ENGLISH The professional journal of the California Association of Teachers of English Volume 15, No. 5 вЂ“ June 2010 вЂ“ LETTERS TO A YOUNG TEACHER In This Issue 6 Letter to a Young Teacher: Go Forth and Teach by Erika Daniels 7 Letter to a Young Teacher 9 Teacher, Teacher, I Declare Please Take Help from Anywhere i n r fo i l Ca ENGLISH by Adrianna Gervais by Maria Shreve 10 Letter to a Young Teacher 12 I Hope (My Wishes for You) 12 Because I Am a Teacher 14 Welcome to the Profess... 18 Mrs. Reyes at Delta Sierra Middle School A poem by Maria Sanchez 19 Accelerated Reader: A Disincentive to Life-Long Readers by Derek Boucher 20 Reading Langston Hughes 24 A Tale of Three Students: Meditations on My Craft in Dark Days by James Prothero 26 Teaching the Universe of Discourse by Thomas Roddy A poem by Laurie Stowell a June 2010 Volume 15 вЂў Number 5 Features and Columns PresidentвЂ™s Perspective вЂ“ 4 by Jane Hancock EditorвЂ™s Column вЂ“ 5 Call for MSS вЂ“ 5 вЂў California Young Reader Medal вЂ“ 8 вЂў CATE Professional Writing Contest вЂ“ 13 by Bill Younglove by Jennifer McCormick Asilomar 59 вЂ“ 18 Research Update: Navigating the Waters вЂ“ 28 вЂў CATE 2011 вЂ“ 31 Directory of Advertisers Asilomar 59 18 Book Jam 32 CATE Conference 2011 31 Inside Shakespeare 15 NCTE by Chuck Dowdle Scholastic 7, 19 2 The Artist of this Issue: Ambrose Delfino Artist Ambrose Delfino began potting just prior to retirement. His work is primarily done on the wheel and he enjoys raku and primitive fire techniques. He is inspired by nature and is making more large pieces that he can work into his garden. (In this connection, see the garden reproduced on page 30.) CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH BOARD OF DIRECTORS President вЂ“ Charleen Delfino (2012) Past President вЂ“ Robert Chapman (2012) Vice-President вЂ“ Liz McAninch (2012) Secretary вЂ“ Carrie Danielson (2011) Treasurer вЂ“ Anne Fristrom, (2012) Council Representatives Capitol: Angus Dunstan вЂў Central: Susan Dillon Fresno (FACET): Shannon Taylor вЂў Kern: Kim Flachmann Redwood: Anne Sahlberg вЂў San Diego: Lisa Ledri Southland: Nancy Himel вЂў Tulare: Carol Surabian вЂў Upper: Shelly Medford Members-at-Large Denise Mikkonen (Elementary, 2012) Karen Brown (Middle, 2011) Jim Kliegl (Secondary, 2012) Cheryl Hogue Smith (College, 2011) Jill Hamilton-Bunch (Small, 2012) Richard Hockensmith (Unspecified, 2012) Ron Lauderback (Unspecified, 2012) Chairpersons Membership Chair вЂ“ Joan Williams (2011) Resolutions Chair вЂ“ Kathleen Cecil (2010) PolicyвЂ“Angus Dunstan (2010) Conventions Convention Coordinator : Punky Fristrom Registrar: Edwin Hase вЂў Exhibit Manager: Tammy Harvey CATE 2011 Convention Chair: Michelle Berry CATE 2012 Convention Chair: Kim Flachmann Communications and Liaison CATENet Moderator: Jake Stanford CATEWebmaster: Cindy Conlin вЂў CTA Liaison: Debra Martinez CCCC Liaison: Bill Younglove вЂў CYRM Liaisons: Joanne Mitchell вЂў CWP Liaison: Jayne Marlink CALIFORNIA ENGLISH Editor: Design: Printing: Carol Jago GoalCoast Publications, (310) 663.9905 Sundance Press, Tucson, (800) 528.4827 STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION. CALIFORNIA ENGLISH (ISSN # 0279-1161) is published five times each year in the months of September, November, February, April and June by the California Association of Teachers of English (CATE), P.O. Box 23833, San Diego, CA 92193-3833. Annual CATE dues of $40 include $35 for a oneyear subscription. Known office of publication is 3714 Dixon Place, San Diego, CA 92107-3739. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Diego, CA. The Editor is Carol Jago, 16040 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. POSTMASTER Send address changes to California English, P.O. Box 23833, San Diego, CA 92193-3833. ADVERTISING ADVERTISING/EXHIBIT RATES AND INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM JEFF WILSON , 19 RICHARDSON ROAD NOVATO, CA 94949. PHONE: 415.883.3301; FAX: 415-593-7606; E-MAIL: [email protected] P residentвЂ™s erspective began teachingвЂ”22 years old, naГЇve and optimistic. I worked hard to help my students succeed. And yet when they did succeed, I was never sure that I could replicate their success because I didnвЂ™t really know what worked or Charleen Delfino why. They wrote often and I corrected. I conferenced with them, or wrote long responses to them; however, I remember saying to them after we had discussed an assignment briefly, вЂњI donвЂ™t want you to touch a pencil; I donвЂ™t want you to write a word. I want you to think first.вЂќ I didnвЂ™t realize then that writing was the best way for students to think and to generate new ideas. I took a hiatus from teaching for several years to be a stay-at-home mom and returned with new energy, enthusiasm and optimism. My love of literature had to be infectious, and if I had my students write enough and if I corrected enough, certainly they would improve, I naively thought. We shared literature, they wrote, and I corrected. And they did improve, but the results were not what I expected. Students made the same mistakes repeatedly. I learned and relearned more grammar than I ever imagined possible, and yet their writing didnвЂ™t improve significantly. Or when it did, I wasnвЂ™t sure why. I worked all the time, and yet I always felt guilty; if I wasnвЂ™t correcting papers, I felt that I should be. I felt frustrated and isolated. Although I had many friends, we didnвЂ™t discuss the issues of teaching. We didnвЂ™t share our good or disastrous lessons. Hearing about the Bay Area Writing Project programs, I applied to the Summer Institute. After an amazing interview with Jim Gray, I was accepted. I had no idea that my professional life was about to change dramatically. We formed a group where all teachers were recognized and included. Each morning two teachers gave a demonstration that validated our expertise, and in the afternoon we worked on and shared our writing. Often we analyzed and discussed the pedagogy of writing. Previously, reading research and personal writing were luxuries that I thought I couldnвЂ™t afford. The participants in the institute became colleagues I вЂ” teachers sharing common goals and concerns. It was validating to know that other teachers, good teachers, shared my frustrations and my accomplishments. We combined our strengths and strengthened our weaknesses. We became a true learning community. I realized that we no longer looked only to the outside expert; rather, we were all experts trusting our experiences and our ability to learn from each other. I returned to school with confidence and a new sense of professionalism. I shared my successes and failures with my colleagues. I discovered that many were eager for these conversations. In my classroom I worked to model much of what happened during the summer institute. It wasnвЂ™t magic; we worked and had to be persistent. We had to be willing to risk, adjust and adapt. When I saw improvement, I knew better how to replicate it. I wrote and shared my writing with my students. Our class became a learning community. After the summer institute, I was asked to share demonstrations with teachers at other schools. A new writing project site was to be started at San Jose State University; Jonathon Lovell and I teamed up to become the directors. The Writing Project Directors meet yearly at the NCTE Convention. I soon learned of the many opportunities afforded me from this new experience. In addition to my work at the writing project, I became involved in the work of NCTE. I also became active in CATE. I learned that teachers working together can accomplish more than I could accomplish working in isolation. Certainly, we donвЂ™t all agree about how to solve the problems that exist; however, a forum exists for teachers to work together to help find solutions to the issues and concerns that face us. The teacher organizations, through their journals and publications, through their staff development programs, conventions and conferences became a resource for me and for many of the new and experienced teachers with whom I worked. Today, I am a very different teacher. I am a professional, confident that I can make decisions about what is best for students and for my continued growth. I look with confidence to my colleagues, who support me, challenge me, and encourage me to take risks. I accept failure if I can learn from it. I encourage new teachers and veteran teachers to seek a learning community, to join groups such as CATE that validate teachersвЂ™ expertise and encourage teacher inquiry. I encourage teachers to see their teaching career as a journey to professionalism and to take advantage of the many opportunities offered. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 4 вЂ“ From the Editor Carol Jago Letters to a Young Teacher ne hand for the ship, one hand for yourself вЂќ is an old watchword in the U.S. Navy that offers advice to sailors about to clamber up a shipвЂ™s rigging. If sailors climb to their stations only to embrace the mast on high with both arms, no work gets done. If they give little thought to their own safety aloft, they can be blown away. The saying is particularly apt for teachers. When we forget to save one hand for ourselves and give all our time, energy, and imagination to our work, we can become lost. Too many young teachers give both hands to the job, sacrificing every minute of personal time and even their health to the demands of the classroom: grading papers, calling parents, designing lessons, supervising water polo games, worrying about their students long into the night. As a result too many decide that the work is not for them and look elsewhere for a job that isnвЂ™t quite so all consuming. This issue of California English offers advice to young teachers on how to survive the world-wind of conflicting demands and maintain a balance between oneвЂ™s personal and professional lives. It breaks my heart when teachers tell me that they have no time to read during the school year. Sacrificing the very thing that drew one to the work in order to do the work is misguided and short sighted. It will also undermine oneвЂ™s effectiveness. When students see their English teacher excited about a new book, they begin to wonder what it is in those pages of Markus ZusakвЂ™s The Book Thief or Junot DГazвЂ™s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao that can give such pleasure. вЂњO When they hear us talk with enthusiasm about a book club discussion on The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, they begin to consider that talking about books isnвЂ™t just something that happens in school. In his new book Why School? Mike Rose examines the ways in which schools could become good places to be. вЂњThere is little talk of the power of teaching, of this remarkable kind of human relationship, honored in all cultures. In our time, teaching is acknowledged as important but is often defined as a knowledge-delivery system. Yet teaching carries with it the obligation to understand the people in oneвЂ™s charge, to teach subject matter and skills, but also to inquire, to nurture, to have a sense of who a student is. Parents mention these qualities all the time, and they are often what draw students to the intellectual content of science, literature, or history, and to the very idea of school as a good place to beвЂќ (168). If we want students to think of school as a good place to be and to pursue a life of the mind, teachers need to model the joy such a life entails вЂ” reading for pleasure, writing for oneself as well as for others, talking about ideas, and viewing the world through a critical lens. I know itвЂ™s hard to think about picking up the new Barbara Kingsolver novel The Lacuna when you have 180 unread essays on your desk, but a good book is food for your soul. And without nourishment, your love for this work can wither. Remember, one hand for the ship, one hand for yourself. For additional advice about surviving the first years of teaching, check out Jonathan KozolвЂ™s Letters to a Young Teacher (Three Rivers Press, 2008) as well as long-time CATE member Jim Burke and Joy KrajicekвЂ™s Letters to a Young Teacher: A Month-by-Month Guide to the Year Ahead (Heinemann 2006). Works Cited Rose, M. Why School? Reclaiming Education for All of Us. New York: The New Press. 2010. CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS SEPTEMBER 2010, WHAT MAKES A GREAT TEACHER? (DEADLINE JULY 15, 2010) Research by Linda Darling-Hammond demonstrates that teachers make a dramatic difference in the achievement of students. But what makes a great teacher? California English would like to help the profession define what it means to be effective in the classroom. I invite you to offer your own definition, offering examples from your experience with students as well as with other teachers. Tell stories, offer sample lessons, feel free to be creative in your response to this question. NOVEMBER 2010, NEVER MORE CRUCIAL (DEADLINE OCTOBER 1, 2010) We are both blessed and challenged to live in вЂњinteresting timesвЂќ in education. What has become apparent is that it has never been more crucial for teachersвЂ™ voices to be heard in public discourse about teaching and learning. California English invites you to make your views public. What should be happening at your school site that isnвЂ™t? How is it ever more crucial to discover and meet your studentsвЂ™ needs? Why is it crucial for curriculum to be rich and engaging as well as rigorous? Why is it so crucial for our professional development to be meaningful? Manuscripts are peer-reviewed. Please send all submissions to California English editor, Carol Jago. Articles should be limited to 2,500 words. Please submit manuscripts to [email protected] or contact Carol Jago at the same e-mail address. MSS should, by preference, be submitted in Microsoft Word or pasted into an e-mail message. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 5 вЂ“ Letter to a Young Teacher: Go Forth and Teach Dear New Colleague, Over the course of 16 years teaching kindergarten, grades 6, 7, 8, 9, and university, I have laughed with joy when the light bulb clicks on for a student. I have cried with frustration over the kids who I cannot seem to reach. I have read professional books and teachersвЂ™ memoirs, attended and presented at conferences, and spent countless hours talking about the profession with anyone who will engage. Through it all, I have learned one lessonвЂ”the students are worth all of the effort. The first year: My first year of teaching was in a kindergarten class in Los Angeles. I had 38 students, no supplies, and no support. I cried every night and second-guessed my career choice. In each dark moment, however, the kids reminded me why I still showed up every day. JonathanвЂ™s mom told me that he gave her a mini-lecture on why we had Martin Luther KingвЂ™s birthday as a holiday. MarcвЂ™s smile lit up the room when he figured out how to spell his name. Maria gravely reminded me that he had forgotten to do silent reading time one morning. I made a lot of mistakes that first year. Standards did not exist, and I canвЂ™t say that I really understood how to properly and effectively support and challenge my five year olds. The theory and pedagogy from my methods classes seemed to bear little resemblance to the real-life chaos of managing and teaching 38 five-year-olds. One of the most important lessons I learned that year, however, is that children are remarkably resilient and forgiving. Just as I showed up every day determined to be better than the day before, so did they. We struggled our way through learning our letters, understanding how to sort and count, and trying not to kill off yet another class pet. On the last day of school, my kids cried and hugged me, then skipped blithely off into the summer. Somehow, somewhere, someone must have taught them how to read because I received a graduation announcement from one not too long ago. The early years: After that first terrifying, exhilarating year, I transferred to be part of the sixth grade team at the new middle school. The school was not new, just the name. Hollenbeck Junior High added a sixth grade, changed its name to Hollenbeck Middle School, and my adventures continued. Recently I found an old unit from my Language Arts curriculum in those early years. California state standards were in their infancy in 1996 and teachers had very little mandated curriculum, which was both good and bad. Good in the sense that we could do whatever we wanted to do. The вЂњunitвЂќ I found used The Witches by Roald Dahl. I tried to create overarching themes as I had learned in my credential program, but I mostly just had the kids do activities at various points in the book. The lack of standards was bad, though, because I was not always sure that what I felt like teaching was contributing to their overall learning. The memory of my years at Hollenbeck is a little hazy but are punctuated by thoughts of professional conversations during Common Erika Daniels Planning Time (a precursor to Professional Learning Communities), exciting class periods when learning was tangible, and much angst as I learned how to manage the 30 distinct personalities that inhabited each class period. Eventually I moved south to the Oceanside Unified School District where the zip code was different, but the faces, needs, successes, and challenges were the same. My advice to you during the early years is to be a sponge. Read books, attend conferences, talk to colleagues, listen to your students. Above all, listen to your students. Although the federal and state governments, directed curriculum, and uncertain budgets mandate much of our current work, the students are still our center. Use every experience as a learning opportunity that will allow you to be a better teacher for your students. They are still the reason you became a teacher, and they still deserve the best you have to give. The confident years: One day several years into my career, I realized the butterflies were subsiding. I no longer woke up every morning feeling nauseous about what the day held. I no longer silently cheered for assemblies because they meant less class time to fill. I no longer subtly cringed when someone came to observe me because I was terrified of what he/she might think. To my great surprise, I realized confidence overrode the terror more often than not. That is not to say that planning instruction and managing behavior magically became easy. What did happen is that I started believing in my ability to meet the challenges this wonderful profession posed. I had learned not to back defiant students into a corner, instead to address their behavior privately. I had learned to navigate state standards and mandated curriculum without sacrificing fun. Most importantly, I had learned when to ask for help and when to trust my instincts. One year, a student told a counselor that I had вЂњpicked him up out of the trash and helped him be successful.вЂќ Joaquin told me that he heard вЂњmandatory evacuationsвЂќ on the radio and didnвЂ™t know what evacuations were but knew that people had to do them because we had learned what mandatory meant the day before. Lest I get too complacent, however, Gustavo told me it was my fault that he was always in a bad mood. Stay curious and to remain humble. You will have phenomenal successes; new teachers will come to you for advice. But you will have disheartening, frustrating days as well. Use those days as learning experiences and the good days as motivating experiences and remember that our students still deserve the best we can give them every day. As I began this letter, I will end it. Students are smart, funny, articulate, and poignant. They want teachers who believe in them, trust them, and will push them. If you are willing to do this, you are ready. Now, go forth and teach! About the Author: Erika Daniels, Ed.D teaches at California State University, San Marcos. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 6 вЂ“ Letter to a Young Teacher: You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor." вЂ“ Aristotle. f you have been living in the United States for the past year, you are well aware of the current financial issues impacting your career choice. But none of us chooses teaching to become monetarily rich, we choose it to make a difference. Today, as you either begin, or prepare to begin to take on the most important job you will ever be paid for, I have but a few humble words of advice to offer you. The first, and likely most important piece of advice I can offer you is to have faith. I don't mean a spiritual faith, I mean faith in yourself, in your decisions, in your students and their abilities. But sometimes having faith is difficult, and for that you must be equipped with reason, passion, and courage. Have faith in yourself, but set reasonable goals. Be passionate about what you have chosen, and remember why you are there. Be courageous in your decisions as a teacher. Don't be afraid to do something simply because it might fail. Have the conviction that your ideas are just as worthwhile as anyone else's. And when you use that courage and even the most well-laid out plan fails, remember that the only true failure is one from which you don't learn. Fail. Fall apart. Do things wrong. But be prepared to do what follows- step back, look at yourself, figure out what went wrong, and fix it. While you are figuring out how to fail correctly, let your students see you. In doing so, you will teach them an invaluable lesson that many are afraid to teach. You will teach them that failure is necessary for success. After all, when we teach them to write an essay, we teach them to write multiple drafts, each successive draft a purported improvement over the previous one. You will teach them that it is acceptable to take risks, that it is ok to try things out, and you will teach them that they can count on you to be honest with them. Speaking of honesty, you must be willing to be so. You must be willing to ask questions. Lots of questions, but never one for which you aren't prepared to hear the answer you don't want. You must honestly answer what is asked of you, by both your students and your colleagues, and they will learn that you are a reliable source of information. If you don't know something, then have the courage to honestly say that you don't know, but also have the courage to find out. See yourself, in this manner, as a moderator of knowledge. It isn't something that you have that the students need to receive, at least not exclusively. They each have their own knowledge, their own histories, their own truths, and these are all as much a part I Adrianna Gervais of them as anything you wish to teach them. It follows, then, that you must love your students. You must enjoy watching them progress toward new knowledge the way a mother enjoys watching her toddler learn to walk. You must delight in the look upon their faces when they finally understand something, must relish their thirst for knowledge and instill the never-ending drive to quench it. Last, but most definitely not least, acknowledge your own limitations and imperfections. Understand how they limit you. Own them. Monitor them. And each and every day strive to work past them. For it is when you are no longer a student, that you will no longer be capable of teaching. And that is what true teaching is, having the courage to understand that your shortcomings are only places for improvement. About the Author: Adrianna Gervais teaches 7th Grade English & Reading at Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Stockton. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 7 вЂ“ California Young Reader Medal Nominees 2010-2011 Primary Category A Visitor for Bear by Bonnie Becker. Illustrated by Kady MacDonald. Candlewick Press, 2008. Pete & Pickles by Berkeley Breathed. Philomel, 2008. Duck by Randy Cecil. Candlewick Press, 2008 Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale by Carmen Deedy. Illustrated by Michael Austin. Peachtree Publications, 2008. Thelonius MonsterвЂ™s Sky-High Fly Pie by Judy Sierra. Illustrated by Edward Koren. Knopf, 2006. Intermediate Category Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke. The Chicken House, 2007. Greetings from Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley. Scholastic Press, 2007 Zorgamazoo by Robert Paul Weston. Razorbill, 2008. Middle School Category Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. Scholastic, 2007. Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohota. Atheneum, 2007. Skulduggery Pleasant: Scepter of the Ancients, Book 1 by Derek Landy. The Bowen Press, 2007 Young Adult Category Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic Press, 2008. Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. Henry Holt & Co., 2008 Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Simon & Schuster, 2007. Picture Book for Older Readers Moon Over Star by Diana Aston. Dial, 2008. John Paul George & Ben by Lane Smith. Hyperion Books, 2006. Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Williams. Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2007. Teacher, Teacher, I Declare Please Take Help from Anywhere Dear New English Teacher, How nice of you to ask me for advice! I suppose at just about 10 years of teaching I might not be considered a veteran, and worthy of giving advice, but the way I see it, a year of teaching at Community Day School is kind of like dog years in the world of teaching. This means that one year at CDS equals seven years of teaching, so I hereby proclaim myself a veteran teacher and qualified to write this letter of advice to you. For starters, itвЂ™s important to realize that your first assignment will not be the assignment that you dreamed of during the credential program, or maybe even during your student teaching. As unfair and unfortunate as it might seem, your first assignment will probably be about one step above janitorial duties, which, in fact, you might even have to do for one period, probably your prep period. Take my first assignment, for instance, a Special Day Class, the highlights of which included a student who almost blew up the C-Wing by sticking paperclips in a light socket, and another student who would yell out at least once a week, вЂњI hate you, I hate you.вЂќ I would classify this assignment as a night terror. My second assignment was somewhat better, the equivalent of a nightmare, and the third assignment wasвЂ¦.a dream!! ItвЂ™s crucial to know that even though those first couple of years can be trying, difficult, even maddening вЂ“ they do not go on forever, and you will be learning and becoming a better teacher from every experience that you think is going to drive your formerly sane mind positively insane. How can you stay sane the first couple of years when you can possibly be in an insane situation? Take advantage of the resources around you. I was fortunate that I had supportive people all around me: a wonderful BTSA coach; another teacher, Kelie, who started at the same time that I did, taught in another SDC class, and later worked alongside me as a resource teacher; fantastic administrators; and a helpful group of teachers. All of these people helped me, whether it was simply discussing ideas at lunch, or having a planned conversation. This might mean being at school more that you planned, but often these people have more time to be helpful when students are not in the picture. Teachers who have been around for a while have quite the bag of tricks, and if youвЂ™re not around to talk to them, you will never find out about them. Simply put, if you need help, ask for help. Better yet, find out who is good at what, ask them for ideas, and observe their classes. For instance, during one of the classes in my masterвЂ™s degree program, I had to do observations. Being an experienced teacher, I was not looking forward to this, and one day I popped in on my colleague StephanieвЂ™s class as they were learning to take notes and cite on note cards for research reports. Her method of explaining the note cards and citing was not only clear but innovativeвЂ“ certainly more effective than mine. Did I know she had such a terrific Maria Shreve way of teaching it вЂ“ no. Nor would I have found out if I hadnвЂ™t observed her class. These days, if anyone asks me about note cards and citing, I will point that person in the direction of Stephanie. In terms of non-human resources, the most important one for me had to be a Six Traits of Writing training that I went to the summer between my first and second years of teaching. Quite frankly, after the Six Traits of Writing training, I sounded somewhat knowledgeable about writing discourse, I sounded like I knew what I was talking about to my students, and as a new teacher, it streamlined what I needed to look for in student writing when I was helping students with their writing, as well as when I was assessing their writing. All of these years later, dog years included, I still use those Six Traits of Writing. For new English teachers, itвЂ™s hard to look at an essay and pin-point exactly what works and what doesnвЂ™t вЂ“ itвЂ™s much easier if you know what youвЂ™re looking for, whether it is one or all of the six traits. Of course, human resources are even better than non-human resources, and, after you get a few years of teaching under your belt (which I hope you can still wear, given the vast amount of treats that appear in just about every teachersвЂ™ lunchroom), I strongly encourage you to look into your regional writing project. In a desperate attempt to get more graduate units during the summer, two years ago I went to the Great Valley Writing Project Mini Institute, and the following year received a fellowship to attend the Great Valley Writing Project Summer Institute. Both institutes were pivotal in my approach to teaching. What can be better than teachers working with other teachers to become better teachers? The time was divided between presenting and watching each otherвЂ™s demo lessons, writing, and reading research. I left with a repertoire of lessons that I never expected to have, and even more enthusiasm for teaching writing. Here is something startling: in my nine years of teaching, I have never had the same assignment twice. Oh, yes, the master schedule is full of surprises вЂ“ new classes being one of them. In fact, just when I was becoming confident teaching English, I found myself somewhat uneasy in the role of вЂњThe English Teacher Lost in AVIDland.вЂќ I was apprehensive about the new class, but I had a few things that made the transition easier: a wonderful AVID coordinator, Marcia, who gave me plenty of sound advice; fabulous curriculum that I even used in my ELA class now and then; and going back to an emphasis on collaborative learning that I had not really done much of since my student teaching days. In a year, my view of AVID went from apprehension to the realization that the methodologies in AVID could be transferred to my ELA class and make me a better teacher. In fact, when my principal evaluated me, many of the items he was impressed with were AVID methodologies. Here is something else thatвЂ™s startling вЂ“ you can be sent to another school. Renee, one of my вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 9 вЂ“ graduate school friends, actually went from teaching seventh and eighth grade to first grade. Was she upset? In this day and age, she was happy to have a job вЂ“ and less work to bring home. Similarly, a little over a year ago, I received a pink slip and was called back, but not to my beloved middle school, to the Community Day School, where only the Bravest of the Brave Hughsonites would dare to step foot. Just what does this assignment entail? Well, as IвЂ™m writing this, I have a couple of things on my mind. First, who was responsible for writing on the inside and outside of my front door? Second, who was responsible for splattering the taco sauce all over my desk and papers? My assistant superintendent, who has to be the nicest man on the face of the earth to personally hand a person a pink slip, told me that I was doing a great job working with the вЂњdistrictвЂ™s most challenging students.