Learning Keeps Us Young, While Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors Grow Our Humanity

Henry Ford said, "anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young."  My lifelong love of learning and struggling with the hard questions, the challenging tasks, and the analytical pieces of the world combining with humanity fascinates me and keeps my mind young.  Part of my learning brought me to Rudine Sims Bishop's metaphor concerning the need for diverse books.  If you have not heard or read her metaphor, please allow me to introduce her with this clip:

These two quotes that reflect my values led me to spend about three and a half hours in the car during a vacation day this week.  When I received an email from Framingham State University the week before vacation announcing that Clint Smith would be speaking, I texted two of my best friends the screenshot and said, "I already got us tickets. Can you make it?" Enthusiastically, one could. I'd seen Clint Smith at #NCTE19 Baltimore along with Elizabeth Acevedo, viewed his TED Talks and YouTube clips, and my department ordered Counting Descent for some classes. Still, I was drawn to the opportunity to attend the Olivia A. Davidson Voices of Color Lecture Series: Clint Smith, "History Reconsidered."

Attending this lecture (along with my best friend and fellow English teacher), Clint Smith focused heavily on the generational oppression and repression of people of color through purposeful acts, often instituted through government systems.

Applying terms such as positionality, which asks "how does your identity fit into a topic that you're studying?" and implications, which asks "how are your decisions different based on your identity?", Smith provided a foundation for understanding with the ease of an educator in a room of educators and students.

Clint Smith III

Filtering poems in with meaning and emphasis, Smith gracefully addressed the concepts of American exceptionalism and national and individual identity. Citing historical examples that confirm some "stories" are emphasized. In contrast, others are oppressed, Smith challenged educators and students alike to read primary source documents and learn multiple histories to gain an understanding of story versus truth and the impact on "contemporary inequality."

This approach to studying stressed the crucial significance of the ability to "hold a set of complicated truths at once."  For example, Thomas Jefferson was both a founding father and leader in American democracy while also being a slaveholder.  Both of these statements are historically accurate, but the challenge is to accept that reality.  Smith later stated that "an understanding of history can lead to a different type of empathy," and noted "the power of proximity to shape empathy." 

These statements emphasized educators' responsibility to provide balanced learning opportunities to students, not to tell students what to think or believe. This love of a fundamental truth that many educators honor daily is the basis of classrooms across the country. Provide learning opportunities and watch students grow.

Clint Smith III--February 19, 2020

While sharing his poetry and stories of his family and their history, Clint Smith's talent, insights, and affection for humanity were apparent.  His work and research provide readers, educators, and students alike opportunities to learn multiple perspectives and think for themselves.

In short, Clint Smith provides mirrors for some, windows for others, and sliding glass doors for those cultivating their mind and humanity to walk through.



(This lecture was part of Framingham State University's Arts and Ideas series, which runs through April 2020.)

The American Tapestry: Individualism and Community in John Steinbeck's East of Eden and my Classroom

Comprised of individuals, families, stories, and legacies from across the world and nation, American is essentially a tapestry.  Each of us, or our family from a broader sense, is a segment woven into the American story, or the American Dream if you will.  This metaphorical understanding inspired a final project for my American Literature juniors.


Over the last eight years, I've taught John Steinbeck's East of Eden. In truth, it was one of my very favorite novels in high school.  Steinbeck's

claim that every story could be boiled down to good versus evil resonated with my teenage mind.  I love teaching this novel and frequently quote it throughout the year without faltering on exact words.  In short, it is one of my books that I actually get to teach.

Over the years, projects have varied and include analytical journals, literary analysis essays, annotations, presentations about character growth, to name a few.  There is so much in the text thematically and symbolically with archetypes in seemingly every chapter that it never seemed possible to address all the crucial components without a formal writing piece.  But then, something happened.  Last year's students did not love the novel in the same way as years before.

My best friend and I co-plan American lit together, and both of us noticed a deflation in passion and a struggle in our students to complete the lengthy text with enthusiasm and passion.  We considered removing the novel for the 2019-2020 school year.  Both of us, lovers of the work, decided to give the novel one more shot.

