Changing Blogs

I've decided to officially change to a new blog format. I won't be shutting this blog down, but you can now find me over at Wordpress. I've titled my new blog Room 149 after my current classroom number. The new address is http://dcjason.wordpress.com. I've already posted over 10 times, so you have some catching up to do!

Graphic Novels, Past & Present

In anticipation of #TitleTalk on May 27, I wanted to write down a few thoughts on graphic novels.

When I was in junior high and high school, I rarely read books. I spent my free time playing video games, going to church functions, and hanging out with my family and friends. My high school had an Accelerated Reader program, or something comparable, and I remember being required to take a test once a nine weeks. I remember a few titles like Miracles on Maple Hill (which I hated and failed the test on) and The Bogart, which I would forget about and then remember years later when I read the Harry Potter series. As a senior, I happened to discover Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, a YA classic, which most of my students have already read by the time they enter Room 149.

However, I did read some books for fun in my spare time during my teen years. My dad's credit card at the time gave him rewards at Waldenbooks, and each time we went to the nearby Shawnee Mall, I purchased a new collection of comic strips in the Calvin and Hobbes, Baby Blues, or Fox Trot series. I devoured those books, took them on field trips, and reread them because I was interested in drawing and enjoyed the humor. (I even entertained the idea of becoming a cartoonist some day. Ha!) I had no idea at the time that graphic novels existed. I was content with just reading three or four panels at a time, taking in the ink and words, waiting for the punchline.


Flash forward ten years, and I now have amassed around 500 books in my classroom library. A handful of them are graphic novels, and honestly, they do not get checked out all that much. I do book talks on them from time to time, but my Pre-AP students prefer "real" books. I believe graphic novels are just as real as any other books out there, but I have had a hard time getting my students to read them. Here are a few to get you started if you're new to graphic novels.

[The reviews / summaries in bracketed text come from Goodreads.com. This means I read the book before starting a Goodreads account, which was in the summer of 2009. Or possibly my review did not touch much on the plot.]

The reviews / summaries not surrounded by bracketed text are my own.

Maus I & II by Art Spiegelman (4/5 stars)

[Acclaimed as a quiet triumph and a brutally moving work of art, the first volume of Art Spieglman's Maus introduced readers to Vladek Spiegleman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and his son, a cartoonist trying to come to terms with his father, his father's terrifying story, and history itself. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), succeeds perfectly in shocking us out of any lingering sense of familiarity with the events described, approaching, as it does, the unspeakable through the diminutive. This second volume is subtitled And Here My Troubles Began. Genuinely tragic and comic by turns, it attains a complexity of theme and a precision of thought new to comics and rare in any medium.]

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (3/5 stars)

[A tour-de-force by rising indy comics star Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he’s the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny’s life with his yearly visits. Their lives and stories come together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable. American Born Chinese is an amazing ride, all the way up to the astonishing climax.]

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (4/5 stars)

[Persepolis is the story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private life and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming--both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up.]

Stitches by David Small (4/5 stars)

 [Depicting this coming-of-age story with dazzling, kaleidoscopic images that turn nightmare into fairy tale, Small tells us of his journey from sickly child to cancer patient, to the troubled teen whose risky decision to run away from home at sixteen—with nothing more than the dream of becoming an artist—will resonate as the ultimate survival statement.]

You can easily breeze through this memoir set in the 1950s and 60s. The illustrations are entertaining and moving and creepy and hilarious, and the narration is quick and punchy. So much emotion is conveyed in this graphic novel. One piece of advice: do NOT read the jacket flap because it gives away a lot of the plot. Fortunately, I did not read it until after I read the book. 

The Stuff of Life by Mark Schultz (4/5 stars)

As I continue to build my class library, I wanted to expand my nonfiction collection. What better way than to get a graphic novel/nonfiction hybrid on genetics? This fabulous book explains genetics, DNA, and their implications in our modern society through concise text and entertaining images. As I read this book, flashes of my high school biology class came back to me, especially the stages of mitosis and Mendel's pea plant findings. The human genome project is explored as well, which was completed in 2003. I was surprised to learn how similar humans' genetic material is to many mammals. I will be sharing this book with the science teachers at my high school. They might be able to use it during their genetics unit. If I were more of a science expert, I would be able to better judge the quality of the information in this book. What is presented in a too simplified or sophisticated of a manner? Were the illustrations accurate? A high school student interested in science could devour this book in a day. Finally, the book explains methods scientists are using to combat cancer through genetic manipulation. I found this especially fascinating.

A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld (4/5 stars)

[A stunning graphic novel that makes plain the undeniable horrors and humanity triggered by Hurricane Katrina in the true stories of six New Orleanians who survived the storm.]

Blazed through this account of Hurricane Katrina, told through the eyes of regular people. I would have liked to have seen a police officer's or a government official's point of view as well, but I guess that wasn't the point of this novel. 

