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Real Stories From Real ND English Teachers

We teach English Language Arts. We are human. We read. We write.

The Benefits of 10 Minutes

1/14/2020

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PictureI have enough nonfiction to fill those half-empty shelves; they're just always checked out this year.
By Donna Davidson, Northwest Director for NDCTE Connected Newsletter, Jan. 2020

 Last summer at the NDCTE conference, Kelly Gallagher spoke to a room full of English teachers, telling us all about the power of giving students time to read in class. Ten minutes a day was all that he asked, and though that time seems short, it adds up to roughly one class period per week. Even though I’ve seen the research, read Donalyn Miller’s The Book Whisperer, and invested in hundreds of books for my classroom library just like all of you, there was still a little ghost in my head saying, Can you really afford to give up all that time? Of course reading is important, but how will you get through everything by the end of the year? Those are fair questions, and I don’t think I was wrong to ask them, but I decided to take the plunge anyway and, for the first time in my teaching career, set aside ten minutes a day for reading at the beginning of the class period—the beginning, not the end, so that I couldn’t just not quite get around to it. I had to take the leap of faith and believe that reading books could teach the children as well I can. I committed to doing it for at least the whole first quarter, which stretched into the whole first semester, and now as the third quarter rolls on, I’m a believer.

My observations:
1) Reading conferences are awesome. Through one-on-one conversations about books, I’ve learned a lot about my students’ tastes, strengths, and weaknesses. I’ve been able to recommend books successfully to reluctant readers and have discovered some reading problems that I hadn’t realized students were having. Plus, getting to talk personally and individually to students and really focus on just them is a lot of fun and has become one of the most enjoyable parts of my day.

2) Students who had not read a full book in ages have actually read whole books this year, cover to cover, and discovered that they didn’t hate it. In their conversations with me at reading conferences, I’ve been able to help them reconsider how they think about or talk about themselves as readers.

3) My classroom library has never been busier. After all those years of collecting books, this year, the books are finally getting read. My students seem to have decided to become history scholars. The 7th grade is devouring the Hazardous Tales series of graphic novels about events in American History. The 8th grade devours any book I can find about WWII. (Since I’m also their social studies teacher, you can imagine how this warms my heart.) And ever since I got home from the ALAN conference at NCTE in November, they’ve had a growing interest in the heaps of great young adult literature I got there, which is exposing them to a world of ideas and experiences far beyond the limited experience of our small town.

4) Class reading assignments are actually getting done. The rule of reading time is that you read. What you read is your choice. Sometimes students use the time to finish off the assignment from a novel or story we’re reading in class, which means when instruction time does start, we have way more productive discussions because everyone—or at least nearly everyone—actually did the reading.

5) Classroom management is easier. On those days when either you or a student, or maybe both of you, are in a bit of a temper at the start of class, reading time provides a moment to decompress. No one has to talk to each other, and ten minutes of quiet is usually enough for us to get back into a more productive headspace.

6) Taking time for reading did not slow down our progress. By Christmas, I had taught basically the same material as usual and was ready to start the second semester with the units I had laid out back in August.
​
Ten minutes of reading is not a magic bullet. It did not solve all my problems, and it does not teach all my content for me. However, I am seeing real benefits for my students by carving out a space for them to take a break from all the other things pulling at their attention and putting a book in their hands. 


Picture
Students get invitations at the beginning of reading time if it's their conferences day.
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When You Have THAT Student

10/15/2019

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by Lisa Gusewelle, Member-at-Large for NDCTE Connected Newsletter, Oct. 2019
Each year that we teach, we hope that we have moved past last year's problems and are smarter, tougher, and awesomer. What we usually realize is that while we may know our material and our schedule a bit better there will always be challenges that will test just how smart, how tough, and how awesome we really are. Perhaps nothing may test a teacher's constitution than a student who finds the teacher to be the dumbest, weakest, and lamest of all people that they have ever met in their life.

Some ways that a student may cut a teacher down:
  1. mumbling under their breath while the teacher is lecturing
  2. complaining about every assignment that they are given
  3. talking over the teacher and their fellow students in a loud voice that drowns out all other sound
  4. constantly being out of their chair and touching other people's property
  5. blaming the teacher for lost assignments or discipline problems and somehow convincing parents and administrators that it really was the teacher's fault
Now, I do not have a multi-million dollar idea to help THAT student become one of your angels, but I can tell you that no student comes to school wanting to feel dumb and disliked, which sounds unbelievable when we look at their actions and the way that they respond to consequences. However, students that we struggle with do not see what we are doing as being part of a team. They see it as "teachers vs. me." There are many factors that go into how a student wants to be perceived and how they react in situations, but I will focus on what teachers can do to help THAT student succeed and how to help the teacher get a break from somewhat constant struggle.

