Accessibility

It’s been a while - three years - since I have posted. In the fall of 2018, I was job hunting. The school I was teaching at was closing. In January 2019 I started as the ADA Coordinator at our local community college. It’s a great fit! Having been a classroom teacher, I understand what is required to implement accommodations as well as how they help students access the curriculum.

There was a huge learning curve with the ADA law! Most of 2019 was spent learning about technologies, laws, student names, and essential elements of curriculums. Then in 2020, a pandemic started and accommodations changed. Students who had not needed accommodations now did with video conferenced classes. Some accommodations were implemented differently in online and video conferenced classes. Meeting students and obtaining documentation changed when we could not meet in person. It was very busy!

This year has settled back down. I am back to blogging.

I want to get back to traveling and seeing friends & family. I hope you are all hanging in there. Enjoy your time with those you love.

Flexible seating

There’s so much in the teaching world about flexible seating - allowing choices and providing comfort.

The pictures are so cute, bright, happy, and fun!

For me, they cause stress - appearing pricey, overwhelming, and not doable. Besides not having the money, I may change rooms or schools each year. I don’t have a lot of space. How do I give a test when they are laying down or sharing a sofa? I also have a limited amount of energy and I put that into lesson planning and activities. Currently, I have 6-foot tables in a tiny room with wired computers that doesn’t allow any rearranging of the tables and only has room to walk around them.

My solution for flexible seating with regular desks has been to move the desks around - often and in many different patterns. Sometimes a circle or square. Sometimes in groups of four or six. My favorite is to put them in varying groups - some 2’s, 3’s, and 4’s.

AND ALWAYS have some individual desks by themselves.

I allow the students to rearrange them as they need. Some students pull six or seven together and some pull them apart. There are no assigned seats, so they can move around every day, but most students have a favorite spot.

I allow them to move the desks to the front or back of the room. I had one student who used my stool and a clipboard for most classes, while another stood in the back of the room using a file cabinet as the desk.

Currently, with the non-moving tables, I allow them to choose their own seats, move the chairs to either side of the tables and sit on the floor. There are few options in the current set-up.

Back to those individual desks. Individual desks (as well as the ability to move their own desk) allow my students to practice self-control and self-regulating. I can suggest or require them to move to a desk (or move the one they are in). Or they can choose a desk away from the others. And they do. Some prefer to sit alone, but others will move on a bad day or when they realize they are too loud. They desks are not punishment or timeout. They have no negative connotation. They are positive desks - to keep someone out of trouble, to keep someone from being rude, to give someone some space.

I had one student who always sat with a group, but one day he came in and picked an individual desk. As his friends came and started to pull desks near him, he said, “Don’t you dare. I picked this desk.” They all slid the desks back. He got his work done and the next day went back to his friends.

One of my talkative students moved his desk up to the board everyday of second semester. After explanations were given, he moved back to his group for the assignment.

This is my version of flexible seating. It doesn’t cost anything, but giving up a little bit of control. It gives them choices and allows them to practice self-control and responsibility.

Reading at random

One day six weeks into silent reading . . .

When I say to finish the sentence time is up, I hear "NO! NO! NO!"

I look up and ask, “What?”

He says it's not fair and he has to know what happens. (He had opened to a random page in a random book and gotten drawn into the story.)

I smiled and said, "Welcome to our world. Yes, read and see what happens."

A few minutes later he joined us in the assignment.

Reading is more than just fiction

Setting: Bookstore to choose a book for summer reading from a teacher’s list.

“Hi! My son’s not a reader. Can you help me find something off this list?”

“Sure. Let’s see the list.”

It’s a terrible list. It’s old - like it’s been used 40+ years old. Nine of the main characters are girls. There is no need to ask the typical next question (What kinds of things does your son like?), because it won’t be on this list at all.

Two of the books are out of print, but can be found used. Two of the books are out of print and I can’t find them even used. That leaves six.

I choose the shortest, the one with animals, and the one with a trip (I’ll call it an adventure.). At this point I meet the non-reading son.

This non-reader is looking through a 300-400 page book on the history of submarines. He looks up and asks his mom if he can get it. She says no.

I ask if he likes to read about submarines. His mom says, “ He loves all those books about World War II, the military, and all. He owns the ones [books in the same series] on the helicopters, fighter jets, and tanks. He’s read them all several times.”

