Real Life Frameworks for English 12

This is the second post of this two part series.  To re-frame:  At the end of last year I requested the ability to work a bit with each grade (aside from juniors as American Lit is not my interest or forte).  My current line is one class of 9 Honors, two classes of 10 honors, one class of 10 academic, and one class of 12 academic.

Due to the success of the "Classroom Office" which I ran with a colleague last year (and has been fully detailed in previous blogs), I decided to keep this framework for my one class of freshmen.  However, I knew that I would have some students again a second time (whether in 10th or 12th grade) and wanted to make sure they were learning the English content within a new and fun experience.

I have never taught seniors before and was both nervous and excited for the challenge.  I knew I had the make the class REAL in order to keep their attention.  I wanted to teach this group because I feel too often it is easy to give up on the oldest students (since they no longer want to be in high school and are ready for the next chapter of their life).  I wanted to make sure I was able to make one last impact and leave them with some solid life skills before the left to the real world.  The framework I established was a focus on critical lenses through an introductory study of psychology.  Here is how I set it up:

Students in all grade levels know that my classes are on a rotation of manners in which class begins.  In any first class within a three class cycle, students begin class with a random quick write that we then discuss in a circle format.  (Please refer to other blog entries regarding establishing classroom environment and rapport for specifics on how to make this work with high school students).  Sharing these random quick writes is a great community building tool that allows students to get to know one another, build empathy, and hear how other students write.  Also, because the topics themselves are random, students are able to write in a myriad ways.  In any second class within a three class cycle, students will analyze a song (with lyrics provided on the Promethean board) and in every third class students will do the same with a poem.  These full class analyses allow students to develop their critical thinking and synthesis skills over time by hearing other students' thought processes as well as hearing the lens from which students attack multiple forms of art across a wide period of time.  This tool can further be used by teachers to gauge individual students "senses" (or the vibe they bring to class) - and can in turn use this information to better meet students psychologically where they are in a specified time.

Students receive formative assessment grades for participating in circle (which literally every single student does) and are graded summatively on six items per quarter: a formal song analysis, a formal poem analysis, a timed in-class essay on the class novel they read/discussed that month, and two group "psych projects" (in 12th grade).  All of these projects are assigned with huge open-ended due dates.  Students submit 3/6 of these assignments at the midpoint of a quarter and the other 3 at the end.

The seniors sit around the circle (really a square) of my room in seats of their choice.  Students spend the second half of each class (after work on the quick write/song/poem) reading the quarter class text and engaging in psychology activities. Students weave these topics together and look at different characters and situations of their novel through the lens of diverse principles of psychology (thus reinforcing the English content knowledge while teaching life skills and giving students meaningful, yet low pressure oral presentation opportunities).

Students engage in a different focus (building their psych knowledge) each quarter.  These are listed the way I have separated them below:

QUARTER 1:  GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY
Topics include:  Basic Theory on Groups, Visual Perception, Dreams, Gestalts, Cognitive Psych, Theories of Intelligence, Left/Right Brain, Love, Emotion, Attribution Theory, Personality, Leadership, and basic experiments such as Rosenhan's, David Kolb's, and The Good Samaritan.  They engage with these concepts while reading "The Kite Runner" by: Khaled Hosseini

QUARTER 2:  DISCREPANCIES, DISORDERS, and THERAPY
Topics include:  Mood disorders, Somatoform Disorder, False Consensus, Stress, Self-Discrepancy, Art Therapy, Hypnosis, Cognitive Dissonance, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Drive Reduction, Heuristics, Magic, Personality Disorders,. Dissociative Disorder, Anxiety, and Strangeness.
They engage with these concepts while reading "The Poisonwood Bible" by: Barbara Kingsolver

QUARTER 3:  EARLY FIELD RESEARCH: 1849-1933
Topics include:  Pavlov, Freud, Adler, Watson, Rorschach, Piaget, Lewin, Fromm, Horney, Vygotsky, Sullivan, and Murray.  They engage with these concepts while reading "Hard Times" by: Charles Dickens

QUARTER 4:  MODERN FIELD RESEARCH:  1934-PRESENT
Topics include:  Skinner, Kohlberg, Milgram, Zimbardo, Asch, Harlow, Banduru, Rogers, Maslow, Ellis, Bowlby, and Jung.  They engage with these concepts while reading "Things Fall Apart" by: Chinua Achebe

All activities involve students working together with the text and the topic in order to establish understanding of the real world through literary situations.  These lessons culminate in group presentations that must last 15min per group and encompass the quarter psychology theme, a class text (novel/song/poem), and an interactive activity that engages the other students and pushes our thinking forward.

Having a framework in class (and I am sure you can see how the World Lit texts and mixture of modern songs and classic poetry marry the real life psychology themes) allows teachers to create excitement and tradition around the content within their class.  Focusing on group collaboration rather than competition allows students to focus on the highest levels of Bloom's Taxonomy (and while being assessed in English content skills) can focus on the relevant elements of the discipline (critical reading, critical writing, and oral presenting - rather than focusing on individual skills taken out of authentic context).

As stated previously, my freshmen framework of "The Classroom Office" has been detailed in previous post.  My next post will discuss the framework of my senior class and the post to follow will discuss using games in class to develop a positive environment and an early and strong rapport.

If you are attending NCTE17 and are interested in learning more.  Please come see me and the incredible student leaders:  #thebowtieboys during our D.18, F.14, and i20 sessions!  Rock on!  :-)

Jason Augustowski, M.Ed. @misteramistera  http://jasonaugustowskibtb.blogspot.com

Ryan Beaver @RBeaver05  http://ryanbeaverbtb.blogspot.com

Sam Fremin @thesammer88  http://samfreminbtb.blogspot.com/ 

Spencer Hill @spencerhill99  http://spencerbtb.blogspot.com/  

Ryan Hur @RyanHur09  http://ryanhurbtb.blogspot.com/
Jack Michael  @jackmichael776 http://bowtieboyjack.blogspot.com/

Joe O'Such @Joe_Osuch  http://bowtieboyjoe.blogspot.com/

Sean Pettit @seanpettit9  http://seanpettitbtb.blogspot.com/

Kellen Pluntke @kellenpluntke  http://kellenbowtieboy.blogspot.com/
Christian Sporre  @CSporre  http://christiansporrebtb.blogspot.com/

Dawson Unger @dawsonunger  http://btb-dawson.blogspot.com/

Real Life Frameworks for English 10

I have taken a break from the blogosphere for the summer in order to design a few new frameworks I am now running in my classes.  At the end of last year I requested the ability to work a bit with each grade (aside from juniors as American Lit is not my interest or forte).  My current line is one class of 9 Honors, two classes of 10 honors, one class of 10 academic, and one class of 12 academic.

Due to the success of the "Classroom Office" which I ran with a colleague last year (and has been fully detailed in previous blogs), I decided to keep this framework for my one class of freshmen.  However, I knew that I would have some students again a second time (whether in 10th or 12th grade) and wanted to make sure they were learning the English content within a new and fun experience.

I have been working with the class of 2020 since they were in seventh grade and know the students of this year extremely well.  In fact, six of them are sitting immediately to my right as I type during my planning period chilling with their friends on their phones and discussing basketball.  Having had the ability to develop a relationship with these students and watch them grow over the years, I had the unique ability to pinpoint some real life skills to teach them.  Being a class mostly comprised of "followers" (and I say that lovingly) I thought this class could benefit greatly from learning some real leadership skills and thus planned to run my three sophomore classes of British literature through the framework of a leadership summit.  Here is how I set it up:

Students in all grade levels know that my classes are on a rotation of manners in which class begins.  In any first class within a three class cycle, students begin class with a random quick write that we then discuss in a circle format.  (Please refer to other blog entries regarding establishing classroom environment and rapport for specifics on how to make this work with high school students).  Sharing these random quick writes is a great community building tool that allows students to get to know one another, build empathy, and hear how other students write.  Also, because the topics themselves are random, students are able to write in a myriad ways.  In any second class within a three class cycle, students will analyze a song (with lyrics provided on the Promethean board) and in every third class students will do the same with a poem.  These full class analyses allow students to develop their critical thinking and synthesis skills over time by hearing other students' thought processes as well as hearing the lens from which students attack multiple forms of art across a wide period of time.  This tool can further be used by teachers to gauge individual students "senses" (or the vibe they bring to class) - and can in turn use this information to better meet students psychologically where they are in a specified time.

