Gladly Would I Teach

More than any other variable in education — more than schools or curriculum — teachers matter.

This week’s Atlantic article about teaching should be required reading for every American teacher, teacher in training, and education professor.

What Makes a Great Teacher?

We frequently make excuses in education and try to explain why students don’t learn. Twenty years of Teach for America data, however, shows that regardless of school or the socioeconomic level of the students, many teachers in the course of one school year help students make over a year’s worth of improvement.

What do great teachers do?  According to the article, they

• Set goals for their students and always look for new ways to accomplish those goals.
• They engage students and parents in accomplishing those goals.
• They focus on student learning at all times.
• They plan and work tirelessly and thoughtfully.
• They refuse to make excuses for learning.

The article then provides specific strategies that great teachers incorporate in their classrooms and also delineates the teacher qualities that appear to be most important when hiring new teachers.

Information in the article is based on Teaching as Leadership, a new book Teach for American will publish  in February. I can’t wait to read it.

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Edie Parrott

I’m reading a new book about today’s students and how they learn as well as how schools need to change in order to prepare students for the future. While it’s an exciting time, I wonder if it is truly possible for us to make such extensive changes in our existing school settings.

For example, Kelly, McCain, and Jukes advocate greater usage of online collaboration among students. While many teachers try to do this, popular online sites that encourage collaboration (Facebook, Twitter, for example) are blocked by most school systems because we want to protect students from inappropriate or even dangerous material or online predators. When we incorporate the use of approved websites, however, students must spend more of their time learning a new online platform instead of investigating the topic we have assigned.

In the opening chapter of the book, the authors propose changes in instructional techniques that schools must take to help prepare students.

1. Shift from lecture formats to discovery learning.
2. Shift from text materials to more visual sources (photos, videos, etc).
3. Include use of hyperlinked sources students access randomly.
4. Allow students more time to colloborate and network, including with experts and individuals outside the school

As with any needed changes in education, most of us probably start worrying as  soon as we see lists of things we need to do and worry that we need to revamp our programs overnight. Long standing and effective changes, however, usually happen gradually.  As I look at this list of changes, I realize that in the past few years I have included these shifts if my instruction, but I probably just need to do more. At the same time, I think the changes we make also depend on the subjects we teach. For example, as an English teacher, I believe all of these shifts are important, but I will never shift totally away from written texts, and I don’t think anyone would suggest that I should.

If you want a good book to read, I would strongly recommend Teaching the Digital Generation. If you want a rationale for reading such a book and making changes in education, take a look at this popular video.

The Puzzle of Boys

An administrator observed a teacher friend of mine a couple of years ago and kept a checklist of how many times she called on girls to answer questions. In a conference a few days later, he told the teacher that he had to keep a checklist in order to make sure the teacher didn’t overlook girls and that she had called on more boys during his observation than girls. He claimed that too many teachers overlook girls.

I’m afraid the administrator was a little behind the times. While we worried about girls a decade ago, the tide has turned, and it appears that girls are excelling in school at a much greater level than boys. Take a look at just about any college campus except engineering schools, and the girls outnumber the boys. What has happened to create this change?

The Chronicle of Higher Learning posted a fascinating story about how various researchers interpret the current functioning of boys. Are they really so different from girls? What does it mean to say that a child is “all boy”? Should we worry about boys? In addition to providing excellent information about boys, the article closes with a reading list of books that explore this issue.

How much stress do our students face daily? Take a look at this article from The New York Times.  The article reports on a study of stress that found that one-third of students 8-17 feel more stress today than they felt last year.

Helping Our Children With Stress

Identifying Signs of Stress in Your Children and Teens

Talking With Your Children About Stress

Here’s another article about the need to require students to write longer research papers in order to boost their critical thinking skills and prepare them for college.  As long as our classes remain so large and our curriculum requirements remain as extensive, teachers in the future will probably decrease the number of writing assignments they require instead of increasing them. Oh, what we could accomplish if we had control over our curriculum and only 20 students in a class!

Coming to terms with the effects of no longer requiring long papers

I have spent the past week grading 83 research papers. Some
were outstanding, some good, and some needed more work. The assignment required students to research a problem and one solution for the problem and write a 5-page research paper. Students could choose any topic so long as they could find sufficient research.

Here are the most popular topics that students selected for their research papers. I suppose the list gives a glimpse into the interests of today’s teenagers.

12 Papers about Teen Issues (stress, overworked teens, suicide, laziness, pregnancy, problems with texting, tobacco use)

5 Papers about drugs (Alcoholism, Methamphetamines, underage drinking, legalization of Marijuana)

5 Papers about eating disorders or obesity

4 Papers about poverty

4 Papers about Stereotyping (Including Model Asian profile)

3 Papers about Bullying (including cyber bullying and females)

4 Papers about New or Emerging Energy Sources

3 Papers about Financial Issues (US debt, tax code, Fair Tax)

3 Papers about Shortage of doctors (no topics on the current health care debate)

2 Papers about Gangs

2 Papers about Human Trafficking

2 Papers on Illegal Immigration

2 Papers on Procrastination (one submitted late; the other emailed because the student stayed home and slept)

Other interesting topics for individual papers Cheerleading Injuries, Decline of Newspapers, Disparity among Georgia Schools, Overcoming Creativity blocks, Current GPA Computation Problems, Old People in Florida (?), Problems Created by Rap Music, and the Venus Project.