This year, regularly scheduling in-class reading time aided student engagement in the text. If they read some in class, they are far more likely to continue reading it at home.  Read alouds of significant sections (Chapter 8, where students meet Cathy Ames and, of course, Lee's birth story) drew wavering readers back into the learning community.  Discussions were plentiful, both table groups and whole class, which further assisted students as they developed reading stamina.  In terms of writing, analytical journals contributed to our students' more profound understanding of themes and symbols.  Close reading activities ensured a firm grasp of character motivation and growth.  Still, we hesitated in pushing forward a more conventional literary analysis essay to conclude the unit.  Our students had worked so hard and improved a good deal in a relatively short time.  So, we asked ourselves the most important skills we wanted our students to show.

We established in no particular order:

• a quality thesis statement including a counterclaim
• identification and defense of textual evidence
• articulation of character motivation, values, and growth
• development/tracing of themes/symbols from the text
• analysis of the work and a reflection on their own learning 

East of Eden traditionally falls in our American Dream / Re-creation of self unit, and that got me thinking.  If we are all part of this American story, how is that any different than classroom tapestries my students made in middle school?  My students took strips of paper, wrote their names, drew symbols they believed reflected them at that time using colors that meant something to them.  Students shared their tapestry strip, and we hung them up, weaving them together.  It was always a sweet way to start the year, and during years when I was totally on-point, we'd end the year un-weaving the strips as our learning community said goodbye.  It was moving, symbolic, and reflected how much better we were together than individually.

That's how I see East of Eden. Adam Trask is nothing without Lee.  Ask my students. Lee is the man. Cathy Ames is one of the greatest villains written in American literature, but without Cal Trask, she would not necessarily meet her match.  My co-planning friend is always ready for a risk.  If I want to try something, she trusts me that it will be successful, or we will fix it.  I feel the same way about her ideas.  We are better together.  Just like our students. Just like our characters.  

 Now we needed to turn this idea into a reality.  The assignment and accompanying rubric for the tapestry strip, including presentation, was created as was the grading criteria for the written reflection.  Students randomly selected characters.  They could trade after everyone chose a character.  They then dove into the text searching for details, focus quotes, evidence of growth, symbolic or thematic value. Evaluating the model character strip we made (John Steinbeck--he is in his own book after all), students commented on my work, kindly thank goodness.

They drafted their strip before being given a 3-foot section of register tape. (Side note: Yes, I have a part-time and summer job at a women's clothing boutique, and the store's owner immediately said I could take a couple rolls of register tape for my students even if she was likely confused about what I was doing!).  The toughest part was "laminating" the strips to prevent tears.  Masking tape is not forgiving if you made a mistake!  Students crafted their final tapestry strip and wrote an analytical reflection answering the prompt:

• How/Why is your character an integral part of the American tapestry that East of Eden represents?

The final piece of this project was students sharing the tapestry strips, hanging them from a dowel, and weaving them together.  If the first student presented Abra Bacon, for example, they shared details, quotes, and articulated why Abra is an integral part of the tapestry.  I assisted that student in hanging Abra's strip, and that student sat to the side for the next presentation and then aided the next student in hanging Charles Trask's strip, for example.  An unplanned side effect of this was the kindness and pride my students showed in their peers' work.  It was adorable to watch them help each other and occasionally hysterical when declarations of "someone else needs to go before we can hang this; otherwise, Cyrus' dog is going to be covered, and the dog is too important to hide." 

In short, focusing on an American tapestry reflected in East of Eden, our classroom community became stronger.  The tapestry hangs in the back of my room.  Students glance at it from time to time, and it makes me smile.  They read a rigorous text, analyzed, discussed, and gained deep insight into what motivates human beings, but in the end, determined that all of us are integral parts of America's tapestry.  Who knows?  Maybe they already know we are all individually integral parts of the world and that when we bind together, we are stronger and better for it.

Annotation Fatigue? Try this!

Skilled readers actually engage with a text.  What

does an engaged reader look like as an adult?  This question led me to notice that it does not look like it did in my classroom for the most part.

As an English teacher, I personally purchase EVERY text I teach (even if I only teach it once).  Why?  It's simplistic, but it's because I write in my margins. I underline quotes, I trace character development, I annotate for symbols and archetypes. I do all of these things, and some of you might think that I do those things because I am an English teacher, but that's not true. Junior and senior year in high school me did the same thing.  College me certainly did the same

thing. In truth, if I am going to use a text for a writing task or if I just totally love a book, I write all over it.