вЂќ I suppose they do live up to that. But once again, it has been a learning experience for me. Like Renee, for the first time in years, I havenвЂ™t brought work home, and IвЂ™ve had more time to work on my masterвЂ™s degree and spend time with my daughter. The point is, you might have some God-awful assignments, you might have to teach something you donвЂ™t want to teach, you might have to teach at a grade level or school that you donвЂ™t want to teach at, but you will never stop learning. As it turns out, IвЂ™m going back to my middle school next year, and I recently found out that more changes are in store for me. Whereas, we used to teach cores вЂ“ 2 period blocks for ELA вЂ“ we are not any more. As a result, next year IвЂ™ll be teaching three periods of ELA, one period of AVID, and one period of journalism. Surprise! Actually, I was journalism major, but my initial reaction was вЂ“ you guessed it, apprehension. Now, however, IвЂ™m getting used to the idea, and, dare I say, I am EXCITED about it. I am a bit leery (good-bye apprehensive) about the amount of essays and articles I will have on my hands, though. In fact, in the past, I have read, graded, and critiqued everything that has been turned into me. However, now I bring in another resource, another way for new teachers and even veteran teacher to get help вЂ“ books! Remember those? Kelly GallagherвЂ™s book Teaching Adolescent Writers is a must for English teachers. Of interest is his approach to grading student writing: вЂњStudents need coaches more than they need critics. As a result, I do not grade everything they write. As a general rule of thumb, students are asked to write four times more than I can physically access. I concentrate on being a coach, not a graderвЂ¦ (53)вЂќ. I am in awe of that philosophy, and will try to implement that next year. So, future English teacher, I know IвЂ™ve rambled on and talked about myself quite a bit. However, I think my experience is probably fairly typical. Over time, you will discover that some of the methods you use are right on target, some will not work, and there will always be some that you want to try out. And remember, itвЂ™s important to stay out of the comfort zone and in the high challenge zone. Sincerely, Maria Shreve About the Author: Maria Shreve is a middle school teacher at Hughson Community Day School. She also is finishing up her Master's Degree in English (Rhetoric and Teaching Writing) at CSU Stanislaus and is a teacher consultant for the Great Valley Writing Project. Letter to a Young Teacher Thomas Roddy Dear Colleague, Not long ago a family friend asked me, вЂњWhat is it that allows you to do what you do?вЂќ Without hesitating I told her that I felt teaching was my calling. This approach may not be something that appeals to you, but shortly after I started working at the inner city school where I have taught for almost ten years, I realized that my love of literature alone would not be enough to sustain me. My students struggle to maintain basic skills; therefore, reading anything critically, the way one might in oneвЂ™s fantasy of an English class, happens sporadically. To prevent quitting altogether, I needed something else to keep me curious. So I listened to another question that beckoned me, вЂњHow can I help my students to grow into their best selves?вЂќ I also began attending a very progressive church, which has social justice as one of its central pillars. In one sermon, the rector offered four precepts, borrowed from multiple wisdom traditions, for a path to joy. They have become my personal professional teaching standards. I measure how successful I am against those and not my studentsвЂ™ test scores, which remain in the regions of below basic and far below basic. I offer these ideas to you now because they allow cultivation of a very valuable tool which is at the core of good teaching. They are show up, pay attention, tell the truth, and, do not hold onto the results. Showing up means you are in your classroom, prepared and ready to go before that first bell rings. More than anything such as a packaged lesson plan, or video, or treat (a.k.a. bribe), you might buy for your students, you have to bring and work from the part of you that is as vast and as generous as the sky. This sense of openness and optimism has been essential to my survival as a teacher in an overcrowded urban school, where the average reading level of my students, even the upperclassmen, is the fourth grade. The Buddhist nun Pema ChГ¶drГ¶n suggests that looking at the sky in moments of anxiety allows us to keep our focus away from ourselves and on the world around us. Last fall, a student, named Angel, carved his name into six of my computers. To use the words of my вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 10 вЂ“ students, I tripped. I called security and three deans and AngelвЂ™s mother. I repeated the story to anyone who would listen. Inevitably, they confirmed how right I was to demand this child be fined and expelled and sent to jail. Over time, the story got faster and faster and I added more and more detail and before I knew it, I had the libretto to a three act opera on my hands, but no solution to help this boy, who in a moment of madness made a stupid and destructive decision. Meditating on the sky helped to access my inner expansiveness so I could welcome Angel back to the classroom, where he would have fewer opportunities for mischief. Showing up means trusting that what you have to offer is enough. When I started teaching, I convinced myself that the marketplace, real and virtual, offered the bluebird-of-happiness lesson plan or the perfect book that would entertain my students and teach them at the same time. This is a fallacy. While it is true that some material will be more accessible to students than other, there is no perfect book, film, or lesson plan. If you bring your whole generous self to your classroom, you will become a fine teacher, but it will not happen instantly. The best way to assure becoming the teacher you hope to be is to have a mentor in you classroom to help you do it. A mentor will prove invaluable as that person can catch your behaviors and show how they are running counter to what you are trying to achieve. Once I did this, I was forced to move my concentration away from myself to my students and the millions of ways in which they were avoiding the work I was giving. A qualified mentor will lead you to the next precept, which is pay attention. To pay attention, you have to get out of your seat, and walk among your flock. Many inexperienced teachers think that students are not doing their work because they are bored as the material is not challenging; however, I have not observed this. Students are not doing their work because they lack the skills. Therefore, check your studentsвЂ™ work! This means you have to pick up what you ask them to write, read it and correct it. If you want them to discuss something, spy on their discussions, take notes and share your observations. Give quizzes after a lesson. When you give instructions, ask one of your students to repeat your instructions to the rest of the class. Then ask another student to say the same thing in different way. Repeat the process. I am embarrassed to say how often I ignored obvious errors and glaring avoidances because I was concerned about violating studentsвЂ™ needs for expression. To prevent that, follow the third precept, which is to tell the truth. To illustrate this, I would like to tell a story. Once, a student came to me because he was utterly dismayed that he had failed the progress report. вЂњMister,вЂќ he said plaintively, вЂњI do my work.вЂќ I said to him, вЂњAndrew, I can say this to you because you are not overweight, but for the moment, I would like to imagine that I am your doctor, and you are my patient. You have come to me because you are not feeling well, and yes, you weigh 350 pounds. What do you expect me to say?вЂќ Andrew thought for a moment and said, вЂњYouвЂ™d tell me to lose weight.вЂќ вЂњRight,вЂќ I said, вЂњand if I did not I would be remiss as your physician to have ignored this fact. Since I am your teacher, I have to be honest and say that while you are handing in your work, what you are handing in looks as though someone much younger than you wrote it.вЂќ Andrew giggled and shrugged, which were typical reactions for him. We finished our conversation by agreeing what was necessary for him to do to improve, but he did not follow up on what I told him to do and failed at the end of the semester. Three years later, he has returned to my class, a junior now, and his skills are better, but Andrew has much maturing to do still. However, his presence in my classroom is still a gift because he has taught me much about the fourth precept, which is not to be attached to the results. The best I can do is to be fully present for each of my students, and offer what I know in as interesting way as I know how. Receiving what I bring is not up to me. That is up to my students. I have to accept the fact that they may not be ready to hear what I have to say, even if I think it is valuable. Over the weekend there was an editorial in the newspaper which illustrated the components that according to some think tank make a great teacher. In short, the optimal candidate must have great intellectual prowess. The piece mentioned nothing, however, of what I have come to believe is equally important to a well-honed mind, specifically a well honed heart. The precepts I offer you here are leading me to that every day. This vulnerability has shown me in ways I never could have imagined the boundless capacity of others for great decency and love and humor in and outside of my classroom. I cannot think of a better way to spend a life than growing towards that sort of excellence. I hope you have a great first year! Good luck and by all means, do not hesitate to contact me if I can provide some assistance. Sincerely, Thomas Roddy, Jr. About the Author: Thomas Roddy, Jr. teaches English at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. He would like to dedicate this piece to Bishop Jane Holmes Dixon. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 11 вЂ“ Because I am a Teacher I hope (My wishes for you) Jane Hancock I hope you find the joys of adolescents more days than you meet the frustrations. I hope you get to see and feel the impact you have on young lives. I hope you open yourself up to learning from your students. I hope you come to realize that even when they donвЂ™ t act like it, your students still love and need you and they can be very forgiving. I hope you have more restful than sleepless nights. I hope the good days out number the bad. But I also hope that you see every morning as a new day; a clean sheet of paper to write on; a new opportunity to do better than the day before. I hope you find like-minded colleagues supportive parents, and visionary principals. I hope you make friends with the really important people of the school: the secretaries and custodians. I hope you know that your instructors are always here for you when you need: a fresh idea, a sympathetic ear, a word of encouragement. I hope you get a chance to be quiet revolutionaries rather than good soldiers. I hope you find a way to change whatвЂ™ s going on, find a way to authentic and meaningful teaching and learning, not through lecturing, worksheeting, and overtesting. I hope you learn to trust your own good professional judgment. I hope you become the teacher who makes a difference In the life of a student encourages a colleague, becomes a leader. I hope you inspire hope. The author, Laurie Stowell, is a professor of literacy at Cal State San Marcos and the Director of the San Marcos Writing Project. She wrote this for her student teachers in the middle level credential program and read it to them on their last day. ecause I am a teacher, I share moments of discovery with my students. I beam when I see a blank page become a work of art or a delightful piece of prose, when a student finds meaning in a poem or short story, a meaning that has eluded me. Because I am a teacher, I sit in a darkened auditorium and listen to young musicians playing the music of Haydn and Mozart or even their own compositions, young actors speaking the words of August Wilson or William Shakespeare, and I know that the future of the arts in the country is in good hands. Because I am a teacher, I wear my school colors and cheer the future athletes of America on to victory while the school band plays and the drill team and cheerleaders never give up hope, no matter what the score. Because I am a teacher, I am a listening ear for silent tears, a soft shoulder for heavy hearts, an encouraging smile for tired spirits, a bit of light amidst some gray lives. Because I am a teacher, I have as co-workers intelligent men and women with similar values and goals as mine, with a love for culture and learning, a quest for knowledge, and a spirit of unselfishness. Because I am a teacher, I create new worlds in my classroom, new opportunities, new avenues to explore, new means to an end. Because I am a teacher, I have in my classroom students from all over the world, with different cultures, religions, values, experiences. Together we learn about each other and make the world a better place in which to live. Because I am a teacher, I wake up in the middle of the night, so excited over a lesson I am going to teach the next day that I canвЂ™t go back to sleep, and I wait impatiently for the alarm to go off so I can go to school. Because I am a teacher, students return and tell me what I did for them, what I said that they will never forget, what I taught that has remained with them. Because I am a teacher, I am part of the greatest profession in the world, since all other professions stem from it. I love being a teacher. B About the Author: Jane Hancock, co-director of the UCLA Writing Project, rides a merry-go-round that won't stop and let her off. Her passion for the thrill keeps her going . . . and going . . and going. Because she loves what she does--teaching, consulting, and providing professional development for teachers in the field-she always gets the brass ring. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 12 вЂ“ CATE Professional Writing Contest for Teachers & Educators 2010-11 PROMPT Teachers' roles have long been many: scholar, counselor, coach, manager, researcher, diagnostician, and curriculum designer. Today, however, teachers are being required to go beyond such roles to re-form education itself; all this, while trying to meet the needs of students. Think of a piece of literature that has spoken to you, given you guidance in the midst of these competing roles, or pressure, to "reform" how you teach. Write a narrative, a reflective essay, or a poem about what helps you as a teacher in managing to meet these "never more crucial" requirements. NOTICE: Deadline for entries August 31, 2010. This prompt will be advertised in CATE affiliate workshops and in issues of the California English magazine. FIRST PLACE : one CATE annual convention registration, plus publication in California English and on CateWeb.org. SECOND PLACE: one CATE membership, plus publication in California English and on CateWeb.org. вЂў вЂў вЂў вЂў вЂў Include writerвЂ™s name, address, phone number, school and district. Articles are limited to 1500 words. The deadline for submission is August 31, 2010. Click on the Contests tab to read previous winnersвЂ™ essays at cateweb.org. E-mail manuscripts formatted in Microsoft Word to [email protected]. Also, please mail back-up, hard copy to: Olga Kokino CATE PWC Coordinator 3652 Brayton Ave. Long Beach, CA 90807 Welcome to the Profess... Bill Younglove A professor should have something to profess, a teacher something to teach, and a student something to study--to learn. вЂ“ B.Y. CONSIDER... En route to Hawaii for the first time, the teacher wished to be completely correct in referring to the islands. Sitting next to the teacher, the deeply tanned, sandaled, whitetrousered, flower-shirted man seemed a likely native informant. "Pardon me," the teacher asked, "is it Hawai'i or Havai'i?" The informant instantly intoned, "Havai'i." "Thank you very much," replied the teacher. "You're velcome," came the tanned one's reply. Four points need to be emphasized to novice teachers among you: 1. It is very important to possess accurate information about your subject. 2. Meaningful communication is the key to understanding; indeed, is the essence of English study. 3. Anecdotes will be remembered by your students long after didactic lectures are forgotten. 4. A sense of humor can enrich--and sustain--your teaching career. GETTING STARTED... The profession you are entering is not quite one-yet. That is, honorable though teaching may be, neither Jonathan Kozol, Jaime Escalante, Lou Anne Johnson, nor Erin Gruwell set the hours, wages, or conditions of his or her teaching employment, as do doctors and lawyers. You will, though, have an opportunity to shape curriculum--and young minds. To do the latter, you must first gain students' trust. They will not care how much you know until they know how much you care. Here, Albert Maslow had it correct--physical/safety and social needs before academic ones. Your initial teaching question must be: What rules will I need, to establish an atmosphere of trustful care, that will allow me to pursue meaningful instruction? Your half dozen rules, writ large on the walls, delivered in a no-nonsense fashion, the first day, about student on-time attendance, movement, talking, use/maintenance of the classroom, materials handling, operation of electronics, and dismissal, will set the proper tone. Oh, and don't forget to share the escalating stages of punishment for infractions--and rewards for compliance. After a personal talk with the errant student, your first follow-up is a home call. Embrace, to the extent possible, parents/guardians as fellow shapers of the dear children they have entrusted to you. . In most cases, your real, ongoing challenge will be the 80-15-5 principle--i.e., dealing with the 5% chronic rule breakers and the 15% disrupters, without alienating the 80% who accept reasonable rules. PLANNING AHEAD... вЂњIs teaching an art or is it a science?вЂќ you ask. As with many dichotomous dilemmas, the simple answer is "yes." That is, your daily lesson plans, your units, and your curriculum design are the science. Your implementation, your delivery, is where the art comes in. Your road map lessons and your willingness to make the journey exciting are both vital. A good road map (lesson) plan contains, minimally, the Standard(s) addressed (fewer the better), the objective(s) (limited) to be fulfilled, the anticipatory set (student real-life connection), the procedure, (scaffolded task, model, and check for understanding), applied practice, assessment of objective(s), closure, and independent practice (often, homework). While the model referenced here is likely a final product, your stance as a learner in your own classroom will speak volumes about how students can ultimately achieve. While educator Jonathan Kozol, and others perhaps, would find this Madeline Hunter lesson model too restrictive, Hunter herself offered caveats (Hunter, 1985). Your knowledge of a wide array of teaching strategies, in any case, should help you to invoke these essential elements of effective instruction. Just remember to diagnose student needs at the outset--to determine domain strengths--reading, writing, speaking, and listening levels for each student. The only fair assessment is to determine student achievement of objectives from this baseline information. If Standards are not already prescribed by your school, draw up a key list based upon, "I really can't believe the students do not know..." EXPERT HELP... At first, your many years of college study and book learning may seem extraneous to the oft adrenaline and hormone-filled students in front of you. In time, however, review the essences of such mental mentors as Bandura, Bruner, Freire, Gardner, Goleman, Kohn, Maslow, Montessori, Piaget, Rosenblatt, Rosenshine, and Vygotsky. Pay some attention to well-conducted longitudinal research, but also zero in on pathological studies by such as Axline, D'Ambrosio, Pelzer, and Sacks, which probe: What went wrong here with the human mind? In time, you may come to view your classroom as a laboratory for educational observation... In the meantime, if your principal does not assign you a mentor-department chair or other--seek one out, hopefully in proximity, Do not hesitate to go to the mentor for every important question you have. By the way, your location on campus can be very important--and definitely request minimal movement once you are (re)located. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 14 вЂ“ GETTING THERE, DAILY... SEEKING HELP... Franklin may--or may not--have had it correct about the attributes of early rising, but consider this: Your ability to become--and stay-organized will be the key to satisfying self, as well as the demands of teaching. Once the school day starts, you may feel like a performer on a stage. In reality, the roles you may be expected to play, at various times, include boss and cop (for sure), coach, quality controller, resource manager, staff developer (unless you do turn down college, parent, or student aides), healthcare provider (Learn just what the nurse can/can't do.), counselor, social worker, and family therapist. Few of these, you will note, touch upon your college training as a scholar, researcher, linguist, or cognitive psychologist. And now, thanks to Twenty-First Century technologies, you get to be(come) a computer operator, integrator, and maintenance person. Do not overlook, either, one of your greatest allies, your librarian/media center person. Not only can this specialist open your students' minds to the world of books and research, but, often, with advance notice, s/he will present mini-lessons on that ever-evolving world of digitized learning. Yes, you'll feel (a bit) better if, by the time the parting of the Red Sea of students occurs (i.e., the first bell rings), you have checked your mailbox, copied necessary materials, put information on the board, checked electronics--and said hi to teachers on both sides of you and across the hall (as you may need to park a recalcitrant student there later in the day). Okay, so that first home contact for that 5%er "I don't want to be here... I hate this class and you..." kid didn't go so well. Remember that you will want to tap deeper into that village (that it takes to raise a child). Besides those teachers in proximity, your mentor, and department head, you should seek out any of the following available: RSP or special education teachers (for any Individual Education Plan interventions/modifications related to the Education Disabilities Act), school psychologist, probation officer, counselors, and administrators, as well as community liaison persons, PT(S)A officers, School Site Council officers, and campus-assigned police officers. One of the most effective "time outs" for the teacher and recalcitrant student alike, after individual verbal warnings and home contacts, is: Writing for Responsibility (See Appendix A.). Essentially, the teacher requires the student at infraction time (or can be during assigned detention) to write responses to the five behavior questions. As the teacher, you later read carefully those reactions (Note how often statements to numbers 1 and 2 are discrepant from what you believed at the time.)--and, within 24 hours, write your response, returning a copy to the student. If the student answers reflect sincerity in ending "the situation," let the student know. If not, attach the Writing for Responsibility (or lack thereof!) statements to a possible office referral. As a school villager, you will need to befriend most staff, but especially your room/building custodian, if you are fortunate enough to have one, plus the principal's secretary, the main artery of the school. Fellow teacher toxicity is another matter. Those nattering nabobs of negativism, as Spiro Agnew's speechwriters put it, the ones who, from their faculty lounge perches, castigate everything and everyone, especially the students they purport to educate, are to be assiduously avoided. UNITING THE PROFESSION You may very well become an employee in a district where you will be a dues paying member of a teacher union. If so, realize that union representatives can be called upon to do just that--represent you, by interpreting any contract teachers have with the district, bargaining on your behalf, or even helping you to file a grievance, should it come to that. Since due process job rights (euphemistically called tenure), however, will not be extended to you for 2-3 years, you will want to concentrate largely upon learning your craft. BUILDING THE PROFESSION In time, however, you will, hopefully, want to take advantage of your professional subject matter organization. In most states, local and/or regional English councils, all allied under the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), exist to serve their members. For a very nominal sum of money, you will discover experts, comrades in the trenches, teaching materials galore, and how you can effect change itself, legally, through using your public advocacy voice. MYTHIC HEROISM Before many weeks pass, you may find yourself growing lonely. If so, it is probably because you have, somehow, traded your significant others-and pets--for papers. Thus, if you have run out of clean clothes completely, forgotten your loved ones' names, stacked unopened mail in piles on the carpets, or noticed that your toenails may be edging their way through socks and shoes, you must find more ways to handle the paper load. Fortunately for you, NCTE has published a book with this exact title (Golub, 2005), plus NCTE's current president proffers further suggestions in a thrice entitled (lest you should miss the point!) book about papers (Jago, 2005). As with all those other aspects of teaching--the planning, the classes, the meetings, the home contacts, the technology aspects--you must carve out personal rest, recuperation, family and significant others time. To sum up: The only way to fix education is to make all teachers superhuman; in the best Wayne's World--NOT! ADDING THE "ION" TO PROFESS... Know, too, that like the American Medical Association for doctors and the American Bar Association for lawyers, there are those in the English Language Arts (ELA) Teaching Profession who have labored to spell out the duties and responsibilities of K-12 ELA teachers. Fortunately, the Central California Council of Teachers of English's California Curriculum Study Commission drafted A Professional Code of Conduct and Ethics for K-12 Teachers of English/English Language Arts (Myers & Quincy, et al., 2006). The hope is that such a document might serve teachers in the way that the Hippocratic Oath serves doctors; that is, in matters of curriculum, teachers could legally refrain from carrying out curricular mandates which would harm students. AT THE GATES OF HELL Such curricular choices will be among the most challenging ones you make. Even in an era of state and federal mandates, you will still have to determine what curriculum (from currus, currere, curia, вЂ“ your students will be in your chariot, running the course) is age-appropriate. Your challenge may not be as great as Shulamit Imber's, however. This educator, the Pedagogical Director of the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in Israel, had made numerous trips to the Nazi death camps in Poland, exposing her young Israeli students to the horrors behind the mountain of shoes and the gaping gas chamber doors. In a recent year, though, when she stood, once again, with yet another group of youngsters at the entrance to the Majdanek camp, she did not want to enter, for her ten-year-old son was in the group. "I was a totally different guide in that tour.... Suddenly, ...as a human being... I felt more modest, caring, and more [misunderstood] than ever," she has said (Imber, 2006). We definitely need to consider a golden rule for our classroom curricular selections and instruction. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 16 вЂ“ APPENDIX A KEEPING THE FAITH For me, on my best days, those in which everything went right, I left the school knowing that I could not have chosen an alternative life's work more rewarding and fulfilling than teaching. That is not to say it was easy. It was never easy. On my worst days, however, the ones in which seemingly everything went wrong, I left the school vowing never to return to the classroom again. My career was sustained almost totally because, on my worst days, I pondered those best days, the ones behind me, and the ones to come. In time, too, sabbaticals, if available/given, can do wonders to expand your teaching repertoire, experience new cultures, recharge the intellectual batteries--and diminish your "to read" pile of young adult, and other, literary (Can a four-year-old New Yorker really contain anything of current interest?) and educational publications. BENEDICTION Blessed be your teaching endeavors as we at the "other end of the hall" or of our careers thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sending us students who hold the word "teacher" in the highest esteem. Long may you have something to profess, something to teach, and, always, much to study--and much to learn. You are welcome, indeed. Writing for Responsibility (created by Bill Younglove, Long Beach USD and Jan Jesse, Montebello USD, California, in 1970, as an alternative to students writing "I shall not..." standards as punishment) DIRECTIONS: Answer the following questions in sentence and paragraph form, with your complete name and date at the top. You will be writing to your teacher and possibly to any other students involved. You will be discussing your misconduct. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What was the rule (or rules) you broke? (For example, I was accused of breaking the rule about keeping my hands to myself.) In your opinion, what were you doing or trying to do? How did that behavior help you? How did it help your classmate(s)? How would you handle this situation if it happened again? What would be a fair way to resolve this situation, in your opinion? REMEMBER: You can express anger you feel, but it must be done in REFERENCES Golub, J. N. (2005). More ways to handle the paper load: On paper and online. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. Hunter, M. (February 1985). What's wrong with Madeline Hunter? Educational Leadership, 42(5), 57-60. Imber, Shulamit. (June 2006). вЂњTeaching the Holocaust to future generations.