Students receive formative assessment grades for participating in circle (which literally every single student does) and are graded summatively on six items per quarter: a formal song analysis, a formal poem analysis, a timed in-class essay on the class novel they read/discussed that month, and two group "leadership summit" projects.  All of these projects are assigned with huge open-ended due dates.  Students submit 3/6 of these assignments at the midpoint of a quarter and the other 3 at the end.  For now I will focus on sophomores and then move in to my methodology with academic seniors in my next post.

The sophomores sit around the circle (really a square) of my room in their leadership groups (which they choose based on different criteria each quarter) one group inhabiting each side.  Depending on class size, these groups are typically six members but can range from 5-7.  Students spend the second half of each class (after work on the quick write/song/poem) working with group members to learn a new aspect of leadership and apply this knowledge back to our class texts (thus reinforcing the English content knowledge while teaching life skills and giving students meaningful, yet low pressure oral presentation opportunities).

Taken from James Kouzes and Barry Posner's "The Student Leadership Challenge" (2013) students engage in a different focus (building their leadership skills) each quarter.  These are listed the way I have separated them below:

QUARTER 1:  MODEL THE WAY (Leading by example)
SEPTEMBER:  Learning to clarify the values of a group (Q1 groups decided by students' common core values).  They engage with these concepts while reading "And Then There Were None" by: Agatha Christie
OCTOBER:  Learning to set the example (how to speak passionately about your beliefs in front of others in order to inspire them).  They engage with these concepts while reading "Frankenstein" by: Mary Shelley

QUARTER 2:  INSPIRE A SHARED VISION (Having a common goal/purpose)
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER:  Learning to envision the future (Q2 groups decided by students' common career aspirations).  They engage with these concepts while reading "Animal Farm" by: George Orwell
JANUARY:  Learning to enlist others that can help with the group's vision.  They engage with these concepts while reading "Lord of the Flies" by: William Golding

QUARTER 3:  CHALLENGE THE PROCESS (How to keep moving when pushback is felt)
FEBRUARY:  Searching for opportunities to spread the word and to achieve goals (Q3 groups decided by students' Myers-Briggs results).  They engage with these concepts while reading "Iliad" by: Homer
MARCH:  Experimenting and risk taking in order achieve and innovate.  They engage with these concepts while reading "Macbeth" by: Shakespeare

QUARTER 4:  ENABLE OTHERS TO ACT (How to inspire others to join the cause and get traction/how to delegate)
APRIL:  Fostering collaboration (how to get every member to do their part and do it well).  They engage with these concepts while reading "The Canterbury Tales" by: Chaucer
MAY:  Strengthening others (how to make others just a strong of leaders as yourself).  They engage with these concepts while reading "Beowulf."

All activities involve students working together (whether talking, writing, drawing, etc.) in order to achieve their group's goals.  These lessons culminate in group presentations that must last 15min per group and encompass the monthly leadership theme, a class text (novel/song/poem), and an interactive activity that engages the other students and pushes our thinking forward.  In every quarter, concepts of recognizing contributions of group members and celebrating the victories of groups and individuals.

Having a framework in class (and I am sure you can see how the British Lit texts and mixture of modern songs and classic poetry marry the real life leadership themes) allows teachers to create excitement and tradition around the content within their class.  Focusing on group collaboration rather than competition allows students to focus on the highest levels of Bloom's Taxonomy (and while being assessed in English content skills) can focus on the relevant elements of the discipline (critical reading, critical writing, and oral presenting - rather than focusing on individual skills taken out of authentic context).

As stated previously, my freshmen framework of "The Classroom Office" has been detailed in previous post.  My next post will discuss the framework of my senior class and the post to follow will discuss using games in class to develop a positive environment and an early and strong rapport.

If you are attending NCTE17 and are interested in learning more.  Please come see me and the incredible student leaders:  #thebowtieboys during our D.18, F.14, and i20 sessions!  Rock on!  :-)

Jason Augustowski, M.Ed. @misteramistera  http://jasonaugustowskibtb.blogspot.com

Ryan Beaver @RBeaver05  http://ryanbeaverbtb.blogspot.com

Sam Fremin @thesammer88  http://samfreminbtb.blogspot.com/ 

Spencer Hill @spencerhill99  http://spencerbtb.blogspot.com/  

Ryan Hur @RyanHur09  http://ryanhurbtb.blogspot.com/
Jack Michael  @jackmichael776 http://bowtieboyjack.blogspot.com/

Joe O'Such @Joe_Osuch  http://bowtieboyjoe.blogspot.com/

Sean Pettit @seanpettit9  http://seanpettitbtb.blogspot.com/

Kellen Pluntke @kellenpluntke  http://kellenbowtieboy.blogspot.com/
Christian Sporre  @CSporre  http://christiansporrebtb.blogspot.com/

Dawson Unger @dawsonunger  http://btb-dawson.blogspot.com/

With only two weeks left...

I think I have found a major problem with school.  This may be met with some resistance, but let's really think about this for just a second and be honest as we reflect about ourselves as teachers.  Although we almost always have our students best interests in mind and we almost always come to school with engaging and meaningful lessons in tow, we too are human, and we make mistakes.  We can fall pray to laziness, to mid-year burnout, to meetings and to paperwork.  And we can sometimes use the excuse of "I am the adult and you are the kid" as the reason why we are not teaching at our 100% best effort.

The major problem though, stems from the fact that we actually believe that students can't see through our pathetic attempts.  We think they don't notice when we watch movies every class, complete packet after packet, or only play "review games" and fill in the blanks on study guides.  They notice.  And the worst part is, they let us get away with it.  And herein lies the even bigger problem.  When given the option, students want to slack off too.  They don't mind watching our movies, listening disengaged to our lectures, mindlessly filling in blanks, and pretending to have a BLAST playing Kahoot! because then they don't have to do anything.  And there is a big difference between school fun and actual fun.  The fact of the matter is, students will accept boredom in return for easy A's.  We will forego real teaching in return for assignments easy to grade, and activities easy to plan.

The solution to this is:  REAL LIFE CLASS.

This is a new concept I have been piloting over the last two years, and one I plan on making the primary focus of my twelfth grade English classes.  The idea is, students enter our rooms every day with their own lives on their mind.  Sometimes they are so incredibly far away from reading, and writing, and speaking mentally that they can barely stand to enter.  We can all relate to this feeling.  How easy is it to continue teaching after receiving a cryptic e-mail from an administrator stating "let's chat before the end of the day" or after we left the house in the morning on not-so-great terms with our spouses or children.  In these situations, it is hard to stay focused, and nearly impossible to bring our "A-game."  Kids are no different.  Although we frequently attempt to belittle their personal dramas as "kid-stuff" - their recent breakup, or the dirty look a friend just gave, or their fight with their parents, or their outfit, or whatever is just as important to them at the time is our inability to pay our mortgage, or defaulting on a loan, or whatever serious adult stuff plagues our own minds.  So... let's use this to our advantage.

With this concept, students are encouraged (not to name names or to bring any private matter to the public) to bring their "drama" into the classroom.  We use this drama as the vehicle by which we teach the remainder of the class.  Normally we begin with an open class discussion about the topic.  Make sure the scene is properly set and we know with what we are dealing.  This acts as an excellent warm up and gets the entire class talking - because who doesn't want to discuss real life?  All of this is of course modeled at the beginning of the year using both the teacher's own dramas and the dramas of outgoing students who are comfortable at the onset of the year.

Once the initial discussion has taken place, the teacher gets to masterfully weave the English instruction around the topic.  This is stressful in the sense that we will walk into every class without a set "plan" - but requires us to have a massive knowledge of our content area.  We need to help a student understand the root of their current drama (the over-arching life theme, the motif, the conceit, the symbolism) and then we need to attach it to reading they will appreciate - reading that will help them.  Meanwhile everyone is benefitting (as every day focuses on the drama of real teenage life) - everyone is learning how to share orally - everyone is collaborating - and everyone is learning how to respect each other and differing view points.