Taught a book ten times?  It doesn't matter, I still write all over it. It keeps me honest in my insights, but it also gives me access to the author's layers of genius that I may have missed the other nine times.

This is what English teachers want for their students.  This is what I want for my students. But my students can't write in their books unless they buy new copies, which is

not reasonable for public school students.  So, as educators, we try to replicate that spontaneous and irreplaceable moment of "I love this line so much that I need to underline it with an exclamation point in the margin."

We do that through quote analysis, we do that through sticky notes, we do that through think-pair-shares, and turn-and-talks. But it is never really the same moment of "YES! I love this!" because it requires stepping outside of the text to document it.  At NCTE19 in Baltimore, I attended multiple

sessions addressing student engagement in literacy.  Having trailed Penny Kittle via Twitter and through her work 180 Days co-written with Kelly Gallagher, I was familiar with the concept of one-pagers. I'd even tried it a bit last year.  Still, after NCTE19, my colleague and friend, who co-plans American Literature with me and I decided: we're doing this.

In an attempt to alleviate annotation fatigue, we required three illustrated double-pagers in their composition notebooks.  Students were required to select a theme or focus like character growth or symbolism and develop a focus point. They

also needed to include a minimum number of quotes (usually landing in the 3-5 range).

We questioned how our students would respond to this new approach.  To us, it seemed like more work than annotating with sticky notes and would undoubtedly be more time-consuming.  I confessed to my students that their first two-page spread focusing on either Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises or A Farewell to Arms was a risk. It was a calculated risk, but it could fail.  I promised that if it failed that I would somehow fix it.  How?  I had no idea, and if it worked for Penny, I figured it must be a genius alternative

expression for literary engagement and annotation.  (I confess that I fangirl Penny's work.)

What I (and my co-planning colleague) discovered was that students preferred the illustrated two-page spreads over the alternatives that we had used previously.  As you can see by their examples, some are artistically brilliant, while others who claimed to lack artistic skill managed to convey an insight that they attributed to the required connection between words and imagery.

I asked the following questions, and here are my students' responses:

1) Was this a lot of work? How long did it take? Answers from an hour to three were common.

2) Given this took longer, is it "too much" for an assignment that is not a final?  "No, I'd rather do this any day." "It was a lot, but I  got more out of the reading this way." "I actually preferred this, which is weird because it's more time-consuming."

3) How did you keep track of the quotes you wanted to use for that chunk of reading when you didn't know what you wanted you illustrated two-pager to be about? "I wrote quotes I liked on a page in my notebook." "I stuck a sticky near the quotes I liked, but I didn't write on it. I just did it so I could find it."

4) Do you want to do this again with another book club option?  YES!!!!

This was convincing though not wholly enough for me to know this was the best option to alleviate annotation fatigue.  What did I need to know that it was the best option?

I needed to witness their discussion in book clubs to confirm that the merging of the creative side with the analytical side was effective and reflected a higher level of engagement than alternative annotation methods provided.

Having reviewed the illustrated two-page spreads individually, I sat in on book club discussions.  Students proudly shared their insights into character and theme seemingly without realizing they were doing so.  Colors were no longer used to make the pieces look better. Instead, colors connected to character growth, theme, or symbolism individual students decided to trace throughout their chosen text.

Their depth of insights and level of engagement during book clubs was significantly higher than I anticipated when I took this "risk."  In fact, it was no risk at all.  It turns out that by being intimidated by the illustrated two-page spreads last year and sticking with what I knew, I was unintentionally holding my students' analysis back and limiting their level of engagement while intending to do the exact opposite!

Does this mean my students will never sticky note again?  No.


Does this mean my students find every significant detail, symbol, or quote as they read?  No.


But it does mean that my students felt a sense of ownership and pride in their insights that increased their levels of engagement during their reading, and that is the point!

Below are a few more student exemplars from my students.

2019 Top Ten Reads

ROCHA'S TOP TEN 2019 BOOKLIST

As the year (and decade!) comes to a close, it is time to look back on some of my very favorite reads of 2019.  There are too many to mention all of them, so here is my in-this-moment, don't-ask-questions-or-I'll-revise-it-again list with my initial reviews.