“So, you like non-fiction reading.” I look at the boy and hold out the three books saying, “They’re all boring, but this is the shortest. This one has a trip, which makes it a little more interesting, and this one has animals, but they don’t really do anything.”

His mother looks startled and appalled at me. He smiles and takes one.

He looks at his mom. “Can I get this one on submarines, when I finish my summer reading?”

His mom agrees and he says to me, “See you Friday!”

****

This boy was a reader! This was not the only time I encountered this “not a reader” label with kids who loved huge, non-fiction books.

If a child reads, they are a reader - fiction or non-fiction - doesn’t matter.

Also, be honest - they’ll never trust you, if you tell them it’s exciting and it’s really boring!

Silent reading doesn't have to be torturous

The ability to read silently for fifteen to twenty minutes is a life skill.

And too many times we fail our high school students by not teaching this skill because it is difficult.  It is difficult for us to teach and difficult for them to learn.

But it can work and it can happen!  I know because it happened in my classroom with all five classes multiple years.

I teach High School Intensive Reading.  Few of these students are readers and most are very vocal about not reading. I love challenges and puzzles, so how to make silent reading effective and enjoyable? 

Here’s what works for me and my students:

Tell the students the week before and take them to the library for books.  I also have books and magazines in the room on a variety of topics and levels.  No excuses.  Everyone has something to read! 

I write it on the board Thursday and Friday before it starts on Monday. 

Mon, Wed, Fri:  Silent Reading 15 – 20 minutes, graded

 (You may not read a textbook for another class.)

As a teacher I have to remember that most of them hate reading and find it exhausting.  Like any other muscle, reading muscles have to be built up, which takes time and practice. 

THE PROCESS:

Me:  Get your books out or find one on the shelf.

Students: (some get them out, some get up and look, some just sit)

Me(walking around checking on everyone):  Everybody’s got something to read?  No, you may not read your history – doesn’t count….Your  grade is for reading – not looking around, not on one page the entire time, not looking at other stuff, not sitting with your eyes closed – reading the words and turning the pages.  

Me (going to those with nothing to read):  Do you have something or do you need something from the bookcase?  (Usually they get up and go look, but sometimes I bring them choices.)

[This part is repeated multiple times every time and may take 10 - 15 minutes the first 2 weeks.  It must be said patiently, but persistently - like you just noticed they don't have a book, instead of "this is the 8th time I've told you to get one".]

THE GRADE:  I do not ask them to write anything down.  I watch and observe.  Students get credit for the time they read, so if someone starts later or stops early, they get 60% - 75%.  Typically the grades are 0% (very rare), 30%, 50%, 75% and 100%.  The first two to three weeks I am a bit more generous to encourage the behavior and reward the effort.

THE TIMING:  The first two to three weeks some students will only read about five minutes.  I start timing from when they start getting books out.  I stop timing once the last few have read five or six minutes and at least fifteen minutes have passed.   It is truly exhausting for many of them!

ME: (when everyone’s settled, I  read)

ME (when the last few to get books have read five or six minutes and at least fifteen minutes have passed):  Finish the sentence you’re on and put your books up.

YOU, the teacher, MUST READ!  It is vitally important that you read something fun, not a textbook or academic.  It must be fun.  You MUST MODEL it.

REALITY:  Students often take ten minutes to start reading the first couple of weeks.  I repeat the “get books out, everybody reads, do you need a book” comments every day of silent reading initially.  Even after they settle in more quickly, they will tire quickly and get restless.  For this reason, weeks two and three may only involve ten to twelve minutes of actual reading.  

I watch the point at which they get restless and add one or two minutes.  I maintain the same time for three days before increasing it by another minute or two.  At about four weeks most classes take two to three minutes to get settled and read about fifteen minutes.  I then vary whether we read fifteen or twenty minutes depending on the rest of the day’s assignments.  Some classes settle in and read comfortably for the time and some classes still get restless by the end.  It’s ok either way.

ASK ABOUT THEIR READING MATERIALS!  From day one ask those that read the shortest time what they chose, did they like it, do they want to read it next time or choose something different.  This is essential to getting them engaged in their material.  Some students will choose a different item every time and start in the middle on a random page.  That’s ok; let them have that freedom.  It gives them control and power, which will increase their joy of reading.  They just have to read something.