The Photographer by Emmanuel Guibert (4/5 stars)

I purchased this book after seeing it on a list of great graphic novels in recent years. I paid no attention to its dimensions. When it arrived in the mail, I was shocked at just how large the book was. Flipping through it, I realized the large size accommodated all the photographs in this biography. Another reason I bought this book is because I teach The Kite Runner, so I thought this book would be a nice nonfiction companion novel for any students interested in learning more about Afghanistan.

This graphic novel is pieced together with the titular photographer Didier Lefevre's photographs and the stories he told his friend Emmanuel Guibert, who did the artwork. In France, the book was published in three different volumes, the last one in 2006. Didier died in 2007.

The Photographer follows Didier's journey with MSF (Medecins San Frontieres--French for Doctors Without Borders) in 1986. I'd estimate the story is told with 40% of Didier's photographs (few of which are very large and only one of which is in color) and 60% of Guibert's art/comics. Some of Didier's photographs are outlined or marked through with what looks like a red crayon. These markings are never explained, although it seemed to me they were his favorites.

Part 1 follows the journey from Pakistan to the makeshift "hospital." Part 2 was my favorite section, which chronicled the events at the hospital itself. Part 3 is an insane survivor story in which Didier foolishly leaves his MSF companions and tries to make it back to Pakistan as quickly as possible. Things do not go well for him.

This story is compelling and provides a unique look into Afghanistan. I think I would have preferred fewer photographs so that the best photographs could have been given more space. The photograph on the cover of the book is just outstanding, but few photos in the book are ever that large. In fact, there is not even one double-page spread of a photograph.

My final beef with this book is that the provided map is incomplete. Many villages and cities mentioned in the novel are not included on the map. I found this frustrating. It also would have been nice to see a dotted line that showed the routes taken in Parts 1 and 3. These would have been easy to do.

Troop 142 by Mike Dawson (3/5 stars)

An introduction to boy scout culture, summer camp, and manhood--whether you're a teen or an adult. The extremely strong language makes me seriously think if I should make this book available in my class library. A few ambiguous strands are never wrapped up. Blazed through this. A few funny moments.
 
Blankets by Craig Thompson (4/5 stars)

[Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin winter, Blankets explores the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, and the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers. A tale of security and discovery, of playfulness and tragedy, of a fall from grace and the origins of faith.]

This book lasted a year in my library before it was stolen. It's a gorgeous book, but it also depicts some sexually charged scenes. Be careful placing it in your class library.

Romeo & Juliet by Shakespeare & Matt Wiegle (4/5 stars)

I really enjoyed re-reading this play in graphic novel form. I breezed through it, and enjoyed the dialogue for the most part, even though it had been simplified. The drawing is spectacular and adds to the story. This would be a great option for lower level readers when studying this play. 

The Kite Runner by Hosseini, Celoni, & Andolfo (5/5 stars)
 
This book found me. One of my former students gave me a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card for my September 6th birthday. Within 24 hours, I went browsing at B&N, and this book was on one of the first tables I passed. The student who had given me the gift card had talked with me about graphic novels that day. And this book was released on September 6th! Also, just a few weeks ago, I got to meet Khaled Hosseini. He was gracious, allowing me to take a photograph with me, signing my copy of The Kite Runner, and saying that I looked too young to be a teacher.

On this book's actual merits: It is a very faithful adaptation of the novel, making similar emotional impacts with its drawings. The story in comic form still swept me away. One of my favorite pages in this book is of (SPOILER!) Baba's death on page 90. The final page is also fantastic. Unlike the movie which cast a non-blonde Assef, this book makes Assef how he was described in the original book.

I will add this book to my class library. The Kite Runner is one of four books that students can choose to read in my class. I hope this book can serve two purposes: (1) to encourage students to read the full-text novel and (2) to give students a quick taste of KR if they choose one of the other three books instead.

Second Grade Cursive (a poem)

Second Grade Cursive

Miss Rice passed out worksheets

of cursive l’s spaced like soldiers

commanded us to copy.

I dragged my pencil up and down

left almonds in the middle.

Marty Brewster finished first

his scrawls like deflated balloons.

Even after he redid his letters

I still gripped my pencil

the little fish slowly blooming

life no longer balls and sticks

now muddled into loops and angles.

Questions:

1. Should I leave the lowercase l in the opening stanza? That's the cursive letter I'm describing in the poem, but would a capital L make more sense?
2. Although I usually use commas in my poetry, I decided not to in this one. Would the poem's readability improve if I added commas, or are the line breaks enough?
3.  Does the title work? I originally titled this poem "Learning Cursive" and had the second grade information in the body of the poem itself.

Teaching v. Coaching

I attended a wonderful workshop today. The speaker was dynamic, engaging, and informative. I will take what I learned and apply it to my classroom this week.

Throughout his presentation, the speaker (a former principal, teacher, and coach) occasionally used the example of a coach teaching his athletes. Mentally, I called apples and oranges.

Here are some basics:

• Coaches work with a limited number of players. They usually have at least one assistant coach as well. I can't even tell you how many total football coaches we have at the high school where I teach.
  