How many times have we heard students say they don't want to read what doesn't interest them and they DO want to read what does.  This is the perfect way to find the perfect book for a kid.  We just need to have done our homework.  We need to know books - both modern and classic.  We need to be voracious readers (which isn't typically a problem for English teachers).  We need to be open to sharing ourselves with our students and to genuinely caring about their lives.  Oh, look, we are simultaneously building strong rapport without overstepping any boundaries.  As for writing instruction - so much self reflection and personal writing can come out of this.  This is where we teach what poetry is REALLY about.  This is where we teach memoir and creative nonfiction.  This is where we teach the catharsis of fiction - and how fiction is written (even the most fantastical) to mimic real life.  This is where we teach research - where we show students that they research all the time.  They are constantly researching and learning what interests them.  We will allow them to apply all of these interest and real life experiences to our assignments.  Obviously this is also automatic differentiation and personalized learning, since every student will be reading and writing about their own lives while simultaneously improving in areas where they need to develop more skill.

The most frequently asked question is, what if nobody shares a drama of the day?  Well, first of all, you don't only have to talk about the negative aspects of life - class can also be a celebration of the amazing, wonderful, positive aspects of teenage life.  But, still - what if the class is just quiet one day.  No one is upset, no one is jubilant, everyone is just chill.  It is on these days that we can weave in some of our favorites that maybe we have missed in previous discussions.  I like to have a hat with common life dramas from which students can choose the topic of the day.  Or, like I said, we can just announce in these situations that today we will be examining The Kite Runner (let's say) through the feminist lens and will be analyzing (blank) to learn about (blank) life lesson.

Other skeptics fear that we will never be able to complete the entire curriculum using this style of teaching.  I am guaranteeing that this is not true.  The trick is always consistency and building environment and tradition.  Too many teachers get bored of something too easily, or quickly change delivery styles if they think the students aren't connecting within a few days.  Anything takes time to fully develop - especially something that fully changes the norms of a preset construct.  In every single type of my "alternative delivery styles" I actually got the students through MORE curriculum at a deeper level than when I taught from the front of the room.  Curriculum Menu allowed students to hit every single state standard at their own pace and develop until they had attained mastery, The Classroom Office allowed students to work collaboratively on the curriculum both in and out of the classroom while utilizing real world technologies, and now R.L.C. allows the students to make meaningful, real life connections with each part of the curriculum - not only "hitting" every component, but establishing meaningful bridges at each level.

Regardless of how we are delivering instruction, we have to know that our students are watching.  They are paying attention.  They DO know what is going on (no matter how mysteriously adulty we seem to be).  And they will allow us to slack if we let them.  They will accept the boredom for the easy grades just as we will accept the easy activity and scantron exam for less planning (even though we know better).  Think about what your students need.  Think about what you need as a teacher.  And then use this summer to conduct some serious brainstorming and research.  This is the year to make your classroom exactly what you have always wanted it to be.  I know that I cannot wait!  :-)

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If you are interested in hearing from these students yourself - please follow their blogs/twitters as well.  Even more shifts are taking place - and I can't wait to keep you in the loop of all there is to come.  It is our belief that shifting the classroom paradigm to a 50-50 partnership between student and teacher will be the key in making learning engaging, enjoyable, and accessible to all.  We seek to support teachers as well as students in this identity shift - all from the daily thoughts of teachers and high school students themselves.  :-)

Jason Augustowski, M.Ed. @misteramistera  http://jasonaugustowskibtb.blogspot.com

Ryan Beaver @RBeaver05  http://ryanbeaverbtb.blogspot.com
Bentley Chen  @benjustchen18  http://bentleychenbtb.blogspot.com

Sam Fremin @thesammer88  http://samfreminbtb.blogspot.com/ 

Spencer Hill @spencerhill99  http://spencerbtb.blogspot.com/  

Ryan Hur @RyanHur09  http://ryanhurbtb.blogspot.com/
Nihar Kandarpa  @NKandarpa  http://niharkandarpa,blogspot.com/
Jack Michael  @jackmichael776 http://bowtieboyjack.blogspot.com/

Joe O'Such @Joe_Osuch  http://bowtieboyjoe.blogspot.com/

Sean Pettit @seanpettit9  http://seanpettitbtb.blogspot.com/

Kellen Pluntke @kellenpluntke  http://kellenbowtieboy.blogspot.com/
Christian Sporre  @CSporre  http://christiansporrebtb.blogspot.com/

Dawson Unger @dawsonunger  http://btb-dawson.blogspot.com/
Brian Van Dyke  @brian_van9  http://brianvandykebtb.blogspot.com/

Student Feedback (Round 2) - The Negatives

This segment continues our several rounds through the student feedback I have compiled over the course of the year.  The focus will be the elements of English/LA instruction that are not resonating with students (at least the diverse group of middle and high school students with whom I have had the pleasure of conversing).  Once again, none of this is earth-shattering or ground-breaking, but not all change needs to be.  If we can focus on fixing the "small stuff" we can make big impacts in our classrooms and for our kids.  Please join me on this succinct list of areas in which we can improve to make our classes more engaging.

1.  Memorization to regurgitate.  Learning to quiz:

It's been discussed over and over and over again.  We have beaten this dead horse so hard, and yet, this style of teaching remains the cornerstone of so many educators.  We are plagued by the idea that we have THIS MUCH MATERIAL to cover in THIS MUCH TIME and so we pace it and pack it and plug on and on and on without much thought to real learning or retention.  If WE can get through everything (despite snow days, assemblies, standardized testing, and whatever other interruptions can potentially surface) we have done our job.  But our "job" of course is really to meet students where they are and take them somewhere further using the curriculum as a vehicle (not the end game).

The simple reality is that preparing lecture notes and quizzing students is the easiest way to deliver material to students and check our boxes of fulfilling our requirements.  But we also know it is NOT the way that the majority of our students learn.  But once again, it is easy.  It takes almost zero effort on our part to get up in front of kids (who we also know are not experts in our subject) and deliver our comments on writing and literature.  We don't need materials, stations, students to bring anything (not even their minds), and there is nothing for us to grade until the quizzes or tests that we can likely spit through a Scantron machine.

And what happens?  The best students will dutifully memorize our material, regurgitate it on a test and promptly forget the material (which has been given no context or relevance to their lives) to make room for the next onslaught of pointless material.  And this is what we pass off as education.

INSTEAD:  This same class can be made infinitely more interactive with class discussions and circles.  These all rely on routine and regulations in order to remain effective.  But this simple fix can change monotonous lecture ,into a stage where students can share their voice.  Regardless of the texts we are teaching, let's have students explore their critical thinking alongside of us.  This still requires very little prep time - just knowing our subject (like we do), establishing the environment where all student voices are equal, expected, and valued, and allowing the students to take control with us guiding on the side.  Now students are engaged and learning real critical thinking skills that will actually help them in their real lives.  And no Socratic seminars where grades are based on how often someone talks.  Allow our whole class (at least in portions across the year) to be an ongoing seminar.  But how do we grade?  I imagine it won't take long to figure out who always participates and who is shyer.  This will allow us to differentiate by improving some students analysis skills, while we develop others' oral speaking skills - both real life standards of our discipline.

2.  Teach what students will use in their real life and grade based on skills

More and more we are hearing the question from our students: "when will I ever need to know this?"  And it is high-time we learn how to answer this extremely relevant question.  And the passe response of "it will expand your mind" is no longer working.  Maybe the real answer is we need to let go of some of our favorite things to teach (that may not speak to this generation) and focus on empowering them and equipping them with the traits of people we will eventually want to work with (and take care of us and our world).  The English/LA classroom should have ALWAYS been a classroom based on the acquisition of skills - not vocabulary quizzes and tests on obscure literature references.  Students need to know how to READ (and not just literally but figuratively), WRITE (in a manner that clearly expresses their ideas to an authentic audience), and SPEAK in front of people (both large audiences and small) - not shoving our oral presentation units to the back-burner and suggesting "presenting is too hard for kids - after all some are shy."  NO.  Everyone should be scaffolded in to sharing their thoughts - what bigger life skill can be taught?  Begin during class circles, bump to small group presentations, to half class, to full class, and eventually to high stakes (like maybe on stage in the auditorium, under the lights, from behind a podium, with a microphone).  Oh wait, that sounds too scary, we probably shouldn't even try...

