel seen.

Back to School Tips and Ideas

I go back to work in 13 days.
My students start school in 20 days.

It is this time that my excitement goes into overdrive.

I've spent the summer reading PD books to inform new things to try, slowly but steadily buying supplies, books, a printer for my room. I spent $250 on Prime Day of supplies. But as I posted on Twitter, I'll spend more these next few weeks as my excitement outweighs my concern over credit card debt.
I'll buy a whiteboard so students can write book recommendations.
I'll stop at the Dollar Store and buy new stress balls and toys and Play-Doh that will go in group bins for students to use during class. I love watching students faces those first days, as they sit in groups, and see the bin at the center of each full of crayons, markers, colored Post-Its, toys, stickers. To me, this sets the tone of what my class will be.
Pens. Markers and highlighters if I need to replace the bunch from last year. Paper.  A teacher who left last year, left me their Clorox wipes and tissues, so I'm set for a while.
But I'll also buy granola bars to keep in my desk, because no one goes hungry in my room.

I know we spend a lot of our own money. And we shouldn't have to. But please, I ask you to consider, DO NOT ask your families for things. Some may not be able to afford it. It will call out students, shame them the first day. It's an awful precedent to set. During holidays, I will tell my parents that if they want to give to the classroom, we need X, Y, Z in lieu of gifts. I tell my AP students what books we'll read, and provide links to used copies on Amazon in case they want to purchase cheap so they can write in them. But I always provide the books, the materials. Students should not begin the year feeling less than in your classroom.

I am ridiculously excited about getting in my room, and rearranging it, to reflect new things I'll do this year.

So, I thought I'd share just some of the things I do to make those first couple of weeks really work for me and set a good tone with my students:

• Color code your handouts/materials by class the first couple of weeks. Students will get A LOT of paper during this time, and it will help them if they can tell just by looking at something what class it is for.
• Make the first day about getting to know your students and starting the type of work that you'll do in class all year. Don't read the syllabus or rules. I like to break the syllabus up into chunks, over those first weeks, reviewing them as we need it, so it's in context.
• My classes are going to view and respond to "The Dangers of a Single Story."
• This tells them that our class will be different from others. That our class will challenge what they know. We spend a lot of time that first week on representation, and where they are in our class. 
• I like to use this clip about representation from Riz Ahmed
• In the past, I've also used "I Can't Read"
• The first week I ask my students to fill out a form so I know what pronouns they use, contact info (school information is rarely accurate), and where they are with tech. The Google Form exports to an Excel sheet which I use to track parent contact all year.
• Call every single one of your parents the first couple of weeks. I generally have 150 students. I try to knock out half a class a day that first week. I just introduce myself, tell them I wanted to say hi, let them know if they needed anything to let me know, and tell them about weekly class emails and Remind app. I want my parents to be informed, feel comfortable with contacting me, and it lays great groundwork for the year.
• Schedule a day to walk your students through whatever tech you'll use. I spend a day setting up gmail, Google Docs, Google Classroom, our Remind app. If you expect students to use something, you have to teach them how to do it/introduce them to it. I then use it regularly in class those first couple of weeks so they get used to using it/accessing it.
• Even if you don't use a lot of tech, if nothing else, think about setting up a class webpage that offers basic information for parents/students. This helps with accessibility.
• Work time in those first few weeks for students to talk to you. Use exit slips about how they're doing. Give them your email or Google Voice number. Set a culture where asking for help is part of your class culture from the get go.
• One of the biggest changes I've made in the last few years, after over 17 years of teaching, was to stop policing behavior, and telling students I don't want to police behavior. Those first days we'll write class rules- they write things they think are important for class to run on Post-Its, that we put on giant Post-It in class. I start, with "Be Kind." That for me is the most important thing. I phrase our guidelines as things that make us feel good in class, able to work, and not as "rules" per se. Since I've started doing this, I have less issues, and a better class environment.
• No matter what content or grade you teach, think about shifting your classroom to focusing on the students. I know student centered is a big buzzword. But consider this graphic:

