brief hiatus

settling back in after a week in chicago...


...will be back soon...

note to self...

remind me to figure out how to add pix to this thing... all text is rather monotonous.

for balance

being a good libra, i feel i need to balance yesterday's post with this:

A HUGE SHOUT OUT TO ALICIA HUIZAR!

thank you so much for your help with front-loading--you are indeed a master teacher! whittier's staff and students are lucky to have you! you personify the 3 c's, and that makes our school not only a great place to teach, but an even better place for our students to learn.

THANK YOU.

raison d'etre

sometimes i really miss the 3 c's (cooperation, collaboration, community) at my grade level and school... i remember these qualities being present in the past, but not so much now...

maybe it's geographical--my classroom is isolated from my 5th grade team (except for the wonderful wendy wahlen!) and the main school building--i'm in a bugalow::cough::trailer*::cough::
all the way across the playground!

maybe it's middle-of-the-school-year anxiety and stress.
(TESTING IS COMING--AGHHH!!!)
we just want to close our doors and teach.

maybe it's me...

this has been a very difficult (school) year personally and professionally, but i'm trying to stay positive and focused, so that when the 3 p's (politics, personalities, parents) get me down, i remember why i'm here--why i'm a teacher. i'm not here to make friends, socialize, or be part of the popular set...


I'M HERE TO TEACH.


*not like it's "class" warfare or anything, (i know--there's a special place in hell for mimes and punsters) but these "bungalows" don't have running water!


updated: edited for clarity, comedy, and a little humility--6:30 pm

second coming

i often tell my students that authors observe the world around them in an active way, noticing and reacting to things that "tickle their ears" or stimulate their senses somehow. i tell them that my notebook is where i keep things like that.

this week i showed my class how i'd gone through my notebook and marked (with sticky notes) all the quotes, random musings, and thoughts i'd collected that i hadn't used yet but was still planning on using. then i showed them how i'd integrated these ideas into a new piece (read: rap) i'd been working on called "the second coming" (i even read them the yeats poem--also in my notebook-- from which the title was "borrowed"). i showed them how i used the title and my favorite line from the poem in my new piece. i also showed them a line i'd written down from a tom waits' song i'd heard on the radio. then i read them the piece.

here's the beginning: (student-friendly version)

second coming

what stinks worse: your verse or a fart in church?
(your breath bring death like a hearse)
search me--got nothing in the trunk--
"no such thing as the devil, only god when he's drunk."
who would've thunk? jesus was a punk--
keep the temple holy like kobe jam a slam dunk!
:::sniff::: i smell a skunk--see the forest for the trees,
feel the breeze, buddha monk.
more fun than a touring funk band,
PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE AMMUNITION!
we're on a mission--finger flipped at fashion--
"all the best lack conviction, while the worst are full of passion"
the second coming-- it's about to happen...

a bit provacative, but that's good... hopefully my students will remember to go BACK to their notebooks after they're full (instead of just saying, "i need a new notebook--mine's full!") to find seed ideas for use in future pieces.

i'm still sore

we lost.

badly.

it wasn't even close.

3 guys over 6'
(one weighing easily over 2 bills)

and "cheryl miller."

we were the "washington generals" to their "harlem globetrotters."

wizards vs. bears

the teachers here at whittier elementary have been challenged to a basketball game tomorrow versus the teachers at burnett elementary... unfortunately, we don't really have any "ballers" here at whittier, (also a few people who _said_ they'd play flaked--lame!) but we're a rag tag, scrappy little bunch (kinda like the student-players in " the white shadow," except without the pro coach). we had one "official" practice today, and i think we've got a chance... at least we have one person over 6' who can dunk (not me)! either way, it'll be fun.