BUILD THE ABOVE IN EVERY DAY:  We must ask ourselves every day.  Is this genuinely making students better at the skills of READING, WRITING, and SPEAKING.  I have heard of reader's workshop, I have heard of writer's workshop, but I haven't heard of speaker's workshop.  Let's make these fluid.  Let's show kids how these are linked.  Let's teach them to read so they can be critical and informed.  To do so they must know how, but they must have space to read and to discuss.  They need to read what they want and they need to have people interested in their thoughts in order to have meaningful conversations.  Based on what inspires them, these students need to write.  Whether in response, or pastiche (in the style of), or just because they are inspired.  And once again, they need to have people who care about them as a writer and want to actively engage in helping them to improve their craft.  This is all about the environment we are creating as teachers.  And after all of this speaking and real-world interaction, I bet these students would be less and less frightened of speaking at length about their reading and writing in front of small groups, and then medium groups, and then large groups.  And guess what, since everyone loves each other anyway, kids can be gently critiquing each other's presentations - all modeled of course by an adept and masterful teacher.

3.  Lose the Cookie-Cutter Rubrics and Busy Work:

Please allow me to summarize every rubric ever created ever:  You receive a 4 if you ALWAYS use figurative language, write in grammatically correct sentences, cover the expected content, and cite your sources.  You receive a 3 if you OFTEN use figurative language, write in grammatically correct sentences, cover the expected content, and cite your sources.  You receive a 2 if you SOMETIMES use figurative language, write in grammatically correct sentences, cover the expected content, and cite your sources.  You receive a 1 if you RARELY use figurative language, write in grammatically correct sentences, cover the expected content, and cite your sources.  And, of course, you receive a 0 if you NEVER use figurative language, write in grammatically correct sentences, cover the expected content, and cite your sources.  Did you actually just read all of that?  No, your students neither.  This was the format of almost every rubric I have ever seen - in an age of standardization, who can be surprised?  But let's not fall into this trap.  Equally troublesome are the rubrics that follow the same idea... but with language rather than numbers.  You are SUPERIOR, or EXCELLENT, or GOOD, or FAIR, or POOR if you... or you are PROFICIENT, SATISFACTORY, DEVELOPING, NEEDS IMPROVEMENT, or UNSATISFACTORY if you...  wait a minute... this is starting to sound a lot like teacher evaluations too.  Let's cut the crap (even if it makes the assignments longer and harder for us to grade) and assess students on just a few items at a time.  Hopefully, these are items that workshop diagnostics (not tests) have shown us as the teacher is an area in which our class (or individual students) is/are weak.  There is no such thing as being a bad worksheet filler outter.  There is no such thing as being a bad movie watching note taker.  There is no such thing as being a bad packet completer.  So since these are not real life skills, let's omit these entirely from our classrooms and focus on the real.  Our students (at all levels) are stressed.  They have two many classes and too much work (because all of us as teacher think our class is - or at least should be - the most important thing in a student's life).

INSTEAD:  Let's conduct workshops like explained above where teachers use evidence from previous workshops to determine the day's agenda.  Make time for mini-lessons - hopefully they are interactive and engaging.  Make plenty of time for students to DO (this way they won't have homework).  Encourage them to talk with each other while they DO.  Give them reading circles with people of similar interests, then switch it up.  Do the same with their writing groups.  Instruct them in a classroom that allows and encourages a very high expectation and organized form of chaos - like a typical office place.  Because how can we even put a rubric on a class like this.  "Well, Johnny, today you only SOMETIMES read your book, wrote in your notebook, and spoke to your group.  I am concerned because last week you were ALWAYS reading, writing, and speaking (which was so much better than two weeks ago when you were RARELY reading, writing, and speaking)."  Doesn't that sound ridiculous?  Yes, I think so too.  But let's definitely have meaningful relationships with students.  Let's always be circulating, answering questions, posing new ones, conferencing, encouraging, scaffolding, and pushing.  If we're going to watch a movie, let's really analyze and dissect.  Let's rip it a part and find all the deeply human elements that resonate with an audience.  And let's do it together.

In the end, the more we are engaged, the more they will be too.  Let's love our subject, yes, but let's love our kids even more.  Truly loving them is not giving them the free A, is not allowing them to play on their phones for half the class - but it certainly also isn't giving them endless assignments because we teach a "rigorous course filled with WORK."  Let's get them up and moving, working together, and acquiring skills that they will use for the rest of their lives.  In doing so, we will still be able to slip in all of our favorites:  "Catcher in the Rye," "Lord of the Flies," "The Great Gatsby," and Shakespeare.  How could we not?  Classics are classic for a reason.  They are timeless.  And if we teach them, students will learn.  But let's be open to learning a thing or two from them as well.  I truly believe that making these small changes could truly revolutionize our English/LA classrooms.  :-)

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If you are interested in hearing from these students yourself - please follow their blogs/twitters as well.  Even more shifts are taking place - and I can't wait to keep you in the loop of all there is to come.  It is our belief that shifting the classroom paradigm to a 50-50 partnership between student and teacher will be the key in making learning engaging, enjoyable, and accessible to all.  We seek to support teachers as well as students in this identity shift - all from the daily thoughts of teachers and high school students themselves.  :-)

Jason Augustowski, M.Ed. @misteramistera  http://jasonaugustowskibtb.blogspot.com

Ryan Beaver @RBeaver05  http://ryanbeaverbtb.blogspot.com
Bentley Chen  @benjustchen18  http://bentleychenbtb.blogspot.com

Sam Fremin @thesammer88  http://samfreminbtb.blogspot.com/ 

Spencer Hill @spencerhill99  http://spencerbtb.blogspot.com/  

Ryan Hur @RyanHur09  http://ryanhurbtb.blogspot.com/
Nihar Kandarpa  @NKandarpa  http://niharkandarpa,blogspot.com/
Jack Michael  @jackmichael776 http://bowtieboyjack.blogspot.com/

Joe O'Such @Joe_Osuch  http://bowtieboyjoe.blogspot.com/

Sean Pettit @seanpettit9  http://seanpettitbtb.blogspot.com/

Kellen Pluntke @kellenpluntke  http://kellenbowtieboy.blogspot.com/
Christian Sporre  @CSporre  http://christiansporrebtb.blogspot.com/

Dawson Unger @dawsonunger  http://btb-dawson.blogspot.com/

Student Feedback (Round 1) - READING & WRITING

After finishing the middle school spring musical, getting my travel paintball team organized, and helping my brother with his engagement over spring break, it was finally time to meet back up with students and get a pulse as to what was happening and how they were feeling in general about English classes.  Recharged from break, they were ready and willing to give their feedback (even more cavalier than before - I always love how students come back from spring break AS the next grade.  Meaning, if they are in my freshmen English class, they return from spring break as fully blown sophomores.  I love it).  Anyway, my upcoming weekly blogs will be the presentation of these ideas, directly from the mouths of a diverse assortment of freshmen and sophomore students.

1.  It's spring, turn the lights on!

No more talk about snow from this bunch (and after a very mild winter for us, I thought their whining about this topic would never end).  Freshly back from their Caribbean or Hawaiian or Floridian vacations, these students are just thinking about the beach.  They want their classroom to reflect this newly remembered inspiration, so for someone like me who ALWAYS teaches with the lights off, this was a surprise.  I am blessed with three large windows, so we always go the natural sunlight route.  When challenged about this, they simply said: "give us all the light."  They want sunlight, overhead light, my funky lamps' light, all of it.  Maybe they think it will give them a nice base tan before June.  :)

2.  More time to read - SSR!

This will probably be wildly unpopular with a lot of my English teacher colleagues, but I have to admit that I have always found SSR to be a bit of a waste of instructional time.  To me, students need to be up and doing.  Don't get me wrong, we read every class (whether short stories, poems, song lyrics), but students don't just sit with novels and read for thirty straight minutes.  It's too passive.  And I know, ACTIVE reading is a thing, but not being a huge reader myself, I have never structured my class in this way.  Yes, you heard correctly, I am an English teacher who doesn't LOVE reading.  I just LIKE it.  It's fine.  Well, regardless, these students want more time to dive into their books.  Freshmen year in my county is "survey" which means we read a little bit of everything and I always save the tougher lit circles for the end of the year when the students are better prepared.  With students reading The Odyssey, To Kill A Mockingbird, and Of Mice & Men, I can understand why they want more time.  We just acted out Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth as a class (and they really enjoyed that) so it all makes sense.  With spring sports and just "the spring" in general stressing everyone out, less homework reading probably isn't a bad thing either.