1. Play "the dum-dum." Teachers are often too afraid of looking dumb, which is unfortunate as this can be our greatest relationship- building tool and academic strategy. Students already realize that we are smart, so don't worry about them mistaking you for being an actual dum-dum. The aim of playing "the dum-dum" is to put our students in position to feel smart. Many lesson plans make sure to include reading, writing, speaking, and listening, but most unit plans do not include a time to make students feel like winners or like geniuses. Whenever I complete my version of student projects, I always make glaring (often hilarious) mistakes in mine. What my mistake-ridden project says to students is "here is a project that you can easily do better than, and here are some not-to-dos to make your project better than mine."

2.  Be a sportscaster. Acknowledge your students' actions by narrating their actions and feelings like an announcer and sportscaster. 
Example: Student says, "This is dumb." Teacher responds, "You think that this is dumb." Students says, "Yeah, I'm not going to be able to finish it, and I have a game tonight." Teacher responds, "You're worried that you won't have enough time." 

3. Give your students a time-in. Want to know why one-on-one reading conferences are the most rewarding part of your students' school day? You're gifting them and only them your time and attention and it matters even if it is only 1- or 3-minutes in length.

4. Access the students' conscious need to be good by going through the side door. My elementary students rarely do well their first time doing something. Sometimes they're spectacularly awful! One way to improve is by doing a Jeffrey Wilhelm "Notice & Note." Observe what you saw that was good and add a "because" statement. For example, I might say, "I really liked when [student] asked why. She could have responded by ignoring her and repeating back her own thoughts, which some students did do, but instead, she took interest in an opinion different than hers and made the conversation better." Then, provide all students an extra opportunity to do better. 

Another way to go through the side door is by giving your students an opportunity to role-play the negative behavior. 
Example: Teacher says, "You're with someone who is not working with you on your project. What would you say to them? Let's do a think-pair-share. All right, let's share out on what we might say." After discussion, the teacher will select two students based on their responses to the prompt. One role will be the student who wants to work together and the other role will be the student who is being unhelpful. Play out the scene and then ask the class what they observed and if the discussion would be helpful in future situations. 
*I have also seen the above done with Barbies, which sounds so silly, but was actually AMAZING! It allowed the students to focus more on how to respond to the situation rather than what their peers were thinking of them in the role play.

5. Let your students catch you gossiping about them, and let it be good gossip! If you're really struggling, think of what maybe drives you the craziest about the student.
Example: Teacher says to parent on phone, "I love your student's energy. He is so much fun. I can see why his classmates like him. I dislike having to tell him to get in his seat so often because he is a really great kid." 

6. Practice patience-stretching. Our most attention-seeking students struggle badly with patience. When a student is constantly bouncing up and down in your face and is speaking loudly, a teacher's blood pressure soars. Set a timer for 1, 2, or 3 minutes, and say, "I really want to hear what you have to say, but I am busy right now. I will give you my full attention as soon as this timer goes off." Make sure that when the timer does go off that you do allow the student to have your attention. If they continue talking during the hold time, have them do their patience stretching outside of the classroom, but keep the timer yourself in case a student wants to give themselves an extended break.

Please remember when you are teaching THAT student that even though they make your day more challenging and even though they will never give you a card that reads "Your the best teacher ever," they are your student, not the principal's, not the office secretary's, but yours. Sure they may be smelly, whiney, consistently on the ineligible list, and no one else wants them, but THAT student is yours.

More importantly, success or failure with THAT student does not take away from the fact that you are the smartest, toughest, most awesome teacher in the room. And, I really and truly believe in you. 


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Earn Credit for the 2019 NDCTE Conference

6/19/2019

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A Message from Your President: Flipgrid

4/4/2019

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NDCTE President Bridget Ryberg shares about using Flipgrid for independent reading!
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The February Message from Your NDCTE President

2/18/2019

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NDCTE President Bridget Ryberg shares how she incorporates independent reading in her classroom! 
Watch, learn, and share your ideas in the comments below!

**Helpful links Bridget shares in her video include: Kelly Gallagher's website: http://www.kellygallagher.org/
Ryberg/Haaven Creative Thinkers: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QfkeK0Dz3V6BzcuohjkYxccJKke4fiGwvCqlAoteG5g/edit?usp=sharing
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A Message From Your President

11/9/2018

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NDCTE President Bridget Ryberg shares her independent reading awesomeness:

How do you use independent reading in your classes?

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  • Home
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    • NDCTE Blog
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    • Teacher of the Year Award
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    • John Wall Promising Artist Scholarship
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