Research Paper Workshop? You bet.

This past week was really exciting for me. We implemented a writing workshop for my AP students. They’ve been working on research papers for a while and just recently turned in their rough drafts. My host teacher was visibly upset with what was turned in. The papers were all very unfocused and didn’t really address the prompt. She didn’t know what to do so I suggested a writing workshop. Most writing workshops are designed for creative writing, but I thought we could make it work with research papers. We made copies of all the students’ papers and marked out their names. For homework they were to edit five papers a night and then when we came to class, we’d discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the papers. I was a little worried about how some of my students might handle this, so I gave them a speech about constructive criticism and how to be nice.

            I was really impressed at the way the students handled themselves during the workshop. They also seemed to grasp the mistakes that many of the students were making in their papers because they were repeatedly seeing them. It was cool to see the students point out mistakes and ways to improve papers. Sometimes, I had to steer them in the right direction because they weren’t quite seeing what was wrong with some of the papers. However, it was extremely gratifying to hear a student bring up a concern that I was just about to say. It became more evident later in the week that they were getting better and seeing exactly how their papers should look like and what kind of techniques they can use to improve their writing.

            We included a paper written by my host teacher and they all thought it was the best paper they had ever seen. I asked them why and at first they were just silent, so I told them to look at every sentence in the body paragraphs. Finally, one student said, “They all support the thesis!” YES! That was the main thing that they struggled with on their papers. They had sentences that meant nothing and we were trying to get them to write with a purpose and in doing so, every sentence written should serve the same purpose of supporting the thesis statement. I think that the workshop really helped them understand what kind of papers they should and can be writing.

            My only concern with the workshop was the fact that the students were real quick to point out mistakes. I wanted to spend about the same amount of time with praise as we used for ideas for improvement. I had to stop some students who would praise something, but then go directly into something they didn’t like. I chalked it up to them being kids and that it’s a lot easier to point out flaws than it is to point out positives. I think next time I’ll add a little more structure to it so that it can run a little smoother, but overall I was really pleased with the discussions and results.

Well...Yeah, Duh

My AP Language class is currently reading Their Eyes Were Watching God and I was trying to find some pieces of writing that would accompany it really well. I thought about how we've talked about bringing in non-fiction work to go along with fiction that students are reading. My host teacher suggested "Professions of Women," by Virgina Woolf. I read it and decided instantly it would go along with TEWWG really well. So, I assigned it to be read for homework one night after the class had gotten about halfway through the Hurston novel. The next day in class we started to discuss Woolf's essay before we even began a discussion about the novel. Half way through the discussion of the essay a student asked, "Mr. Cruce did you assign this essay because it speaks about the same kind of conflict Janie is having in the novel?" BINGO. It was really cool to actually see a student "get it" and understand what I was trying to do. The essay really does speak about the same conflict Janie encounters in the novel. I then divided the class into groups and assigned them questions that compared the essay to the novel. You could really tell by their discussions that the novel helped bring to life the issue of identity in the novel and the complications that gender prompted in the novel.

A few days later, I gave the students song lyrics from Peter Gabriel, Faith Hill, and Tupac. All of the songs talked about women finding their "voice." Again, the students were like "Wait, this is the same thing that is happening in the book!" Yeah...duh. I didn't say that to them, but it reinforced the idea of mixing different types of literature that speak the same purpose. It was really exciting for the students too because they couldn't believe they actually got to read Tupac lyrics at school. I love introducing the best poet of all time with the saltiest language of all time, to students. Right, Josh? Overall, I think I'm certainly sold on bringing in other works and types of literature to strengthen the meaning of whatever primary work of literature students are reading.

I Have a Problem

So, my students are reading The Scarlet Letter right now and for the most part they seem to really enjoy it. However, I have this one student who we will call Scooter, and he doesn't read. He tells me on a consistent basis that he's just reading the Sparknotes for the book. Scooter participates in class and usually has some good discussion points, but its almost insulting to the rest of the class because they know he's not reading. The thing is that he's actually pretty smart and I think he's trying to prove how smart he is. I don't know how to get him to read. We did literature circles last week and he was supposed to be the discussion director. I gave him that job in hopes that it would make him read. I said I'd give them a homework grade on their jobs. I wasn't checking for accuracy, just completion. Needless to say he didn't do his job. Instead of writing five questions he had about the text, he wrote "What happens in chapter 12? How did chapter 12 make you feel?" It was infuriating to be honest. I told him that was fine that he'd get a zero for that assignment. So, I need some help with ideas to get him to read. I'm at a loss at what to do about it. I want Scooter to read.