• This means students choose. It means you work with them, listen to them. I like to do this by letting them sit anywhere they want the first day in groups, but they have to leave one empty seat. This means that as I walk around class, there is always a space for me to sit down, listen, take notes, talk to them, clarify, do the work with them. It is a way to set a structure that creates a tone.
• This also means that it's easier to do station rotations, where the focus is one the students.
• Model what you want. Notebooks, writing, think aloud analysis. Don't assume students know something if you haven't taught it.
• I keep Daybooks for each class, modeled like the students keep. I do the same in Google Docs. My Google Slides for class and the Daybook outline what we do in class each day, and students can always access them. I take pictures of board notes and post them in Google Classroom.
• Doing the work with the students also means you can see where the disconnects and misunderstandings are.
• Consider how your environment affects your students. One of the things my students said they loved best last year was all the posters, information, giant Post-Its that were in our classroom- how colorful it was. Again, class layout is another way to have the structure of your class set the tone.

 Please feel free to share! And add to!
Have a great start to your year!

Defending Texts That Represent Our Students

When I was in elementary school, I frequently got in trouble for reading. Mom always read to me at night, and I read on my own as soon as I was able, reading ALL the time. In first grade I remember being yelled at by Ms. Kovac because I was reading "wrong," not sounding out words, but sight reading. It made me defiant and sassy in class. I got in trouble a lot. In fifth grade, my teacher had a bookcase in his room, full of books, that we could choose and read at will. No one monitoring. No yelling. I read the Oz books (once completing my reading for a book project due that day in class under my desk surreptitiously). I also read Orca, which should NOT have been in a fifth grade bookshelf.

Later in eighth grade, a brief stint at a private school, introduced me to lots of dreamy things- like community service as part of school, a place where learning was encouraged, you weren't labelled a geek and made fun of, guitar lessons, inter-mural sports that were fun, and where people didn't make fun of you if you didn't know how to play. I thought it was heaven. I only got a semester there, but it was a bright spot. This school was also where a kind librarian introduced me to The Handmaid's Tale and Confederacy of Dunces. Again, not sure I would have recommended to an eighth grader, but I thought they were magic.

As I grew up, I always had a book in hand, was always reading. But I always was made fun of for it, even in graduate school. I had a professor early in my grad school career tell me to do all the reading before class. So I did, and it became a habit. And my classmates hated me for it, making fun of me in seminars. I got made fun of when I read for pleasure and people saw me, because I'd done the school reading.

But it never stopped me. I am still a voracious reader, although the PhD altered my reading habits, and I'm still trying to re-adjust to pre-PhD habits and enjoyment.

I rarely saw myself in the books I read, although I enjoyed almost everything I read. There were no girl heroines in fantasy or sci-fi, the majority of what I loved. I was teaching high school before I read YA books by people like Tamora Pierce and Stephanie Meyers and adult texts like the Mary Russell books and Margaret Maron where I saw characters younger me (heck, older me) could have related to. L.M Montgomery, L.M. Alcott were exceptions in my reading loves, not the rule, and the historical distance meant they read as much fantasy to me as did the magic wielding female protagonists in the other books I read.

I am a straight, white, cis-woman, so I can't imagine how much worse this disconnected feeling is for my students. What it is like for the majority of them I to sit in English classes every year, being taught the Anglo canon by Anglo teachers, and never, ever encountering anyone who looks, and acts, and talks like them, other than a brief glimpse during Hispanic Heritage Month or Black History Month, or as a diversity box checked in a single short story being read, or a poem, or a single piece of art.

This is one reason why I try to focus on representation and not diversity. Too often, in seventeen years of teaching I've seen diversity used as a checklist- I taught a short story by Amy Tan or Maxine Kong, so I'm done- rather than a radical revising of the texts taught.

Last year I actively worked in my classes to decolonize my classroom, and to make explicit moves, that I explained to my students about making sure they were represented in my class. So this summer I have focused on building on that.

Throughout the years I have included independent reading, but it was often the thing that got cut first as we ran out of time, it was not a regular routine. This past year, every day we read for 15-20 minutes. The students could choose anything they wanted- books from my classroom library, articles or webpages on their phone, anything. They record the pages read each day, and respond in some way, but it's not graded. It is reading just for the sake of reading. I used to require projects, and assignments, but they had like a 30% completion rate, and never did what I wanted, which was to get students to read regularly and LOVE it. 

