#hacklearning: the book nook

Problem: Kids aren't reading.
Hack: Flood your classroom and school with books via The Book Nook.

You've all heard the research - kids not reading or wanting to read is nothing new. We all know that studies show the lower the income level, the fewer books around - in student homes, and in many cases where school funding is based on property taxes, in schools too. How then, can we get kids reading if we don't have books?

The Hack: Create a Book Nook that gives free books to everyone.

Picture your favorite bookstore.... Comfy arm chairs, tables where you can work, and soft music playing in the background. And, the best part? You're surrounded by all the books you love - the picture books, the YA Lit, maybe some great books on ways to eat cleaner and some trashy gossip columns with our fave celebs on teh cover. There's a fireplace roaring in the corner, and they're serving up your favorite Peppermint Mocha.

This is a Book Nook, only in our school's version, the books are free to take... not to buy or to check out and return, but to take for as long as the students would like.

As a Literacy Coach who has experience in two different districts, and with two different philosophies, I can say that without a doubt, the schools that flood their campuses with books see students through to that Readerly Life that our Reading Worskhop idols describe to us. Perhaps your principals don't hand out $1500 in classroom books to every teacher on your campus (TY D100!), but that doesn't mean you can't get lots of books in the hands of all of the students in your class or school.

As they mentioned in the book, your first instinct might be to think that you don't have the space for A Book Nook. Don't go there just yet. Start in your classroom. Do you have bookshelves? Great! Let's work on getting more books on them.

All we have to do is curate a collection of books to put in use for students in your classroom or school. Have you tried these options?

• Reach out to your family and friends for donations to start.
• Utilize the power of facebook and search for groups in your city. For example, in my neighborhood of Chicago, there is a group called Bucktown Community News. Just two weeks ago I posted asking for donations for our Family Literacy Night, and got at least a dozen replies! For your Book Nook, post to your neighbors asking for donations of books. Barnes and Gonzales recommend that you don't get super specific - share grade level expectations, but then take everything. You can sort through and keep what you want, donate the rest! 
• Similar Idea: Post an ad on Craig's List.
• Check out yard sales, used book stores, and the public library.
• Write or call local businesses asking for donations - books that they have purchased for you or a check for teachers to purchase books they need. 
• Make it a homework assignment to your students: Find a book to donate to The Book Nook!

After you get a good collection of books to start, then begin to build your Book Nook. Barnes and Gonzales recommend creating a team, including students if you're in a middle or high school, to help manage this space and put in the work to keep things orderly and running smoothly. This team of students can reach out to the larger student body to help brand this Book Nook - maybe you want to call it your Little Lending Library or something else way more creative than that. Student input will build buy-in!

You'll need to find a space for this Book Nook, but think outside of the box! What school has an extra little nook around, unused? Not many, if I had to guess. So, think about large closets, or even a hallway that could be reimagined.

Barnes and Gonzales go on to describe full implementation in the chapter, and also how to overcome obstacles. Pick up a copy of their book if you love this idea as much as I do, and plus, you're going to learn about the other 9 hacks as well. Until then, get a preview of them by way of the #D100bloggerPD posts:

Introduction: Kristen

Hack 1: Meet Me in the Cloud - Marilyn

Hack 2: Pineapple Charts - Leah

Hack 3: Teacher Quiet Zones - Ginny

Hack 4: Track Records - Annie

Hack 5: Student Tech Gurus - Angela

Hack 6: Marigold Committees - Colleen

Hack 7: The In-Class Flip - Theresa

Hack 8: The Book Nook - Here and Now! :-)

Hack 9: The Glass Classroom - Kayla
Hack 10: The 360 Spreadsheet - Coming Soon!

Be sure to follow our blogging group on twitter, by searching our hashtag #D100BloggerPD. If you like what you've read here, follow my blog via facebook, Instagram, or Bloglovin!

And... check back next Monday for Kayla's post about Hack 9: The Glass Classroom.

Later, Hackers!

there's no app for that

I was surfing my blog feed today and ran across a post, Motivate your kids to write with this app! Yesterday I saw a post about math Pinterest Fails - you know, those quick acronyms and tricks math teachers use to get kids to remember order of operations or division steps?

If you're a teacher and you're really interested in getting your kids to love to write and to deeply understand math concepts, you have to come to terms with the fact that there are no quick fixes.

