Interversity.Org

Four weeks into the new school year. I'm tired already. I feel as though I'm fighting a losing battle against the "culture" of school, or at least the culture of my school. We want students to succeed, but what if the students don't want to succeed because it costs too much? You have to risk a great deal in order to succeed because you almost always have to fail first.

So, I'm thinking--What do I do to turn things around for those kids of mine who are not passing? How do I change the culture of the class to make "work" a positive thing instead of a weakness? How do I convince them that in order to pass, in order to succeed, you have to take risks, especially of failure? I don't know.

So, I need to return to my thinking about a workshop type of class. What does it look like? How do I move the control from me to the students? How do I hold them accountable for their work and their thinking, and most of all, their learning? That's my dilemma.

Here's what I'm thinking of trying next week (provided I'm not interrupted every minute for silly stuff, like computerized standardized tests):

I want to introduce my "thinking about text" chart with some short texts, perhaps "Salvadore, Late or Early," or something from The House of Mango Street, Seedfolks, or "Shells" from Every Living Thing by Cynthia Rylant. I need to model how to "do" the thinking chart, how to record thinking ABOUT rather than simple retelling. Then, from those thinking charts, I want students to discuss the texts with each other. That's the hard part, teaching students how to talk about texts. We do need to do more modeling and practicing with students, but I'm not sure how to accomplish this goal completely. I guess I just need to review the literature, talk with others, and give it a try without giving up.

So, off to my next round of thinking and research. I wonder if the school is open today? I could go get my "stuff," the Fountas and Pinnell books that I refer to so often.