• Teachers, meanwhile, usually go it alone in the classroom. This semester I actually have a student teacher, but that is an exception. Most secondary teachers face 120+ students a day without any backup.
• Coaches cut players from the team. Some make varsity, some don't.
• Teachers are required to teach every single student assigned to them.
• Coaches hold practices longer than the typical class period.
• Teachers do not get to hold longer classes, and they must contend with absences and interruptions.
  
• Coaches work with students who inherently love the sport.
• Teachers work with students who may or may not love the subject they teach.
• Coaches are assessed multiple times throughout the season by their team's record.
• Teachers are assessed one time by their students' scores on a single test at the end of the school year.

Poetry in the Classroom

In anticipation of #titletalk this coming Sunday, I want to honor one of my favorite genres: poetry.

5 of my Favorite Poets

1. Ted Kooser
2. Linda Pastan
3. Billy Collins
4. Carol Ann Duffy
5. Wislawa Szymborska
   

These five poets write lovely, rich yet accessible poems students can enjoy. The first three are American, Duffy is British, and Szymborska, who recently passed away, is Polish.

4 Novels in Verse

1. Sold by Patricia McCormick
2. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
3. Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
4. Requiem: Poems from the Terezin Ghetto by Paul Janeczko

3 Helpful Poetry Websites

1. I'll admit I'm somewhat cheating by leading off with Sandra Effinger's National Poetry Month page; she has amassed a wonderful collection of poetry websites and activities here. Some of my favorites pages are American Life in Poetry, Poetry 180, and Poetry Out Loud.
   
2. Poems Out Loud collects audio of contemporary poets reading their poetry aloud, including famous poets like Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Stephen Dunn, and Seamus Haney, as well as lesser-known poets like Julie Sheehan, whose "Hate Poem" never fails to crack me up.
   
3. The Journal of Mythic Arts dedicates one of its page to poems based on fairy tales, folklore, and myths. If I were still teaching 7th grade in my district, whose curriculum included timeless tales, I would definitely supplement prose with this poetry.
   

2 Guides to Poetry

1. Naming the World: A Year of Poetry and Lessons by Nancie Atwell rescued me during my first year of teaching. This strong collection of traditional, contemporary, and student-written poetry also comes with a DVD of Atwell teaching. I learned so much from her, and six years later, I still return to this book.
   
2. Poetry for Beginners by Margaret Chapman and Kathleen Welton was a serendipitous find at a Borders that was going out of business. As I flipped through this paperback, I was struck by all the lovely ink illustrations that peppered its pages. An illustrated poetry guide? I was sold! The explanations are clear, and many types of poetry are introduced. Though the first edition I purchased had some typos, the author has said a new, corrected version should be coming soon.
   

1 Poet to Follow on Twitter

1. Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, has also written a number of poetry books, including Face, his most recent. His tweets range from humorous and memoir-ish to social commentary and political. He doesn't over- or under-tweet either.
   

Hunger Games Jeopardy

I created this game for the Hunger Games party I am hosting in my classroom over spring break. I hope the students who come enjoy the food, movies, and games. I invited students from the entire high school to attend. I expect mainly my current students to come, but I've had a few former students tell me they plan on coming. I'm excited!

If you want to play, you'll need to download this PowerPoint by clicking on the following link.

Hunger Games Jeopardy

Obama's Report Card on Education Policy: D+

During President Obama's State of the Union address, "An America Built to Last," I waited to hear when he would tackle education.

He began by mentioning the progress of CCSS, the Common Core State Standards:

For less than one percent of what our Nation spends on education each year, we've convinced nearly every State in the country to raise their standards for teaching and learning - the first time that's happened in a generation.

I have teacher friends who varying opinions about CCSS. The rigor for math and English across the nation will increase with them, and writing will now be encouraged across the curriculum. These are worthy goals, but I am fearful that the true goal of CCSS is a national test, which will be used to grade and punish states around the nation. The truth is that we already have a reliable national test called NAEP, but millions of dollars are being used to develop tests on the CCSS.

President Obama quickly shifted to talking about the monetary impact a single teacher can make on a student's life:

We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000. A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance.

Until America addresses its poverty problem, we will continue to have problems in education. "Reformers" like Arne Duncan and Michelle Rhee will say that poverty should not be a contributing factor to the progress a student makes in education, but that's false. America has one of the highest rates of poverty in a developed nation. One great teacher in tenth grade is not going to save a student from a lifetime of problems associated with poverty. And the research that claims good teachers can make their students become richer is not credible in the least. And by not credible, I mean not peer reviewed.

I am forming a headache as I type this, so I will try to be briefer from here on out. Obama goes on to say that teachers do impact the lives of their students, which is nice, but then he says:

Teachers matter. So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let's offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren't helping kids learn.

Bashing? Teachers get bashed for bad test scores, which are part of the No Child Left Behind / Race to the Top agenda. Obama's policy encourages teachers to be evaluated based on their students' test scores. This practice is bad, wrong, foul, foolish, etc. So when Obama says he wants to reward the "best ones," how will they be determined to be some of the best? By the test scores of their students. Principals also play a role in evaluating teachers, but as long as these testing mandates drive instruction and many teachers will not "stop teaching to the test." A school where teachers can "teach with creativity and passion" would not be burdened with all the guidelines and policies of Race to the Top.