Mention the word "research" to most teachers, and we all think of research papers. We know we need to require our students to complete more research activities, but there is a limit to how many research papers we can actually grade. (Can you tell I spent the majority of my weekend grading research papers?)

I designed an extensive group research project several years ago that is one of my favorite assignments for students. Working in groups of 3 or 4, students must research both sides of a controversial issue and then create a portfolio of the research that they find and deliver a 20-minute presentation to the class. The purpose of the assignment is for students to complete extensive research, to annotate at least 20 sources, and to deliver an interesting and informative presentation over the information they learned.

Although I designed the assignment for accelerated high school seniors, the project could be altered and used with younger students or maybe even used as is so long as the teacher prepares students for each facet of the project.

The portfolio contains

• Printed copy of the PowerPoint for the presentation
• Printed copy of a brochure that students create for distribution
• Copy and analysis of a survey that students must administer online
• Copy of all sources students find
• Annotated bibliography of at least 20 sources
• One case study
• One editorial cartoon about the topic
• One photograph related to the topic
• A work log for members of the group
• Self-evaluation of each group member
• For AP courses students are also required to create an AP synthesis question on their topic.

While this group project requires hours and hours of work from students, most students enjoy working on the project because they are allowed to select their own topics and read and discuss the research with their peers. In essence, they do their best to become experts on their topic so they can teach the class. The assignment is valuable because it requires students to read critically, research, prepare an oral presentation, annotate sources, integrate technology, create visual aids (PowerPoint and brochure), work together as a group, and field questions from members of the class.

If you are interested in assigning a similar assignment, my course website includes the handouts and rubrics I use:

Panel Presentation Group Assignment

Every teacher who requires students to write research papers knows how much stress the process produces – FOR TEACHERS!  Yes, research papers are nerve-wracking for students, but teachers who experience prolonged research-paper stress year after year know how many times we secretly wish we could lower our standards and omit this time-consuming paper that creates so much misery, hard work, and frustration.

I am typing this post on Tuesday, the night before I will actually upload it to the blog because I know I will not have time to type an entry tomorrow when I collect research papers.

Interruptions 1 & 2: I just stopped typing this post in order to answer two emails about how to cite sources.

I'm already worrying about collecting papers because I know each of the following will happen.

1 out of 83 students will show up at least an hour before school because he is worried sick about whether or not one of his sentences contains a comma splice.

1, 2, or 3 students will run into my classroom to print papers because their printers "died."

1 student will ask for extra time on the paper.

1 student will turn in a paper with no internal documentation and swear I did not tell students they needed to cite sources.

Interruption 3:  "What's the password for Noodletools?"

1 student will cry.

1 or more students will swear the entire process is NOT FAIR!

1 student will turn in his paper and cheer.

1 or more students will not show up for class and will send me emails that they finished the paper so late that they are emailing it to me so they can sleep.

1 student will not show up for school and concoct an outrageous story of why he did not finish his paper – so outrageous that even he will not be able to keep a straight face.

Interruption 4: "What do I do if I submitted the wrong version of my paper to Turnitin?"

1 student will try to turn in a paper without a Works Cited page.

1 or more parents will email me chastising me for giving students only 2 days to write a research paper – as if any teacher in the history of the world assigned a research paper and only gave students two days to complete it. (Come on, Mom!) 

1, 2 or 3 students will turn in papers with 2" margins in order to meet the length requirement.

1 student will claim that his mother, father, brother, sister, priest, or rabbi thinks this research assignment is "stupid."

1 student's paper will be printed on pastel paper or on the back of another assignment because the family had no clean white paper at home.

1 student will claim defiantly, "That's not the way we did it last year!"

Interruption 5: "What do I do if the article doesn't list an author?"

1 student wielding a jump drive will run into the classroom between classes begging for help in retrieving his paper, a paper he will claim is "the best paper I have ever written."

1, 2, or 3 students will fall asleep in class.

1 or 2 students will have only two sources and claim that those two are the only two sources available on the topic.

1 student will claim he didn't know the paper was due today.

1, 2, 3, or 4 students will boast that they wrote their papers at the last minute (and then will later claim that I graded unfairly when their papers receive low marks).

1 or more students will submit papers that contain plagiarism and later claim they don't know how that could have happened.

1 or 2 students (true Gifts from God) will tell me that they really enjoyed researching and writing their papers, and I'll smile.

Interruption Tally for the Night – over 35 emails

Most Common Question of the Night – "How do I cite . . . ?"

Most Annoying Question of the Night:  "Do you have any suggestions for a research paper topic?!!"

And, finally,

1 student will leave the classroom and ask, "Do you think you'll have the papers graded by tomorrow?!!

