In my Life Skills class we have a traditional circle question at the start of each new week: a low (challenging part) of your weekend, a high (great part) of your weekend, and a goal for your week. I am going to follow this format for my entry about the Go Big Read because it is a perfect way to tell the story.
Low
7 October 2011
Yesterday I took my students on a ropes course field trip. It was a beautiful October day and my kiddos were fantastic. They surprised themselves with how much they could accomplish, how well they could support each other, and how much fun they had.
After school yesterday, I attended a workshop on Socratic Seminars. I am a newbie to this form of discussion, so I won't go on about it now, except to say that I am super excited to work with this method in the future.
Between the ropes course and the workshop I stopped back at my classroom to see how things went while I was away. One of my classes is taking part in a community conversation in connection with the University of Wisconsin - Madison Go Big Read program. They are reading a book called Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario which tells the story of one young man and his journey from Honduras to the United States to find his mother. I am planning this conversation for students with several other teachers, mainly folks I met this summer during the Summer Institute. The workshop I mentioned previously was part of the preparation for our event. Lots of time, money, and energy has been spent to make this event special and meaningful for the students involved. Returning to my classroom after the ropes course, I found a report from the sub explaining that not one of my students had completed the first reading assignment for the day.
I love - love - my students in so many ways. They are challenging, insightful, real. I wouldn't for a second go back to students who only want to know if what I am saying is going to be on the test or why they have an A- and not an A. But sometimes, it feels so very hard to teach the students I have. Swim through concrete. Nail Jello to a wall. Read 44 pages over three days - why couldn't they do that much?
At the Socratic Seminar workshop, the presenter described the seminars as focused and intelligent dialogue that interrogates a text. While I understand the value of the metaphor of my students completing a high ropes course, I don't want to watch teenagers do trust falls all day. It is focused and intellectual dialogue that makes my heart skip a beat.
Sometimes teaching is really hard. Sometimes you are unsuccessful no matter how hard you work. Today was disappointing.
High
19 October 2011
The Go Big Read event was one of the coolest educational opportunities I have been involved in. Despite my concern, the majority of my students completed the reading, prepared for our event, and participated. With much help from many talented and dedicated teachers, we brought in two speakers, Professor Susan Robinson from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication who spoke to the students about the method of storytelling that Nazaro engages and Professor Petra Guerra, Associate Director of Chicano and Latino Studies who spoke about immigrant representation in mass media. UW freshman from English 100 courses lead groups of students in seminars.
I think there were so many directly and indirectly positive things that came out of this event: our students got to visit UW Madison, talk with college students, hear college professors, see the media coverage of an event they were a part of. They talked about the book they read, heard stories, asked questions, made connections. We were able to share with them the heart of the Go Big Read - engaging in conversation over a thought provoking text. It is, of course, how "real people" (as opposed to "high school students") really read and learn (why is there a difference??). We ended the event asking students to write on a post it note what they had learned, thought about, or realized during their experience. At the very end, we invited students to stand and share what they wrote. After a few minutes of awkward silence, one by one, students stood and said a few words about what this book and this experience meant to them.
What I like the most about the Go Big Read is, as my friend Lauren so eloquently said (and I will be stealing to use again), is that we don't read or write in isolation and events like ours and the Go Big Read provide the opportunity for people to come together and talk about their reading. For me, reading and writing are infinitely more powerful and profound when shared with others. I hope that with this event we begin a tradition of bringing high school students into the conversation at this annual university community read.
Goal
I learned a lot from the highs and lows of this experience. I know that I would like to continue having students read the GBR book selections and participate in the many community discussions and activities that take place. Early on, much of my frustration came from the fact that I was working so hard to provide them with an authentic learning experience (which they should be so excited and grateful for because they are stuck inside schools and desks all day), but they are stuck inside schools and desks all day and they don't remember how fun authentic learning experiences can be.
Coming away from this event, my goal is to use what I learned to create a school where students have more choice and therefore (hopefully) more ownership of their learning. But more importantly (to me) is that they remember how fun learning, discussing, and questioning can be. I want to create many more opportunities for this kind of learning to happen and I want to be patient as my students learn to remember.
For more on this event:
