My Student's Book is on Amazon! Buy it Now!

You have to love when your student takes the initiative to sell her book on Amazon.  This is the book that Alana, my student, wrote in my class this year as an 8th grader during our Nanowrimo unit.  She amazes me each and every day.  She only had to write at least 10,002 words (the word goal that my class set for themselves), but she took it upon herself to write a full-length book.  You should buy her book now, (yes, she is making a small royalty), because one day she will be a famous writer and you will own a copy of her first book!

Don’t you love the title and cover?

Court is Adjourned!

Guilty!  Or was he?  That has been the big question in my classroom for the past three weeks.  As the last unit of the year, I like to hold a court trial in my 8th grade classroom that incorporates all of the LA standards of reading, writing, listening and speaking.  It is such a fun way to end the year before sending them to high school.

The trial has to do with a boy being hazed in order to be part of a “gang.”  As part of his initiation, he has to jump off an abandoned bridge into the water that is 60 feet below.  Unfortunately, one of the boys doesn’t make it, and now the leader of the gang is on trial for manslaughter and hazing.  

To start the unit, I tell the students about each of the parts; the beauty of this unit is that there is a part for everyone.  You can be a lawyer, the judge, a witness, a reporter, a videographer, a newscaster, etc.  They write down their top choices, and I put them in a part based on what I have observed all year.  Then they receive their confidentiality sheet with some information on it, but for the most part, they have to make up most of their own story.  The lawyers have the toughest job; they have to question all of the witnesses on their own before the trial.  During this time, the witnesses are writing trial journals each day to help them think through their characters and storyline.  I also teach them about hazing in real life; I want them to be prepared about how to handle a hazing situation if it ever happens to them.  (Did you know that the third most popular time that hazing occurs is at church youth groups?)

Two weeks later, the trial starts!  Parents and staff members come in for three days to be the jury members.  Each period, the entire trial is run by the students, and they amaze me each and every time.  There are students that I would seriously think about hiring as my lawyer right now.  They write their own opening and closing statements, and wow, you should hear them object and argue!  It’s also fun to see our students “dress up” for court for three days.

One of my colleagues, Ms. T, wrote an email to the rest of the staff after being a jury member; her email meant so much to me:

“I just want to say that I have had the pleasure this week of seeing 21st Century education at its finest!  I was priveledged enough to serve on the jury for Judi Holst’s 6th period class.  I will admit, I was a little hesitant as it meant giving up three plan periods this week. :-) (Lol)  Can I just say this was such an amazing experience as an educator to see students take their learning beyond the classroom.  EVERY SINGLE student was prepared, serious and honestly professional with the trial process.  Nothing was scripted and the amount of critical thinking displayed was astounding!  
If you ever get a chance to serve on Judi’s Jury :)…take the chance!!! “ 

Now that court is adjourned and it’s time to pack the gavel until next year, I always find myself a little sad.  It means that it’s soon time to say good-bye, to pass my kids on to the next stage of their lives, and to wish them well.  I always hope that they will look back on the court trial unit as one of their favorites because it is definitely one of mine.

The Things My Mom Taught Me…

Since I can’t be with my mom on Mother’s Day, I thought I would reflect on those things that my mom has taught me throughout the years.  Of course, it would be impossible to list them all, but here is the “short list.”  

*  My mom taught me to love a really good book; it’s okay to spend an afternoon with your favorite character. 

* She taught me that it’s okay to sing karaoke in a bar full of people that you don’t know.

*  She taught me to play cards, and to never cheat (okay, I had to learn that lesson that hard way).

* She taught me the love of words; she was the first poet that I came to love.

* My mom taught me that you should try new things because “you’ll never know what will happen on Mulberry Street.”

* She taught me to never be too busy when someone needs you.  Always put down what you’re doing when someone comes into the room or when someone calls, if they need your help.  

* She taught me that you are never too old to go after a dream; I learned this when she became the mayor of her city in her 60s.

