Teaching This Week Part II

Monday night the department head observed me teach. He does this every year, and I like having him in class. He doesn't make me nervous, but I think I was a better teacher last night with him in the room. Let me backtrack for a minute: I was a little nervous because at 3:35 (class starts at 4:00) I wasn't really sure what we were going to do in class. We had just read a chapter on teaching writing, and I could lecture all day long on that. Thing is, I don't really believe in lecture. I've been thinking recently that I need to share with the class my teaching philosophy because I think that my class could feel strange to an untrained eye. I could lecture. Sometimes I really want to lecture. Just stand there and talk. Tell everyone in the room everything that I know. I think that would be really easy, and I would have no trouble creating a syllabus.

But, I value collaboration, exploratory talk, and writing. I think they learn more from each other than they do from me in a lot of ways.

So, last night, I could decide what to do. They have a hard time teaching a mini-lesson in 15 minutes, so I thought I would model a lesson in a short amount of time. Here were my options:

1. Writing Territories (from Atwell)
2. Modeling My Composing Process Aloud (on the projector--the goal being to show them how ideas are generated and modeling the thinking behind beginning a piece of writing)
3. Snapshots and Thoughtshots (from Barry Lane)
4. Book Pass (from Janet Allen)

So, I got to class, hoping to work for a minute and think, but that never happens. Once people start coming you have to talk, but I did a have a few minutes with Leah and Heather. As soon as Heather had walked in the room, she saw the pile of books on the rolling cart and asked, "What's this all about?" I told them about the options for that night's class and they wanted to do the book pass. I had selected a lot of books about writing and a lot of books that Carol Booth Olson mentions in her book.

I started the class by introducing Dr. Blackmon and explaining that no matter what we teach we are observed by a "supervisor." I explained how it works in middle and high school, and I explained how it works at the university. I think it's important to do that. I think they needed to hear that because maybe they didn't know, and I also just want to model a sort of transparency of thinking. Or maybe it's more that I want to be very clear about why things are happening in the classroom. I'm not always clear, but it's my goal to try to explain "why" a lot.

I thought we would talk about the field experience for about 15 minutes. I went over a description of the field experience for about 10 minutes. Just going over this allowed me to elaborate and explain some things, and we were even able to tell some funny stories about making friends with school secretaries and parking in the right spot. There are always a lot more questions than I imagine. If I don't take the time to address this, then it is disaster. I stopped talking at the end of the page and had them process at their tables, which generated questions, and then I answered those questions.

I didn't have a book pass form ready, but I had them open a new document. We came up with a rating scale consisting of poor/boring, eh, fair, good, and buy this book. One person at the table grabbed a set of books, and they had a about a 1 1/2 minutes to read, type the name of the book, and rate. I think we did about six or seven rounds. Then, I had them find a book that they wanted to spend more time with. I gave them three more minutes to look at that book and I told them they would be partnering with someone to tell them why they liked this book and what they gleaned from it.

After all that, I asked a few people to share why they chose the book they did. It became an informal, spontaneous book talk. It was really cool. Amber chose Louise Rosenblatt's book Literature as Exploration. She began by saying it wasn't her first choice, but she remembered seeing Rosenblatt's name in our book. Then she explained that Rosenblatt was the theorist behind reader response, and she read aloud an amazing quote. To me, Amber doing that was better than a 50 minute lecture on Rosenblatt. I did take a couple of minutes to talk about aesthetic and efferent reading; I defined it and asked them to think about which one they did more of in school. Then, it opened the opportunity to talk about expressive and transactional writing (which linked to the writing chapter). We still had a little over ten minutes at the end, and I got to talk about freewriting and how it important it is to write at the end of class. I had created a forum on the discussion board, and we freewrote for five minutes.

Here's what I wrote:

You might be thinking that I didn't teach tonight. All of you did all of the talking, you moved the books to the table, you turned to the pages that you wanted to. Is that teaching? To me it is, actually, to me it's the best teaching. I could lecture. I have a lot of things to say about a lot of topics, but a great moment for me as a teacher tonight is that Amber brought up Rosenblatt. I think it's more powerful that she brought it up than if I would have spent 20 minutes talking about L.R. You know what I mean. There are lots of things that I  want you to know, but I've been thinking about my philosophy of teaching and the fact that I haven't told you about it. I believe that there is more than one way to teach. I believe that you learn more by reading, writing, and talking than by listening to a teacher lecture. I think I could lecture more, and I think that if you want me to lecture on something, you can tell me. I'll do it. I do want you to experience things. I do want you to watch each other teach because I think you can learn a great deal by doing that. I just want ..... lost that thought. I thought class was good, but someone might think very little teaching went on--actually, they may be right, but I think a lot of learning went on.