I'm a writer, so let's go there...

If I want my kids to love to write, I have to be an authentic model of what that looks like. I have to make my writing life visible to kids. They need to see my writer's notebook:

They need to see inside, too, and see that it's messy and not perfect. I need to tell them about my writing process and my writing preferences - how I like to keep my notebook with me and in the instance I don't have it, I make lists on my phone of things I want to write about. They need to know about my obsession with writing utensils, including these new Ticonderoga pencils that are now in colors, colors people!

I need to "go there" in my own writing - you know, that scary place where we investigate tragedies and conflicts? Then, I need to let them see what that's like. I need to take the time to research mentor texts and show kids how I study writers so I can mimic what they do, so I can help myself find my own way as a writer. I have to let them in on my own writing insecurities (I'm not as eloquent as I'd like to be) and work to make my classroom a place where they feel safe enough to share theirs. I need to keep up with PD in writing to bring fresh strategies to my students so both they, and I, can write in newer and livelier ways. I need to take time to plan Marathon Writing days so we can marvel in and be inspired by our surroundings and facilitate their planning of Author's Chairs so they can share their best work to a real-life audience. 

Friends, there's no app for this.

While I totally appreciate all that technology does for us: lets us share, allows us to respond to others we normally wouldn't have the opportunity to, and publish our work in new and creative ways, I also understand that it takes more than that to put thoughtful, insightful, beautiful works out into the world.

It takes a writer.

on your mark book study

Hello friends! Hope you are having a great weekend!

About a week ago on Instagram I posted that I will be holding a book study here on BigTime Literacy. Our district is beginning the journey with Standards Based Learning, and so some teachers all around Berwyn South are reading this book:

Frame Credit

It's all about Standards Based Grading, Reporting, and Leanring. It's about rethinking our traditional grading practices and providing students will more feedback and a path to accomplish exemplary work! Check out what the introduction has to say:

"You just opened what may be the most challenging and unsettling book you will ever read about any education topic. This book is not for anyone who's comfortable with the status quo in education. It's not for those who trust in traditions and find it easy to ignore research evidence that challenges those traditions. It's not for the weak of spirit.

This book won't be an easy or comfortable read. The school leaders, professors, teachers, instructors, board members, community members, and parents who read this book won't be talking about it in calk and casual tones. More likely, they'll be engaged in heated arguments and impassioned debates."

If you are interested in participating, I will be holding the book study here at BigTime Literacy, too! I'll provide a link-up each day we meet and you can post your thoughts about this book on your blog, and then link with me and the other bloggers who are participating. Great read, plus teacher collaboration online - what could be better?

We will have three virtual meetings about the book on the dates listed below. Read the chapters listed, write your post, and then link up with me! (And leave some comment love to your colleagues, of course!)

Really looking forward to having a discussion with all of you about this topic! If you are in D100, we are also meeting face-to-face - send me an email if you didn't get the details today in a calendar invite!

Until next time,

I am a Teacher of Conscience

"There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

In the past few weeks these are some of the things that have happened:

1. One of my student bloggers wrote a blog (totally unprompted) about being nervous about the PARCC test.
2. I read a story about a boy who asked for prayers at church one Sunday - prayers that he do a good job on his PARCC test. (Wish I bookmarked that link...)
3. Jia Lee, a teacher from New York City addressed the Senate regarding the reauthorizing of NCLB. See her video here. (btw: Just watched that video again and the hair is standing up on my arms. Again.)
4. A freshmen in high school set up this petition to open a conversation with legislation about High-Stakes Testing.
5. More than 40 Superintendents in Illinois urged their legislators for a Common Core testing delay.

It's because of all these things and 100 more that I cannot remain silent any more. I share all of this with you, respectfully, and because morally-speaking, High-Stakes Testing really troubles me.

All this testing we are doing with children - it's not okay. I know I'm not the only one who believes this, and I know it's not easy to say something. If we want our profession back from Pearson and all the other people profitting on our children, we must speak up! Before Literacy Coach, I am a Michelle. I am a woman who is educated, who cares deeply for children, and who cannot silence the thoughts in my heart and mind any longer.

The testing has got to stop. Or in the very least, the conversation about testing has to get much, much louder.