3.  More discussion time and less in-class office work:

We always discuss the books we read - in fact we do them in full class, and smaller group circles.  I believe I detailed the logistics of these in a previous blog post, but the long story short is:  we have a talking piece and that piece moves either sequentially or non-sequentially depending on the style of question.  This allows every student to share their opinion and builds an excellent classroom community.  Typically our class involves a mini-lesson, a quick write/poem/song analysis (that we have in circle format), and "office time" for the students to work with their departments on their weekly "company expectations."  See more at:  misteramistera.weebly.com  But recently, students have been wanting to spend that final third of class reading/discussing the reading with their office groups and saving their other expectations as homework.  Naturally, I am totally fine with them pacing and organizing their own work - this was just definitely a switch from what they wanted earlier in the year.  Once again, my guess is that they have gotten the "hang" of office work and they want to dedicate more time to the more difficult texts.  I suppose this experience showed me that students change their needs over the course of the year and we must give them the space to allow them to do so.  I could never read in a classroom as a student (I need my bed) - so as a teacher I tend to make reading homework.  But I am not my students and need to support what best addresses their needs.

4.  Face to Face Writing Conferences

One of the "coolest" things about my class is that students know they can get help WHENEVER they need.  I am availble via e-mail basically from 8am-10pm on any given day.  Students definitely take advantage of this offer and frequently e-mail their song or poem analyses, their pieces for their writing portfolio, or ideas they have for other stories and essays.  Through this method, I have been able to meet with more students on a more meaningful level about their writing than I have ever been able to do in the past.  I have been utilizing these e-mail conferences with students for the past four years of my teaching career and have really liked how much I have been able to see and record how much they grow over the course of a year.  However, since I began this method, this year was the first time I have had students openly admit that they would like face-to-face conferences in conjunction with e-mail.  In the past, students know that they can come in during their lunch block to eat and discuss writing, but as you can imagine, this isn't wildly popular (since lunch is the only time in the day during which high schoolers can properly socialize).  So, students have requested more instructional time be dedicated to in person conferences.  I have decided that I can meet with students to discuss their writing while others are silent reading, discussing, or working on their office work.  I was curious as to why they wanted this and several said they don't feel connected with a teacher through e-mail.  They agree that it is fast and effective, but they felt like they were lacking that rapport element that we spend so much of our class time developing.  This is a viewpoint I would never have considered.  I assumed students wanted the quickest and easiest way to complete their work, and although they are at times in search of this efficiency, they are also just as much looking to us to be people in their lives and to interact with them as such.  Not just socially, but academically.

I have to admit myself excited to see how these student changes go.  To me, fourth quarter is also the perfect time to implement changes.  It keeps class fresh (especially at a time when school is stale for so many students (and teachers)), allows me to gain feedback from a specific group, employ their ideas, and see what works and doesn't work (thus allowing me to reflect over the summer and come back the following year even better prepared), and by quarter four, our students are hopefully prepared to leave our class in a few weeks.  This means they have learned the majority of what we have set out to teach them and we can treat them more as equals than as students.  You can have more advanced discussions, read harder texts, write with more mature tones and styles, and present in front of one another completely comfortably.  As I stated in my post entitled "Seasons" - quarter four is also fun for all of the traditions.  Everything is coming to an end in quarter four and we can really choose to harness this emotion and properly pace instruction to have the most impact on the students.  My wish is that these student-created improvements, mixed with my time-honored fourth quarter traditions will create the most inspirational, effective, and enjoyable end of the year to date!  :-)

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If you are interested in hearing from these students yourself - please follow their blogs/twitters as well.  Even more shifts are taking place - and I can't wait to keep you in the loop of all there is to come.  It is our belief that shifting the classroom paradigm to a 50-50 partnership between student and teacher will be the key in making learning engaging, enjoyable, and accessible to all.  We seek to support teachers as well as students in this identity shift - all from the daily thoughts of teachers and high school students themselves.  :-)

Jason Augustowski, M.Ed. @misteramistera  http://jasonaugustowskibtb.blogspot.com (Blogs updated weekly beginning 1/31)

Ryan Beaver @RBeaver05  http://ryanbeaverbtb.blogspot.com  (Blogs updated Mondays beginning 2/6)

Sam Fremin @thesammer88  http://samfreminbtb.blogspot.com/ (Blogs updated Fridays beginning 2/3)

Spencer Hill @spencerhill99  http://spencerbtb.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Tuesdays beginning 2/7)

Ryan Hur @RyanHur09  http://ryanhurbtb.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Saturdays beginning 2/4)

Joe O'Such @Joe_Osuch  http://bowtieboyjoe.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Thursdays beginning 2/2)

Sean Pettit @seanpettit9  http://seanpettitbtb.blogspot.com/ (Blogs updated Sundays beginning 2/5)

Kellen Pluntke @kellenpluntke  http://kellenbowtieboy.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Saturdays beginning 2/4)

Jack Selman @jacksel6  http://jackselmanbtb.blogspot.com/ (Blogs updated Wednesdays beginning 2/1)

Dawson Unger @dawsonunger  http://btb-dawson.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Thursdays beginning 2/2)

RESURRECTION

School is hard and it is awkward.  No matter what age of children, it can be a traumatic place.  In elementary school we snatch tiny children from their families and immerse them in a world of "strangers."  In high school we do the opposite, we hold them back from the real world - just as they are chomping at the bit for new experiences and broader horizons.  And middle school is, well, middle school: puberty, hormones, acne, and braces.  The "cringey-est" (as the kids say) time of their lives.  School, if done improperly, can completely ruin a young person's life.  And whether through bullying, academic stress, authoritarian teachers, weak (or overly involved) administration, lack of resources/activities/sports, or whatever, we are hearing more and more that school isn't doing its job of preparing students for the "real world."

But in order to address this issue, I feel it is important first to look at and define the "real world."  The difficulty here is, it is constantly changing.  So in order to properly prepare students, we must be constantly adapting - to my mind, at LEAST every year.  Although it is easy, we can't be re-using and recycling the same lessons, quizzes, tests, projects, year after year.  Because if we do, one day we will have the children of our former students in our classes and will feel very strange assigning them the same work we had once assigned to their parents.

I tell my students all the time: "I am only double your age.  I remember exactly what freshmen year of high school was like.  I can still remember conversations I had with people.  I'm still with it.  I get it."  And then I tell them:  "oh wait, when I was in high school, students didn't get cell phones until they were seniors and about to go off to college.  Social media didn't exist.  Our home internet was dial-up.  When you wanted to talk to a friend you called them on a (does this word even still exits) landline or you knocked on their door.  The point is, although only fifteen years ago.  The lives of students have changed drastically.  I bring up technology because it is one of the focal points where real change is so incredibly evident.  With students nowadays living on their phones (whether for texting, social media, games, music, or movies), these situations didn't exist when I was in middle and high school - and I am only now finishing my sixth year of teaching.

With the lives of our students changing so rapidly, we need to make sure we are keeping up.  We need to be meeting their individual needs.  And we need to be ensuring that school is a positive place where students learn and grow (and in doing so) are prepared for the real world - not our real world (which will no longer exist when they reach our age) but THEIR real world.  One of the real tricks in properly navigating this is our age gap with the students.  In order to best understand their world, we need to get to know THEM.  Several of my past blogs have discussed getting to know students on a personal level, so this one will not - but it is the most imperative first step we must be building into our teaching at the beginning, and all throughout our year.

And while we teach each year, we need to be getting to know the students in a way that is shaping our thinking for the following year.  Where every summer we must be re-inventing the wheel.  Every break we need to be taking major reflective time (not just R&R) to ruminate over where we have been this year, what we have learned, and what we will be changing for the future.  In English, our content is always changing because books keep getting written, because no two essays are the same (unless they are plagiarized), and neither are two oral presentations (unless we do students the horrible disservice of assigning their topics).  This means we can always teach new novels, new writing projects, and new styles/types of presentations.