GO WHITTIER WIZARDS!!!

celebrate!

today the authors in the room 75 tribe shared their hard work at our writing celebration. i was so proud of my students because the variety of (student selected) writing genres made for an eclectic program: poems, fantasies, personal narratives, and even a biography! my students were super excited and their enthusiasm only intensified when our v.p. (mr. hammond) and our principal (mr. garcia) showed up. i knew they couldn't stay--they had other celebrations to attend--so i rearranged the program to showcase the work of one of my star authors, frida.

she was really interested in frida kahlo, so i encouraged her to write a biographical piece on her namesake. she took to it like a duck to water. over the course of 6 weeks, she revised, edited, augmented, diminished, and ultimately created an informative and entertaining piece of non-fiction. she titled it the dove, after kahlo's nickname.

just before our guests left, i made a terrible program decision: i let blanca share her piece on how her grandpa died and how sad she was that she never met him. big mistake. about three quarters of the way through her piece, she broke into sobs... i rushed to tell her she didn't have to continue, but--being the trooper she is--she continued reading through her sniffles and tears! i made a big deal about how brave and courageous she was to share her piece and how impressed i was with my tribe that they respected her enough not to laugh, (even though a few did)... but it was a bit awkward, and i back-peddled to find a lighter piece to try to restore some levity in the room. shoot! why did i start with ashley's funny poems?

all's well that ends well. we didn't have enough time to hear all the stories, (we had to have time to celebrate publishing with some junk food!) so i told them that we'd continue sharing the stories tomorrow...

mutual respect

mutual respect:
a two-way street.
i'll meet you half-way...
collaborative hearts
communicate,
a compromise

HOT MATH

a study by fuchs, et al (2006) sponsored by the center on accelerating student learning (CASL) deals with a 3rd grade intervention called "HOT math" (hands on task). it's a two-tiered system: the first tier is completely scripted and delivered whole class; the second tier is delivered in heterogeneous, small groups.

tier 1 stresses problem-solving strategies, and the first three weeks are dedicated to problem solving information like: "do the answers make sense?" "are the numbers lined up from the text?" "is the work labeled with math words and symbols?"

the remainder of the tier 1 consists of 3, four-week units (in any order):

• "buying bags" problems
• "shopping list problems
• "half" problems
• "pictograph" problems

all problems in tier 1 are structured the same and emphasize self-regulating and self-monitoring strategies. students first work in "dyads" (high/low student-pairing) on problems, then they complete one problem independently. each student receives homework that is "congruent" to the lesson taught that day. students get immediate teacher feedback on classwork and chart their individual scores on a "thermometer" (so apropos for HOT math). students inspect their thermometers before each lesson to set learning goals.

tier 2 is similar but is delivered in small groups. students are reminded about learning goals, self-regulated learning, and are rewarded with "dollars" for displaying on-task behaviors and attaining self-proscribed, academic goals.

the study found that utilizing even one tier of the HOT math program--whole or small group--had a positive effect on student math achievement.

holy rollers

since my last piece had me bumming on the l.b.c., this is for balance:

today i witnessed something that has restored my faith in the goodness of my community: when i walked to the beach this morning with my parents' poodle, sophie, i was initially annoyed with a group of college-aged bicyclists riding on the sidewalk along the cliffs where it is clearly marked NO BIKES! i pulled sophie in close as i muzzled my uncontrollable-old-man-urge to yell at the disrespectful youths.

then i noticed one of the law-breakers get off his bike next to two slumbering men (who appeared to have all the trappings of homeless people) and proceed to place two sack lunches from his backpack next to their sleeping bodies. my smile was instantaneous! these kids were breaking the (bicycle) law to feed the needy!

i walked home in the warm sun and thought to myself: yesterday sophie got out of my yard for 5 hours (her second offence) and was caught and nursed (she had a cut between her claws) by two lovely ladies on orange and 8th... today i see a gang of college students feeding the less fortunate in our community--and last night I ROCKED THE JOINT REGARDLESS!