*  My mom taught me that your family always comes first and to love them with all of your heart.  

*  She taught me that a cold compress and holding back someone’s hair when they are throwing up is really helpful.  (Ha…I have no idea why that popped into my head.)

*  She taught me about prayer (along with my father) and that everything happens for a reason.  This is how I make it through life on a daily basis.

*  My mom taught me that it’s okay to pamper yourself every once in awhile.  

*  When my mom had cancer, she taught me that life is precious, and you should treasure it.  I also learned to stop saying that I wish I was bald.

*  My mom taught me that you can never be too overdressed, you can only be underdressed.  (Did anyone read that as “undressed”?)

*  My mom (along with my dad) taught me that you need to make time to vacation with your spouse; holding hands while on vacation is even more special.

*  She taught me that you should clean your bedroom and do your chores on the weekends.  I’m sure she thought I would never learn this one, but I finally did.

I could go on and on about all that my mom has taught me because she is an incredible woman.  She has helped to raise many children that aren’t her own; there are many adults out there that still call her, “Mom.”  I also realize that everyone thinks of their mom as their greatest, and I hope that this is true for you also, but I feel incredibly lucky that I can call Patricia Bortle my mom.  

So, Mom, you will always be “The Wind Beneath My Wings, ” and I love you more!

Teaching Tip #6: Make it “Real World”

Published authors make real money.  It’s every writer’s dream, right?  

In my past blogs, I wrote about how my students wrote a novel in November during Nanowrimo.  Then, in the past month, they have been working on revising their novels in order to have them published through Create Space, so that they could receive their five free bound copies.  They have to design their own covers, write their book jacket summary, and write their author biography.  They even get their own ISBN numbers, so that they could sell them on Amazon.com, if they wanted.

Well, now it’s time to send them in for publication.  My students have to do this part on their own, when they feel that they are ready.  One student, Miss T, brought in her book the other day that she received in the mail.  I’m not sure who was more excited, she or I.  The class oohed and ahhed.  Then I went around the school showing the staff how cool her book looked as a completed product.  As I walked by the library, it hit me.  We should have copies of our student’s books in our library!

After I showed our lovely librarian Miss T’s book, (I let her ooh and ahh over it first), I asked if our library had any money just sitting around.  (I seem to ask that question a lot lately.)   Luckily, she said that there was money to purchase some new books!  We decided that she would pay the students CASH for two of their free copies, if they wanted to sell them.  How cool is that!

I couldn’t wait to tell the students.  They can honestly say that they are published authors who have sold a copy or two of their books now.  Who knows, maybe someday, you will see one of their books being sold on Amazon.  That would be a dream come true!

Teacher Appreciation Week

For Teacher Appreciation Week, I would like to list those teachers that have made a difference in my life (other than family), whether it was when I was a child, or their “teaching ways” have guided me in my own professional life. Although the majority of them will never see this, I still feel it’s important for them to be recognized. So, thank you, teachers, for making a difference in my life.

1. Mrs. Hey - 3rd Grade

2. Mr. Thrash - 6th and Jr. High

3. Mrs. Sterling - Jr. High

4. Mr. Lyerla - Jr. High

5. Mr. Barrett - High School

6. Mary Simone Hill - Well, let’s just say I wouldn’t have graduated college without you

7. Cherie Hollett - Teaching Mentor - You taught me that I can be strict and fun at the same time as a teacher. You showed me that hard work pays off.

8. Patricia Dierberger - Principal - You taught me to always put kids first - no matter what!

9. Sid Rundle - You always made me think, especially about how students should be treated. I miss those chats while sitting in your Literacy office. I also learned so much in your classes on the weekends.

10. Chris Cooke - Colleague - You always encouraged me to think about the students and teaching in a different way. I miss being your teammate more than you will ever know.

I’d also like to thank my teammates this year. All of you are great teachers. You push me to keep going each day and to remember to have “positive intent.” :)

And if you ARE a teacher? Remember that Chipotle is giving out two-for-one burritos tomorrow to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week. I LOVE this week!

Grading…Am I Insane?

All weekend long, I told myself that I wasn’t going to write comments on my student’s rubrics for their “This I Believe” essays, podcasts/videos, and blogs.  In fact, I wasn’t even going to break down their grades on their rubrics, I was just going to give one big grade and enter it into the gradebook.  My colleagues gave me advice all week on how to shorten my grading time this weekend.

And then…I started listening to their stories that they shared about themselves on their podcasts.  I couldn’t do it.  I had to let them know how much I loved their attention-grabber.  I had to let them know that their “Smiley-Face Tricks” brought voice to their writing.  I had to tell them how awesome their conclusion sounded because they brought it full circle.  And oh my gosh, the video that they created to go along with their essay almost made me cry.  

And so the story goes…I will be grading their essays and blogs for hours on end for the next two weeks.  Yes, I know, I must be insane.

Before we started our “This I Believe” unit, on an index card, I had the students write down two questions they had about the word, “belief” or write down one thing that they believed in. Their questions turned into great essential questions to help me backwards plan the rest of the unit. Of course, using the neon-colored index cards just made it more attractive on the wall! Then, I had my student-aide hang everything up. You have to not care if anything is straight when you ask your student-aide to hang things for you; it is the beauty of having a student-aide in middle school. High-res

Before we started our “This I Believe” unit, on an index card, I had the students write down two questions they had about the word, “belief” or write down one thing that they believed in. Their questions turned into great essential questions to help me backwards plan the rest of the unit. Of course, using the neon-colored index cards just made it more attractive on the wall! Then, I had my student-aide hang everything up. You have to not care if anything is straight when you ask your student-aide to hang things for you; it is the beauty of having a student-aide in middle school.

AMLE…Here I Come!

It happened.  It really happened.  I can now check off one of my three main professional goals that I have set for myself.  I will be presenting with my Social Studies colleague at the Association for Middle Level Education Conference in Minnesota in November.  I am SO EXCITED!!!!  (Okay, it will be the only time I will ever be excited to be in Minnesota in November, but that’s beside the point.)  

When I attended the Middle Schools Conference thirteen years ago, I knew that I wanted to present at that conference one day.  For me, it was a magical conference because I was surrounded by thousands of other crazy, like-minded, middle-level teachers…we are a strange bunch.  Putting up with hormonal, voice-changing, passionate, loving, hyper teenagers takes a different type of teacher.  It is why I no longer teach kindergarten.  So, when I think of being able to present my debate unit to other teachers from across the country or from other countries, it makes me giddy…and nervous!

It’s a funny feeling when you get to check off a professional goal on your checklist.  My husband took me out to dinner to celebrate when we found out and my aunt, who is a retired teacher and my mentor, sent me flowers and chocolate to celebrate.  And the conference is still months away!

After the celebrating was over, I then had to present the cost of going to the conference to my principal. Oy vey!  Then I quickly applied for a $500 grant, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we will get it.  I have to admit, though, my principal has been great about it, and we are very lucky, but I haven’t shown him the total bill yet.  So, if you see two teachers hitchhiking along the side of the road in November, holding chart paper and suitcases, well, just know that we are heading somewhere fun!

I’m sure that I will write more about preparing for this conference in the coming months.  I mean, we SOUND great on paper, now we just have to put our presentation together.  I don’t even know where to start!  

My aunt and I laughed the other day that I’ve come a long way from scouring the garage sales looking for books for my first classroom, and digging in the trash looking for supplies, but sometimes, I feel just as insecure as a first-year teacher.  I get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about presenting to a room full of teachers at a huge conference.  Will they learn anything?  Will they walk out thinking that it was a great 75 minutes and they were glad they showed up?  My aunt and I joked that I need to make sure that I at least give them pretty purple pencils and chocolate to make them happy no matter what. Is that all it takes?

Either way…I’m so excited!!!!

Teaching Tip #5: Feedback at the End of a Unit

Ahhh….the end of a unit. That blissful time when everything is wrapped up, and you are ready to move on to something new.  Wait…not just yet.  Don’t forget one important step…student feedback!

At the end of most units, I have my students write down what they liked and what they would change about the whole unit.  These papers can be anonymous or not, it’s up to them.  I’ve learned to just put these papers in my unit binder until next year; I don’t even read them.  That’s right, they are hidden away until I need them again the following year.  Why?  Because sometimes the unit is still too new for me to remain unbiased, or (to be honest), I may not take a certain student’s feedback as honestly right then as I would later.  However, I do sit and take some notes of my own, so that I don’t forget them before the next year.  I actually used to think that I would remember everything the following year.  Yeah, right!

Tomorrow, I start my court trial unit with my students.  It’s my last unit of the year, and my absolute favorite!  I took out all of my students’ feedback from last year.  As I came across some ideas they gave me about possible changes, I took notes so that I wouldn’t forget them.  I also loved seeing their names again.  Seems silly, I know.  But it was actually fun to remember their faces and their names, and to read what they wrote.  They had some great ideas, but I’m not sure they would have been as meaningful to me if I had read them right at the end of last year.

Students are our best and worst critics.  We need to listen to their ideas.  My husband wonders why it still takes so many hours for me to plan my lessons each week, even after 21 years of teaching; I tell him it’s because I have to change my units each year.  If I didn’t listen to my students and incorporate their ideas, yes, my life would be easier, but as a teacher, instead of experiencing bliss, I would become a teacher on the D-List!

Is it Possible to Juggle Two Units at Once in One Class?

Thirty students…two writing units going on at once?  Crazy?  Yes!  In my Advanced LA class, I currently have two writing units going on at once. Worth it?  Definitely!   It has definitely been a case of having to let go of all control and letting the students learn a lot of the information on their own.  I have officially become a facilitator of the information, instead of just providing direct instruction.

It all started when my students wanted to publish their Nanowrimo novels that they wrote in November.  However, I got the feeling that not ALL of the students wanted to pursue this avenue, mainly because they didn’t love their novel that they wrote in the first place.  Now what?  I decided to try teaching two different writing units within one class and give the students a choice between the two.  Half of the students decided to write a “This I Believe” essay and create a podcast to post on our team blog that my regular LA students were creating, and the other half of the class decided that they wanted to publish their novel, receive the five free copies of their book, and possibly sell them on Amazon.  

This was one of those times that I had a great idea, but I hadn’t actually worked out all of the kinks before the unit started.  I decided that I could post my lessons on Edmodo.com (the best site ever…if you’ve never used it…I’ll write more about it another day).  That way, if I was working with one group, the other group could access their lesson online and vice-versa.  One day, I even handed my lesson plan to one student and had her teach the lesson to a group in the classroom, while I worked with the other group in our team office.  It worked like a charm.

Here’s what I didn’t consider.  I forgot that half of the students would need somewhere to go while I was teaching the mini lesson to the other half.  Hence, cramming them into our team office to get their work done!  I didn’t consider that I couldn’t be in two places at once.  Thank gosh, I had one or two students in the Nanowrimo group who worked out every possible problem that they came across on their own at home, and they then became the leaders of the group.  They were the “substitute teachers” that the students went to when I couldn’t be there.  Thank you Miss. A and Miss. T for all of your help.  This would not have worked without your initiative.  I even asked our resource teacher to come in to help when she could for a day or two; one day she took notes when the students were writing their own rubric for this project.  

It has definitely been a crazy few weeks.  However, the students have been patient with me, and they have learned to find answers on their own.  This is what happens when your teacher doesn’t have all of the solutions or isn’t there to answer your questions for you right away.  

There is something to be said about trying new ideas in the classroom.  Never be scared to try something unfamiliar.  Sometimes you have to put yourself out there and admit that you don’t know all of the answers…and that is okay.  It’s as good of a lesson for the students to learn, as it is for them to learn how to write a strong essay.