Mull and Shusterman at NCTE

Video of Neal Shusterman

(reading Bruiser excerpt)

At the NCTE Convention in Orlando, one of my favorite sessions that I attended was an Author Strand session, featuring Young Adult authors, Brandon Mull and Neal Shusterman. Click on the above video link to watch a clip of Neal Shusterman reading the opening pages from his novel, Bruiser.

Afterwards, I had the pleasure of meeting Brandon Mull and Neal Shusterman, both of whom signed copies of their books for me. I was even lucky enough to receive an advance copy of Mull's newest novel, Beyonders, which isn't scheduled for publication until 2011.

Brandon Mull signing a copy of Beyonders for me.

Neal Shusterman signing a copy of Everlost for me.

Countdown to NCTE Orlando

Only three more days until sunny Orlando for four magical days of professional development in the heart of Disney! Now that I have flipped through the nearly 400-page digital convention booklet, I have determined which sessions I most want to attend. Below is what my tentative NCTE Orlando schedule looks like for the first two days of the convention:

NCTE 2010

Orlando (11/18-11/21)

Thursday, November 18^th

- Check-in at Disney Caribbean Beach Resort. Take shuttle to Disney Coronado Springs for Convention.

- Universal Studios after 2pm

- Harry Potter movie marathon 6pm-3am

Friday, November 19^th

9:30am-10:45am

A. 06: Building Teacher Communities Through Social Networking (pg. 55)

11:00am-12:15pm

B. 25: Author Strand: Brandon Mull and Neal Shusterman (pg. 74)

B. 52: A Look in the Rearview Mirror: What Did and Didn’t Work in a Pre-Service English Education Program (pg. 80)

12:00pm-6pm (ongoing)

Coronado/Veracruz Exhibition Hall

12:30pm-1:45pm

C. 22: Putting Art into Language Arts

4:00pm-5:15pm

E. 34: Beyond Graphic Novelty: Transforming the Hype into Powerful Practice

Getting Pumped for NCTE Orlando

In five days I will be taking a mini break from student teaching in order to attend a major professional development convention in Orlando, Florida. Last year, one of the most significant choices I made in advancing my professional career was to join NCTE, the National Council of Teachers of English. I attended their 2009 Annual Convention in Philadelphia, at which I attended excellent workshops on learning how to teach graphic novels, how to integrate technology in the classroom, and how to use reading strategies to enhance comprehension. Over the past several days, I have been eagerly flipping through the online program, attempting to narrow down my session choices for this year's convention. There are so many seminars I would like to attend, some of which include: Building Teacher Communities Through Social Networking, Author Strand with Brandon Mull and Neal Shusterman, and Putting Art into Language Arts.

One of the greatest resources available to English teachers at this convention, is the Exhibition Hall, in which publishers from companies such as Scholastic and Random House, bring advance copies of Young Adult Literature texts, which they willingly distribute to the teachers. Many times throughout my student teaching experience I have been able to foster a love of reading for my students by loaning them books that I received at last year's convention. Avid readers, they eagerly soak up new materials, constantly asking for more suggestions. Hopefully after this year's convention I will be able to bring back new books and new choices for my students.

Using Technology in the Classroom

I decided to add to my original introductory lesson for The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963, by creating my very own video using Windows Movie Maker. I put together clips from the 1960s race riots and social injustice, hoping to construct an idea of the time period with my students. You can view my video at this link: Watsons Introduction.

Luckily, my classroom is equipped with a working projector and computer, so I can integrate technology into my lessons. I try not to let the technology run my lessons; rather, I use technology to enhance my lessons.

For example, when I completed a mini nonfiction unit with my students, I used the computer in my room as a means of projecting nonfiction articles onto the screen, so my students could follow along as we dissected characteristics of nonfiction texts. I will continue to integrate technology into my classroom during my next unit as well.

Planning Meaningful Assessments

At this point in the semester, I am eight weeks into my student teaching experience--with a mere seven weeks remaining. Thus far we have read stories by O. Henry and Poe, and we have practiced "Talking to the Text," which reinforces reading strategies the students learned in sixth grade. I cannot help but wonder:

• Have I made an impact in my students' lives?
• Will they remember what I've taught them?
• Will they take information from my class and apply it elsewhere?

One of the best ways to help students retain information is by providing them with meaningful assessments--assessments in which they can create, analyze, and synthesize. Meaningful assessments give students a purpose for completing an assignment. Rather than simply completing the task for a grade, students make the task purposeful.

In my attempts at helping students discover a purpose f

or each unit, I have developed assessments that move beyond basic recall questions. For example, at the end of the O. Henry short story unit the students created their own short stories using similar plot structure. The following units that I will

be completing with the students revolve around the following texts: The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 and To Kill a Mockingbird.

At the end of the Watson Unit, I was thinking of having the students create a journal for one of the characters, in which they describe the various settings, conflicts, and characters of the text, building upon the elements of fiction that we p

reviously discussed during our short story units.

As for the TKAM Unit, I am still unsure as to how I want to assess the students, yet make it meaningful at the same time. Any suggestions?

Photo courtesy of scholastic.com

Learning Stations

I have found that the most successful activity I have implemented during student teaching thus far have been my Edgar Allan Poe Learning Stations. The following is how I structured my lessons:

1. In their journals, students created a KWL chart about Poe, filling in the "K" column (what they know). Then, as a class, we shared answers and filled in the "W" column (what they want to know). I have a computer and projector in my room so I was able to project this chart onto the board while we added to it.

2. Then, we read a short biography about Poe and filled in parts of the "L" column (what they learned about Poe).

3. Separating the students into six groups, I then presented an overview of each station to the students:

- "The Black Cat" station = theme

- "The Fall of the House of Usher" station = setting

- "The Raven" station = tone and mood

- "The Tell-Tale Heart" station = talking to the text (using reading strategies)

- "The Cask of Amontillado" station = characterization

- "The Pit and the Pendulum" station = plot development

The students would rotate every 25 minutes, and I think they really enjoyed moving around from station to station. This is only my second time experimenting with Learning Stations in the classroom, but the students seem to be responding to it well.

Stay tuned for more to come from the secondary ed English classroom!

Student Teaching Saga Part 1

Photograph courtesy of the South Brunswick School District website.

Earlier this week I began my student teaching experience at Crossroads North Middle School in the South Brunswick School District.

Beyond excited, I made my way down the wide tiled hallways of the school, reflecting on my own experiences as a middle school student. Not surprisingly, it felt weird to stand in the front of the classroom, teacher identification card hanging around my neck, looking out at the place where I sat a mere eight years ago.

The first unit I am teaching is a short story unit, in which I get to teach short stories by great authors--Edgar Allan Poe, O. Henry, Mark Twain. The material seems difficult for seventh and eighth grade students to handle, but my cooperating teacher assured me that the students are used to learning difficult material. The school itself is a Blue Ribbon School and expects a lot from its students. I'm sure the school expects a lot out of me as well.

Join me as I chronicle my student teaching experience in this ongoing Blog Saga.