Obama has a classic case of wanting to have his cake and eat it too. He can't tell teachers that he wants to give them flexibility and creativity while still enacting a program that punishes schools for low test results when many of those schools are dealing with students who come from impoverished backgrounds. The testing mania needs to stop before any more damage is done.

In other words, Mr. President, don't cry about spilled milk when you were the one who pushed the milk to the edge of the table.

And Then CBS News...

In reading a CBS News article about a 15-year-old boy who brought a gun to school and was then shot by police, I was distracted by the following paragraph:

"He said he last saw his son around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, when the boy said goodbye before leaving to catch the bus to school. And he said nothing seemed amiss the night before when he, his wife and their son went out for nachos then went home and watched a movie."

That second sentence which starts with And was very clunky to me. I'm all for starting a sentence with a coordinating conjunction when the time is right. This just wasn't one of those times. I had to read it twice before it made sense. Here's my revision, which eliminates the conjunction, changes a phrase, and adds a comma:

He said nothing seemed amiss the previous night when he, his wife, and their son went out for nachos, then went home and watched a movie.

Do you like my sentence better?

My Reading Life in 2011

This is the year I read my first Stephen King. It was his first book published, Carrie (1974). I had seen the movie in high school, but I got to experience the story from so many angles in the book. Why did I wait until I was 28 to read a Stephen King? I don't have a good answer.

This is the year I finished Suzanne Collins' trilogy with Mockingjay (2011). My students were divided about the final book, and I was worried I would fall into the Disappointed camp. My fears were confirmed when I closed the book with anger and frustration.

This is the year The Book Whisperer (2009) changed my teaching life. Donalyn Miller's advice on how to turn my students into readers was insightful and practical. I brought my reading life to the forefront of the classroom, and I started all my classes with silent reading. In the spring 2011 semester, I read 7 books. I read BW over the summer. In this fall 2011 semester, I have read 28 books. What a difference!

This is the year I bought into the hype of The Help (2009) and was whisked away to a world I hardly knew about. The book was slow-going at times, but I loved the conversation it sparked between my mom and me. I discovered her family had a maid when she was young.

This is the year I listened to The Year We Left Home (2011) on audio. I was mesmerized by the storytelling, by the characters, by the command that Jean Thompson exercised over her language. I did not want it to end, but it had a perfect ending.

This is the year I devoured Kathryn Erskine's Mockingbird (2010). I ran out of church after the service, so I could hurry home and finish this children's book on the journey of Caitlin, a girl with Asperger's who is coming to terms with the loss of her brother. To top things off, I read this book aloud to my creative writing students, and then we Skyped with Kathy! She was gracious, funny, and smart. Our Skype session was my favorite part of this fall semester.

This is the year I read and re-read poems from Linda Pastan's Traveling Light (2011). Then through serendipitous events, I discovered she was speaking at a writers' conference in Tulsa. I bought a ticket immediately. Attending her session was a highlight of the year as well, as was getting a picture with her.

This is the year I discovered Carol Ann Duffy, one of my new favorite poets. Her collection Rapture (2005) is heartbreaking and wonderful. Everyone should read it. EVERYONE.

This is the year I stayed up past midnight to finish reading Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls (2011). I sobbed like a baby, and then I decided to read it aloud to my Pre-AP English II students. Three of my four hours were receptive. I still got choked up at the ending even when I knew what was coming.

This is the year I read Room by Emma Donoghue (2010). I was struck by the narrator, one of the most interesting creations I've read in a long time. This book knocked me over.

This is the year I re-read To Kill a Mockingbird (1963) for the nth time. I continue to find new insight and themes and motifs in this classic. I'm glad I get to teach it.

This is the year I finally read John Hersey's Hiroshima (1946/1985). I had resisted this novel, even though it was an option for my sophomores to read. I thought it would be too boring or too sad. I was partially right. The book is sad, but definitely not boring.

This is the year I read Kelly Gallagher's Write Like This (2011). I found lots of great ideas and resolved to become an even better teacher of writing.

What about you? What books did you read this year?

Mockingbird Tweets

One of the options on the TKaM exam I gave my sophomore students was to write tweets from the point of view of two of the characters from the novel. My students produced some hilarious and insightful tweets that proved their knowledge and analysis of the novel. Enjoy these samples.