вЂќ Conference at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel. Jago, C. (2005). Papers, papers, papers: An English teacher's survival guide. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Myers, M. & Quincy, A., et al. (2006). A professional code of conduct and ethics for K-12 teachers of English language arts: An interim report of the professional code study group. Asilomar, CA: Central California Council of Teachers of English Curriculum Study Commission. a constructive and sincere manner. I shall eventually answer your letter in writing--and orally. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Bill Younglove has taught at ten middle, senior high, college, and university campuses in Southwestern Michigan and in Southern California. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 17 вЂ“ Aiming north on Thornton Road Not quite Lodi Aiming north on Thornton Road Not quite Lodi Mrs. Reyes at Delta Sierra Middle School Boarded up Victorian Square Just a strip mall Boarded up Victorian Square Tinder grass, dry and tall вЂњTuck your shirt in Your uniform.вЂќ Order, order in the Hormone storm. Dry fields hail firemen Outside the oasis, Left on Wagner Heights, Straight to the oasis Desks face west in six per row, Alpha Smarts and Polaroids, The teacherвЂ™s glances Fill the voids. Still distinct white paint with directions, New pavement, new silver school with new designs, New basketball hoops, And new bicycle parking lines. Mrs. Reyes in plaid flannel and cowboy boots, A smile of warmth and trust. SheвЂ™s taught for thirty years. SheвЂ™s quick, fun, and just. Heading to Core, To learn some more. Sixty students in a double room Feel love in step at the door. вЂњTake three breaths and say, вЂ�I can do it. I can do it.вЂ™ The 59th annual Asilomar Conference will once again take place at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula. Many of the sessions that were scheduled for last year will be included in this year's program with some new sessions added. The sessions will prove to be useful for both new teachers and experienced teachers. There are also sessions that will provide opportunity for personal growth for those who may no longer be in the classroom. The weekend will help to restore and revitalize attendees wherever they may be in their teaching careers. Asilomar 59 Scheduled for September 24-26, 2010 Rooted in the ideals of the Bay Area Writing Project, the Asilomar experience is more than a conference; it is a phenomenon that acquaints teachers with professional learning on an intimate scale in a grandiose setting. Come and engage in deep conversations; collaborate with fellow teachers; share your expertise, ideas and experiences; and become a part of small group discussions that extend over the weekend. Come and experience the founding principles of the Asilomar Conference more than 59 years ago and the power of teachers teaching teachers. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 18 вЂ“ Do the easy parts first. ThatвЂ™s all there is to it.вЂќ вЂњDo I help you? Do I know you? Did you forget to study? Let me guide you. Let me give You clues to get ready.вЂќ SheвЂ™s taught for thirty years And she always has a plan. вЂњWhat here is good? What could be better? How can I help you understand?вЂќ вЂњTake three breaths and say, вЂ�I can do it. I can do it.вЂ™ Do the easy parts first, ThatвЂ™s all there is to it.вЂќ Aglow with warmth, but firm, She smiles in the room and in the hall. Students smile as she reads aloud. They are the true oasis, Ten rows of six down to the wall. вЂ“ Maria D. Sanchez, В© 1999 Keynote speakers are award winning author Dorothy Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina (Friday evening) and Poet Laureate Robert Hass (Sunday morning). Saturday evening sessions include Mahbod Seraji, author of Rooftops of Tehran, Greta Vollmer presenting Research in the Digital Age: Classroom Activities, and State of the Profession with Ed Farrell and Miles Myers. The evening will close with opportunities to meet and connect with teachers from throughout the state in an Open Mic session and Board Game social hour. There is a special opportunity for schools to send a group of teachers to attend the weekend to work on school issues with the benefits of attending the general sessions available to all attendees. Contact Dan Wolters at [email protected] for more information on this opportunity. Plan now to attend a stimulating conference in a most beautiful and restful setting. Go to www.curriculumstudy.org to download a program and to obtain registration information. Accelerated Reader: A Disincentive to Creating Life-Long Readers Derek Boucher ast week a friend of our family came to us distraught after her child, a student in a school district in the central valley of California, read the adolescent favorite The Name of This Book is Secret. Despite having a very positive experience with the book, she failed her schoolвЂ™s Accelerated Reader comprehension test. This resulted in a lowering of her English grade. Accelerated Reader (вЂњARвЂќ) is a popular, expensive commercial program used in many of our schools today. Last year, we learned of another child who was discouraged by a school librarian from reading HemingwayвЂ™s classic The Old Man and the Sea because it was considered too low for that childвЂ™s reading level. As we transition into another school year, parents throughout California have been notified that a portion of their childвЂ™s English grade will be determined by completing novels, and answering narrow comprehension questions online about the story. The concept is simple: Pass the online test and the student gets points that go toward their grade. No points are awarded if the student fails the test. Fail the test, and the computer wonвЂ™t allow retakes. This program is very convenient for teachers who simply upload the AR points from the computer and translate them into a grade. No fuss, no mess! But this is so typical of schools today whose lust for high standardized test scores and short term gains often overshadow the more important and difficult work of creating curious learners and life-long readers. One might assume that adults with long resumes and lots of letters after their name might ask the question: What is the long term impact of this program on our children? Different studies suggest that incentive programs (reading to get prizes or a grade) tend to have a deleterious effect on young readers. When the incentives (or punishments) to read stop, the children stop reading as well. This shouldnвЂ™t be surprising, since performance and learning tend to decline when extrinsic motivators are present (Kohn, 1999). In most schools today, reading has not been presented to children as an inherently pleasurable experience, but as a vehicle to get a prize or a grade. Voracious readers understand that literature allows us to lose ourselves in the world of a story. Avid readers engage in intensely enjoyable experiences with plot and characters. In contrast, programs like Accelerated Reader teach students to read literature in a superficial manner. Students read with a mind to skim for the facts they will need for the quiz, which is very different from the thoughtful engagement we want to see when our children L open a book. One parent shared with me he is going to buy Cliffs Notes so his child will be sure to pass his next AR test. A study by Carter (1996) suggests that incentive programs create a system where the вЂњrich get richer.вЂќ Children who are already strong readers will usually do quite well on comprehension tests. In contrast, resistant readers become demoralized when after struggling through a book they are left with zero points because they failed their AR test. This reinforces their perception that reading is not for them. HereвЂ™s a challenge to educators who favor Accelerated Reader. Choose any book you like. Ask a friend to read the same book. After reading, create 10 narrow comprehension questions. Quiz one another. Now donвЂ™t cheat! You canвЂ™t refer back to the book, and you canвЂ™t discuss what you enjoyed about the story (too subjective!). And, you only get one try. Now repeat the process 10-15 times in nine months. See how you like it. About the Author: Derek Boucher is a Social Science instructor at Roosevelt High School in Fresno. IMPORTANT FUTURE NCTE EVENTS July 8-11. 2010, Indianapolis, IN Literacies for All Summer Institute вЂњReflecting on Our Practice: Possibilities and PathwaysвЂќ November 18-21, 2010, Orlando,FL NCTE Annual Convention, "Teachers and Students Together: Living Literate Lives" Join the conversation on the NCTE ning at http://ncte2008.ning.com/ See details of these and other NCTE events at www.NCTE.org вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 19 вЂ“ Reading Langston Hughes Jennifer McCormick eading and writing are symbiotic. Good readers remain conscious of literary structures as they read and ultimately make choices about how to incorporate those structures into their own work. Teaching, like reading, is a responsive act in that neither teacher nor text function as the sole authority in the production of meaning. The reading-teaching analogy stems from reader-response criticism, specifically the work of Louise Rosenblatt. Her description of the transaction between text and reader lends itself to a dynamic conception of learning. вЂњThe view of the reading process not only frees us from notions of the impact of distinct and fixed entities, but also underlines the essential importance of both elements reader and text, in the dynamic reading transactionвЂќ (Rosenblatt, p. 43). Learning occurs under the guidance, or apprenticeship, of the teacher and experiences relevant to the learning context. The reader-response paradigm allows an analogy between transactional reading and transactional learning. As a metaphor, transaction becomes the common feature that the reading and learning share, highlighting how the reader\writer creates meaning and how the teacher guides learning. Each transaction is similar to the electric circuit set up between a negative and positive pole, like reader and text, teacher and student become inert without the other(p. 44). I argue that analyzing a textвЂ™s structural possibilities enhances a studentвЂ™s capacity to read like a writer, and that this dynamic transaction best occurs under the guidance of the teacher. I now turn to an example of how one teacher helped underscore the reading\writing relationship by assigning writing that incorporated an understanding of Langston Hughes. R The Assignment: ensuring the guidance of a text In the middle of an academic year, Ms. Perlmutter, a sixth grade language arts teacher, read three poems by Langston Hughes: вЂњDream Deferred,вЂќ вЂњI, Too, Sing AmericaвЂќ and вЂњLet America be America Again.вЂќ At the time she did not know that these poems would resonate with her students far more than the countless others she had read before or would read during the year. вЂњI chose the Hughes poems because they were accessible. The voice is youthful. The poet talks about dreams, which is a topic that resonates for young teens. HeвЂ™s also talking directly to an audience. Even in вЂњDream Deferred,вЂќ heвЂ™s asking you a question.вЂќ Through Hughes, Perlmutter enabled a sophisticated analysis of text. By the time PerlmutterвЂ™s students had encountered Hughes, they had read Lorca's "Muchos Somos," Alighieri's "Sonnet," and Edson's вЂњOh My God, I'll Never Get Home" as part of a Language Arts curriculum. The teacherвЂ™s awareness that HughesвЂ™ work resonated with students indicates a willingness to remain open to dialogue and an understanding of why teaching must be interactive. In her own words: вЂњI never know what will emerge as the central idea for a group of kids, so I need the space to pull in a poem.вЂќ The ideas in HughesвЂ™ work that moved these sixth graders centered on a demand for full citizenship, вЂњa place at the tableвЂќ; these ideas seeped into student writing in January and resounded that Spring as thousands of immigrants marched in the streets of Los Angeles carrying signs that said: вЂњWe all have the right to dream.вЂќ Perlmutter chose poetry that captured the energy of a city, and as the Spring progressed, student writing increasingly mirrored the life and concerns of Los Angeles. By acknowledging that she must create room for her students' ideas, she acknowledges that teaching is a responsive act. In order to support an interpretation and careful reading of Hughes, Perlmutter highlighted: вЂ“ line breaks and their effect on rhythm and momentum вЂ“ the poet's use of metaphor вЂ“ the ways language emerges from and critiques social practices These features complement each other, and heighten one's understanding of the poet's overall meaning. The following discussion outlines the steps this teacher took analyze the effect of language use on meaning. In her attempt to underscore poetic form, the musical and rhythmic aspects of poems, the teacher asked students to distinguish how poetry and prose look on the page. Some went on to write poems that reflected the spatial organization specific to verse: lines don't extend to the margin and vary in length. Others wrote paragraphs. Perlmutter also focused on the relationship between line and rhythm by reviewing syllabic accents. For instance, she asked her students to write the number of syllables in lines of poetry and find existing patterns. She talked about how poets break the line to pull readers into the text accenting significant ideas, as in the following example: But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. The breaks coupled with punctuation, commas and capitalization, accentuate terms that reinforce the speaker's agency. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 20 вЂ“ The reader pauses after laugh, well and strongвЂ”lingering over words that describe both physical and psychological well-being . Metaphor is integral to the poetвЂ™s social critiqueвЂ”вЂњthey send me to eat in the kitchen when company comesвЂќ вЂ“ so Perlmutter discussed how metaphor, conveys meaning. Metaphor rests on complex comparisons, which requires a perception of hidden meaning. Perceiving these meanings, or interpreting the metaphor, entails that the reader look beyond the surface, and make connections between distinct acts or objects: sitting at the table with company equals acceptance-- a respect that others have for how you look and act. Perlmutter guided student perception of hidden meanings, the general similarities that ideas or experiences share, through a series of questions that began with their memory of mental pictures: "What does it mean to sit at the table when company comes?" The question prompted sixth graders to see the table as a site of social acceptance. By discussing how metaphor is structured, the teacher also looked at how Hughes wields language to critique social practice. Metaphor, in Hughes work, reveals the realities of racial oppression. PerlmutterвЂ™s question initiated the exploration of ideas that evolved around an ethical consideration: how is racism reinforced through social practices? It reflects both a critical and cultural reading of Hughes text, for it raises student awareness of the social situation that influenced Hughes, and the values that caused him to write poetry. To understand how one sixth grade student wrote a cohesive text, it is helpful to look closely at the rhetorical structures and the discourse of "I, Too, Sing America." Hughes conveys a message of black resilience through tone, repetition and metaphor. He speaks directly to an audience in his opening lines. " I, Too, Sing America. I am the darker brother." By positioning America as an interlocutor, Hughes separates himself from his audience, forcing us to question both the speaker's identity and America's. He then identifies the speaker in the poem: "I am the darker brother." After this declaration, which is powerful in its simplicity, he introduces the metaphor that both structures and gives meaning to the poem: "they send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes." Unlike the "I" in the second line, "they" is vague, leaving space for the reader to question the constitution of the collective pronoun. Who is the "they" that sends the speaker to the kitchen, when company comes? Hughes never mentions a white hierarchy, but when examining the pronoun use the implication is unmistakable. Then comes the line that signals a turning point: "But I Laugh." By shifting from "they" as the subject of the line to "I," the author shifts the momentum of the poem. "But I laugh" conveys an agency that is resilient. Hughes belittles indignity through a voice(or tone) that will dominate throughout the rest of the poem, moving us forward and conveying Hughes' meaningвЂ”the I, or persona, will rise up, despite an oppressive racism. Listen: But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong Hughes carefully, chooses words to point out how the speaker deflects derision in order to triumphвЂ”and bask in the realization of his own power. Toward the end of the poem, "eating at the table" becomes a metaphor for an acceptance that is inevitable. The author pivots off "But I Laugh" in order to lead us to the rationale for that acceptanceвЂ”a rationale which he accentuates through his last affirmation, "I, Too, Am America." After reading Hughes, Perlmutter asked students to craft their own poems: "Take a word, or a line, or an image from one of these three poems, and manipulate it to say something you want to say." She relied on a published text to elicit creative writing from her students that they could not have conceived without reading published work. Perlmutter expects sixth graders to manipulate language to say something they wanted to say. The incorporation of creative writing into a language arts curriculum reflects an expansive view of literacy learning that promoted several students to move beyond a simple replication of the poemвЂ™s pattern. They created their own meaning through an aesthetic sensibility Perlmutter facilitated. For one student, that sensibility entailed a recognition of poetic structure, the pattern of the poemвЂ™s turning (Theune). Jordan, a twelve year old African American girl, responded to PerlmutterвЂ™s assignment by composing вЂњBut I Laugh.вЂќ The poem illustrates the author's capacity to forge meaning through a particular genre, to skillfully use line breaks, repetition and spatial organization to convey an idea. This student could not have written her poem without having read poetryвЂ”specifically, in this case, Langston Hughes. Her familiarity with both the way poetry is structured, and the content of Hughes poem allowed her to say something she would not have said on her own. However, the structure and content of her work also indicate that she moved beyond a simplistic imitation of "I, Too, Sing America." By looking closely at writing as a means of expression that incorporates and moves beyond the original texts that students read, I illustrate the reciprocal relationship between reading and writingвЂ”the way in which each process influences the development of the other. My illustration speaks to the contention that when students read like writers, they become more discriminating about written language and use this discrimination to guide their own writing. They thus look to written texts as sources of inspirationвЂ” noticing organizational structures such as word repetition, the spatial organization of printed language and the location of poetic turns. Effective readers/writers are aware of how language is organized to convey meaning. They see how syntax captures an audience and understand how metaphor highlights the similarities between вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 21 вЂ“ seemingly different objects. Awareness of poetic structure reflects and reinforces an awareness of audience. With this consciousness, students not only write like readers, they read as writersвЂ”with the craft in their heads. I quote вЂњBut I LaughвЂќ in its entirety to illustrate how Jordan integrates graphic design, line breaks, repetition, imagery and semantic complexity to convey the idea of triumph. To write the poem, Jordan took a single line from вЂњI, Too, Sing America.вЂќ The line, вЂњBut I laugh,вЂќ is embedded in HughesвЂ™ textвЂ” in the middle of a stanza. A sixth grader may have easily overlooked the line because of its position in the poem and its syntactic simplicity, but for Jordan, the central idea of her work emerges from these three words. Her word choice, in this instance, is stunning because she pivots around language that is simple but meaningful. Her choice reflects her understanding of how Hughes uses the lineвЂ”to convey resilience. She chooses the line that structures the poemвЂ™s turn. By carefully re-positioning HughesвЂ™ line in her own poem, the young poet captures the idea of triumph. As in "I Too Sing America," [B]ut I laugh is semantically loaded; it signals a turning point in the text, and sets a momentum that that continues until the final stanza when the poet leaves her audience with the perfect ending. She captures us semanticallyвЂ”but the energy of the writing reminds me of music. The final line functions as a coda. We are literally and figuratively left on a high note. As in Hughes work, the line, вЂњBut I Laugh,вЂќ conveys the poemвЂ™s significance: it deflects criticism and expresses triumph. Jordan draws on вЂњI, too, am AmericaвЂќ to forge meaning by incorporating a pivotal line from that text, and by making the line central in her own work, yet Hughes does not overwhelm her. She wields an accomplished poet's language, but it does not wield her. In other words, she never simply replicates syntax, but forges meaning within her own text. She chooses "But I Laugh" as the title of her poem, and then creates a text that is original. Reading may have guided her own writing and her writing reflects her understanding of text. But she relies on multiple literary devices in order to make the text her own. She shifts registers between literary language and informal speech. For example. вЂњForever moreвЂќ sounds more like a line from Edgar Allen Poe than spoken language, but вЂњno place but upвЂќ relies on metaphors, commonly used by young people who speak of вЂњput upsвЂќ and вЂњbig ups.вЂќ The young author also relies on line breaks and punctuation to pull the reader into the text and accentuate words like, Freedom, Joy, Laughter, And love She thus understands how spatial organization can highlight terms that she deems significant. Perlmutter sees the originality. Out of the fifty poems, she chose вЂњBut I laughвЂќ as exemplary. When I asked her to explain this assessment, she said: The assignment was to take something from one of his [HughesвЂ™] poems, either a word, a line, an idea, an image, and write from that line or have the line in the writing. And she chose But I laugh, which comes from I too Sing America, which is more difficult poem for students to access. So she chose a poem that was much tougher, and she manipulated another authorвЂ™s words to say something. He did not simply write a formula. She did not simply repeat I will have a seat at the table. She really made this her own. JordanвЂ™s ability to make the text her own comes from her familiarity with poetic form. She knows how a poem looks on the page because she reads poetry; she has been immersed in opportunities to read, write and look closely at the poetry of others. The link between reading and appropriating a textвЂ™s form becomes clear in JordanвЂ™s explanation of why she repeated lines at the end of her poem: вЂњI read poetry that repeats lines. Also I did not think вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 22 вЂ“ anyone would remember names and faces if I did not repeat the line.вЂќ Jordan remembers how poetry is organized in published work. According to Judy her capacity to organize lines on a page is an indication that she reads proficiently. It is certainly an indication that that Jordan is aware of how communication works, that it is a manipulative act. As a manipulative act, one's use of language is not only a means for seeing and interpreting our experience, it is a means of creating that experience. Next Steps: The symbiotic relationship between reading and writing has been documented. In a position paper for the National Council of the Teachers of English(NCTE), Kathy Egawa describes the relationship between these two processes as one that is inextricably connected: "Writers grow in their ability to craft a particular genre, say poetry, through being immersed in opportunities to read, write and look closely at the poetry of others" (Egawa, p.1). The paper goes on to say that writing is best developed through multiple opportunities to write across the school day, and focused instruction that builds on actual student work. The connection has been recognized a prelude to success at the university level, as it is crucial to the development of academic literacy. In Academic Literacy: A Statement of Competencies Expected of Students Entering CaliforniaвЂ™s Public Colleges and Universities, the authors analyzed faculty responses around required reading and writing competencies. Simply put, вЂњstudents whose abilities in critical reading and thinking enable them to grasp an argument in anotherвЂ™s text can construct arguments in their own essaysвЂќ (Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates, 2002, p.15). A pedagogical emphasis on poetic structure can enhance a studentsвЂ™ ability to grasp the rhetorical structures or turns embedded in genres such as the argumentative essay After all, structure is ubiquitous: вЂњalmost everyone regularly engages in structured thinking and speech, and many everyday speech acts enact particular structures, contain effective turnsвЂќ (Theune, p.2). I argue that we can rely on it to solidify the reading\writing connection for our students. By making students aware of a textвЂ™s structural possibilities, we prompt them to read like writers. Perlmutter never discussed how Hughes uses вЂњBut I laughвЂќ to signal the poemвЂ™s turn. Jordan sees the turn and uses the same line to structure her own work. The first part of Hughes text deals with the reality of a racist societyвЂ”вЂњthey send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes.вЂќ вЂњ But I laughвЂќ serves as a turning point for the speakerвЂ™s ultimate triumph: вЂњTomorrow, IвЂ™ll be at the table when company comes.вЂќ HughesвЂ™ poem reflects a two part structure that begins with a consideration of a present reality and ends with a certainty that racism will be dismantled. I too sing America illustrates a Retrospect-Prospective turn in that it captures the social realities of the past, and the writerвЂ™s present, but ends with hope for the future. Jordan echoes that structure with the certainty that вЂњ I will fly on silver wings.вЂќ Her structural decisions should be made conscious. PerlmutterвЂ™s next step might have been to make this structure visible to her students in the Hughes text and then to bring in and discuss other genres with an identical structure. Structural turns establish connections between ideas or emotions within a text. They also establish similarities across genres. A familiarity with structure provides the writer with creative and logical tools to see a text before it is complete. вЂњAcquainted with turns, one can better see and even imagine a draftвЂ™s structural possibilities, and further draft, critique and revise accordinglyвЂќ (Theune, 2007, p. 4). Acquainted with structural possibilities, a writer makes a text her own. References: Egawa, Kathy. Writing in the Middle Grades, 6-8. Retrieved 7 December, 2009. (http://www1.ncte.org/prog/writing/research/113177.htm) National Council for the Teachers of English. Heath, B. S. & Wolf, S. (2004). Art is all about looking: drawing and detail. London: Creative Partnerships. Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates of the California Community Colleges, the California State University and the University of California. (Spring 2002). Academic Literacy: A Statement of Competencies Expected of Students Entering CaliforniaвЂ™s Public Colleges and Universities. Neruda, P. Muchos Somos. Retrieved 27 July 2009 from http://www.neruda.uchile.cl/ Rosenblatt, Louise. (1969) Towards a transactional theory of reading. Journal of Reading Behavior, 1(1), 31-51. Theune, Michael (Ed). (2007). Structure and Surprise: Engaging Poetic Turns. New York: Teachers & Writers Collaborative. About the Author: Jennifer McCormick teaches in the Division of Curriculum and Instruction at the Charter College of Education, California State University, Los Angeles. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 23 вЂ“ A Tale of Three Students: Meditations on My Craft in Dark Days et me tell you about three of my students. The student whom I will call Paulena was an average senior, earning respectable Cs and on track for graduation. She was tall and statuesque, a member of the dance team who kept a good attitude in class and did her best, though English was a struggle for her. Around late November of her senior year, Paulena vanished from class. I tried calling and talking to her friends. They told me that her father had pulled her out of school to work at Staples in order to make his truck payment. I got the legal wheels in motion to try and counteract this, but over Christmas break, Paulena turned eighteen and the law was helpless. Last I heard, Paulena was still working and hoping to get back to school someday. The student whom I will call Marisela was also a senior, like Paulena, low in English skills but with a good attitude and always willing to try her best. Marisela liked to run and was a pivotal member of the cross-country team. In November of her senior year, Concordia University in Irvine, California offered Marisela a full ride athletic scholarship. Her father opposed her going. She was a girl, after all, and why couldn't she get a job after high school. With tremendous difficulty, Marisela disobeyed her father and took up her scholarship at Concordia. I attended her college graduation. Her father at that point had to admit it wasn't such a bad thing. The student whom I will call Diana came from a very poor family, but she was bright and hard working. In her senior year, she took AP English Literature from me. She earned quite a bit of scholarship money. At least three University of California campuses and as many California State University campuses made her offers of admission. But Diana's heart was set on UCLA. I recall the day she opened the letter of acceptance from UCLA. She almost exploded with joy. AP instruction briefly stopped in my class for a celebration. She started at UCLA two years ago and is doing well. All three of these young women are Mexican-American from poor immigrant stock. We could launch into long discussions of their families, of cultural expectations and attitudes regarding education among poor immigrants, of cultural expectations of girls in regards to education. There would be a lot to say about such things and I have no doubt several books have already been written on the subject. A lot of personal conclusions also might be drawn from these three true stories: beyond what there is to say about cultural expectations and the role of young women in Mexican-American families, one might remark on how under NCLB, all of these outcomes are somehow my fault. All that is on my mind as I recall these three young women. But other thoughts