I'll tell you why we're testing: Money. You know how much money Pearson is making on the PARCC test? Well, I don't know exact numbers, but it's a lot. A. LOT. How come in our profession, the professionals aren't trusted? I went to school for education. I have an advanced degree in literacy. I have worked with children for 12 years and have refined my practice day in and day out. Students don't need to take this test - now twice (once in March and then again in May) every year for my administration to know if I am an effective teacher.

Today I collaborated with three different grade levels in three planning meetings. At each one, we looked at student work - work specific to one standard with multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate learning - and we made conclusions about what misconceptions students had about each standard. We planned for reteaching and made rubrics that can communicate to parents if the child mastered the standard independently, with prompting, or not yet. This will be reflected in teacher instruction... tomorrow. We are the practitioners closest to our students. We are professionals. We know best.

Teachers, please join me in sharing your voice about High-Stakes Testing. In the very least, can you leave me a comment so I know I'm not alone?

Check out a great website: Teachers of Conscience. Be aware of what is going on in your local, state, and national political arena in regard to education. What I know now is teaching is far more political than I had ever thought as I grew up playing school in my basement dreaming of the day I would get to stand in front of a group of kids and teach them how to read and write.

defining moments

The moment I because a Social Constructivist is as clear as day.

There I was, standing at the front of my classroom. My kids sat in groups of four. They had their basal (gasp!) out in front of them and we were reading a story from the book as a whole group (the horror!) It was some kind of traditional literature story about how the stars became in the night or something like that.

I would read a little, and then as prompted by the questions along the side of the book, stop periodically to ask the questions to the kids. I would pose a question, they would think and then turn and talk, and then we would share out.

This particular day I was modeling how to draw inferences as we read. The book told me to stop at some line and then share the inference listed. But there was a problem (well, there were a few, namely 1. basal reader, 2. whole group instruction, and 3. kids didn't do any independent reading, but I digress.) At that moment, my problem was that the inference that the book publishers were telling me to make made absolutely no sense to me. Zero sense. Zilch.

This happened in my fifth year of teaching when I was in the midst of my graduate work at ASU. I was learning about best practices in teaching reading and all the pieces suddenly fit together so perfectly.

Pearson or McGraw Hill or whoever was the publisher of this book was trying to instruct for me. I had no accountability to this book and this story, because it was all laid out for me. I just opened it up and read what it told me to. And usually it made sense, but in this moment when it didn't, it finally clicked. If I want to give my kids the best instruction, *I* have to be the one to figure it out and make meaning that makes sense to me. I have to be the one to prepare it for my kids!

I can't say that from that moment on I began doing what I'm doing now in year 12, but I was acutely aware that I had to construct my lessons myself.

I still used the basal, but I prepared how I was going to teach from the stories. Before I taught them, I sat down with that book - just the story, nothing else - and I read it through. I considered what my during reading strategy should be and picked places to stop and model what that would look like. I figured out if we would do any analysis after our first draft reading and planned that. The teacher who teaches kids each day should plan everything out. Not Pearson. Not McGraw hill. The practitioner.

Today, I am proud to be a part of a district that operates under a constructivist philosophy. In year 12, this makes sense to me and I believe it's what is best for kids.

But then I think of our first year teachers and how overwhelming it can be. I was lucky to be handed a basal in year one, and continue using it for five years. I got my feet wet, got my management down, had the kids do worksheets and everything was there for me. It was laid out and easy. That was all well and good, but it wasn't what is best for kids.

So to the newbies out there - the ones who are trying to get everything down in year one - the ones who are exhausted and have no time to do anything but work because on top of managing a classroom, you're also trying to learn how to teach a Reading and Writing Workshop - please know that you are giving kids amazing instruction, coming from what I believe is the hardest teaching philosophy out there. You're putting in all the labor to figure out how to model what good readers do and then give differentiated instruction in your guided reading groups, get kids to love to read and write, and then having them share. You're keeping anecdotal notes and using running records to inform your instruction, and writing Common Formative Assessments with your team, and grading them and then figuring out what kind of reteaching and enrichment needs to happen - you're doing all that work plus teaching three other content areas. I, on the other hand, opened a basal.

It's time for you to pat yourself on the back and appreciate all the work you've done, because it's outstanding and you're amazing.

Defining moments...mine was a sunny day in Phoenix during my fifth year of teaching. What is yours?

leave your ego at the door

Collaboration is happening so perfectly right now with one kid I teach.