To Kill a Mockingbird Tweets
From sophomore students at Deer Creek High School (Edmond, OK)

Atticus Finch @I_See_Gray:
· What defines a man these days? Character or color? #WeAllKnowThatANSWER
· My children are remarkable. S/O to @Scout_Finch for keeping the peace.
· @Ms.Dubose Jem will be happy to read to you #sorryabouttheplants
· I am always a little up and to the left. Still got the job done though. #GoodShotForAnOldMan

Dill Harris @DillPickle:
· Dared @jemmyboy to run up and touch the Radley house #hestoochicken
· @Scout_F I love you! We are going to get married don’t worry I’ll come back for you. #wordscantevenexpressit
· I sure did give @jemmyboy, @Scout_F and @Ol’_lawyer a good surprise today. Ran away and snuck in (: @thatshowIroll
· I can read. I can write and I’ve washed a camel! @BeatThat

Arthur Radley @scissor_recluse48:
· @PoutScouty235 You’re welcome about the blanket. #payitforward
· What’s up with the kids at the school thinking my tree’s fruit is poision? #Goonkids #eatup
· Someone give me the deets on the trial! I wanna know if the world is ready 4 me again
· Totes just shanked @OleBobbyE after he attack two kids #whatapunk

Scout Finch @JLScout:
· Bout to go to school for the first day #nervous :/
· Feelin kinda risky today. @Jem_Finch, Lil_Dill, and I are gonna go mess with Boo Radley. #ThugLife
· What’s up with old women these days?? Tryna make me act like a lady. #SMH
· @Farmerboy_Cunningham must LOVE ruining food. Who puts syrup on their veggies??!! #smh..

Scout Finch @Scout_finch:
· #thewayiseeit we’re all people, so why don’t we all get treated equally? #peoplethesedays
· #thatawkwardmoment when your neighbor is a recluse and you have never seen him before #comeoutcomeoutwhereveryouare
· @QueenAlexandria I hate being treated like I’m stupid! I don’t want to act like a lady! I want [to] wear overalls and run around outside everyday! #tomboyproblems
· #thatawkwardmoment when you get in trouble for using bad language when your cousin is really the one who started it all. #stupiduncle #stuckupcousinproblems

Jem Finch @JemFinch:
· Just got done reading to a half dead person for 2 hours #mindnumbing
· Calpurnia’s lemonade sure hits the spot after playing all day #rubbingmybelly
· It sure is cold out in the open all exposed #notwearingpantsandlikingit
· Shout out to my home dog Boo for savin my life. #livininthehood
· Dill my man if you touch my sister ill beat the truth out of you #mysistermarriedmybestfriend

Scout Finch @ShoutyScouty:
· #yourecreepy RT @BooRad-est: Sitting in my house watching little kids pass by #ComeAndPlay #IHaveCandy
· I’m refusing to go to school. Why you might ask? #ImSmarterThanEveryone
· RT @DillPickle So happy to be married #OneSummerStrong
· Having a drunken fool slice open your ‘ham’ costume #HappyHalloween
· If you don’t like my overalls, I don’t like you. #TomBoyProblems
· I eat mysterious gum off of trees #SoGross #YetSoGood
· RT @KittyCalpurrrnia: Taking these kids to church #ThrowDownTime #StayOutOfMyWay
· My brother is such a crank pank #PubertyProblems
· I’ll never act like a girl #outcast #AgainstAuthority

Calpurnia @number1nanny:
· Glad @jem_finch is okay, it’s been a long night for the Finch family #relieved
· Sad to deliver the news to Mrs. Robinson #prayforher #RIPtom
· Proud of @scoutfinch8 for serving the ladies toady! #goodwork #taughtyouwell
· @jem_finch @scoutfinch8 Where are you two?! #comehome
· Still can’t believe you did that… RT @scoutfinch8: Sorry for being rude today @waltercunningham! #didntknowanybetter
· Lonely without @jem_finch and @scoutfinch8 running around! #backtoschool

New Poem

The idea for this poem came to me while I was reading Billy Collins' newest collection. He mentioned his glasses at one point, and I thought about writing something about having LASIK eye surgery. The part about my mom is based on real life, but I had not thought of adding that to the poem until I was already composing it.

30/20

Now you have Superman vision,

the surgeon announced

after the surgery,

my eyes puffy and swollen

and covered with plastic discs

the size of lenses

I once wore in eighth grade

before converting to contacts,

the tiny parentheses

that made peripheral vision

possible. Now road signs,

movie screens, children’s faces

will always have razor sharp

focus, so why is it I think

of my mother on Christmas Eve

in the front seat of our car,

ooo-ing and ahhh-ing over bulbs

draped around trees and rooflines

as she removes her glasses,

sending the world from exactitude

to a messy swirl of light and color?

The Need for More Pages

I sent this letter to Joyce earlier tonight. I hope the state department makes changes by next school year.

April 26, 2011

Dear Joyce DeFehr:

Imagine that you are a sixteen-year-old girl. Your handwriting is large but legible. You are taking the ACE English II writing test, and you reach the third and final page of the test packet. You are not allowed to write any more, even though you want to write one more body paragraph before your conclusion. You erase two lines and rewrite your sentences in tiny, cramped letters, hoping to pack in a few final details. You skip the body paragraph you wanted to write, and squeeze in two sentences as a conclusion. You wish you could have written more, but the directions say you cannot write below the final line. You close your test booklet, knowing you could have done better.