10) The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates

This book teaches all of us how to be better: by helping each other.  The Moment of Lift is inspirational without being preachy and inclusive without condemning those who are already included.  It is well worth the read, and I find myself thinking about it months later, which is always a sign of a meaningful text.

4.5/5 stars

9) Lovely War by Julie Berry

Julie Berry's latest work is truly authentic in every way. Greek gods and WWI combined with engaging and human characters, pull the reader in, heart, mind, and soul. This is an outstanding read worth of the title Lovely War and written by one of the kindest authors I have had the pleasure to meet in person.  

4.5/5 stars






8) Men We Reaped: A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward

I am a bit late to this work, but having read and loved Sing, Unburied, Sing, this popped up as a recommendation, and I am so glad it did!  This memoir absolutely broke my heart multiple times.  This is a gut-wrenching reflection of lives that matter in a part of America that somehow seems foreign to me.  The memoir continued to maintain my attention, but a desire for the title and overview to be wrong compelled me forward. 

4.5/5 stars





7) The Huntress by Kate Quinn

Kate Quinn's latest NYTimes Best Seller is even better than The Alice Network, in my opinion.  Her characters propelled the story emotionally and taught me about the power of female Russian pilots in WWII.  Historical fiction remains one of my favorite genres, yet I rarely selected from this genre in 2019.  This novel caused me to want more, and I love that in a book.  Great read!

4.5/5 stars



6) The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

This psychological thriller kept me guessing until almost the very end!  The plot engages, but the characters are where it's at! I loved the writing style and the escape from reality it provided.

5/5 stars


5) With Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Liz Acevedo quickly became one of my favorite authors with The Poet X, and With Fire on High continues that distinction.  This prose work is built on quality, strong female characters with male complements that are valued.  Focusing on the power of cooking for those you care about, the storyline and character development engage audiences at every level!

5/5 stars



4) Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich 


Focusing on the critical topic of teenage suicide through the isolates lenses of boys left so lonely that at least one fictionalizes a friendship to feel less alone.  This is a brilliant, contemporary text that belongs in every classroom library.

5/5 stars





3) The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

This is an absolutely beautiful book that artfully weaves family, heartbreak, mental illness, love, and never-ending grief that re-shapes a person to their core.  My review can't do it justice.

5/5 stars

2) The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead



Colson Whitehead is a contemporary gift to readers who tells the compelling and often hard-to-read stories of America's complicated history.  These facts and stories still impact our lives and shape our future, whether those with privilege acknowledge it or not. A fantastic, and teachable, book that will undoubtedly lead to Whitehead's inclusion in literature curricula nationwide.

5/5 stars

1) Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

Raw and authentic, this poetic cleansing is an at-times anguished rejection of the "ugliness" of humanity.  In serving as a reflection and celebration of the strength of survivors, Anderson confronts the terror, fear, isolation initially brought to readers through Melinda in Speak some 20 years ago.  Laurie Halse Anderson is a gift to memory and language in a world that seldom seems to say anything that matters.  She remains an influential author and poet who will long be remembered as a voice that Generation X understood, felt, and embraced.

5/5 stars

2018-2019: What Matters Most

Confession: my goal of a blog a quarter quickly disappeared once I got a student teacher and herniated a disk resulting in urgent surgery.  So now that my student teacher has graduated and my back is on the road to recovery, this blog flashed back into my mind.  Teachers will understand.  It's that moment of: "Oh, that's right. I was going to do this or that cool thing" only to result in reality. Being human is hard, teaching is really hard, and time is not our friend.

As we close out this year, there are some things I (re-)learned that matter most.

1. Relationships matter more than ANYTHING.

Schools are about learning and schedules, but more than anything they function well when relationships are developed, nurtured, valued, and maintained.  Relationships make students come to class happy to see you. They make teachers come to school happy to see their students and colleagues.  When relationships are valued, the task of teaching (genuinely overwhelming when you think about the responsibility of it all) becomes manageable and a team effort.  Working with my first student teacher confirmed that for me. Students willingly let her into their worlds, in part because I taught them that she was safe, but also because she tried to get to know them the best she could in such a short time.  Students are no different than teachers.  If you are kind to us and honest with us, we will usually be the same way back.  Relationships allow students to be honest.  "No, I did not like that book," "Yes, I need more time," and "Yes, I will miss you this summer!"  I teach students to be discerning readers, analytical writers, and reflective learners, but most importantly (I try) to teach students that they are important and significant human beings worthy of respect and affection.