In six years of teaching, I have changed my entire instructional delivery system three times (and from here on I guarantee it will become even more frequently than that).  In my first two years I taught "traditionally."  We had units, literature circles, the occasional essay, the occasional oral presentation, vocab quizzes, unit tests, etc.  I taught from the front of the room, students sometimes worked in groups, sometimes played games, sometimes worked individually, sometimes engaged in workshop, etc.  In years three-five, I taught through an original system I developed called "the curriculum menu" - details of which can be found in my first blog.  The basic idea behind this system was, students would work at their own pace to formatively learn every state standard and would then work with me to develop their own summative products to prove mastery of concepts.  And this year, along with my colleague across the hall, I ran a classroom office (check it out at misteramistera.weebly.com - you can use the links on each tab to navigate through student work spanning the entire school year).

Next year I plan to teach my classes (I hope to be teaching freshmen and seniors) like graduate school methods courses.  I have decided that I want to teach my students how to be teachers themselves - and in doing so, our English work will be woven through the experience.  My thought process behind this is: if students know how to teach, they will be able to help themselves in any of their classes.  I hope in doing so that they will know how to organize and prioritize work, how to study, how to get the most out of their homework and assignments, etc.  I know from working with my #bowtieboys that giving them the textbooks I read in graduate school has given them a whole new understanding and appreciation for their teachers and school as a whole.  They have also learned a ton of valuable "English" skills including tips/tricks for reading, writing, and presenting.  I want to make this #bowtieboys experience broader next year.  Rather than an elite group, I want all students to get to experience what these fine young men have been able to achieve.

This idea was born out of listening to my students and getting to know them.  I like to talk to them when they are stressed - when school isn't going well, sports are monopolizing their time, they're having trouble with friends or family, and just nothing seems to be going right.  In those moments, it is easy for them to talk about their stress.  It is clear.  One of their major fountains of stress (if not the number one) is obviously academics.  They don't know how to organize, prioritize, manage their time, study effectively, visualize goals, step back, take efficient breathers, work truly collaboratively with groups.  If they learn these skills in our class, they can always be practicing.  They can immediately apply the information they are learning to THEIR real life.  My hope is this will greatly reduce their stress because they will know "the secrets" we now know as adults.  I remember thinking when I was a senior in high school (as many seniors do) "man, I wish I could go back to freshmen year and do it all over - I would ACE it the second time around."  Let's give our students the opportunity to ACE it the first time around.  Let's pinpoint their specific needs and make our classes the places where we address these needs (not make them more glaring).

Too often I hear about students hating school, whether due to the monotony, the never-ending workload, social problems left unchecked, or other issues - there are plenty.  It is important to ensure our classes are safe havens for our students - and not just a place where they can "chill" - but a place where they can get prepared.  Not for some mysterious future (that won't be the same when they arrive) but for the here and now.  If students are having academic issues, let's address that in our classes and help them to solve.  If the issues are extra-curricular, let's address that in our classes and help them to solve.  If the issues are social (friends, family, relationships, etc) let's address that in our classes and help them to solve.

I haven't blogged in a while because I had the two production weeks of my musical at the end of March (and then needed to catch up on some end of the quarter grading).  But our program (which has several won national awards many shows over) is one that helps students to love school.  Every show, every year, I am humbled to listen to the voices of these middle schoolers (as they cry in front of each other during "circle") and discuss how musical is the place where they finally found their "peeps."  They finally found the place where they belong.  I am so happy our program can be that for them.  And we work very hard to ensure we live up to their standards year after year.  I know sports programs that do the same thing.  I know classes that do the same thing.  After school clubs etc.  If we can all commit to listening to our students, learning from them, and actively shaping the places (over which we hold control) in our buildings to meet these diverse needs, maybe school won't have to be so hard and awkward for many.  Many school can be a call to action, a resurrection, a benefit to all.

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If you are interested in hearing from these students yourself - please follow their blogs/twitters as well.  Even more shifts are taking place - and I can't wait to keep you in the loop of all there is to come.  It is our belief that shifting the classroom paradigm to a 50-50 partnership between student and teacher will be the key in making learning engaging, enjoyable, and accessible to all.  We seek to support teachers as well as students in this identity shift - all from the daily thoughts of teachers and high school students themselves.  :-)

Jason Augustowski, M.Ed. @misteramistera  http://jasonaugustowskibtb.blogspot.com (Blogs updated weekly beginning 1/31)

Ryan Beaver @RBeaver05  http://ryanbeaverbtb.blogspot.com  (Blogs updated Mondays beginning 2/6)

Sam Fremin @thesammer88  http://samfreminbtb.blogspot.com/ (Blogs updated Fridays beginning 2/3)

Spencer Hill @spencerhill99  http://spencerbtb.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Tuesdays beginning 2/7)

Ryan Hur @RyanHur09  http://ryanhurbtb.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Saturdays beginning 2/4)

Joe O'Such @Joe_Osuch  http://bowtieboyjoe.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Thursdays beginning 2/2)

Sean Pettit @seanpettit9  http://seanpettitbtb.blogspot.com/ (Blogs updated Sundays beginning 2/5)

Kellen Pluntke @kellenpluntke  http://kellenbowtieboy.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Saturdays beginning 2/4)

Jack Selman @jacksel6  http://jackselmanbtb.blogspot.com/ (Blogs updated Wednesdays beginning 2/1)

Dawson Unger @dawsonunger  http://btb-dawson.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Thursdays beginning 2/2)

REVENGE

Think across times in your career when you encountered "those students."  This individual sucks all of your time from the other students in your class.  Whether a behavioral problem, or a student who under-performs academically, we come across these children relatively frequently in our careers.  Some of you may be laughing thinking "I have one in every class" - or "one!? I have many!"  Regardless of how many you might have, my question to ponder this week is: do we ever truly get to know these specific children?

I am involved in several extra-curricular activities within my community and school system.  I direct the neighboring middle school's musicals, coach tournament paintball, co-sponsor our Freshmen class, co-sponsor our PEER program (Positive Experiences in Educational Relations), and of course, run the #bowtieboys.  I say this because I am privileged to frequently interact with students outside of the classroom setting.  And, just like we have "those kids" in our classrooms, I have them in my out-of-school activities as well.  However, the purpose of this blog is not to ridicule them - but rather, to raise them up.  I know this isn't much of a novel idea, but I have been absolutely floored by several of "those kids" when I have interacted with them outside of their "typical" environment.

Ever since the beginning of my career teaching seventh grade, I have used paintball as a motivator for my students.  They are well aware each year that I play competitively and are always eager to join in the fun.  In fact, the travel team I now coach was born (largely) out of former seventh graders who got into the sport after a few fun outings.  But every month in seventh grade, I would ask students to raise their hands if they were interested in playing paintball one of the Saturday's of the month.  Several boys and girls would raise their hands in each class, I would contact their parents, and take about fourteen students per trip.  We met at the paintball field, played the day, and parents picked them up.  In offering this fun weekend activity, I immediately noticed that their performance on the field translated to that within the classroom.  I never put restrictions on play.  I never took "only the straight A students" or "only those students without any discipline referrals."  All were welcome, and a wide variety attended.  It always struck me as intriguing how the same student who never completed homework was the child I always wanted on my team, or the overachiever was the biggest crybaby.  Of course I am overgeneralizing, but the point was driven home that students are so much more than who they appear to be in class.