My students—like all sophomores in the state of Oklahoma—took the ACE English II writing test last week. All year long, I have had my students write a variety of genres. They have written quick writes in their notebooks. They have analyzed models of writing by professionals and my former students. They have revised and edited their drafts in groups. They have even shared their writing in front of the whole class. I did my part to take my students through the writing process with all five state-mandated modes of writing. My sophomores felt confident going into the “EOI.” They soon discovered one component beyond their control: a page limit.

State testing is not the time to go green. As I’m sure you know, students are only given two-and-a-half pages on the ACE English II writing test, compared to the six-and-a-half pages on the ACE English III writing test. (The page inequality even reaches down to the fifth and eighth grades, which each receive four-and-a-half pages for their state-mandated writing tests.) This hardly seems fair. The essay accounts for 9% of a student’s score on the ACE English II test, compared to 14% on the ACE English III test. Still, the English II and the English III essays are scored with the same rubric, which awards 30% of the score for ideas and development. How can students be expected to fully develop their ideas when they are given a limited space? Students are given unlimited time to write their essays. Surely they could be given an extra page or two. If paper is too costly, then steps should be taken, so students can write their essays on computers.

Incredibly, 40% of every public Oklahoma high school’s Academic Performance Index score is determined by ACE English II test scores. Shouldn’t a test that determines a school’s progress and performance allow students to succeed regardless of the size of their handwriting?

The day after the writing test, I asked my ninety English students, “How many of you would have written more had you been given more space?” Sixty-five of them raised their hands.

Sincerely,

Jason Stephenson

Oklahoma Writing Project Teacher Consult

Deer Creek High School, Teacher of the Year, 2008-2009

Rambling Autobiography

I was born on Labor Day in 1982, the same year E.T. phoned home. My favorite cake is Italian cream, and my favorite pie is rhubarb. I played my mom’s dented cornet for eight years. In second grade, when my teacher Miss Rice read Charlotte’s Web aloud to my class, I knew I would read books for the rest of my life. I have never seen an illegal drug in person. My favorite Christmas gift was an expandable plastic tunnel. I have skied a black diamond run on accident and on purpose. My mom told me she had leukemia through a text message. On the last song of my high school prom, I danced with my crush, Beth. My favorite place on earth was the hay barn at my grandparents’ farm; a tornado destroyed it. I didn’t floss regularly until I was 28. In high school on Sundays, I wrote notes to my friends on the backs of offering envelopes while my dad preached. The smell of gasoline reminds me of lawn mowing. I once stole a butterscotch candy from a grocery store. After fifteen years since her death, I have begun to forget the sound of my Nannah’s laugh. The first video game I owned was Link’s Awakening for Gameboy. I believe the best sunsets in the world are here in Oklahoma. I don’t think I will ever move away from this state.

inspired by Linda Rief's rambling autobiography

Kite Runner Survey

At my high school where I teach, parents have recently called the appropriateness of The Kite Runner, a novel in the sophomore curriculum, into question. While I did not experience any problems with my students or their parents, the other two English II teachers did. I decided to perform a survey to determine how my students felt about the novel. I wish I had used SurveyMonkey, which would have analyzed the results for me. But I figured taking the survey in the computer lab would take way too much class time, so I had to tabulate the results myself.

Without further ado, I present to you the results of the survey.

Kite Runner Student Survey Jan 2011

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Merit Pay Woes

• I wrote this persuasive essay as an example for my students.

Merit Pay Woes

Throughout my career as a student, I tested well. In elementary school, I received 99% on most categories on the annual achievement test. In high school, I got a 32 on the ACT. I paid attention in class, did my homework, and studied occasionally. Learning and testing were easy for me. My younger sister worked just as hard as me, perhaps harder. But while I had coasted through math, she struggled, spending two to three hours each night on homework problems she didn’t understand. During standardized tests, she worried about the time and second-guessed herself. Her highest ACT score? A 21. Some people are better test-takers than others, and that is just one of the reasons I believe merit-based teacher pay is a terrible idea.

In case you haven’t heard, some reformers in education want to tie teachers’ salaries and/or bonuses to how well their students perform on standardized tests. This practice is known as merit pay. The theory behind merit pay is that good teachers should be rewarded and bad teachers should be encouraged to leave the profession. (The thought is that bad teachers wouldn’t get paid as well, would get discouraged, and would quit teaching.) As the current pay system works, every teacher is paid the same for their years of service. But merit pay is hardly a solution. It’s actually more of a problem.

First off, not every subject has a standardized test. In fact, more teachers teach a class that is not tested than a class that is (Toch). The solution to this, say the reformers, is to write more tests. But test creation takes lots of time (and money), and some subjects like drama and athletics don’t lend themselves to standardized testing. Moreover, teachers don’t get to choose their students, let alone the exact classes that they teach. How can teachers be held accountable when so many variables are out of their control?