After class was over, Michael said, "Hey, that was a great class for the Doc to see. That's the best one yet." I hope so. It seems like it's been hard to get warmed up this year (maybe any year for that matter). 


And all of this writing is a way to procrastinate from doing the real writing--a personal statement of three pages describing everything I've done. I think I'll post that here when I'm finished. 

Teaching This Week Part I

Here's the goal for Monday night's class:

1. Try to get future teachers to know that there is more to writing than just literary analysis essays and looking at student work to correct it for grammatical errors.

I've already had one of those conversations this week with a student teacher. She's a great student teacher by the way, and she had two goals for her students. The first is to understand the writing process and the second to make sure that students write grammatically correct. I asked her what she meant, and she said they didn't understand grammar. She went on to say that students couldn't identify proper nouns and verbs. I was interested in her goals because the first goal would have included polishing or editing work as part of the writing process, but she didn't talk about grammar in terms of editing a paper. Not being able to label parts of speech was a huge concern to her. I know that if she were with a different cooperating teacher that she would not share this concern so deeply.

On to Monday night's class, the class I teach is about teaching literature. In the book we are using, The Reading-Writing Connection: Strategies for Teaching and Learning in the Secondary Classroom by Carol Booth Olson, there is a chapter on teaching writing. My favorite topic. And the one I get to talk the least about.

I think there are newer statistics cited in Because Writing Matters, but it's always interesting to note Arthur Applebee's study (1981) [doesn't he have a newer one though?], 44% of all class time is used for writing activities, but less than 3% is used for writing of a paragraph in length or longer. Even in English, only 10% was spent on extensive writing tasks (Booth Olson, p. 201).

Research shows that writing helps us think ....

Tenure for Teachers

Since my tenure packet is due October 8, I've obviously been thinking about the term for awhile--say, five years or so. In discussions of education reform, this issue comes up a lot. The argument seems to go something like this: "If there were no tenure, there would be no bad teachers. Tenure keeps administrators from firing "bad" teachers."

I don't think that's the case. First of all, as a public school teachers, having tenure does not keep you from being fired. As I understand it, administrators can provide teachers with job targets, and if they have evidence, you could still be fired. For me, tenure meant that I was vested in the retirement system. I didn't sit sinisterly at my desk after the fifth year and think, "Ha, they can't get me now!" Anyway, like any teacher, I've seen teachers who don't care much about their job, and they have tenure. I've actually known very few teachers to be fired (I know it's different for different regions--say, Rhode Island for example). I don't think it's because administrators don't feel like they can't. I think they may think it's a lot of trouble. It could stir up controversy, so they just don't.

So, now that I'm at a university, for the last four years I have had to turn in a reappointment letter and portfolio outlining my work at the university and why I should be reappointed for the next year. This has been due each January. If for some reason, I received negative reviews as a result of the January portfolio, I would be able to teach the following year, but I would be looking for a job the next. There are supports in place if I were not doing well. Professors at a higher rank could provide mentoring if there were negative reviews. It is the job of my colleagues, as opposed to the department head, to really support me (although the department head is supportive of his department). This reappointment process begins with the personnel committee in the department. They write a recommendation, which goes to the department head, which goes to the dean of the College. Then, I get a letter saying whether I am recommended or not.

Although I will be glad to turn in my tenure dossier in less than two weeks, and it's been a challenge to keep up with, I do know there are benefits to this process:

1. Each year I have had to sit down and reflect on the work that I've done for the last year. What have I done of value that has positively impacted my teaching, research, and service?

2. I have to ask myself, "How is what I do aligned with the mission of the university?"

3. Is my work disconnected? Can I connect what I teach, my research, and my service into a focused effort that also supports the university?

These aren't easy questions to answer. They make me think. I appreciate at the the end that the writing leads me to be able to make an argument for the value of my work within this system. Yes, I have to provide "data" to support this. I include numbers--numbers of contact hours with teachers, impact of this work on students, and more. I have to ask colleagues to write letters describing the teaching that they have seen me do. I have to invite colleagues in to watch me teach.