So this is how class starts, students come in, get their reading, and settle in. I take attendance, but right after, I sit up front and read my book. It's not time to police students, or grade, or anything else. I read right with them. I set my book on the whiteboard tray when finished, so people can see what I'm reading. I read three books this past year that started to nudge me towards building and expanding on these percolating ideas- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas, and the book that started me thinking this way, teaching untold stories, Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly.

This summer I actively looked for resources, people, and ideas that would help me build on these ideas. Twitter came through, introducing me to We Need Diverse Books, and Project Lit.

One thing I love about Project Lit is exposure to texts I might not know otherwise. Some I've read, others I am planning on reading. I used their recommended books as a start for what I wanted to give to my students.

What I decided to do was to identify books that I thought represented my students, and I created an Amazon wishlist that asked for five copies of each book, so that I could use them in literature circles with my students. I posted on Twitter and Facebook, and asked friends to give if they could, but share if they couldn't. And I was overwhelmed by the response. People I did  not know bought copies of books and sent them to me. I ended up with six class sets. I will probably have 30-35 kids in my English 9 class, so I'd need seven books. So I spent my own money buying four more sets. First Book was instrumental in me being able to do this.

I will say, that one thing I noticed is that these texts are engaging, and a HUGE improvement over what my students have been reading/told to read. BUT, my students are 85% Chican@ and roughly 10% Native. And there are few books that reflect these experiences. There are books that focus on Latinx in New York, or in LA, but those are very different experiences than my students have in New Mexico. So, I will continue to look for books that show those stories.

Here's how I plan on using these books.
English 9 has the essential question, "Who am I?" So I'm going to start first marking period with a unit that focuses on where my students are in my curriculum, their stories, their personal narratives, how they define youth culture, and what it means to them. As part of this, I'm going to combine the independent reading and class novel approach I usually use, because I want to ease them into class, and not require too much work at once. So the first week they will book shop from these literature circle sets. They will choose a book to read, and with only five copies, once they're gone, they're gone. Their groups will be based on the books. We will still start class with reading. I'm going to encourage them to read these books, but explain in the future they can choose. Then during our workshop time we will spend our time talking about these books, the big ideas, and working with these books.

Once we move into second marking period, these books are then available for them to read for independent reading if they want.

I'm hoping this will do a couple of things. The first is that my students will realize that they are at the center of our class. The second is that they will engage with the reading.

This is a whole new approach, so I'm just going to focus on those two things this year. But I plan on asking students during conferences how they feel, what they liked, and what I could improve. I also plan on continuing to model, working my way through all these books. I also plan on continuing something I started last year, where students can write recommendations for books they want me to buy. I didn't have a lot last year, but the students were shocked, and really touched when I DID buy them, so I want to build on that.

Some of  these books deal with issues that are going to be hard for some people. Not my students, because they deal with hard issues every day, but maybe adults. The Hate You Give and All-American Boys have garnered national attention because South Carolina police are challenging the view of police in these texts. Like many things these days, it's complicated, but it's also reality. The fact is, black and brown men and boys are more likely to be shot by police than white men and boys. The last few years the news and videos from phones have brought from the forefront the fact that white men and women can wave guns and knives and threaten police and live but black and brown men are shot dead. These are not debatable facts. These are issues. But they can be touchy ones. They can lead to hard conversations.  Add to this that many of my students have negative relationships with authority due to past trauma, and you have lots of emotional, traumatic feelings. And you have some people whose privilege has sheltered them from these experiences, so it is easy to turn "I have never experienced this" into "this doesn't happen."

I believe these are hard, necessary conversations. I think asking students to think through what they think are the greatest issues facing their generation is valuable. Teaching them not what to think but how to become informed and evaluate sources is valuable. It is vital for me that my students know that I see them, that their stories have value, and they are represented.