If merit pay were in place, some teachers would spend more time on test-taking strategies, rather than actual content instruction (Hulleman 28). This would lead to decreased learning, even though student test scores might still be high. I actually know of a teacher who did very little instruction throughout the year except for test preparation. This teacher’s students had higher scores on the end-of-the-year standardized test than students whose teachers had taught the required curriculum. This hardly seems fair. Moreover, the validity of some standardized tests is questionable (Ramirez 56). Basing teacher pay on a faulty test is like following MapQuest directions with a wrong destination. You can’t argue with correct data, but you can argue with wrong data. And who’s to say standardized tests are always fair and accurate?

Merit pay is not a new idea. It first surfaced at the start of the twentieth century, appeared again in the 1960s, and last emerged in the 80s (Johnson and Papay 49). At the end of all these movements, merit pay never took hold as a popular way to compensate teachers. In fact, merit pay is rarely used in any profession. Only around 3% of occupations feature a compensation system like merit pay (Clabaugh 17). Why would reformers want to adopt such an unpopular system?

Of course, teachers would like to get paid more. Instead of merit pay, though, they can take on extra duties at school for stipends beyond their regular paycheck. Plus, they can get a part-time job during the summer instead of lounging around for two months. My eighth grade math teacher had a very successful lawn care business, and some of my colleagues teach night classes at a local community college.

One of my biggest problems with merit pay is that it operates under the assumption that paying bad teachers less will encourage them to leave the profession. The real issue at hand is how those teachers gained tenure in the first place. If they are really so bad, why aren’t they being fired? Poor teachers shouldn’t be paid a few hundred dollars less than their colleagues. They should find another profession altogether.

Merit pay, in essence, places all the responsibility of student learning on the shoulders of teachers. Sure, they are the professional adults, but students should be responsible for their learning as well. Teachers can’t always help it if a student refuses to pay attention, to attend class, or to study. Would you want your paycheck depending on the test score of a student who only shows up half the time (Clabaugh 19)?

Finally, merit pay fails because schools don’t have the budgets to fund it. In this current economic crisis, schools are receiving less and less funding from state governments. Merit pay is simply impractical. Awarding additional money to the best teachers sounds nice, but that would mean finding a funding source. (Need I remind you how miserably State Question 744 failed, in part, because it did not have a funding source specified?) As Al Ramirez writes, “The timing couldn’t be worse to talk about bonus programs” (58).

Our current Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, supports merit pay based on testing data. He also has a daughter and son in elementary school (“Arne”). My hunch is that Claire and Ryan, much like my sister and me, won’t always score equally on standardized tests. My hope is that Arne will realize there’s a lot more to good teaching than how well a student bubbles in a form.

Works Cited

“Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education—Biography.” U.S. Department of Education, 16

Mar. 2010. Web. 23 Jan. 2011.

Clabaugh, Gary K. “Teacher Merit Pay: Is It a Good Idea?” Educational Horizons 88.1 (2009):

16-20. ERIC. Web. 20 Jan. 2011.

Hulleman, Chris S. “Performance Pay and Teacher Motivation: Separating Myth from Reality.”

Phi Delta Kappan 91.8 (2010): 27-31. ERIC. Web. 20 Jan. 2011.

Johnson, Susan Moore and John P. Papay. “Merit Pay for a New Generation.” Educational

Leadership 67.8 (2010): 48-52. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 21 Jan. 2011.

Ramirez, Al. “Merit Pay Misfires.” Educational Leadership 68.4 (2010): 55-58. MasterFILE

Premier. Web. 20 Jan. 2011.

Toch, Thomas. “The perils of merit pay: linking teacher pay to performance can’t move forward

until resolution of questions regarding fairness, teacher evaluation, and the relationship of test scores to teaching quality.” Phi Delta Kappan 91.2 (2009): 99+. Gale Student Resources in Context. Web. 20 Jan. 2011.

Give A Goat (open your pockets, y'all)

I bet you know that I am a teacher at Deer Creek High School in Edmond. You might even know that I am the DCHS Student Council sponsor. But you probably don’t know that DCHS Student Council has held an annual community-wide fundraiser for a charity for the past ten years. This week-long philanthropic week is called the Wonderful Week of Fundraising, or WWF.

The first WWF took place in 2001 in response to a Deer Creek High School teacher who died of cancer. The name WWF came from the World Wrestling Federation, which was the first year’s theme. Since 2001, DCHS has continued to raise money annually for worthy charities like Cavett Kids Foundation and Ally’s House. During WWF students have purchased shirts, attended assemblies, and participated in evening events like a dodge ball tournament and a black light dance. During WWF 2010, students raised $55,000 for the Spero Project, a year-old charity that aids refugees in Oklahoma City. This money jump-started their organization, allowing them to expand and continue their services. WWF 2011 is scheduled for March 2-9, 2011.

Student Council has selected the charity Give a Goat to be the WWF 2011 beneficiary. Give a Goat promotes and raises funds for livelihood projects in the Philippines, which help the poorest of the poor (mostly children) rise from poverty and malnutrition. To do this, Give a Goat supplies a poverty-stricken family in the Philippines with a free pregnant goat, which provides them with multiple streams of sustainable income. One goat gives everything from milk to fertilizer to marketable goods. In about three years one goat multiplies to over twenty, giving that family everything they need to thrive.