As teachers it is so easy for us to get lost in our lessons, our assessments, our due dates, and our projects and forget that students have lives outside of our classes.  I know I certainly remember the teachers who monopolized all of my free time: the classes with endless busy work, the never ending exams, the five hundred point group projects, etc.  But these students have enormous and varied lives outside of our doors.  They are not just students but family members, friends, cultures, athletes, artists, mathematicians, scientists, historians, and no much more.  It is easy, but wrong to take students for who they are in our classes.  If our true aim is to inspire them to be productive and engaged students, we can certainly first do them the courtesy of engaging WITH them.  A previous post entitled "Seasons" discusses how to develop rapport within the classroom, here are a few ideas for how to do so outside of the classroom:

1.  Go to your students' sporting events and activities.  I try to make a point to see each sporting event one time per season.  It doesn't always work out, but students know I do this, so they invite me.  So far this year I have been to freshman and varsity football, freshmen, junior varsity, and varsity basketball, hockey, and in a few weeks I will be seeing junior varsity and varsity baseball games.  As you can see, soccer, lacrosse, swimming, track & field, wrestling, and I'm sure a few others are missing from this list.  But I do the best I can without showing favoritism.  The sports I choose have nothing to do with the students who play them and everything to do with what fits in to my busy calendar.  The kids know I will make their games when I can.  Just like it was on the paintball field, it is always incredible to me to watch students shine in areas other than English.  In going to their games I also suggest forming relationships with their coaches.  Discuss strategies of what motivates and doesn't motivate a student, learn more about their background and home life, evaluate how they interact with teammates, etc.  Concordantly, supporting your artistic/theatrical/musical students will also offer windows into a student's heart.  Because I direct musicals, I make a point to visit the other local schools' drama departments.  This way I get to support and learn about art from all over the county.  I attend band, orchestra, and chorus concerts as well and try to develop as many relationships as I can within the greater community.  This allows me to draw from a wide applicant pool when I direct summer stock programs for high school students across the entire county. There are many valuable lessons that can be learned by attending a sporting event or extra-curricular activity.  Students really appreciate when they see we have taken our free time to support them, and in my opinion, it is the absolute least we can do after taking up so much of their free time with our homework and projects.  School may be a student's "job" but their activity is often times their "soul" and if we want them to have respect for us and our passions, we must first demonstrate it for theirs.

2.  Offer fun "class bonding" activities for your classes.  Paintball, like I mentioned above was always very positive with my middle schoolers.  They also enjoyed when we would organize class "movie nights" to see a movie version of a book.  I have taken students to see every Hunger Games movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Ender's Game, and more.  Invite their parents to come along of course, everyone meets at the theatre and pays their way, but contacting the theatre ahead will sometimes allow for discounts, private showings, etc.  These are not field trips as we host such activities on the weekend.  They have nothing to do with the school system and I make this clear to parents.  Aside from sports activities and movies, I have taken students out for meals (especially at casual restaurants like iHop, TGIF, Buffalo Wild Wings, and CiCi's Pizza).  Students again bring their own money, sometimes bring a parent, and sit with their friends at big tables in one section of the restaurant.  We adults typically create tables of our own in another section and are only summoned when the checks come around.  Other activities with smaller groups can include: miniature golf, ropes courses, and bowling.  No matter the activity, the focus should be on creating an environment for students to bond and for parents to get to know us better.  Parents are often a forgotten or "unwelcome" factor of the classroom.  But they are in fact our biggest allies and can also be our biggest cheerleaders and supporters.  I know I said to give up weekend time, but I promise it will be time well spent.

3.  Open the classroom during lunch, "flex," or study hall periods.  Even though this technically takes place in school (and likely in our classroom), I have found one of the most powerful ways to develop rapport is to invite students in for lunch.  I never make this mandatory or punitive, but just every now and then announce that students are always welcome to come in for lunch, flex (free period), or study hall.  In middle school, students lined up by the dozens to have study hall in my classroom.  This wasn't because we hung out and did no work (quite the opposite), but they knew they would be allowed to talk, collaborate, and chat about their days, their interests, their friends, whatever.  In high school, study hall time is much more precious so I actually have a lot more students who come in during their lunch blocks.  Sometimes they come in for extra help, sometimes to practice an oral presentation, sometimes to complete homework (even not for my class), but most of the time just to sit and talk.  It is always nice connecting with current students and re-connecting with former students who stop by.  I have found that making myself open and welcoming has allowed me to develop rapports that transcend any behavioral or academic deficiency a student may "supposedly" have.  Many of my #bowtieboys come in for their lunch blocks, students bring friends, and we just talk about life.  Sometimes it's serious, other times low-key, it's frequently comical, and always fun and productive.  In fact, I have enjoyed these lunches so much, I plan to embed this into my teaching next year.  The hope is that I will be able to meet with each of my 125 students in the first five weeks of school (last week of August to the last week of September).  With four lunch blocks a day, I believe this will be possible.  Coupled with the ideas I presented in "Seasons," I hope this will render the best student relationships I have experienced to date.

Sometimes the only way to engage a student, especially a difficult behavioral or academic case, can be through bonding outside of the classroom setting.  When we create these opportunities and environments, we are showing out students that we care about them as more than just names on a roster or percentages in a grade book.  They are more than lexile scores, behaviors, intrinsic motivation, whatever.  Students appreciate and respect the teachers that go out of their way for them.  And in my experience, these students (including "those students") will go out of the way for us in return.  It is for these reasons I truly believe that the best REVENGE we can take on the students who "suck our time away from us" is to just give them even more.  More and more and more and more and before we know it, there won't be any more my time and their time, but our time.  Every time.

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If you are interested in hearing from these students yourself - please follow their blogs/twitters as well.  Even more shifts are taking place - and I can't wait to keep you in the loop of all there is to come.  It is our belief that shifting the classroom paradigm to a 50-50 partnership between student and teacher will be the key in making learning engaging, enjoyable, and accessible to all.  We seek to support teachers as well as students in this identity shift - all from the daily thoughts of teachers and high school students themselves.  :-)

Jason Augustowski, M.Ed. @misteramistera  http://jasonaugustowskibtb.blogspot.com (Blogs updated weekly beginning 1/31)

Ryan Beaver @RBeaver05  http://ryanbeaverbtb.blogspot.com  (Blogs updated Mondays beginning 2/6)

Sam Fremin @thesammer88  http://samfreminbtb.blogspot.com/ (Blogs updated Fridays beginning 2/3)

Spencer Hill @spencerhill99  http://spencerbtb.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Tuesdays beginning 2/7)

Ryan Hur @RyanHur09  http://ryanhurbtb.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Saturdays beginning 2/4)

Joe O'Such @Joe_Osuch  http://bowtieboyjoe.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Thursdays beginning 2/2)

Sean Pettit @seanpettit9  http://seanpettitbtb.blogspot.com/ (Blogs updated Sundays beginning 2/5)

Kellen Pluntke @kellenpluntke  http://kellenbowtieboy.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Saturdays beginning 2/4)

Jack Selman @jacksel6  http://jackselmanbtb.blogspot.com/ (Blogs updated Wednesdays beginning 2/1)

Dawson Unger @dawsonunger  http://btb-dawson.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Thursdays beginning 2/2)

CURSE

Teaching is ancient and elemental.  It is as Gaelic as the night of Samhain and as Celtic as St. Stephen’s Day.   It is a very particular art form.  It is not a science.  No matter what anyone says, one cannot become a teacher by “studying hard.”  No amount of reading, writing, or practice lesson-planning, creating units, grading, or designing bulletin boards will make someone a good teacher.  They may know a lot about their discipline, but the very nature of teaching hinges on one individual’s ability to transmit that information effectively to another.  It relies on what the teacher brings to the collective story.  Yes, read widely and diversely – both entertaining and professional texts.  Yes study, share your voice, your lessons, your units, your successes and failures.  But know all the while that there is a big difference between a teacher who teaches English and a teacher who teaches students.  When asked, “what do you teach?” I always try to answer, “freshmen.”  And although the way we answer a simple question does not dictate our quality of teaching, our mindset behind our answer does.

It is my assertion that someone who loves their content more than they love their kids can never truly be a great teacher.  Maybe a good teacher, but not a great teacher.  If our mission is to turn kids on to the discipline we love, we must first show them more esteem than we do our precious books and journals.  Too many teachers are still operating under the archaic notion that students should enter our classrooms offering their unwavering respect, ready to absorb every genius sentence that escapes our lips.  We prepare our lectures and lessons in a vacuum (or in a group of other adults) and assume we know what is best for the kids sitting in our rooms.  We assume the novels we have lined up, the essays and projects we plan to assign, the oral presentations, and the activities will prepare them for the next grade and eventually the world beyond our walls.  But how often do we consult students in this process?  Does choice exist in our classrooms?  Are students leaders?  Are we “guides on the side” or “sages on the stage?”  Is every class the same: a warm-up, lecture/notes, and an activity… a few days later a review game…and then a quiz or test?  And the biggest question: do our classes teach a discipline or a human?  Because our classes should be impacting people, not grades.  And because of this, incorporating student opinion (not choice within a carefully pre-prescribed structure) and authentic relationship building must be primary foci of our classrooms.