I allow them to read digital copies, but the device must be visible, so I can walk by and see that it is actual paragraphs and not social media or texting.

THAT ONE CLASS:  I had one class that was unique from all the others.  They always took ten minutes to get settled – ALWAYS.  After nine weeks, they still took ten minutes.  At the end of the semester, they still took ten minutes. HOWEVER, after four weeks they were easily and comfortably reading for twenty minutes every time – EVERY SINGLE TIME!  So, I adjusted the lessons to allow that class the thirty minutes needed for silent reading.  Your unique class may be unique in a different way, but when they work up to reading fifteen to twenty minutes, then it is well worth it.

One other cool story:  That student who chooses a different book each day and opens to a random page to start reading....Yeah, that one.  I've had several of those.  One day when I said to finish the sentence time was up, I hear "NO!  NO! NO!"  I look up and ask what.  He says it's not fair and he has to know what happens.  (He had opened to random page in a random book and gotten drawn into the story.)  I smiled and said, "Welcome to our world.  Yes, read and see what happens."  A few minutes later he joined us in the assignment.  

Silent reading is wonderful.  We must take the time and make the effort to teach our students this skill.

Hands-on Reading Activities with High Schoolers

My challenge with at-risk high schoolers or struggling readers is that all the suggestions I find for "hands-on" and "engaging" activities still require a bunch of reading, such as research projects.  Not even my idea of "hands-on" and I love reading.

How do I get them to wrestle with and engage with the text, if they won't read all of the words.  They just sorta skim and guess and hope for the best.

Cut and paste!

Cut and paste was PART of the answer for me. 

Cut and paste the main idea and supporting details.  

Cut and paste the claim and evidence.

Cut and paste examples of figurative language.

Now they have to read them to identify them.  They can actually engage with the words.  We are working on arguments.  So, they have a claim and 3-4 pieces of evidence all mixed up.  They can rearrange them, read them, rearrange them, read them - until they find the claim and evidence to support it.

I often check it before they glue it down.  "Do these three really support that one?"

They laugh the first time, but they look forward to it and their understanding improves.  It's not so hard and difficult when they can actually touch the words.

But my students aren't like your's

I've thought it many times when reading others posts: But I don't have those kids.

True.  I have my kids and you have your's, but my 1st period and 3rd period aren't the same kids either.

When I write about my kids, I write about them the way I see them, the way I believe they can be.

I see them as learners with mostly good hearts, who want to be heard, be understood, be loved, do better, be smart, graduate, and make it on their own.  I also see them with challenging backgrounds, too many responsibilities,  and no breakfast.  Students who are frustrated and intimidated by books and words and schools.  Young adults who want to be respected, taught, acknowledged, heard.

Sometimes I write about their frustrations, their learning curves, their in-class challenges.

I rarely share that some are felons, gang members, drug dealers.

These are the same kids in the stories I share that are working, kind, empathetic.  This is how I see them.  And in return this is the behavior that I get.

Of course, there are exceptions.  The ones who keep their distance, try every last nerve, and refuse to learn at all.  And there are exceptions now and then with the others, but we usually talk it out and work it out without severe behaviors or consequences.

So, do I understand the struggle to teach the student

who has spent every night for the last two weeks at a different location?

who has a scary reputation that others are afraid of?

who has a felony charge involving a gun?

who was molested and still has nightmares?

who is afraid of her stepdad for multiple reasons?

who may actually be living on the streets?

Yes, I do.  I have them.  I teach them.  I care about them.

Reading Relay Races

Reading passages and answering questions is BORING!

Reading passages and answering questions you found in Easter eggs while competing against other teams is A LOT LESS BORING!

In contemplating how to handle energetic students, who are kinesthetic learners, I kept coming around to outdoor recess and the need to run.  This is not an option - because it's high school, because of our room location, because of many risk factors, because....., because......  

So, what would be close to outdoor (not in desks) recess (activeness)? A relay race!

Can't run - 2nd floor & injury risks - so they walk on their knees.

And egg relays have just as much tension, but less running anyway.

And so was born the Reading Relay: 

Students are divided into teams with 4-5 students per team.