are foremost to me. And the first thought that strikes me is that if under the present law teachers are blamed and praised for what is beyond their control, it is because we have become behaviorists to the point of absurdity. We opened the door for NCLB to come crashing down on our heads when L James Prothero education writers and speakers began talking as if every student were somehow programmable. We have darkened counsel with unthinking reliance on BF Skinner because it made us feel there was no challenge we couldn't overcome, nothing that couldn't be fixed. I see this as an honest error, born of our burning desire to serve every student and overcome obstacles such as Paulena and Marisela faced. But we made a bargain like Faustus, and the bargain is costing us. By writing and talking as if all educational problems can be fixed with the right spin, the right lesson plan, we set up the expectation that all students can, necessarily will succeed. We told politicians and вЂњexpertsвЂќ who never taught in a real classroom that we could be universally successful, and so they expected it of us. For some schools like mine, those same experts and politicians believed us, and have instituted policies that threaten the careers of skilled teachers who happen to work in lower socio-economic areas. What we forgot is right before us in our every day reality in the classroom. And that is, that free will is still alive and kicking. We forgot that outside influences can be and often are more powerful than our clever lesson plans. In our zeal to sound positive and determined, we forgot that for the kid that is being abused at home, the kid that comes from an illiterate family and has been frustrated for years reading in English as a second language, for the kid dazzled by some video world of escape via television, the movies, the computer, even our best lesson plans are rather cold porridge compared to the sensory feast they are offered elsewhere, or the all-absorbing tragedy of their lives. We forgot that it's entirely possible for a teenager not to care because they simply don't see the point, don't want to make the effort or feel that all the authority figures in their life are pushing them around and they are going to rebel. All these choices are theirs and we can't control their environment except in the 55-minute-a-day spaces we are allotted, if then. We talk as if our lesson plans can program success. But, even if we are behaviorists, we would in honesty have to admit that our influence on our students is very limited and that other influences are far more powerful. We have fallen into the generalization fallacy that just because some human behavior is changed by outside influences, all human behavior is changed by outside influences. And we've defined ourselves in a way that let the politicians come to the conclusion that education is the cure for poverty and therefore if low socio-economic schools aren't performing at the same level as affluent schools, it has to be the teachers' fault, because we teachers assured the politicians that all students can learn, after all. And we're paying for it. We put our faith in Skinner and embraced the behaviorist model and now we're finding that the state has used this as a pretext to appoint those of us who teach in low socio-economic schools as de facto social engineers who were supposed to cure poverty at a cheap price. They have assumed education was the road out of poverty and we assured them all students can learn, and now it seems we haven't produced as promised. So some of us are going to be scapegoats вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 24 вЂ“ for our collective error. We're the вЂњfailed teachersвЂќ in вЂњfailing schoolsвЂќ who will be shown the door. My second thought is that there is good news and that is that free will is a gate swinging both ways. Yes, it does mean that students can refuse to learn in spite of our best efforts. But I like it better this way, despite the frustrations that reality routinely causes. If I really thought of my students as programmable, teaching would be not a lot different than teaching dolphins to jump through hoops for a fish reward. If I wanted a job like that I would have applied at Sea World. But I'm not in the business of programming facts into the heads of students in a uniform manner despite the best efforts of districts to apply the state standards in this fashion. I'm an English teacher, and therefore I teach Humanities; I teach kids just a little bit more about how to be human. Sure, literature and writing are my tools, but don't mistake the tools for the thing to be created. We want intelligent, literate and free human beings to walk out of our classrooms, not automatons that can parrot back standards, or dolphins who will jump through the hoop for rewards. Now let no one mistake me here. I do believe fervently that there are best methods and that research makes a tremendous difference. I was a 1991 fellow of the UC Irvine Writing Project and could not begin to tell you how much I learned, continue to learn from that experience. We must pay attention to the research and use the best methodology for the best results. To do otherwise would be unconscionable. But the standards as presently constituted and tested fly in the face of what research tells us is effective. As Kelly Gallagher has said, they are a hundred miles wide and an inch thick. This semester I have been tasked with drilling figurative language, irony and other literary devices into the heads of ninth graders. They usually remember them for a day or two and then we start back at square one. But the real problem isn't my methodology. The real problem is these young people don't like to read, and therefore don't read, and therefore don't improve, and therefore don't like to read. They are caught in a downward spiral of illiteracy. If they don't enjoy reading, why would knowing literary devices as the standards demand even matter? What does it have to do with any reality they know so that they might even recall the concept when the test is over? But the feverish demand to address the standards leaves little time to address the real problem of getting past what Carol Booth Olson calls their вЂњaffective filtersвЂќ and lighting the pilot light of their literacy. In this second issue is an aspect of education that almost no standard test can touch on or begin to measure. If in twenty-six years of teaching I've discovered anything, it's that students learn what they are ready to learn, when they are ready to learn it and not before, and almost no two students learn the same things at the same time or speed. And sometimes they learn what no one had intended. About five years ago, I taught my seniors the poetry of John Keats, as I usually do. As extra credit on my final exam, I offered my seniors the chance to respond to the following prompt: вЂњWhat of importance did you learn in senior English this year?вЂќ I have learned to keep the question vague because I often discover things that direct questioning would miss. I probably made it vague that first time because I was tired and didn't think the prompt through adequately. But I'm very glad now that I had that lapse, or I would never have known the extent of my reach. The first time I posed the question, as you might expect, some of the answers were selfserving, or servile. Others entailed serious attempts to recall the plots and characters of poems and stories they had read. None remembered much literary terminology. After all the days and hours I spent on what the state test prescribed, they found literary devices too dryly analytical to remember. But one student told me that a beloved family member had died and they had been seriously contemplating taking their own life until we read Keats. Somehow Keats gave that particular student the courage to face existence with death as a part of reality. I doubt this student scored very high on state tests and may not have impressed any examiner of the standards. But this student learned something no standards can ever test. If that makes me a вЂњfailed teacherвЂќ and the state or district shows me the door, for that kind of result, I'll gladly go. So here I am in these dark days, probably looking foolish and lonely for standing up by myself against the majority of the educational psychology establishment in my refusal to bend the knee before BF Skinner and the behaviorists. But I'm not alone and I have hope. At very least John Steinbeck is standing with me. I'm teach East of Eden to my AP English literature and composition class and they are loving it. The bookвЂ™s theme is free will, timshel, the Hebrew word meaning that one can choose evil or good. In a world of free will, students, like all human beings, are messy and unpredictable creatures. But they are humans, with freedom and dignity, if you please Dr Skinner. And I like such a world far better than working in an вЂњeducational success factoryвЂќ that turns out automata that have the standards memorized. Sure, all students can learn, but will they? Will they? In the end is a matter of their will. I'm sure I helped Diana, but Diana did far more to help herself. And I think I helped Paulena, though she didn't have what it took to stand up to her father and demand an education as Marisela did. I had no control over these choices made by these young women. I will tell you about a fourth and last young woman. I will call her Jessie and she's like the others and she's graduating this year. In her exit interview she told how she was a poor student for her first two years of high school and then at the beginning of her junior year, the light came on for her and she realized she really did want an education. Here work thereafter and in her senior year in my English class has been stellar. She is planning to go on through doctoral work and become a clinical psychologist. And she has what it takes to do it. So I have hope. We are performing miracles, when students permit us to. So I will not beat myself up when students don't want to learn after I've tried everything. It's not personal. And I refuse to program anybody. Sorry. I don't work at Sea World. Sure, I'll cover the standards, but I will go on lighting flames first and watch for the unexpected miracles. About the Author: Jim Prothero teaches at Saddleback High in South Santa Ana as well as Orange Coast College and Santa Ana College. He is a UCI Writing Project fellow. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 25 вЂ“ THIS ESSAY WON THE SECOND PRIZE IN THE CATE 2010 PROFESSIONAL WRITING CONTEST. Teaching the Universe of Discourse Chuck Dowdle any years after being challenged to take a curricular вЂњroad less traveled,вЂќ this is what a few of my former junior high school students had to say about the journey: M Dear Mr. Dowdle: вЂњI have been slow in writing but want you to know how much I have enjoyed your book. I can see the value for teaching purposes but hope you understand the value to me as a student writer. Throughout the early 70вЂ™s there was such an intensity that became real to me again as I read the works of other class members. I think we were trying to grow up too quickly, surrounded by the fight for love and peaceвЂ”Viet Nam and the Hippie children. Your style of teaching encouraged honesty in writing and deep thinking as well. We were not just learning to write but to feel and see the value in our fellow studentsвЂ™ work. Thank you for taking me back to special memories and innocent times. You must feel proud to see your creation come to life. Thank you for including my poem and inspiring me to remember some very special вЂ�old friends.вЂ™вЂќ With deep fondness, вЂ“ Linda Escola, Seventh Grade - 1970 Dear Mr. Dowdle: вЂњThanks so much for calling me. It was great to chat with you. I cannot tell you what a profound influence those two periods of 7th grade English with you wound up having on my life. It was all those assignments written in a fat cursive hand in a red spiralbound notebook that I still possess that made me realize how much I enjoyed writing and think of myself for the first time as a вЂњwriter.вЂќ After decades in newspapers, winding up at the San Jose Mercury News, I have been at MSNBC.com for more than nine years now, so I was among the pioneering crowd in Web journalism. These days, I am a national writer based in Redmond, Washington. Below are some of the stories I enjoyed writing most:вЂќ Cancer series: www.lowblow.msnbc.com Profile of a Town Icon in Waveland, Miss. Profile of a Cop from Bay St. Louis, Miss. SeasonвЂ™s Greetings from a Hurricane Zone. Fondly, вЂ“ Mike Stuckey, Seventh Grade - 1970 Mr. Dowdle! вЂњI want you to know that your class was instrumental in my development as a person. Several years ago, I wrote about you in my autobiography for my graduate school application. In junior high, I was not what one calls a вЂњdedicated student.вЂќ I really did not enjoy school. Your class, your manner of teaching was sanctuary for me. You challenged us. You addressed us as вЂњpeople.вЂќ We all thought this was funny at the time, but on some level it felt respectful. Most of all, you were encouraging. You taught me how to write poetry! You gave me an important means of expression when I needed it most. You created an environment where I could experience success.вЂќ What a gift! Your friend, вЂ“ Suzanne Dieter, Seventh Grade - 1981 These testimonials from former students were nice to receive, but what the students were not aware of was that if I hadnвЂ™t been given a gift by James Moffett, thereвЂ™s no way they would have received one from me because I would have been teaching English the same old way I always had. But I was given a gift by him; I did take the road less traveled; I did make a personal choice, and that choice made all the difference in the world for my students and me. This whole process of reeducation began on May 23, 1968 when a group of English teachers was invited to meet with the California English Textbook and Framework Implementation Committee to discuss in-service education for teachers of English. The State of California had $100,000 available for this project, and they wanted us to tell them how to spend it. Can you imagine anything like that happening today? We decided that a massive in-service education program in English was the best way to spend the money, and the project was begun. One hundred teachers of English from throughout the state were selected to attend two one week training sessions at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California, and three of us from Santa Rosa were fortunate to be among those selected. At those training sessions ideas were exchanged in small groups of about twenty to a group, and major innovators in English from some of the top universities in the country spoke to us about their work and then participated in question and answer sessions which sometimes ended in heated discussions. One of the major speakers at the conference was James Moffett, formerly a research associate in English at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and itвЂ™s with Mr. MoffettвЂ™s work that the real nuts and bolts of my story begins. First came Drama: What Is Happening, a fifty-four page booklet Moffett had written about вЂњthe use of dramatic activities in the teaching of English.вЂќ John Maxwell who was Secondary Section Chairman of the National Council of Teachers of English at the time said, вЂњIn brief, MoffettвЂ™s thesis is that one learns about language, literature, and composition in a coherent way by participating in the experience of creating discourse: writing plays and short stories, poems, and other forms; or acting, interpreting, and creating drama in diverse and realistic situations. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 26 вЂ“ In Mr. MoffettвЂ™s conception, discourse should be arranged along a continuum, extending from the person as an inner-speaker (soliloquy) to a speaker-about-things (essay).вЂќ This idea made so much sense to me that when I discovered that the booklet I was reading was only a chapter from another of MoffettвЂ™s books, I got his Teaching the Universe of Discourse and read it, too. I shouldnвЂ™t say I read it. I should say I studied it, mastered the sequence of ideas in it, and applied them in my junior high school English classrooms for the last twenty-three years of my teaching career. Never again would I teach in what I would call bits and pieces. Now my whole English program had connectedness; it was integrated. Forevermore, my kids would always be put through a sequence of oral dramatic and narrative activities before theyвЂ™d ever be asked to write an essay or a poem about a topic. Each year we examined life itself as a topic in this series of language activities, and the following poems are products of the process that resulted during two different years: Life To love, to laugh, to play the game of life, Each man alive seeks to survive at least, Through one lifeвЂ™s span to rise above the strife That each day brings between the times of feast. The feast is love, a giving kind that must Be shared to be enjoyed. The giver takes all. The game goes to the stronger man if just He never looks for gain in love at all. You havenвЂ™t time to waste; The rats have started running. Live! The world is sinking fast. You havenвЂ™t time to waste. Dance! Yell! Do wild things to be regretted! Get married young! It donвЂ™t make no difference when you do it. It never works nohow. Kiss the shadows of the past farewell. They are gone, so sings the knell. Death and life so transcendental, Of no importance. How could they be, they are so easy come by. The Gods sit on their chaise lounges, Spitting grape seeds at their creations! Mankind doesnвЂ™t own the world; They rented it from God. The deed is being torn. We sit on earth in the wastes of our existence And hide behind the shield of our illusion, Pretending we simply cannot die. The Gods sit on their chaise lounges And spit cherry pits at us! Man sits in crowded cities, Existing not living. Producing children out of boredom, Sentencing to fight the fight we fought and lost. His soul and all his life are spent in search Of why weвЂ™re born and why we die and how We span the time between like swaying birch Wind-bent and battered, uprooted and forced to bow. But always the hope that the pain will be shared by one other Who loves you as deeply as a lover or parents or brother. вЂ“ Cory Antipa, Ninth Grade вЂ“ 1967 Teenagers Beware, the Gods are eating avocadoes! вЂ“ Kim Haylock, Eighth Grade вЂ“ 1970 This journey through the genre (monologues, dialogues, short plays, letters, logs, diaries, autobiographies, memoirs, biographies, chronicles, short histories, short stories, essays and poetry) became an exciting trip for my students and me, one that lasted for many years and that wouldnвЂ™t have been possible without the work of James Moffett. This poem is to be read fast and desperately, preferably in three breaths. Hassle, Fight, Stab! Who wears the nicest things? Who throws the wildest parties? Who makes out? Who takes pot? Who has the friends? Who has money? Who got busted? Hypocrites! I scream in all my arrogant omnipotence, No better than those I scream at. Belong! Get with it! Get in! Works Cited: Dowdle, Chuck. Kids Can Write! Pittsburgh: Red Lead Press, 2007. Moffett, James. Drama: What Is Happening: Champaign, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English, 1967. Moffett, James. Teaching the Universe of Discourse : Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1968. About the Author: Chuck Dowdle taught junior high school English with the Santa Rosa City Schools for thirty years. His Kids Can Read! and Kids Can Write! are both available at www.redleadbooks.com. вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 27 вЂ“ R U esearch pdate Navigating the Waters Barbara Bartholomew Dear First-Year Teacher: I sometimes think that the best part of teaching is the revisiting and retelling of those things we have mulled over so many times that we cannot possibly find one more thing to say or love about them, but then somehow mysteriously do. For me, that moment comes several times a year when I tell a little story from the chronicles of Jean Piaget. When he was still a teenager, Piaget conducted ongoing experiments on water mollusks in a small, personal challenge to the вЂњsurvival of the fittestвЂќ theories of Charles Darwin. In one memorable trial, he changed the physical environment of the developing young from their calm, natural habitat to one consisting of rougher, more turbulent waters. What Piaget discovered was that the undeveloped tube-shaped mollusks he had begun his experiment with gradually altered form under the harsher conditions, becoming more spherical in form and physically resistant to their challenging surroundings. In this early biological experiment we see two of PiagetвЂ™s landmark ideas in their infancy: adaptation as an active response to the environment and accommodation as a means of getting what is new and unexpected to fit, despite what must change for this to happen. When I tell this story, it embodies for me a perfect tale of any number of things: how individuals learn, how they adapt, that biology isnвЂ™t fate (or is), that from early ideas (PiagetвЂ™s) tall oaks grow, the possibility that the new and inexperienced individual can see things and take actions more veteran colleagues might miss and so on, depending on where I am in my thinking at the time and how many liberties I wish to take in retelling the story. As you have probably witnessed, teachers have been known to take liberties in what they do, yet probably not as many as others take with what they think teachers do. I would like to share two threads of thinking with you as you begin to form your teaching identityвЂ”one from the conventional school of public opinion and another from the unconventional school of teacher thinking. Each will serve as a guidepost as you accommodate and adapt to your new environment. You will, however, need to understand the other side of education to balance your thinking and your practice. Where there are schools, there are politics. The first rule of being effective in your job is to understand this. As a result, you will need to know where the winds blow. For instance, according to a just-released Public Policy Institute of California report, almost two-thirds of Californians think that there is not enough funding going toward their schools and that schools should be sheltered from further budgetary cuts. This is sound thinking and tells us the public cares about its schools. As survey results continue, the viewpoints reflect mixed encouragement, however. Almost 75% of adults in this state believe that there is a grave issue on whether schools can deliver as a result of the budget. In fact, 85% say school quality is a dire problem. Because public opinion is a powerful thing; it will determine much that affects your classroom experience. Do not be surprised that voters are in favor of teacher merit pay or that their thinking on this may or may not be in line with your own, e.g. that length of teaching service should not figure into the mix or that student test scores do matter in determining who gets extra money. Some other points from the PPIC report: вЂў Almost 70% of California voters see the dropout rate as a defining issue in education. They want it fixed and would like to see teachers in high need districts make more money to work there. They would also like to see extra available funds diverted into high need districts. вЂў Over half of voters think that high schools are doing a poor job in preparing students for college and the workforce. Approximately 40% of parents feel unprepared to help their children with their studies at home, while maintaining the dream and expectation that their children will attend college. вЂў Contentment with the neighborhood educational enterprise remains surprisingly high, with 70% of parents giving their local schools high marks. Note to new teacher: Let this guide you when you observe your principal siding with parents over teachers. UPSHOT: THE CONVENTIONAL THINKING English teachers are storytellers and interpreters of the word. The public can be both a wise and a stern task master, unaware of the impediments we face in doing our jobs. They вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 28 вЂ“ want to see results. When they do not, their view of school efficacy is low. Your best means of assuring parents are happy with your work is to keep them in the loop, maintaining an open line of communication. Further, stay active in your union. It is the unionвЂ™s job to argue your point to the legislature and to the governor and to the press. Conventional thinking can only be changed through active engagement on your part. Available: Californians and Education, Public Policy Institute of California, April 2010. http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/survey/S_410MBS.pdf THE UNCONVENTIONAL SCHOOL A bird doesnвЂ™t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song вЂ“ Maya Angelou Sometimes in the search for the best way to reach students, we overlook the obvious. The most fundamental and important piece of writing we teach in elementary school is personal letter writing, the basic norms of which date from the Middle Ages proving that there was a pedagogic world before the textbook industry. By high school, with the exception of the business letter, letter writing instruction has been largely supplanted by report and creative writing. Yet the evocative nature of the letter and simplicity of its narrative delivery nonetheless make it a natural forum for writing from the heart and from the gut. On a recent visit to the traveling Vietnam war memorial wall, I was stilled by the notes and letters that spontaneously follow it as do medals, battalion hats, and haunting photos. One in particular stood out for me, not only for its artlessness but for its ability to convey the real cost of war. sharing communities, much like those that spontaneously erupt at the memorial, stands in stark relief to the rote lessons in todayвЂ™s classrooms. In the Boxed Voices project, participants as diverse as preservice teachers and secondary students identify meaningful objects associated with an historical event or person. These artifacts, including letters, are assembled as part of a group learning process, much like a small memorial that attracts participants who wish to make attachments to move a life event into a learning moment. Thinking, writing, conversation, inquiry research, and reflection provide an immersion experience for learning. See: вЂњAuthoring Histories and Literacies: The Boxed Voices Project,вЂќ Trisha Wies Long in Language Arts, March, 2008. In another novel use for letter writing, researchers at the University of Delaware asked students to write a letter arguing for less out of school work. From this goal-centered task, they were able to identify seven novel rhetorical strategies students employed to construct argumentative discourse. The authors Dear David: Just thought IвЂ™d write. When I wrote this letter, IвЂ™d never seen a clearer night. The breeze was blowing like the ones you always enjoyed, and the crickets still can sing me off to sleep. Talked to Kate the other day on the telephone. She said she was doing better, trying to adjust to being alone. She said sheвЂ™s going to take some classes in the fall, you said youвЂ™d take one with her when you got home, as you recall. Well, momвЂ™s been meaning to see you, but the workвЂ™s just never done, and Dad just sits around and stares. Well, I just know that theyвЂ™re real proud of you, you served your country like you had to. ItвЂ™ll take a little time, but theyвЂ™ll be there. I guess IвЂ™ll miss you most of all. You were more than a brother, you were a friendвЂ¦ Bringing our students together to form engaged learning and вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 29 вЂ“ suggest that teachers who wish to teach their students to argue persuasively must target the teaching of relevant background knowledge needed to judge an argumentвЂ™s acceptability and relevance. Focus for developing such student judgment should lie in understanding a) the writerвЂ™s purpose, b) those argumentative strategies that suit that purpose, and c) critical questioning strategies that can be used to test an argumentвЂ™s soundness. See: вЂњDo Goals Affect the Structure of StudentsвЂ™ Argumentative Writing Strategies?вЂќ Ralph P. Ferretti, et al. in Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 101, No. 3, 2009. UPSHOT: Let imagination, observation, common sense and research guide you in thinking and teaching outside the box. OF INTEREST: вЂў Lit2GoвЂ”A unique online literature trove from FloridaвЂ™s Educational Technology Clearinghouse consisting of hundreds of free books and stories in both MP3 and pdf format. Authors span from Walt Whitman to Ovid to Comtesse d'Aulnoy. Alas, no Gary Larson. Available: http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/ вЂў Awesome StoriesвЂ”If you are a fan of Read 180, you will love Awesome Stories. The site can be used for either grade level students looking to enhance their knowledge of texts or for remedial students needing the extra boost of background knowledge and visualization. The website, first launched in 1999, specializes in helping educators and individuals find original sources, located at national archives, libraries, universities, museums, historical societies and government-created web sites. The website features a calendar of historical videos linked to important events in history that occurred in that month. Available: http://www.awesomestories.com/ вЂў 2010 Reading Institute, Anaheim, CA , July 19-21вЂ”If you have been considering extending your credential to include Reading and Literacy, do not miss this free conference by the sterling Center for Instruction on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. While the conference covers PK through Grade 3 literacy, the information you will receive will be useful and pertinent to working with remedial students. Teachers, coaches, principals, and State and District Administrators are welcome to attend this important event. There is no registration fee. Available: For more information about the 2010 Reading Institute, you should visit the 2010 conference website at http://www.mikogroup.com/2010readinginstitute/ R.I.P. California State University Bakersfield Reading and Literacy ProgramвЂ”Our wonderful literacy MA program has fallen victim to the budget cuts and will accept no more students. While our literacy graduate program was always well-enrolled, our numbers were not sufficient to save us. My colleagues Mahmoud Suleiman and Kristina LaGue will remain in Teacher Education next fall and I will be joining the CSUB English Department as, yes, an Assistant Professor of Reading and Literacy. Plus Г§a change, plus c'est la mГЄme chose. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Barbara Bartholomew is an Assistant Professor of Reading and Literacy at California State University Bakersfield. Email: [email protected] вЂ“ California English вЂў Vol. 15.5 вЂў June 2010 вЂў page 30 вЂ“ CATE 2011 in Sacramento February 11-13 вЂњNEVER MORE CRUCIALвЂќ CATE 2010 in Los Angeles was a powerful weekend, full of collegial fun and learning. Call for Proposals is now posted on www.catenet.org/cate2011/index.htm Questions? вЂ“ contact Michelle Berry at [email protected]