In speaking with a plethora of students of grades spanning sixth through twelfth, I have come up with a simple list of DON’Ts for any English classroom.  Now of course, it is most important to sit down and speak openly with your own students to best assess their needs.  But to get the conversation started, here are some prevalent “hot topics:”

1.       Focus on rote memorization:  Students widely admit that when asked to just “memorize” information, they do so long enough to perform well on the assessment and then promptly forget the information to make room for the new.  This is why we spend so much time at the beginning of every year virtually re-teaching the grade that came before.  If we focused our efforts higher on Bloom’s Taxonomy, we can achieve longer lasting results.  I do realize that Analysis, Synthesis, and Creation take more class time than Memorizing and Understanding, but I side with the argument: I would rather my students fully understand 75% of the “required material” than have a cursory overview of 100% of the material.  Let’s take the time to analyze, synthesize, and create with our students.  Doing so will also eliminate the question “why do we ever need to know this?” Because applying literary terms to analyze or synthesize a difficult text will come in handy long before matching literary terms to their definitions.  And switch it up, bounce back and forth from those three highest levels of learning so class does not become static.  Although students do enjoy routine, because they like knowing what to expect and where they are going, they quickly grow weary of the formula indicated above:  warm-up, notes, video, review, assessment, repeat.  Let’s get them up and moving, interacting with the material and each other in a manner we best believe will simulate real life situations.

2.      Strict management over the things that don’t matter:  My kids get up, grab the pass, and go use the bathroom whenever they want.  I don’t have rules about when students can and cannot use the bathroom, because that doesn’t matter.  Students are allowed to use their phones whenever they want because they have lives and I refuse to be a hypocrite.  If I receive a text or e-mail during a faculty meeting, I answer it  And you do too.  I can do this because I AM focused on what my principal is saying, and because I am, I can also multi-task.  There is no magical button bestowed on humans once they reach the age of twenty-one that finally allows for this ability.  Kids can, believe it or not, still be paying attention in our class, and answer a quick text from a friend or their parents.  So “taking phones” or posting huge signs that say “ELECTRONIC FREE ZONE” are highly counter-productive.  Students aren’t allowed to eat or drink in our rooms, so I don’t either.  Students notice when teachers break their own rules and it is a rapport-killer.  What kind of respect does it show that our own rules don’t apply to us?  Manage all behavior in house.  Unless a major altercation occurs, I never send students to administration.  This signals that I am not in control of my own classroom and need external assistance to keep students under control.  Not really the vibe we want to set for teens and tweens.

3.       Avoid favoritism at all costs:  The amount of students who tell me their teachers are sexist (only like the girls or only like the boys) or have favorites (coaches that favor their players, or athletes in general, directors who favor their actors or fine arts students over others, teachers who favor former students over current, etc.), or who label kids early in the year and hold grudges (whether based on effort, work quality, appearance, older siblings, anything) is astronomical.  And even if these perceptions of us are unfair – they are our students’ versions of reality.  We need to be very careful to call on all students, to give all students equal amounts of criticism and praise (even the “star students” mess up and even the “slackers” rise to the occasion), and to show genuine interest in each student as an individual.  Nothing worse than having a full conversation with the kid who is giving the play-by-play of last night’s sporting event and then shrugging off the student who wants to discuss the latest video-game release.  Or visa-versa.  When disciplining, do so evenly.  Be careful not to label certain students as the “bad kids” and then  constantly hound them OR allow your “star students” to break occasionally break rules because “they usually have their act together.”  Students pick up on this quickly and it can be toxic to your environment.  Never single kids out or reprimand individuals in front of the whole class.

4.      Stop giving school work and start giving life work:  This applies to all content areas and disciplines, but in regards to English, this could look like: no more grammar quizzes and no more tests on reading.  Students should learn grammar in the context of their real writing – situational lessons that apply to the focus of the assignment.  Need more writing assignments to do so? Replace the reading tests with essays.  Give students interesting prompts that connects their real lives to the reading.  Look for essential questions and themes that apply to individual lives and have students explore these issues through their writing (while simultaneously mastering diverse grammar concepts).

5.      Treat students appropriate to their age:  I know that high school students love being treated like adults.  In fact, when I direct my middle school plays, I tell my actors that I plan to treat them like I treat adults too.  I create an environment in which they can be themselves, be leaders, develop positive relationships, work hard towards a common goal, and have fun doing so.  None of us like the administrator who micro-manages our class.  We certainly don’t like the politicians who tell us how to teach.  So why do we do it to our students.  We assume (like some administrators and politicians assume towards teachers) that students cannot be trusted and if left to their own devices will only disappoint us.  I do not patronize kids.  I do not talk down to them.  I talk to them like they are my peers and I hold them to high expectations.  Students know that when they work with me, we will be producing something incredible – whether in class, a nationally awarded musical, a winning paintball team, whatever – and with that reputation, I am able to expect a lot.  Talk to any coach, and I guarantee they don’t tell their players “well I can’t hand you that bat because you might hit someone” or “if I give you this ball, will you throw it through a window?”  They give them the environment, teach them how to use the equipment, hold them to high expectations, and let them go.  And students perform.  When they know we believe in them – they believe in themselves and produce at levels not previously thought possible.  Don’t treat elementary schoolers like they’re babies, middle schoolers like they are elementary schoolers, or high schoolers like middle schoolers.  It is the same philosophy I have in regards to “banning books.”  Rather than banning books (or technology), preemptively assuming students won’t be able to handle it, teach them HOW to use and handle it in the most beneficial and productive manner possible.

Teaching is an art form.  It is full of finesse – little dramas and fires to put out and every moment of every day.  We can significantly cut down on these dramas by holding students to high expectations and treating them as equals.  Ensure the classroom is a welcoming and safe space, where ALL students are treated equally and where rules are applied not only to the students but ourselves.  Avoid silly rules that have nothing to do with developing relationships and everything to do with establishing dominance and control.  Students don’t want to feel dominated – they want to feel appreciated.  When designing instruction, make sure students are up and doing – not memorizing, but analyzing, synthesizing, and creating.  Link these analyses, syntheses, and creations to real life problems/obstacles for the students to overcome.  These are simple steps, spelled out by middle and high school students that can drastically change the classroom environment without completely changing a teacher’s style/pedagogy.  Teaching is ancient and elemental and it is our gift (or curse ;-) ) to properly wield this power – not just for the benefit of our students, but for our own enjoyment and increased longevity.  Let’s love kids, not content.  :-)

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If you are interested in hearing from these students yourself - please follow their blogs/twitters as well.  Even more shifts are taking place - and I can't wait to keep you in the loop of all there is to come.  It is our belief that shifting the classroom paradigm to a 50-50 partnership between student and teacher will be the key in making learning engaging, enjoyable, and accessible to all.  We seek to support teachers as well as students in this identity shift - all from the daily thoughts of teachers and high school students themselves.  :-)

Jason Augustowski, M.Ed. @misteramistera  http://jasonaugustowskibtb.blogspot.com (Blogs updated weekly beginning 1/31)

Ryan Beaver @RBeaver05  http://ryanbeaverbtb.blogspot.com  (Blogs updated Mondays beginning 2/6)

Sam Fremin @thesammer88  http://samfreminbtb.blogspot.com/ (Blogs updated Fridays beginning 2/3)

Spencer Hill @spencerhill99  http://spencerbtb.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Tuesdays beginning 2/7)

Ryan Hur @RyanHur09  http://ryanhurbtb.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Saturdays beginning 2/4)

Joe O'Such @Joe_Osuch  http://bowtieboyjoe.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Thursdays beginning 2/2)

Sean Pettit @seanpettit9  http://seanpettitbtb.blogspot.com/ (Blogs updated Sundays beginning 2/5)

Kellen Pluntke @kellenpluntke  http://kellenbowtieboy.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Saturdays beginning 2/4)

Jack Selman @jacksel6  http://jackselmanbtb.blogspot.com/ (Blogs updated Wednesdays beginning 2/1)

Dawson Unger @dawsonunger  http://btb-dawson.blogspot.com/  (Blogs updated Thursdays beginning 2/2)