LONG BEACH IS A.O.K.!!!

but the story doesn't end there... i decided to bike to my favorite breakfast spot--quick plug for the "#3 hobo omelet" at the omelet inn on 3rd and pine--and when i got there, i spotted the same bicycle gang from the beach at the intersection of pacific and 3rd (long beach--"the big little city"). i had to know: they were handing out lunches, right? it wasn't a drug deal i had witnessed this morning, right?

so i waited for them to cross the street and asked one of them what was up with the brown bags. it turns out my suspicions were correct: he and a group of friends that go to his church pass out sack lunches to the hungry. how cool is that? i told them they were doing the lord's work ("[you're] on a mission from god."), and i applauded their caring for our community.

today's treasure moment: holy rollers in the queen city

artistic supporters

sometimes i invite my colleagues to my performances--usually the thingz shows since 4 electric seconds hasn't been playing--and it kinda bums me out when they don't go... that's why it was so rad to see wendy wahlen (resident 5th grade reading specialist) go to dipiazza's for a thingz show last weekend. wendy rules!

i love it when people support other creative people and their endeavors, especially local artists. (athletes have athletic supporters and artists need supporters, too.) it makes me proud when i think that i live in a community that feels art is important enough to support with their time and presence (and maybe a little $). too often in the l.b.c. this is not the case...

i don't know if it's apathy or entertainment-option-saturation--it certainly isn't geographic distance since most venues are bicycle or pedestrian-accessible in long beach--but i don't see fervent support for local artists. maybe the art just sucks here...

last night's show certainly didn't suck: the thingz (l.b.c.), pure country gold (portland), and the guilty hearts (l.a.) all rocked fern's! the shamefully mute, minimal turn-out belied an extraordinary night of rock'n'roll. those in attendance gave more props to the jukebox playing "sweet child o' mine" than the first two bands. even the lead singer from pure country gold commented, "they're too cool to dance in the northwest--i didn't think it was the same here..." alas, it is...

people don't dance no more--they just stand there like this... they cross their arms and stare me down and drink and moan and piss.
--the rapture

technicians or craftsmen?

a study by graham and harris (2005) was of particular interest to me because i love writing. it's one of my favorite subjects to teach--especially since i teach 5th grade, wherein the topics and abilities of my students are as various and multitudinous as the personalities in my classroom.

we use the columbia writing program at my school, so it was nice to see that they were involved in the study. what sparked my interest was the fact that the researchers chose handwriting and spelling as areas of focus to help struggling writers. one of the strengths of the columbia program is that students choose self-selected topics to write about, therefore creating "authentic" published pieces. while this is a more genuine approach, it tends to relegate conventions, such as spelling and handwriting to a secondary or tertiary level of importance. students are encouraged to learn from mentor texts and mentor authors--the real experts--but these authors sometimes use conventions in a somewhat unconventional way.

a while back we had a debate at my school about sentence fragments. open court teaches students to stay away from using them (even my grammar check politely underlines my fragments with a green squiggly line!), yet professional authors use them all the time. who's the real authority? according to one of our trainers, isoke, the essential question is, "good technicians or good craftsmen, which is our goal?"

the answer "good craftsmen" seems obvious, but that's not to discount the importance of knowing the rules and technicalities of the english language--we must explicitly teach them--but isoke says we must not be afraid to allow "playfulness with our language system." fragments (and maybe invented--intentional or otherwise--spellings) are "playful," and they're found everywhere in good writing. according to isoke, "it is the why they chose to [use fragments] that we must teach our students." in other words, if we show our students mentor texts that include sentence fragments, we can gird them with a rationale for using them. how empowering is that?

this excerpt from sandra cisneros' "geraldo no last name" seems germane:

she met him at a dance. pretty too, and young. said he worked in a restaurant, but she can't remember which one. that's all. green pants and saturday shirt. geraldo. that's what he told her.

i count four "fragments" by oc standards, buy isoke would argue--and i would agree--that cisneros "knows more about our language system--not less." she is actually "using more and making more of the rules...--not less."