You will need 6-8 eggs of the same color for each team.  So, if you have 5 teams, you will need 6-8 plastic Easter eggs in 5 five different colors. 

You will need to print a set of numbered questions and the text for each team and an answer sheet for each team.  The answer sheet should just be numbered.  If you print the questions, they will answer them there without going for the eggs.

Each egg within a color set will contain one of the questions. 

The day of, put all of the eggs together in a location equidistant from all the teams. (I put the eggs in the middle of the room.) Divide into teams. Give each team a copy of the text and an answer sheet.  Assign each team a color.  Explain the rules.  I also give each team a spoon on which they have to carry the egg and they can only hold it at the back of the spoon, not up by the egg. 

For my classes students have to walk on their knees with the spoon to the egg basket (or box).  Place an egg of their color on the spoon.  Holding the spoon at the tip away from the egg, they walk on their knees back to the group.  As a group they read and answer the question making sure they answer next to the correct number, since the eggs are out of order (Stress this point).  Then they go back for another egg.  I allow them to trade out walkers on each turn.

I give an extra 5 points to the first team finished so that if everyone gets 100% correct, the first team to finish wins 1st place.  Otherwise, 1 point per correct answer and the highest points win.  Sometimes they win bragging rights and sometimes jolly ranchers.

Sometimes there's resistance and "it's childish and stupid", but it's not optional and it's a grade (mostly participation).  Enforce the rules and build the excitement.  "No, on your knees.  Go back."  Now, the team will enforce the rules, because the others are ahead of them.

It's loud and animated, so if you like quiet and calm, this is not for you.

But suddenly passages and questions aren't so bad.

Have fun and let the games begin!

Gibbs' Rules

I'm an NCIS fan.  And I have noticed that some of Gibbs' rules apply quite well to the classroom.

Rule 3:  Don't believe what you're told. Double check.

Always - no matter who told you.

Rule 5:  You don't waste good.

Your students are good.  Don't waste that.

Rule 8:  Never take anything for granted.

Rule 14:  Bend the line, don't break it.

Sometimes you have to in order to teach.

Rule 15:  Always work as a team.

Rule 18:  It's better to ask forgiveness than ask permission.

Rule 20:  Always look under.

For lost papers.  For the real reason they aren't working or are angry.

Rule 28:  If you need help, ask!

You and them

Rule 36:  If it feels like you're being played, you probably are.

You don't have to explain why you think you're being played.  You can just call them on it.  I took away bathroom privileges from a class because when two students returned to class, they made me suspicious and I couldn't tell you why.

Rule 39:  There is no such thing as coincidence.

Rule 45:  Clean up your messes.

Rule 51:  Sometimes - you're wrong

Apologize to students - in front of others, if possible.

Sometimes you have to be the bad guy

I'm not talking about the bad guy because you gave a low grade or corrected behaviors.  I'm talking about letting them blame you as the bad guy.

Ashley did not like me from day one.  I had her last period and she was usually the first to arrive.  I greeted her daily with "Hey, how're you?" or "Hey, How's your day?" or something similar.  She rarely spoke to me at all, not even if asked to answer a question in class about the assignment.  Nothing!

It's the end of first semester.

The class was getting too loud and unproductive one afternoon. 

I told them. 

Then warned them. 

Then warned them of assigned seats. 

Then assigned seats for the rest of the period.

Ashley refused to move to the assigned seat. 

I explained she could move to the other seat or she could move her desk up against the wall facing the wall.  She opted for this choice.  We got her desk moved.

The class got it together, so the next day they would be able to seat where they wanted.

Ashley arrived first, as usual.

"Why am I not up against the wall?"

"Ya'll got it back together, so no assigned seats today....unless you want one."

"yeah"

I moved her desk just as others start to arrive and I tell them they don't have assigned seats.

Ashley's friends ask her to join them and she says she can't.

They ask why and she says she has an assigned seat.

Her friends ask what happen.

"You know how she is." 

So, they turn to me with promises that Ashley will behave.  They promise.  What did she do?

I respond, "It's between us."

---------

She went back to her seat and friends the following day.  And she spoke to me and greeted me and smiled when she saw me from then on.

I have no idea why she needed an assigned seat and I never asked.

Sometimes they don't know how to separate and take time for themselves.

Sometimes you can show them and teach them. 

Sometimes you have to be the bad guy.