But I have been teaching for seventeen years, so I know things can be challenged. So I'm preparing. The students will choose their own texts, I won't assign, and if a parent prefers they read something different, they can change. I've also created a document, and Project Lit is pulling together some resources, that has some of the research, resources, and arguments for student choice in texts. Defending Representative Texts.

So that's how I'll start my year. I would love to hear how you guys are integrating representative texts into your classrooms. I also welcome additions to the above document, and suggestions.

Structures and the Classroom

This summer I've been thinking a lot about the structures that are in my classroom, the outside structures that impact my classroom, and the structures of my classroom.

This started with my plan to rearrange my classroom this fall to recenter on station rotations, and reading spaces, orienting my classroom space around students, who work in groups in my room, and building on this practice to center students more.

This got me thinking about dedicated library space for the independent reading, which built on me wanting to decolonize and disrupt the texts I taught and made available. I have been overwhelmed by the mostly complete strangers who have bought literature circle (5) copies of novels, mostly pulled from recommendations from Twitter, Project Lit and Diverse Texts.

This led me to think more about the structures of racism, colonialism, sexism, that impact my classroom, and how important it is to continue to acknowledge them, and teach against them.

A Twitter conversation yesterday got me thinking. It was about how new or inexperienced teachers might not feel comfortable teaching these non-canonical texts. Part of this is that it runs counter to how they've been taught to teach, which is a whole other issue, about how we teach and prep teachers. But I think a larger issue is that most teachers are taught that they have to be the expert in the room. They have to have all the answers, that there are only one answer to a question, and that these practices center the mostly white, expert teacher. Decolonizing and disrupting these texts means that you center the students. It means that the experiences you discuss, the analysis you do, does not center the teacher. It means the teacher will not be the expert. You're not going to have all the answers. You may not even know the questions.

There have been intersecting conversations about this on Twitter, and I've been paying attention to them all. Another was under the #HipHopEd hashtag and it was centered on music in the classroom, privileging your students' music in the classroom. That it required a similar release of control, centering on your students.

And in  addition to all this is the ruckus about renaming the Laura Ingalls Wilder award.  People, who I'm betting never even read the original series, are all fake outraged about what they argue is censorship. Like many issues, it's Anglos making the fuss, not listening to anyone else. First, the books are clearly racist. There's no debate about that. Teaching racist texts hurts students. There's no debate about that. Reexamining our history and exposing the racist roots of so much of our history is a good thing. And here's the thing, if someone from the represented group, disabled, LGBTQ, Black, Native, etc. tells you that something is offensive, and that X actions should be taken, you listen to them. You don't argue. You don't present the long list of reasons why you think they're wrong. You take in the knowledge, acknowledge you were wrong, and adjust your practice accordingly.

All of these conversations are vital to me being able to best serve my students. I have learned form all of them this summer, and I am sure in the next month before I go back to school, I will add more conversations, knowledge, and acknowledgements, that I can incorporate into my classroom.

But it's also important to note that there are lots of teachers who will not.
There is little to no incentive for teachers to pursue this professional development on their own. Maybe they don't use tech, so don't see these conversations. Maybe they are insecure in their knowledge. Many teachers continue to teach the canon, teach the same assignments, books, worksheets, because they lack the content knowledge to do otherwise. Many teachers are not comfortable in a position where they are not in control. Many teachers don't know where to start in decolonizing and disrupting their classrooms. Many teachers don't even know this is a thing.

These are larger issues, concerning issues.

Maybe you're the only teacher in your department, or school, who is making these changes.
And that can be scary. But one of the things that is great about these growing online networks of help and resources is that there are people out there who will share resources, supports, strategies.
If you're the only one tackling all of this, I encourage you to use these resources, share what you're doing.
I know it can be discouraging if you're the only one making these shifts. It can seem lonely. But I think that even single teachers can be models. It can be hard to counter the cognitive dissonance, or school culture. But I will have 150 students this year. That's 150 students who will benefit from these approaches. And maybe you can get others to buy in. Maybe not.

Regardless of the support, or lack thereof, I encourage everyone to think about the structures of your classroom, the structures that impact your classroom, and seriously reflect about why you do the things you do.

As always, think about- what is the pedagogical reason why I do X?