read across america

gotta love the good doctor...seuss that is. yesterday was "read across america" at our school, and all the fifth grade classes sang the RAA theme song (written by glen weiss). last year i made a super-quick recording on my little digital box (d12) that records/burns cd's... it was quick and dirty, and not the greatest sound-quality, but it worked. i hate the tone of my singing voice, so instead of recording the words onto the cd, i decided to just record the melody line with my guitar; i figured people could sing along to that... i figured wrong. three of my colleagues told me they couldn't figure out what to sing. here i thought i was making it easy on them (or on their ears at least!), when i unintentionally made it more difficult. it seemed like a win-win situation: they wouldn't have to hear how horrible my voice actually is--no american idol aspirations here!--and they would still get to hear the melody to the song.

oh well. the fifth graders did alright, especially considering that some of them had only heard the song the day before when we practiced together with all the classes in the multi-purpose room. they sounded SO GREAT in there that day!! they kinda seemed to freeze up when it came to the actual performance though...

PALS

I’d heard of Peer-Assisted Leaning Strategies before reading the study by Saenz, et al. (2005) but never had it explained in such detail. Now that I understand the components a little better, I may try to implement some of these strategies in my classroom. Of course, it’d be nice to have the training, but it seems like I could try a few things even without the training.

The first thing I like about the program is that it allows ELL’s an opportunity to practice speaking the language they are learning. At my school, we are currently learning to use “front-loading” and “sentence frames” that give ELL’s a chance to practice the academic (CALPS) language before they commit anything to paper. I think this is extremely valuable, as students can’t write what they can’t say.

The second thing I like about PALS is that students are working on higher order language skills like summarizing and predicting, but (and this is a big “but") it’s at their own individual, instructional reading level. Unlike our currently adopted reading program, Open Court—which, according to a Fry’s Readability Test, has college level reading selections IN THE FIFTH GRADE—students get comprehensible input!!! What a concept! Our ELL’s actually get to understand what it is they’re reading. I like that. And so will they.

The other piece that is enticing about the PALS program is the collaborative nature of the system. Students get to partner up—a high with a low—to accomplish their task. This year we have really been striving to build a sense of community in not only our classrooms, but also the entire school. We’ve begun to implement the Tribes book, and have adopted the four “agreements” (attentive listening, mutual respect, appreciation, and right to pass) school-wide. The PALS system builds teamwork and mutual respect right into the partnership, with each student getting to be the tutor and the tutee.

Overall, this was a fascinating study that gave me many ideas to try in my classroom. I’m always searching for more collaborative and interactive ways for students to approach text, and this approach seems successful and easy to use.

17 banos

my favorite thematic unit in open court is "heritage." this past weekend i got to know my heritage a little better: i flew to mexico d.f. for the first time to meet family members from mi padre, joaquin's side of the family. it was fantastic! i stayed at my uncle alphonso's house, "casa margarita" (named after my grandmother, not the drink). i dubbed it the "cordero compound" because it was literally a sprawling, palacial estate surrounded by 4 huge walls. check this out:

• 3 stories
  
• 40 rooms
  
• 17 bathrooms
• elevator
• pool
• jacuzzi
• sauna
• steam room
• 2 gyms
• movie theater
• wine cellar
• 9 fireplaces
• study/library (with spiral staircase to second level bookshelf)
• bar
• grand piano
• basketball court (my favorite!)

as you can tell, it's quite the vacation home! it was hard to leave, but i did do some sight-seeing outside the compound as well: i took a few busses (quite an experience!), rode the metro (people sell everything on there!), and was chauffeured around by my two incredibly humorous and delightful aunts. i got to see toluca (sp?) where my cousin has a cattle farm, and i ate fresh cheese that was only 4 hours old. of course there was plenty of tequila and mariachi music, but the highlight was visiting teotihuacan and climbing the pyramid of the moon!

what an incredible experience!

it really made me appreciate my latino heritage and proud to be a cordero! i bonded with my natural father and family members and really felt a part of something special, something with rich cultural traditions.

today i shared some pictures with my students... i think they could tell i was excited to finally--after 30 years--connect with this part of me...