Going through this process and listening to arguments against tenure in public schools, it makes me wonder why public school teachers wouldn't have a similar tenure process--maybe not to the extent of the university, but would it hurt to write a three-page letter at the end of five years that describes how they work that they do supports other teachers and improves student learning? Maybe they write a letter each year and submit it to a committee of "tenured" teachers at the school. As I write this line, I can hear arguments (with myself). First, teachers on the committee might not like you, and they will not grant you tenure because of that. Second, there is not time to write a letter. Okay, there are two arguments. Well, like any system, the personnel committee would not be the only arbiter of your work. Second, it would be nice if the school provided a release day or some of that professional development time to have teachers write just such a letter. A letter like this would allow Casey to showcase to her school the impact her teaching has on students and the community.

As much as I have hated it at times, writing the yearly reappointment letter was important professional development for me. Creating this tenure dossier is good for me. There are goals and standards that I need to meet, and I need the time to think and make sure that my work does align with the goals of the university. By the way, the university's mission is public affairs, specifically, we focus on community engagement, cultural competence, and ethical leadership. Thank goodness for the the National Writing Project. It holds an unofficial public affairs mission. It makes it easier to make a case for my work.

Just one thought swirling around in this education reform mess.

Anonymous Letters

(This is not what I planned on writing today, but I heard this story and had to share it. I'll probably write about it again.)

I'm sure that I've received anonymous letters--at least anonymous notes--before. You know, in elementary or junior high, someone might like you and pass along a note. As you walk down the hall, you wonder who it might be that likes you. It changes the way you look at everyone when you receive a note like that--anyone could be that person. In this case, it's an exciting feeling as a kid.

That's not exactly what I'm writing about today. I sat with my mom in her family room. The back porch door was open. My dad, sister, and brother-in-law sat talking on the back porch. Mom and I sat in the adjoining room with the T.V. on. I had turned it on "Murder She Wrote." She said, "Let's not watch "Murder She Wrote." Let's watch "Monster Fish"--something really stupid. Don't you want to know about the jungle catfish?" This was after an extensive conversation about the benefits of emu oil which everyone in the house insisted on calling MU oil. I tried to fix this to no avail.

We sat for a moment and she said, "I don't understand how someone could hate me so much." I had no idea where this conversation was going, and she continued to talk. "I received a letter in the mail the other day. The letter was addressed to me--Mrs. Louise Franklin. I opened it, and there was an article about President Obama and the mosque. I didn't even read the article. I read the first line. I looked on the back to see if I could figure out where it came from. I think it either came from X. or X. They have family in K.C. (where the letter was postmarked), and they could have had family mail it. I just don't understand why someone would do that. I feel like the newspaper. If someone won't sign his name, then I won't read what he sent. But, why would they do that? I haven't even been talking about politics."

She told me that she wasn't going to tell me, and she thought it was better to not talk about it. I told her it was better to talk about. She asked me how I felt, and I told her I felt disturbed and very angry. She said she didn't want to talk to any of the people in the group they know. She also considered making a copy of the letter and passing it out to everyone, and saying that she would appreciate it if they would talk to her instead of send anonymous notes. She said, "It's malicious and disturbing that they feel it necessary to send something anonymously. If they have something to say, sign your name. I would have read it."


Writing the last paragraph made me recall an anonymous note I received as an adult. I coached volleyball at a high school. I had recently started working there, and it was a hard semester juggling the coaching with the new job. I went to the mailroom in the morning, and there was a note in my box. I think it said I wasn't a good coach, and I wasn't fair. I don't really remember what it said exactly. And, it didn't really matter what it said so much. What mattered was the fact that it was anonymous. It felt so threatening. I felt scared. I felt shaky, and I felt suspicious of everyone. How could someone write an anonymous note to me and say these things? It was truly frightening. (It turned out it was from the father of player. A retired military guy, and it was still creepy when I found out who wrote it.)

I know my mom feels that way now. How could I be hanging out or know someone who could do something like that? Even though only one person sent that note, the experience changes your perception of everyone in your circle. It's just another amazing example of how President Obama has affected people. It just feels like people are crazy.  

My mom's response to my last sentence: "People aren't tolerant and they aren't forgiving and they can't accept things."