2. Surround students with good books and choice, and they will read.

When I first started teaching, I developed a pretty decent middle school classroom library, which proved ill-fitting in every way when I transferred to the high school.  My books were too young, and my classroom was a rolling cart that moved from space to space for several years or a shared classroom with another full-time English teacher.  This led to me thinking: "Students will read the whole class novels and then pick out books from the library when I bring them there."  I was wrong, but in truth, I was surviving. What else could I do without a space of my own?  After I got my classroom, it took time to build my classroom library for my current audience.  It is not complete, but it is on its way. And guess what?  My students read.  A lot. Free choice reads abound, book clubs happen with an attempt at regularity (that's a goal for next year), and whole class reads are more often than not, read.  It turns out when students are given choice often, they're generally willing to read the assigned material as well!  It's now time for me to pack my classroom library, and I can only hope that unpacking it next year will make my students as happy and engaged next year as it did this year.

3. Ask for help...or at least learn to accept it.

This is hard for me. I don't often ask for help, but I am even worse at accepting it when it is offered without request.  That is changing. In February I severely herniated a disk in my lower back. Surgery was a gift, and even though recovery is slow, I try to remember what it was like to be trapped at home, alone, calling for help and begging for my surgery date to be moved up. I could not sit, stand, or walk--the pain was paralyzing. It forced me to depend on my student teacher to be there for "my kids" when I could not be.  I was lucky to have her!  When I returned, I was exhausted.  Life was not fun. All I did was teach and sleep. I even stopped reading for fun because I was too tired and needed at least 12 hours of sleep a night to teach the next day.  My student teacher was thrilled I was back and super protective of my recovery, which helped so much.  But help came from others, too!  My best friend (you know the kind, the ones who don't even need the title because they already know it) prepared for my classes with my student teacher and paced out an entire unit without me because it needed to be done and she didn't want me to have one more thing to do.  And every morning (honestly...) another early bird at school meets me at my car to carry my bag.  I know it's hard on her since she has so much to do on her own and I have told her she doesn't have to keep helping, that I'll be extra careful.  But still, there she is! She helps without me asking, and I am learning to say thank you without the ...but.  It has been a tough second semester physically and as a result, emotionally exhausting, but I am lucky to have help, even when I'm too stubborn to ask for it!

4. There's only one me, so taking care of myself is the most important thing I can do.

My third lesson leads to my fourth lesson. Historically, my career and my students have taken priority over my outside-of-school life for the most part.  Friday night?  The game then the two-hour commute to my house.  Weeknight?  Grading, prep, or staying late for an extracurricular activity of some sort. My surgery changed all that.  My students and my career are still a priority, but I can't help them or do the job I want to do if I am physically unable.  So now, I go home after school.  I take long walks when it's not raining (harder than you'd think this spring...)  I grade and prep during the school day and limit myself to what I absolutely MUST do as opposed to what I would typically have done.  My students are not worse off for my priority realignment. Instead, I don't even think they've noticed.  But I have. I have even taken a whole weekend to myself.  I spent the long weekend with friends and family and worked at my second job for the first time since my surgery. I know what you're thinking, but working at a women's clothing boutique is a VERY different job than my teaching career.  Besides, I enjoy working with my friends there, and that is also part of me taking care of myself. I know a lot of educators burn themselves out, and I totally see why.  In fact, we are somehow glorified for it.  Look at this:

Honestly, it's intended to be a compliment, but it's really a horrible mindset to present.  Imagine if we told doctors or entrepreneurs that their job was to burn out so that others coming after them will see the way?  Inspirational, right?  I didn't think so either. So instead of consuming myself for others, I will shed light and make the last half of my teaching career about teaching others how to create their own light.  It's a better lesson in the end anyway I suspect.

