Whisked Away by Words

I'm sitting here in a local Wawa parking lot, drinking my coffee, listening to the CBS News Weekend Roundup and had two random reading memories.

One, I remember loving to hear my 3rd grade teacher read to us everyday. I went to Harrington Elementary down Southwest Philly. The memories that just flooded my mind were of Mrs. Ross reading Matilda, The BFG, and other Roald Dahl books. I remember just being whisked away, complete suspension of disbelief, as I imagined the characters interacting with each other. I remember loving being read to!

As I reflected on that, I recalled being in a PD at John B. Kelly, my former school, and one of my former principals leading the session. She remarked that everyone loves being read to and proceeded to read a book to us. Teachers. I don't remember the book, but I do remember two things. One, it had something to do with whatever the session was about. Two, I remember that I liked being read to...again.

Flem, what's  your point? I don't care how old or young your students (or staff lol) may be, many points can be highlighted with a short story, a poem, or a news article. My former principal was correct. Everybody likes being read to. My 9th graders preferred my voice with a book we were reading over the audio book's rendition. Even high schoolers liked to be whisked away every now and then.

I know we are living in a test and grades obsessed culture, but I dare you to resurrect the read-aloud every now and then and watch and see if your students (or staff lol) don't take that journey with you to.....wherever the words whisk you!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of K-12 Reading Instruction

As I mentioned in my last post I have a part-time "gig" as an adjunct reading guy at a local community college. I recently asked my college-aged students to tell me what they loved and/or hated about their reading/English class experiences K-12.

Here's some of what they enjoyed throughout the K-12 pipeline:
1.  When the teacher read aloud (even in high school - a lesson I learned very quickly, btw)
2.  When the teacher would stop, pause, and discuss what was being read, "that way we can keep up with what's going on."
3.  Explanations of the text
4.  When "we were asked to keep notes"
5.  When teachers "actually taught" and not just assign work and leave "us" to do it

Here's some of what they did not appreciate throughout the K-12 pipeline:
1.  When teachers showed favoritism and only worked with those who seemed like good students
2.  When teachers made students read aloud (the person mentioned this in the context of herself...when the teacher called on her to read aloud)
3.   When high school teachers didn't explain things

Aside from the simple things of what they liked or didn't like, my college students also mentioned "affactors" I definitely did just make up that term (I think). But it makes sense for the point I--ahem--they wanted to convey.

affactors (n.) the lexical coalescence of affect & factors to mean the emotional components of
(me trying to be "deep", but I digress...)

Without knowing my thoughts, opinions, and approaches to the classroom and teaching and learning, in addition to all of the reading "stuff" they liked/hated, THEY mentioned how they learned more when the teacher CARED, an affactor.

THEY mentioned how they learned more when the teacher CONNECTED with the students, an affactor.

And one had the unmitigated gall (*wink*) to mention her positive experiences with a "guy teacher who was like you, he made it interesting!" Piquing interest? An affactor.

Ayyee!! #dontjudgeme lol

A little note on reading instruction

"Oh my goodness, we gotta read a paragraph??"

"Yooooo, I DONT FEEL LIKE READING THIS PARAGRAPH!!! You drawlin!!"

"ugghhhh!!!"

"You do the most!"

"I ain't readin' this *&@^#!!!"

These were some of the responses I received this past week for what really was one paragraph my students had to read along with the 5 questions they had to answer. The paragraph was taken from a chapter in a book, that we're reading and that most of us are enjoying.  We had already read this particular chapter, by the time of the quiz, so it wasn't new. But even if it was...

This book has already generated a great deal of in-depth conversations about self-esteem, acceptance, and colorism. The book is The Skin I'm In by Sharon Flake. After completing a multiple choice section about some of the vocabulary, the students had to read a single paragraph and respond to 5 multiple choice questions. But what the students saw was that they had to *read* and they were having none of it!

