M-STEP in Line.

Here we are...the M-STEP. An online computer-based assessment administered by the State of Michigan to assess proficiency in the Core subjects. The M-STEP is said to be rooted in the Common Core--which if your curriculum is aligned with the CCSS, there should not be any issue.
As an ELA teacher, this test literally fell into my lap. Yes, my students have been receiving instruction, assessments, and rigor related to the CCSS. BUT, is this ok? Should students be given tests by the State of Michigan without any actual awareness of what is on it? Shouldn't there be some process in place? Because, this was a surprise. That's the word no one wants to say. A surprise that has fallen into the lap of everyone involved.
The kicker...?
What does this mean for students? What is the gravity for them? Can we tell them that the M-STEP has post-secondary implications? Can we tell them that it affects their GPA, Class Rank? Where is the carrot or stick? As a teacher, we need to have some sort of consequence to this test for the students. How can we make students take this test over several days if there is no endgame. It reminds me of the instances when parents say "because I said so." It's been said by all, but it's a ridiculous notion. No one wants their children to become people who accept the will of others without inquisition. That would lead to a society of drones, completing tasks for no rhyme or reason.
I am certain that the M-STEP test will contain rigor, critical thinking, and require a large amount of intellect in order to do perform proficiently. But, our reasoning for justification when asking our students to take this test...contains NONE of these things.

I took a hiatus from the blogosphere and twittersphere so I could clear my head and reharness my chi. As a second year teacher I learned that I did not take enough of a break last year and I wanted to make sure to do so. Here's a short top-5 (Letterman style) to catch up. 

1) We've just come off of a Snow Week. Yes, that's right...Snow Week. A series of five Snow Days which coincidentally followed the two-week break students and staff were afforded by way of the holiday season. 

2) Midterm week begins the week of Jan. 20

3) Being a teacher and watching the Midterm intensity ramp up is entertaining. I remember being a student in High School and College and trying to downplay such events as ordinary. They were not ordinary--far from it. They were instead incredibly important in my life as a student and I try to convey that to my students each day. 

4) English 11's midterm will be divided into two parts. I. Literary Essay - G.K. Chesterton's The Fallacy of Success. II. ACT style preparation of English and Reading

5) English 12's midterm will be divided into two parts. I. 8pg piece of FictionII. 4pg research based essay 


Today I was listening to a segment of On Point a radio broadcast under the NPR umbrella. The segment chronicles how the American Economy is and will be in the future. This comes on the heels of Obama's pledge for free C.C tuition! Listen to the link below: 

http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/01/13/economic-data-unemployment-neoliberal-capitalism

Anyways, I think that education needs to more accurately reflect the Economy. It is naive to think that there is not a positive correlation between these two things. Education is a lever to occupation and the economy drives occupation. If people are being educated in arenas which are not available for employment then what is the purpose?

Also...here's a few things I wrote: 
http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/readers/2014/12/06/ferguson-michael-brown-blacklivesmatter/19986649/
http://www.educatorsforhighstandards.org/teacher-champion-blog

America Achieves, CCSS, and The HOLIDAYS

So I took a brief hiatus form the blogosphere...but, now I am back. 

First let me say that I applied for and was accepted as a fellow for the Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship underneath the umbrella of America Achieves a NPO based out of Washington D.C. 

In any profession it is paramount that opportunities are offered to the workforce in order to help them learn, grow in their roles, and foster innovation. Teachers nationwide are constantly looking for innovative things to incorporate in their classroom, often using the internet to learn from and share with others, but never actually meeting their peers face to face.

As a 3rd year teacher, the America Achieves Fellowship is my first professional experience with teachers outside my district. The Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship is a great avenue for me to build relationships with peers and to see how some teaching strategies in other buildings, cultures, and geographical regions can and will impact my best practices within my own room.

The America Achieves Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship offers teachers and administrators from across the state the opportunity to collaborate and on how to better educate Michigan’s students. Learning about Common Core State Standards and how to implement them in the classroom was one way we accomplished this.  My main focus at the Fellowship’s launch convening in Lansing was to try and listen to as many people as possible and take as many notes as possible on ideas I could implement into my classroom.

