Mission Intentional (can you hear the theme song?)

So here's the thing. I figure that if I want to be 'intentional' about what I'm doing in my classroom, and how I'm doing it, I ought at least to start with whatever it is I am intending toward. You know what I mean?

Looking way way off into the distance, about the farthest thing I can aim at with any intention is my beliefs and values as a teacher. Hence, I wrote a mission statement. This is my mission - the loftiest target I can possibly aim for with my students.

Here goes...



"I intend to guide my students' to explore their world in an atmosphere of safety and trust; to build skills that allow them to share, appreciate, and learn from each other; and to apply knowledge of the diverse heritage of the United States of America and of the U.S. Constitution toward a greater understanding of themselves and their world."

Hoo-Whee! Yeah, I told you it was lofty. But I really hammered over - and can provide my own justification - for every word in there. Let's just move on. This is my own version of designing backward, and you don't get to argue (unless, of course, you comment!)

But here's the thing. Have I just set myself up for a crash? I mean, what is a mission, or a belief statement, but a border to my own thinking? In a sense, by defining my professional mission, I've basically marked my territory. Sure, it's a pretty big chunk of territory, and I really shouldn't have any problem working sustainably off of it, but still, in effect I'm saying that if you don't like the smell of it, stay away.

For now, that's the way it is, and I can defend it. So if you don't like it, you know what you can do.

But come back later, I may be in a better mood.

So, I got a mission goin' for me. That's cool. What else?

My mission is based on some pretty basic beliefs. Let's open the drawer and see what they are:

I believe that:

* Students should think
* Students should have choices
* Students should know what is expected of them and why
* Students should experience a safe and trusting classroom
* Students should do most of the work
* The teacher should model every aspect of these beliefs daily


Mission - check. Beliefs upon which mission is based - check. Let's keep going backward, from the lofty and broad toward the more immediate and focused.

Goals. What tangible goals do I have to achieve, using these basic beliefs, to accomplish my mission?

I can tell you they have to do with the daily practice of writing, speaking, reading, and listening in the classroom, always based on these beliefs, and moving toward accomplishing my mission.

More later.

New Student

Every parent would like to know that their child, as a new student in a school, will be greeted enthusiastically by teachers and warmly by students. The hidden reality is that a new student comes with a trace of anxiety. One more student in an already large class can be perceived by a teacher as the tipping point between control and chaos - the difference between effective teaching or what amounts to mere seat work for students. The thought of additional reporting, and even the apparently simple yet important consideration of where to seat a new child, can tinge that hoped-for welcome a new student so critically needs. After several weeks of hard work together, a class and a teacher create a working relationship that can be quickly altered by the emotional, academic, and social needs of an incoming student.

At a recent intake meeting, I learned of a prospective new student with significant challenges. I thought about how another teacher, perhaps even me a few years ago, might have smiled outwardly yet quietly internalized this information. How am I going to do this? Is this fair to my class? Is this really the right placement for the child, considering all the accommodations required?

I felt none of that. I thought about how fortunate this incoming child was to have a parent advocating for him. I thought about what a great experience this child’s presence would be for my students. Finally, I thought that I really don’t need to change a thing in terms of my instructional approach.

I wonder how it came to this. I can say now that writing with my students in my classroom has made that much difference in my approach to teaching. With that, we may not have precisely or entirely covered the curriculum prescribed, but we have learned and I have taught all that needs to be in order to accommodate this particular student, or any student. Together, we’ve learned to flex, to allow ourselves to be shaped and to embrace whatever person or idea comes through the classroom door. We've practiced patience with the process of writing; with the process of finding our thoughts and clarifying them with written words. We’ve established trust; that from wherever one approaches their writing is legitimate, fragile, and needs to be made to feel safe in order to share with others freely.

Where else will a new student like this be more suitably placed, but in a writing classroom?

I Am Not A Control Freak

Today, my students sit at their desks, read 12 pages of a textbook and take notes. It is very quiet.

This appears to be strange and unusual. People walk by the open door and peek in, eyebrows raised. They think I’m angry at my class - everyone sitting with their noses in a book. They stifle a chuckle at the notion that this is punishment for some misbehavior. Or, maybe they think I just didn’t have a plan for today and regressed to the textbook.

Some teachers assign reading (and writing) for homework, and believe that class time should be used for other things. They do many, many wonderful things with their students during class time. There is an overwhelming amount to get done. It can be justified, then, to defer reading and writing to homework. It is, after all, what a student should be able to do independently.

I do a lot in my classroom as well. I also have students read and write in class. When I do, kids sit in their seats and read or write for a sustained period of time, quietly.

Excuse me while I ask my students what they think of the book they are reading for 20 minutes straight…..

I’m back. Here are the comments.
“It’s interesting.” “I like it.” “It puts you into the story.” “It’s fun.”

OK, not the most eloquent descriptions, but you get the point.

Here’s how my ‘No I’m Not a Control Freak’ class session is set up:

The textbook is A History of US – The First Americans, volume one of a 16 book series written by Joy Hakim about the history of the United States. I’ve modeled reading the first chapter aloud, and have had a discussion with students about why reading aloud and following along is vitally important to their personal growth as readers. In a nutshell – Listening and following along with a good reader helps them to:
1. hear good pace, cadence and inflection
2. hear and see words being pronounced correctly
3. hear and see mistakes that can be glossed over without losing meaning/understanding
4. simply receive input from more than one modality

I read the first chapter out loud, and I thought out loud as well. I stopped when I wondered about something, and I shared that with my students. I wrote down a few phrases that captured my attention. I messed up on a couple of words, and quickly told the class, 'Eh, it doesn't matter. I used another word just like it."

Now it's their turn, reading silently.

There isn’t a corresponding worksheet to go with this reading. They aren’t writing ‘words I don’t know’ for a vocab list. The notes I modeled for them to take consist of listening to their own silent reading, and copying a few sentences from each chapter (2-3 pages) that catch them; make them stop and think, ‘hmmm’; cause them to pause and imagine for a second before moving on. They are leaving space under each set of ‘hmmm’ sentences, and tomorrow we will circulate the ‘captured sentences’ and allow other students to respond to these ‘findings’. Something of a simplified ‘Gallery Walk’ of text statements, that will hopefully generate personalized responses and thoughtful input from others.

What’s the point? Will we make anything of this? I’m not there yet, but if I don’t do anything else (hey, I could test them!), the process I’ve involved my students in is a skill they can repeat anywhere, any time for their own benefit. The content is no longer isolated in some barren text. It is food for thought, individually selected and shared with others. It allows students to have their individual takes on content-related reading be shared, read, and listened to. It will enable students to ‘think big’ in terms of the course content, and to know that simply wondering and being alert to their own thoughts is worthy of sharing. I’m sure I can turn this into a major writing assignment, and if I do, students will be more willing to buy in to it because they generated the thoughtful fodder to make it interesting for themselves. But I don’t have to make something more of this. Some reading and writing should be left just to the pleasure of seeking, discovering, and sharing.