5. Celebrating and mourning can happen at the same time.


This happens every few years, and I am lucky when it does.  Sometimes there is a graduating class so kind and thoughtful, so curious and creative, so passionate and humorous that when they approach senior week, I stop and think: "Will they leave kindly?"  Some years, they don't.  Bridges are burned, and memories are tarnished even when you don't want them to be.  I still want them to be happy and successful in whatever they want to achieve, but their last days are often a lot of work in the worst sense of the word.  Eventually, weeks pass and those negative memories fade, leaving me with funny moments and positive exchanges because that is what teaching is about.  Not holding a grudge and knowing that students are still growing up, so they need space to do that. But other years, a whole graduating class leaves WITH class.  That is this year. My section of seniors left with appreciation, kindness, enthusiasm, and love. Their entire graduating class did the same.  During years like that, we celebrate their accomplishments but mourn their absence.  My classroom is empty right now except for me and my books that I need to pack up before summer, but really B period is filling the space with their absence.  Even my hallway looks sad and lonely without them.  They earned the right to be missed until we celebrate their graduation in a couple weeks and, in a couple months, my hallway fills with sophomores again. I can only hope they, too, are creative and kind, thoughtful and passionate, but most importantly that they're happy to create a relationship with an English teacher they may never have in the hallway between classes who says "hello" and asks "how was your weekend?" before telling them to "go to class so you can learn something new. That's why we're here."

Teaching is a pretty hard job, but it's worth it!

Art and Literature: Creativity Unleashed

Art and Literature are partners, but they do not always get equal press.  For example, when I first started teaching (yes, 17 years ago) writing about literature was front and center.  We read we wrote, we read we wrote.  Ok, it was not always that seamless.  It was more like "we read, we learned to write," "we read, we learned to write better," and please don't get me wrong: I think that matters.

In fact, at this moment my sophomores are crafting analytical essays focusing on our first whole class novel, Elie Wiesel's Night.  Everything from modeling the brainstorming to the entire class creating a thesis for the model topic, selecting quotes, crafting leads, quotation mark review, topic sentence structure and engagement is hugely important.  And to me, the conferences with the students are the best parts.  They are working hard, taking ownership of their learning, and using me as a resource.  This is what I thought I would write about this month.  After all, this is what English teachers do.

But, fifth period yesterday changed all that.  My seniors were grumbly about the combination analysis and art requirement for Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.  When I introduced the assignment (requiring students to craft a thesis and art piece answering a prompt with textual evidence woven into the piece), I heard everything from "Can we write a paper?" to "Can I get an art credit?" Frustrated, I showed them models of the project from the previous years.  In truth, I was used to grumbling but not to the level of this year's seniors.  For a moment, I thought "it's easier to have them write an analytical journal. It'll be faster for all of us, and we won't lose class time to presentations."  But then I remembered why I combine Art and Literature.  My students will not find careers as literary analysis writers nor will most of them become artists.  But they will find careers that ask them to think critically and use all their skills to solve a problem or convey a message.

With that in mind, I scheduled more time for exemplar discussion and analysis.  I met with students

individually about their ideas and their vision for their project.  Over and over again, I heard "I can't paint" to which I said, "You aren't required to paint."  Yesterday, the first round of presentations revealed that some students can paint or draw, but led me to notice further that she can create.  In short, maybe "my kids" don't like to paint, but they certainly like to build.  Today, twelve students presented thanks to long-block, and nine of them presented a construction!  They built boats and ships, the world, the Congo, and darkened hearts of darkness "hiding" the quotes as Conrad hides the meaning of the horror.

To conclude every presentation, students asked questions and complimented each other's work.  To complete the class, I told them the truth.

To paraphrase, I said something like: You may never write another literary analysis essay every again, but you will challenge yourself outside your comfort zone.  You will solve problems you lack the confidence to solve.  You will do all of these things.  As your teacher, the best I can do is push you to be creative.  

If creativity is an "option," very few will select it.  Creativity becomes a skill people shy away from, claiming that "I'm not good at that," which is simply not true.  No one would look at a child learning a new skill and allow them to say: "I'm not good at that."  This was my mindset years ago when my then-department head entrusted me with a new course level: Honors English 12 where I could create my own topics and themes.  

Determined to make the most of that opportunity (and every year after that!), I step outside my comfort zone with texts, class activities, and assessments.  In doing so, I resolved that I would also help (they may have said force until their presentations reflected their insights, determination, and support of each other).  

Art and Literature are more than topics, they are reflections of humanity and being human is hard.  Being human can take us on foggy, zig-zag paths with an understanding that is not always understandable.  That experience.  That feeling.  Those are the gifts I want to give my seniors before they leave the safe and hopefully cozy confines of my classroom and our school.  