Over the course of the two-day convening in Lansing, many of the sessions focused on training the members of the Fellowship to make their voices heard regarding the future of education in Michigan. We unpacked what the Common Core State Standards mean for educators, parents, and students. We also learned how to properly teach the skills demanded by the Common Core and communicate these skills to outside-school audiences. With the Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship, I am sure that the people impacted most by the Common Core – educators, parents, and students – will gain a seat at the table.

The Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship is the kind of opportunity and network that I hope all my peers get to experience. It affords me as an educator the opportunity to listen to a diverse range of people in order to learn how to educate my students for the future. Within this network, there isn't a question or situation that I know one of my colleagues hasn't gone through themselves. It is reassuring to sit among educators and know that their sole goal is the same as my own: to educate the students of our state to make them college and career ready. Any group that can rest on that is sure to be a successful one. 

On a more personal note, the holidays are here. It's always refreshing and reassuring to share this time of year with students. 

In the 11th grade we are finishing a mini-unit on Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. It's a great segue to our Non-Fiction unit coming soon. The culmination of the unit is an essay about the theme/central idea/author's intent of the piece. The students FLEW through the book and really enjoyed it. 

In the 12th grade we are still working on our Holocaust unit. The students have finished the book Night by Elie Wiesel and will begin their Multi-Genre Research Project Monday.
It will be an exciting couple weeks for sure. 

Wow...plenty has happened since I wrote last. First off, 9hrs of parent-teacher conferences were given over the course of 3 days, with a total of 64 parents/guardians visiting.

Yesterday(Tuesday 11/18) was our first snow day of the year!!!

In the academic realm, English 11 has begun a mini-unit on Jon Krakauer's book "Into the Wild."
We're going to create a Bucket List, CV poem (modeled after Lisel Mueller) and read sections of the novel that relate to the following essential questions:
• What is the relationship between nature and American identity?
• What does it mean to be a rebel?
• What is the relationship between self and society?
• What is success?
• How do we construct identity through our actions, interests, values and beliefs?
• To what extent is community essential to happiness?
This should be a great mini-unit.

In English 12, we have begun pre-reading activities on "Night" by Elie Wiesel. The novels have been handed out and it's always nice to have students read a novel that is as attention-grabbing as "Night."

The Chromebooks have been a great SUCCESS!!!!!

Til' I shuffle off this mortal coil...let there be blogs

Yea, I've never read a blog. I've never written a blog--nor, have I ever thought that blogs really mattered. There is only so much RAM in my brain and filling it with blogs or what is/was/will be in blogs seems to me like a wast of space.
Now, why am I creating a blog? Why am I adding to the detritus of blog posts that exists? The answer is simple.
IT IS WHAT YOU DO.
There are too many avenues that comprise communication. And if there are too many avenues, then I want to try and be running full speed down them all. (Yes I did not say drive...I'm a runner-->50 miles per week and I do count.)
This blog is a chronicle of my current profession: South Haven High School ELA Teacher. Right now my schedule reads 2 sections of ELA 11 and 3 sections of ELA 12. I also am the head of coach Track and Field / Cross Country for both genders.
As of today, I have 144 students with an average of 29 students per section. This makes for a plethora of personalities, types, and student learning styles. There are 144 students and AT LEAST 144 different people that I see, know, and educate.
So here's the skinny:
ELA 11 - literary essays devoted to short stories that we've read throughout the unit
(Greasy Lake, A&P, The Lady or the Tiger?, To Build a Fire, Snows of Kilimanjaro, A Good Man is Hard to Find, A Sound of Thunder, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and Battle Royal)
ELA 12 - Just finished a unit devoted to independent reading resulting in a novel research project (presentation) which was related to a theme of their independent reading novel.
Now, we've kicked off a unit focused on the holocaust...more to come on that!

And, so begins my blogging.