!$#@! state employees!!!

to all those who envied us teachers who had a nice loOong weekend, here's my short "to do" list from this past weekend:

• academic progress reports (3, one for each of the "r's")
  
• workshop planning sheet (thankfully only one sheet!)
  
• read writers' notebooks (5, two of which are completely full since last time!@#%$^@$#)
  
• review ELD folders (including "word parts journals" and thinking maps "grammar" work)
  
• scrutinize OC workshop folders (all the MUST DO work)
  
• grade OC assessments (comprehension and spelling for all students)
  
• check OC resources folders (including "word knowledge," and "clues, problems, wonderings journals + assess "vocabulary skills worksheets")
  
• inspect math notebooks (check that they're including the "problem of the day," the "objective," and basically trying the "independent practice" at there desks while i'm pulling small, intensive work groups)
  
• turn in essays to anaheim community police center ("have your teacher check them for grammatical and spelling mistakes, kids." GREAT. THANKS A LOT, LADY!)
  
• turn in middle school special programs request forms (write about each applicant and how they're qualified--only about 20 students applied for this...)
  
• plan for next week (another short week, where i must cram 5 days of work into 4!)
• write a blog post

guess which was done last?


(sorry, ed...i don't blame you... i know you gotta do what you gotta do...)

living graves

since one of my colleagues is a vegetarian--shout out to mrs. mank!!!--i thought i'd share some tidbits i'd gleaned from reading this article on the origins of vegetarianism.

• it was thought that eating blood predisposed men to be cruel.
• genesis 9:4 says "flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat."
• throughout history most people haven't eaten meat--it was too scarce and/or expensive
• "vegetarianism has always been less about why you should eat plants than about why you shouldn't eat animals."
• pythagoras--the right triangle guy--was first known for starting "a community of mystical mathematicians" who abstained from eating meat because they believed in "metempsychosis," or the post-mortem transfer of your soul to another animal.
  
• hitler was a vegetarian.
• gandhi "before reconverting to his original vegetarianism, briefly thought 'that meat eating was good, that it would make me strong and daring, and that, if the whole country took to meat eating, the english could be overcome.'"
  
• "while we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on the earth?"--george bernard shaw
• "if slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian."--sir paul mccartney
• "vegetarians have long had the best intellectual arguments...it shows how little intellectual arguments matter..."
• "so convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has mind to do"--benjamin franklin, part-time vegetarian

learning disabilities

i've seen light bulbs turn on 3/4 of the way through fifth grade, and it's one of the most rewarding things i've ever witnessed.

i've also seen them stay dark...i agree with vaughn, et al--a student's response to intensive 1-on-3 instruction is a good means of identifying students with LD.

this study reminded me of an article i read about homelessness. the author compared recidivism in homelessness with the troubles the LAPD was having with racial insensitivity in the late eighties, early nineties. it was widely assumed that, statistically speaking, both situations were normally distributed, along a bell curve with a small number of people at both ends, and the bulk of the problems--homelessness and racial prejudices--situated in the middle. ultimately, studies found that a small number of the overall group was actually the problem--that the greatest "activity" was found not in the middle, but at the extremes in both scenarios. it followed a "power-law" distribution, not a bell curve.

LD strikes me quite the same way. with comprehensive reading instruction most students will thrive, but there will always be that small percentage that really do need the intensive, daily attention.

front loaded

did i hear someone refer to front loading as "foreplay?"

that's wrong. on so many levels.

anyway...

we got to plan/prepare for some front loading lessons tonight. that was good. my table partner seemed a little testy, but we made it through without anyone getting hurt. that was also good.

i've used front loading once in a word knowledge lesson (oops) when we were studying comparative and superlative adjectives. i had the students use the frame/mortar:

the ____________is/are __________ than ___________, but ____________is the ______________.

my example:
the talking heads are better than the b-52's, but devo is the best.

i'm looking forward to using it again. (i'm gonna try a "due to the fact" one next) my students really enjoyed it, and i like that they get to practice speaking the language before they attempt to write anything--it allows their sponge-like ears to absorb english language patterns.