I am with him for a 30 minute intervention with a group of 3 and then 1:1 again for another 15 minutes. Because I see this kiddo so often, it's very clear where he's making progress and what he still needs.

His classroom teachers are great - we work together so well so it's easy for me to run in and ask a quick question and the same for them to me! On Monday, one of his teachers emailed me asking about a specific phonics strategy he needs because she wants to tailor his word study even more for him. I suggested the Magic e rule because it's still not automatic for him when he's writing, and so she started with that right away.

This morning I already noticed that he was remembering that better as he wrote dictated sentences for me.

This is the thing with teaching - it can be *beyond* effective when we work under the assumption that we are all here for the child's best interest. I know that we all think this and say this, but are you really living it? It's going to happen that we make mistakes, and there are always instances when we could instruct more effectively, but are you comfortable telling your colleagues that? Do you feel comfortable saying, "Yeah, I screwed that up....but learned a lesson!" ? That's what it's all about. That right there, that's working in the best interest of kids.

Today I am so thankful for these awesome collaborative relationships with teachers here at my school. Love that our students are making gains because we are confident enough to share when we didn't get something right. What this also means is that we can celebrate when get it just right! (Like today!)

I know I haven't been around here much, especially with content blogs, but there are some coming soon, I promise! Here's what I'm planning to write about very soon:

Blogging with kids

Backwards Design Planning

Academic Parent Teacher Teams

Anything you're particularly interested to hear about first? Leave me a comment!

Have a great night!

love letters...better than money!

Today I ran to the office to make a quick copy, and when I got there, Maria, our secretary, said, "Ms. Brezek, I have something for you!"

I replied, "Oh, is it money?" thinking that there was some outstanding reimbursement that the board still hadn't approved. (I actually think they do still owe me some money, but I clearly need to keep better records.)

"No, no," she said as she took some papers from a manilla envelope and handed me two essays by former students, and I thought, "Oh yes, it is that time of the year!"

See, after my eighth graders move on to the high school, they always have to write an essay at the end of their freshmen year about a teacher that impacted their education. Two years ago, I got a few, and this year, I got two more. I love this day - because these essays are much like the letters I used to write with students!

today's letters: a great blog to follow!

Before we blogged about our books, we wrote dialog letters. Students would be responsible for writing one letter a week to me - but all about reading and their books. Then, I would write a letter back to them about their books. Round and round we'd go over the course of the school year, having our own 1:1 conversations about books.

When I came to Heritage, these changed to blogs, but I still kept aspects of the letter writing. When seventh grade began, the first homework assignment was to write me a letter in response to a letter I wrote to students introducing myself. They would write back (on stationary that I provided them) and tell me about themselves. These would be filed into their writing portfolios as an On-Demand writing sample to look at at the end of the year for growth.

At the end of seventh grade, I wrote them another letter (one same letter that was copied for all students) and their last homework assignment was to write me back. I love these "love letters," as Nancy, a fabulous teacher who I got to work with called them. I would bind them into a book and save them:

Here's a letter I wrote to them at the end of seventh grade:

In eighth grade, we continued talking about books, writing blogs about books, and developing our thinking about experiences with them. At the end of eighth grade, I again, wrote each child a letter. This time though, every student got a hand-written, personal letter. They *loved* this, and even though it took ages, I loved doing it too, because then I got back the best love letters of all!

Here's one of my faves from the end of eighth grade last year:

So back to my main point about the freshman essays. This year, Lillian and Kirstin were the two girls who wrote about me. Here's Lilli:

Did you love how she said that I have a degree in Lit Studies? :-)

And Kirstin said...

Anyways, just wanted to share the highlight of my day with you all, and let these two special girls know just how important they are to me. Lillian, you remind me how important it is to *really* get to know someone before I pass judgment and that great relationships take time. And Kirstin, you are always so happy and so positive - I am not sure there is much that gets you down and I love that about you! Also, you remind me that it is great to try new things that might be outside my comfort zone! Thank you both for trusting me for the two short years we spent together, and I hope we are always just a phone call or a text away!

So...any of you do the letter writing, too? It's that time of the year, my first without my own class and I'm feeling kinda sad!

Please leave a comment with your version of the love letters, especially if you are someone who is out of the classroom now, like me!

Happy Wednesday!