I invite you to give the gift of a free pregnant goat to a family in need. It only takes $50 to give a poor family a starter goat. $100 will provide a high-quality female goat. And $250 gives a high-grade breeding goat that will lift whole communities out of poverty. (Traditionally, a local charity has been selected as the WWF recipient. This is the first year we have chosen a global charity, but it is based out of Oklahoma City.)

Our goal this year for WWF 2011 is $75,000 which is a $20,000 jump from last year. To make this goal, we will need help from people like you. Any donation amount you make is very much appreciated. Thank you for your time, and I hope you will consider donating. All donations are tax-deductible, and since Give a Goat is a registered 401(3)c charity, you will receive a receipt.

**Please make checks payable to DCHS Student Council (Memo: WWF 2011) and mail them to Deer Creek High School, attn: Student Council, 6101 NW 206th, Edmond, OK 73012 by February 26, 2011. Make sure an address appears on the check, so a receipt can be mailed to you.**

Summer Reads

This summer is already coming to a close, and, as usual, I did not read as many books as I had wanted. Still, I know that many students (and some teachers!) go the whole summer without hardly reading anything at all. I feel like I could have stepped up my game somewhat--like reading the other two books in the Millennium trilogy--but my reading history for summer 2010 is better than nothing.

One of my favorite books from the summer was the last one I read. Diane Ravitch's book on the perils of mandated-testing and charter schools was interesting, insightful, and ultimately hopeful. I wish all teachers would read her book.

• Teague, Alexandra. Mortal Geography. © 2010. 87 pages. Poetry.
• Mali, Taylor. What Learning Leaves. © 2002. 74 pages. Poetry.
• Lowry, Lois. The Willoughbys. © 2008. 164 pages. Children’s Lit.
• Goldberg, Bonni. Room to Write. © 1996. 201 pages. Professional.
• Alexie, Sherman. Face. © 2009. 159 pages. Poetry.
• Alexie, Sherman. One Stick Song. © 2000. 91 pages. Poetry.
• Alexie, Sherman. First Indian on the Moon. © 1993.116 pages. Poetry.
• Dahl, Roald. The Twits. © 1980. 76 pages. Children’s Lit.
• Larsson, Stieg. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. © 2005 (2008, trans.). 465 pages. Mystery.
• Dunn, Stephen. Everything Else in the World. © 2006. 91 pages. Poetry
• Dunn, Stephen. Local Visitations. © 2003. 96 pages. Poetry.
• Hudgins, Andrew. American Rendering: New and Selected Poems. © 2010. 148 pages. Poetry.
• Alexie, Sherman. Old Shirts & New Skins. © 1993. 91 pages. Poetry & Short Fiction.
• Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. © 1986. 180 pages. Professional: Writing Advice.
• Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. © 2010. 242 pages. Professional.

Failure

Back in January I made a resolution to read only the books I already owned. I confess that I broke my resolution a few months back in April. It all started innocently enough. I was cruising the Web, searching for the most recent winners of the Pulitzer prize for poetry. Natasha Trethewey, the 2007 poetry winner, was in Oklahoma City for conference which I was going to attend. She was billed as a Pulitzer-prize winning poet, so I wanted to know how recently she had won the award. Then I discovered a new poet, W. S. Merwin, who I had never heard of before. He had won the 2009 Pulitzer prize for poetry, and, on impulse, I purchased his book on Amazon before I knew what I had done.

Since then, I have bought other books online, mainly books of poetry by Andrew Hudgins, Stephen Dunn, and Sherman Alexie. I told myself that getting back on the Amazon wagon was okay because these books weren't available at my local library. But I just did a check on the catalog, and some of the books that I bought were available. In my defense, I like rereading books of poetry, so maybe it's okay I broke my resolution. :)

Can I tell you a secret? Part of the fun of buying a book on Amazon is getting it in the mail. Real mail is ten times better than email. I love opening the door to my mailbox and discovering a white rectangular package. What's even better is if I have purchased more than one book, and I'm not sure what's inside. It's like Christmas, any time of the year. Ha. But I have really tried to limit how many books I have purchased so far this year.

For instance, the book I'm currently reading--The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo--comes from the library of the school where I teach.

My purchased books keep piling up, and now that another school year is only four weeks away, I'm realizing that I have barely made a dent in my collection. I will keep reading, though. How could I not?

Six Word Memoirs

Red Shirts

It's late, I have other things to do for school, but I'm writing this down: my fifth hour has turned into a tiny little culture with inside jokes and quirks and together-ness, and I love it and I know I'm doing something right. We write and read and discuss what makes writing pieces work and why racism still exists and on and on, but we also had a Snuggie day today and tomorrow for some odd reason, we've decided we're all going to wear a red shirt. I can't even really explain this choice, but it makes me happy that fifth hour is so bonded and gung-ho and willing to do all sorts of silly, funny, random, strange things. They feel comfortable and at home and relaxed in my room, so I know that we are on the right path.