BUT, before you judge them too harshly, I firmly believe that the test-prep, data-laden (or did I mean 'driven'?), mundane approach we take to reading instruction from kindergarten on up has created an aversion to any type of reading outside of Instagram posts and 140 (or is it 280?) characters. I believe that creating an overall culture where reading is a subject 'done' in school and a task that we have to do and for which they receive a grade instead of it being a relaxing, engaging, or informational activity 'done' at home, on the bus, on in the park, churns the disdain for it. Many kids hate the very idea of it.

That's. Not. Good.

We've test-prepped them straight into a hatred for the idea of picking up a book or magazine and reading . We've assessed them right into running in the opposite direction when faced with a single paragraph. That we read already. In a single chapter. In a book we're reading together. And enjoying.

Normally, I wouldn't be giving them something like that before creating a culture in our classroom where WE enjoy reading. I believe in starting off my reading/English classes with 15 minutes or so of students reading whatever they want. I believe in a well-stocked, robust, diverse, and welcoming classroom library and that a classroom library isn't for decoration or checklist purposes. I believe in school libraries and school librarians/teacher-librarians. I believe in carpeted areas, pillows, book shelves, plants, pet fish (or Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches...don't ask). I believe in us discussing what they read; in them drawing about what they read in an illustrative summary; in them writing about what they read; in them speaking to each other about what they read; in building up that "reading trust", so that when I must go into the stuff that I'm supposed to do, we can do so with a little less contempt. This approach works, even by the inappropriate measure of standardized testing scores. This approach has worked. That's not to say I haven't had to tweak the process depending on the class, but overall, it has worked.

However...

I was told one year that these first 15-25 minutes were "a waste of instructional time." Another year I was told that I needed to "assess" them on what they're reading during this time. Another time I was told that I needed to use only the books that the school district purchased. For a long time I pushed back because of the results that I've seen. I've seen students go from hating the idea of picking up books and reading to them LOVING it! I've seen those beloved test scores (*cough*) go up year over year as a group. I've heard the comments they'd make when they thought I wasn't paying attention; the smirk at something they just read; the intensity with which they are turning the pages; the "Mr. Flemming, 5 more minutes!". I've seen them RUN into the classroom to grab a book before someone else did. 6th graders!! I've seen them HIDE books so that they knew where it was for the next time. A colleague noticed that students were sneaking to read in her math class. We speak of it to this day. Years after I had one student, he approached me on the street and said, "You still the best English teacher I ever had."

But after being observed incessantly, both formally and informally; after three visits from a higher power above my administrator at the time; after all of the comments on the observations; after all of the heated conversations behind closed doors about my teaching philosophy being antithetical to the compliance cultures that are created in our schools, I threw up the white flag. Not because I wanted to, but because I'm working on other goals and need my mind free (Carter G. Woodson would say 'enslaved'). I need my mind enslaved. My sister says that I'm just "taking a nap"; chillin' in the cut; recalibrating to fight differently. 

So, I resolved to enter this school year being a compliant teacher. This time, however, it's a "do over" at a different school. Sometimes there aren't enough hours in the day, but I try to do everything that I'm asked to do. I apologize. (To whom do you think I'm apologizing?) One year I asked an administrator if they wanted me to teach or do what I'm told because they aren't necessarily synonymous activities. And speaking of that Carter G. Woodson, he would call me a "miseducated negro" (his words) this school year and the majority of this previous school year. Might he have a point? Judge ye. As quoted in Brown (2009) Woodson writes, "Taught from books of the same bias, trained by Caucasians of the same prejudices or by Negroes of enslaved minds, one generation of Negro teachers after another have served for no higher purpose than to do what they are told to do" (p. 420).

So, how is my resolution working out for the kids?
Well...

"Oh my goodness, we gotta read a paragraph??"

"Yooooo, I DONT FEEL LIKE READING THIS PARAGRAPH!!! You drawlin!!"

"ugghhhh!!!"

"You do the most!"

"I ain't readin' this *&@^#!!!"



Reference
Brown, A. L. (2009). “Brothers gonna work it out:” Understanding the pedagogic performance of African American male teachers working with African American male students. Urban Review, 41(5), 416-435. doi:10.1007/s11256-008-0116-8