Stretch.  Try.  Fail. Succeed.  Do all of those things for the rest of this year and keep doing them for the rest of your lives.  Engage in the world, if not without fear, then with limited fear.  Just like you did with this project...and just like you will with the next one!

The Struggles of October--Reflections of a Tired Teacher

For some reason, likely survival, I forget every year that October is hard.  Very hard.  The newness wears off, the meetings begin, the extra help and college essays abound, and the grading builds up to the point of exhaustion before one even starts the task of tackling the, often metaphorical, occasionally literal pile.

This year I was determined to pause, mid-month and reflect professionally.  For the first time, I attended MassCUE, a technology conference held at Gilette Stadium, and even got to stand on the field with other educators from my district.  Surely, I thought, this will be the inspiration for my next blog!  And it was, but October got in the way.  November 1st is a big deadline for my seniors, and that meant before and after school conferencing with them on top of the normal day-to-day responsibilities of a teacher, which left me little time to write about my learning experience.  The reflections for and the impact of that learning experience was significant but became something that was no longer timely to share with a broader audience.

Instead, it became evident that what I needed to reflect on was my lack of time to reflect.  I know that as a learner, I am at my best when I have time to write about, discuss, and otherwise process my challenges and triumphs as an educator.  Still, October did not allow that.  But luckily, something I planned for my students did make me stop.



My sophomores spent much of first quarter reading free choice books and working in book club groups.  Every day at the start of class, I give a book chat  The final list of books for the first quarter is pictured.  Since completing a reading self-assessment survey during the first week of school, my students identified as mostly non-readers who spent much of their time "fake reading" for school.  After each book chat, my students read silently for ten minutes and track their reading on a chart that is passed around the room.  To end the first quarter, my plan was for them to revisit the survey, complete a short written reflection, and have pictures taken with their respective book stacks (books they read during the first quarter) so they could honestly see their own growth.  Their reflection led to my reflection, and for that I am grateful.

My class of 14 sophomores independently read just over 50 books during the first quarter!  The photo is below, and I love it!  Their reflections showed that some have begun to view themselves as readers and goal setters.  These are quotes from my students' reflections that made me smile and know that this drastic pedagogical shift in my classroom is not only effective, but it is also critical as I continue my career:

At this time, how would you describe yourself as an independent reader?

• I would describe myself as a good reader who is self motivated if the book is good
• I would describe myself as liking to read when I am told to. In the past I haven’t typically read by choice. I also like reading books when I can really get into them. If I can’t then I get a bit bored.
• A swift dedicated reader, I’ve recently been getting very into my books and enjoying them. I still find myself with difficulty picking up new books and getting into them, but if I do get into a book I can really stay involved
• Someone who never read even what was assigned, but is reading for real now, even if I am not very fast at it

What goal(s) would you like to set for yourself as a reader next quarter?

• Do what I did this quarter, maybe a bit better, probably a bit worse(I'm a self doubter, but everything works out in the end)
• To be able to find books I like easily and not to be as picky and being more open about it.
• Read more than one book in a month or at least start a second book before the end of the month.
• To find more time to read.
• To read at least 4 decent sized books over the next quarter!!! (And maybe try to read a bit faster)

Scheduling time for my students to reflect on their learning experiences gave me pause to stop and reflect on mine.  Seeing most of my students in that class posing with all the books they read in one quarter confirmed what I thought was true but more importantly made them realize how much progress they made as independent readers.  Fifty books is a lot of books!  My students who read two books confessed that they read more books this quarter than all of last year!  

So what does all this have to do with the struggle of October?  Educators are always busy.  Always.  There is a lot to do and what we do matters, a lot.  The pressure of the daily grind, lost time with friends and family, and the emotional human toll can leave us exhausted, depleted, and trapped in the moment.  Gifts we provide for our students, like time for reflection, are not gifts we consistently give ourselves and that needs to change.  

It may not be reasonable or even possible for me to blog multiple times a month, but I know that stopping and writing about this shared learning experience between my students and me gives me a sense of pride and feeds my teacher soul in a way that matters.  Do I still have narratives to grade?  Yes, but this reflection took priority.  

After all, if I am not a reflective educator how can I expect my students to be reflective learners?