10-second review: First, training in research needs to begin at the pre-service level—both producing and reading it. Second, researchers need to do a better job of explaining their research and its implications for instruction so that the majority of teachers can understand and discuss the findings and their implications.
Title: “Critical Research and the Future of Literacy Education.” Ernest Morrell. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (October 2009), 96-104. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).
Comment: I agree with both recommendations. The second—producing a reader-friendly version of the research—is especially important to the wide readership that is intimidated by the jargon of professional research. Beginning emphasis on research at the earliest possible level of teacher education should broaden the base of research and increase most educators’ knowledge of the technical language of research reports without being intimidated. RayS.
One day a
teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room
on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of
their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as
the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate
sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that
individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class
was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant
anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most
of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they
discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The
exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with
themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in Viet
Nam and his teacher attended the funeral of that
special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin
before. He looked so handsome, so mature.
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a
last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the
coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her.
'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said:
'Mark talked about you a lot.'
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon.
Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his
teacher.
'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his
pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might
recognize it.'
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that
had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew
without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all
the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather
sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my
desk at home.'
Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'
'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet
and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at
all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I
think we all saved our lists'
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all
his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end
one day. And we don't know when that one day will
be.
Comment: I know of no better method for helping students to become a community in the classroom. I wish I had thought of this activity. RayS.
10-second review: Students will understand the play if they act out scenes from the play. Stop emphasizing trivia such as what was the Nurse’s name in Romeo and Juliet.
Title: “Stop Reading Shakespeare!” S Spangler. English Journal (September 2009), 130-132. The secondary school journal of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Comment: Still, in my opinion, I can appreciate Shakespeare’s language better when I read it than when I see videos or theatrical presentations of Shakespeare’s plays. I still remember the field trip we took to see Hamlet. As Hamlet is dying, he gives a lengthy soliloquy. The students roared with laughter as an obviously not-dying actor tried to act as if he were dying while speaking the soliloquy that never seemed to end. However, I can’t deny the usefulness of having the students prepare and act out scenes.RayS.
10-second review: The author summarizes what he has learned after ten years of teaching English to speakers of other languages.
Title: “A Decade of ESOL Experience in about a Thousand Words.” Alex Dailey. English Journal (September 2009), 127-129. The secondary school journal of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary:
Experience the experience of being immersed in a language different from your own. You’ll understand how the ESOL student feels in your English classroom.
ESOL students must feel a need to learn English and be accepted in the English language community.
Extracurricular activities are valuable additional exposures to the English language.
Don’t focus on the rules of the language. Focus on meaning.
ESOL students learning the social use of language occurs in one to three years. On the other hand, learning the academic use of English requires up to seven years. ESOL students need to learn academic skills in their native language as well as in English.
ESOL students need to develop literacy skills in the fist language as well as in English. These skills reinforce each other.
Demonstrate to ESOL student their progress.
Recognize that all cultures do not accept the strictures in writing that we do in English—in which we don’t accept run-on sentences and do emphasize the thesis. “Not all cultures want you to get to the point quickly.”
10-second review: Cutting in half the time taken to study novels produced greater interest in the novel and better results in the quizzes and the final exam.
Title: “Pick up the Pace! The Benefits of Reading at an Accelerated Pace.” Mike Roberts. English Journal (September 2009), 124 -126.
Summary: Increasing the number of pages read each night, from 20 pates to 40 pages and cutting the number of quizzes in half produced more interested, more involved students with better understanding of the novel.
Comment: Roberts, the author of this article, compared reading at the normal slow pace with the quicker pace and concluded that students achieved more with the quicker pace.
When people tell me that they don’t have time to read books, they usually say that they “just can’t get into it.” They’re looking for books that completely absorb them. I would like to add to Mike Roberts’s idea that students read those 40 pages of the novel with a method for absorbing readers in reading novels: one paragraph a page.
I can almost guarantee that students will soon become absorbed n the novel and they will complete the 40 pages in record time, with little loss of detail because the one-paragraph-a-page approach leads to reading everything. They will complete the 40 pages in record time, almost to the point that they will read beyond the 40 pages. Try it yourself and see the results for you, the teacher. Then try it with your students.RayS.
10-second review: Testing the effects of strategies on your own students in your own classrooms
Title: “Teachers Practicing Research.” J Gorlewski. English Journal (September 2009), 123-124. The secondary school journal of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Quote: “…the term research will be concerned with…studying the effects and effectiveness of various strategies, techniques, and approaches on the learning that occurs in our classrooms.” p. 123. [The author notes that this practice is not the same as being a teacher researcher.RayS. ]
Quote: “…thinking like a researcher begins with simple inquiry…. For example, consider the following questions:
How does a particular incentive or consequence affect student participation in class?
Does use of a specific organizer enhance (or stifle) paragraph development?
Does a visual method of vocabulary instruction result in increased comprehension and/or retention?”
Comment: I think I would be inclined to use this type of research with techniques about which I have real questions and maybe doubts. If I know it works, why bother, unless I am going to use the data to write an article? RayS.
10-second review: Being a cooperating teacher means learning even more about teaching.
Title: “Teaching Practice: Reflections of a Cooperating Teacher.” Jennifer Ritter. English Journal (September 2009), 114-117. The secondary school journal of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Quote: “Having had much opportunity to do my own reflecting over several months, ultimately, what I have concluded is that the student-cooperating teacher experience is an exercise of balance. Finding the right moments for criticism and for praise, for answers and for questions. Discovering what you already know and what you still need to learn about teaching. Understanding when to guide, provide structure, give options, inspire, and offer choices. When to lead and when to let go. In the end, in the experience of being a cooperating teacher, I was much less a teacher than a student. And I can only hope that my students and student teacher got as much out of the process as I did.”
Comment: I think that quote embodies a pretty good definition of what it means to be a leader.RayS.