And

1 teacher will contemplate losing weight and becoming a Phys. Ed. teacher!

I used to hate those days when I had to teach students how to write research papers. I would go over the entire process with students, distribute our research guides that illustrated how to document sources, and then take my classes to the library (yep, we used to call them libraries). Then for the next three days, students wielding heavy reference books would chase me around the library asking, "How do I cite . . . " 

It was maddening, and judging from the moans in the English Department workroom, other teachers shared my frustration.

Then, I met NoodleTools, a true gift from God.

NoodleTools is an online subscription service that allows students to set up source lists according to MLA, APA, or University of Chicago styles. Students begin by selecting the correct format and then start a source list. The program then asks students a series of questions about each source. Assuming that students answer the questions correctly, NoodleTools will create the citation for students and add it to the list of sources. Subsequent sources are then formatted and added to the list in alphabetical order. After students have added all of their sources, NoodleTools produces a perfectly formatted list for students to print or download into their research papers.

In the old days, students came to me and I had to help them create their citations by asking them a questions and helping them navigate through the research guide. Now, I just have to show kids how to use NoodleTools and then NoodleTools asks those same questions and walks students through the process.

In addition to creating citations, NoodleTools will show students how to create parenthetical documentation, provide a space for students to write annotations, and allow students to take notes on online notecards.

The subscription for schools is around $350 annually (if I remember correctly), and schools and students can create unlimited source lists. Students who work in groups can actually create an account together and work on a list collectively.

For those of you who are thinking that this program won't work for your students because students will still bombard you with hundreds of citation questions, NoodleTools provides another aid. Beside each citation on a list, there is a special gift called:

"Have a Question?" 

When students click on it, the program opens an "Ask an Expert" screen where students can then submit their questions through email and someone at NoodleTools, some kind soul with much more patience than I have in the midst of writing research papers, will respond to students within 24 hours!

Subscriptions are also available for individual teachers ($60 annually) and for individual students ($8 annually). Free trials are also available for teachers.

If you teach in a school where you have no money for such a service, NoodleTools also offers a free service to help students create citations. Students will then have to copy and paste the entries into a word processing document.

If you require students to write research papers, you owe it to yourself to investigate NoodleTools.

Now, if I can just figure out how to install a "Have a Question" button in my classroom!

Never before have students been so immersed in nonfiction works. From online newspapers and magazines, to Wikipedia, to even social networking sites, students have greater exposure to nonfiction than fiction. While most schools do a good job of teaching students how to read and analyze fiction, poetry, and drama, most students need much more direction in reading and analyzing nonfiction.

Most English teachers, however, think nonfiction reading is a skill that Social Studies and Science teachers should teach, and most teachers outside of English Departments fail to realize that reading nonfiction is quite different from the reading that most students complete in English courses. Reading and analyzing nonfiction is such an important skill that it should be taught and reinforced in all courses.

One of the best methods for including more analysis of nonfiction is to give students an article  and have them write a one-paragraph annotation for the article. While the difficulty level and length of the article will differ based on the grade level and course, writing an annotation is an assignment that almost all middle school and high school students can and should complete.

Steps for Writing an Annotation

• Give students a copy of an article or essay to read. For their first attempt at an annotation, make sure you provide an article that is short, easy to understand, and of sufficiently high interest. The article may appear in your textbook or it may be a duplicated article from a newspaper or magazine. For English classes, the article most often will be a persuasive essay or an essay that presents an argument. For other areas, the article may be primarily informative.

• Ask students to read the article carefully and to highlight or underline (if not in a textbook) the major points the author makes.

• Teach students to write the proper citation for the article based on the format you require for your class (MLA, APA, University of Chicago, etc.). This should be written at the top of the page. If you do not normally require students to write formal citations in your class or if you have younger students, you can require students to write only the title, copyright, and the author of the article.

• Next, have students write a one-paragraph summary of the main points the author makes in the article. Limit students to approximately one-half of a page, depending on penmanship.This is a difficult step for many students, even our best students, because they want to list each piece of information they find instead of summarizing the main points succinctly.

• At the end of the summary, tell students to write 2-3 sentences that state the usefulness of the article and note possible bias that the student might have located. For example, students might write that the article gives a good explanation of a new procedure, or it presents the author's beliefs about a complicated issue, or the article is not sufficiently informative because the author tells only one side of an issue, or the article is not a good source because it includes out-of-date information. The final sentences where students evaluate an article will be the most difficult sentences for most students to write initially.

• After writing annotations, allow several students to share their work by reading their paragraphs to the class. Many students who struggle with this assignment initially may learn best by seeing or hearing sample annotations.

• Finally, students will benefit from discussing the article in class.

Reading and annotating articles improves reading and writing skills while also improving students' ability to work with complex subject matter. With repeated practice in reading and writing annotations, students will become much faster and more proficient in reading nonfiction texts of all types.

If you want an article to try an annotation with your students, try one of these:

Growing Up Scripted

If Anne Frank Only Knew

Pat Conroy's Letter Against Censorship

To All the Girls I've Rejected