Confessions

I've been thinking about this post all the way home. It started when Raise 'Em Up came on (Keith Urban and Eric Church). Take a listen if you have time, or skip it for now, cause I'll cite the part that I love below...

Here's the verses that got me thinking today:

Raise 'em up

You got a voice, you got a choice

Go make some noise

Don't ever let 'em tell you

who you are

Raise 'em up

Fist black and blue

Fight for the truth

It's what you do

Hand on your heart

for the stripes and stars

See, recently I've become almost obsessed with the state of education policy/reform in our country. If you've been following me for the last few weeks at least, you've heard me mention Diane Ravitch - and I've started her book, and it's testing season...and yeah. The more I read, the more agitated I get!


And then there's Twitter. The thing they don't tell you about Twitter are all the people you're going to begin following once you start with it. (Expect to spend the first week sucked in reading post after post after post!) Twitter has connected me to so many people that have a similar set of beliefs, including the BATs. I give you their acronym first, because the A of the acronym is an inappropriate word. For a long time I felt like I couldn't talk about this kind of thing here on my blog - because of this word first, and also, I have a lot of strong opinions about what I'm reading, but I don't know everything, so I don't want to start debates without having all my facts straight. But the thing is...the state of education in our country is bothering me so much because of how much I love my career.

The things that I love - (here are the confessions) - all the things I love....I love them to the nth degree. Like crazy fierce.

My family.

My friends,

who may as well be my family.

My boyfriend.

My profession.

Teaching kids.

Literacy,

everything and anything involved.

People,

talking, laughing, collaborating.

Writing.

Reading.

These things - I love them so deeply and with such conviction. This is why today, after hearing about how I have a voice and it's okay to use it - I decided to let you in on the (confession) Badass Teachers Association (BATs). Here's a few videos that tells you who they are and what they believe in:

My big issue is that so many decisions are being made about education and teachers aren't being asked. I don't know why billionaires think they know best! It bothers me immensely that corporations want to profit off our our kids and our profession. Additionally, it makes me so angry that some people think that they could walk into a class of fifth graders, eighth graders, or kinders (hardest working people *ever*) and teach all day! It is an art and a science, this job we do!

So, I just had to get that off my chest. Maybe you already follow the BATs? Maybe you've organized something with them? I'm very interested in the work they are doing, and for the first time in my life, I feel compelled to raise my voice for education....which I care about with a 'freakish intensity.' (Thank you Curmudgucation for that one!)

Ahhhh....now that feels good.

Your thoughts?

Happy Tuesday!

SOLSC #15: Hold Tight

WRITE. Every day in March write a slice of life story on your own blog.

SHARE. Link your post in the comments on each daily call for a slice of life stories TWT.

GIVE. Comment on at least three other slice of life stories.

Have you ever met a celebrity? Well, today, I met Nancie Atwell. I mean, we didn't sit down for coffee or anything, but I asked for a picture, and since there was no one around, it was a selfie:

Isn't she beautiful?

I'm so excited. This isn't just anyone - but the teacher-researcher who wrote In the Middle - a guide to reading and writing workshop in the middle grades. When I began to study literacy development in grad school...it was one of the first important books I found in my hands:

I heard her speak this morning at breakfast. Although it was a 7am breakfast, it was so worth it. She reaffirmed everything I believe about literacy instruction: It's not about fads or a "magic bullet" or a new set of standards or basal readers and questions. It's about two things:

When kids read - voluminous reading - and they read great stories, they escape and live the lives that the characters are living. They have those "lived-through experiences" that take them to another place, make them consider different situations, and become immersed in the lives of others. As Nancie said, this really is a super power of English teachers - to offer up beautiful stories to all students, including their most reluctant - and bring them into a world of literature.

Additionally, when students use writing as a form of self-expression, not only do they learn how to be good writers, but they find ways to be funny and express feelings and record memories. When there is an authentic audience, students strive to entertain their peers and they care about what their community thinks about their writing. 

Nancie reaffirmed what I've always believed: If we "hold tight to that thread of stories and self-expression," everything else will come. We don't need to substitute close reading and worksheets to achieve the CCSS. Stories and self-expression through writing will naturally do that, and then some, because our students will leave our classrooms with powerful skills and tools to change the world. What worksheet could ever do that?

This, and nothing more, is why I love what I do.

Happy Saturday!