What to Write About

So, next week my students start their journals, but we cannot start the novel until this Friday, so in the mean time I’m wondering what we could write about. I have this small book that has prompts, but I’m not sure the students will enjoy them…

I was curious to know what some of your favorite prompts were when you were younger. I want to engage them with interesting, perhaps even controversial prompts so they can get into writing. I know that there are many students who have so much to say about a lot of things, but are afraid to speak out and by providing them with a safe space in which to write they can feel comfortable with their opinion and they can voice it through their writing.

            I’m curious to know what my students view is on some topics and I’m curious to know how engaging our discussions would be if they wrote things down first. I know that when I get a few minutes to write things down before I have a discussion whit someone about something I feel so much more confident in my point of view, and I’m sure my students aren’t any different.

            I have a few concerns about the time I have to read this novel, because like I mentioned before I will begin reading this novel with my students on Monday of next week because my CT needed to get their second semester writing assessment done before I began my unit. I will only have about seven weeks with them until I leave, so I’m wondering if I should stay until they finish the novel… I wouldn’t mind actually. I know that they can finish a book in about 6 weeks, but that’s if we read super fast and discuss very little, so I may just have to stick around.

            Anyway, my biggest concern right now is coming up with interesting, engaging, somewhat controversial prompts for my students to write about before we get into the novel. Any suggestions?

Procedures Procedures

I hope you all had a spectacular spring break, and I hope I hear some crazy stories when I see you all in class this week. I have to be honest…I was more than ready for this break. I needed it much more than I realized. I have to be a bit concerned, however, because I know most of my kiddos are not as excited about getting back to school as I am and therefore are expected to act up a bit during the first couple of days of school.

When I left school on the 15^th my CT simply told me to be prepared for the students to be rowdy, and to go over procedures as much as possible. I honestly don’t know what procedures to go over except the CHAMPS posters and restroom passes. I also don’t remember my teachers ever going over procedures with my classes after each and every break when I was growing up. I can see the benefits, but I feel that all the teachers are going to be going over CHAMPS and procedures for hall behavior etc. etc. tomorrow, and by the time I get my 8^th grade honors language arts kiddos they will have been so bored with all these procedures and rules that they’re going to act up even more.

Is it foolish to begin classes with a few group building exercises and games? I could get class started with those, and then move on to procedures. I’m just nervous because the kids will be super rowdy. I might do procedures and rules first and then do some fun little games to reconnect and build relationships.

Update on my nonsense with the novel and spiral notebooks:

My principal told me he would provide the notebooks for the kids who did not bring them!! This was so nice to hear and a huge relief because now my CT won’t have to spend any money of her own for the notebooks and the kids will all have full size notebooks to write in instead of half mini notebooks. Also, we found the perfect spot for the para that refused to be in our room while we read the novel. I had her pick her own novel that dealt with propaganda and communism, and she loved the idea of running her own little class with our two girls who will not be reading the novel with us. It’s kinda funny how it all worked out J  

Negative Vibes

           So, remember how I said I was going to read Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick to my classes this last semester? Well, I still am, but I had to go through some crazy trouble to get here. I noticed that my para was spending so much time in the library talking to the librarian a few weeks ago, but I didn’t think anything of it because I didn’t have a reason to. Last week my CT comes up to me and tells me that she had received several calls from the librarian concerning the book I chose to read. “The book is too graphic for this age of kiddos,” the librarian told my CT. So I’m getting all stressed because I possibly have to come up with a whole new book to read along with all new activities, and because my mom bought a house and she wants to move in April, and I still have so many things to do before the end of April (KPTP, 1million papers, books to read, planning, etc. etc.)  that I felt a bit overwhelmed so I went home and cried for a bit. L

            Next day my CT says, “You know, I was reading the book and I think its graphic, but it’s not any different form the Holocaust, so I think we should still continue with our plan. I think our kids will benefit from this story because it is so relevant and it fits in so nicely with the recent activities that we have been doing.” I almost gave her a hug, but I contained myself. We ended up taking it to the principal, who approved it right away and we sent home a parent letter.

            The para, however, was appalled that we were actually going to read this with our kids so she begins to talk to the other English teachers at the school and requests to be taken out of our class and/or switched with another para. All of a sudden we’ve got two three teachers coming up to us talking about this books and questioning my professionalism and morals, so I challenged them to read it before they trashed it. The para refused, but everyone else is currently reading it, and they like it so far. There are some cuss words in it and it is graphic, but if we have the okay from the parents and the okay from the principal, then I will read it with my class and we will become better people because of it. If you haven’t read it, I strongly encourage you to do so. It is a powerful book, and it is worth every bit of bad vibe we got for it. 

             The following is a review of the book:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12924297-never-fall-down

Asking.Writing.Hoping.Growing

I’m starting to become much more excited about teaching in my English placement after spring break. I decided to read Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick, which is amazing. I have the whole calendar done and ready to go, but I also have noticed that my kids do not write very well, so I’ll use this books and the many controversial topics it brings up to have my kids write journal response entries every day. I have requested that my principal give me notebooks for the kids because I want them to have a notebook in the classroom which is their very own and no one will read besides me and them.

            We’ll see if my principal gives me notebooks after spring break, and I hope he doesn’t think that I’ve lost my mind, because I asked him and did not let my CT do it for me. I think it shows courage and I think is shows that I will request things form the school if it means that my students will benefit from it.

            I also plan on writing a letter asking parents to buy some spiral notebooks for their kids during spring break, which I will share the letter with both my CT and my principal for their approval. I know, however, that many parents won’t buy notebooks for reasons they only know, which is why I’m counting on my principal for support. What should I do if he does think I’m out of line? After all I am only a student teacher…

            I told him that I have a plan B which basically means that I’ll take any and all the notebooks I get from my kids and cut them horizontally to make mini notebooks which will work fine for their journal entries, but not much else. I think the whole point of keeping writing notebooks is so my students have all their writing in one place, and so they can look back through it sometime in their life and enjoy remembering their 8^th grade thoughts.

            Hopefully all goes as planned, and my kids enjoy their last semester of middle school. I also hope that they learn a lot about themselves through this novel, and that they learn plenty about their wiring style. I know that’s how I learned. I just wrote and wrote, and I fell in love with expressing my feeling on paper. I just hope my kids do too.