Observations from Left Field

Wow. That one word sums up my observations from my first week in the field. I'm at GMC and have two 11th grade American Literature classes and two 11th grade AP Language classes. The AP students are all at the reading level that they should be, but there are still some things that bother me. They don't seem to be really good at making inferences. We're reading The Scarlet Letter and by now they should have inferred who is married to Hester and who Hester committed her adulterous sin with. However, I found that I had to really guide them to those conclusions. The text is complicated, I'll give them that, but they should still be able to come to these conclusions on their own. These students could really use some help with comprehension and inference skills. Maybe building their background knowledge could help with that. I'm not sure if the reason they can't make these inferences is because of the complicated text, or if they struggle with inference with simpler texts as well.

The American Lit students didn't seem to be interested in The Scarlet Letter because of the complex and long sentences Hawthorne uses, but I really grabbed their attention when I helped them make connections from the text to real life. I stressed that it was about adultery (I told the kids, "Come on, adultery is scandalous!") and the battle of redemption and public shame. Immediately, kids were throwing out names like Tiger Woods and Casey Anthony. The Casey Anthony subject was a bit of a stretch but we made it work. The Tiger Woods story nailed it. They understood what exactly Hester was going through with this connection. My host teacher said she's never seen her students talk about a text while leaving the classroom. All they talk about now is who Hester's baby daddy be. Their problem is battling the complicated texts and words they don't know. Luckily, they all have dictionaries at their desks, so whenever they encounter a word they don't know I encourage them to look it up.

I've been encouraged by what I have seen, but I've realized that even at a school like GMC, there are struggling readers. I'm pretty excited to see how some of the strategies we've learned about will transfer over into the classroom. 

How I Got To Read Real Good

Looking back at my own literacy, I realize that I've been pretty lucky. My parents always stressed the importance of reading when I was young. I always had money for Book Fairs at school and my mom always bought books for me. To be completely honest, my reading started with those think books titled "Atlanta Braves," or "Atlanta Hawks." There was nothing literary about the actual content, but I loved sports and if I was going to read I was going to read about what I loved. The more of those types of books I read, the greater my reading skills became. I wanted challenges. "The Boxcar Children," series delivered that for me. I understand now why I enjoyed them so much. I could relate to them. They were about kids and they solved mysteries. Now, I've never solved a mystery unless you count the meaning of life, but I liked mysteries. So, obviously those books were appealing to me. The BookIt! program played a big role in my reading development. Getting a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut? Yep, sign me up. Eventually, reading to get that pizza became a staple in my life. I knew if I read, I'd get that delicious miniature cheese pizza to eat while I watched Cory Matthews on a Friday night. As I got older, I moved on to more mature books (not Erotica). I mean Goosebumps and books on that level. I think a turning point in my reading life was in middle school when an English teacher read aloud a book to our class. I can't remember the name of it, but I remember it was about a boy with Down Syndrome and how he viewed the world. We've been talking a lot about making connections with students and that is what happened to me when I heard this book. I have an uncle with Down Syndrome so I immediately was interested in the story. My mom says I talked about that book for weeks. Knowing what I know now about getting students to read, I realize that that moment was when I grasped the idea of reading being something that helps people relate to the world around them.

High School got me really into reading. I enjoyed reading most of the books we were required to read in class, but this was when I really started to read for pleasure. I'll be honest, I read a lot of James Patterson. I know it's trash, but man I'd fly through them because James really knows how to keep you wanting more. Then, I stumbled upon some Dennis Lehane. He wrote "Mystic River," and "Gone, Baby, Gone." I read all of his books. He's still one of my favorite authors. His books were page turners like Patterson's but they always had a deeper meaning and made me ask questions about morals and life. This was when I really started to read more literary novels. College got me hooked on books that make you question things. Being a creative writing major, I read a lot of short stories and just fell in love. I wanted to write the same stuff. I still do. Richard Ford, Raymond Carver, and Richard Yates are among my favorites. Now I read books with a new attitude. I want to be a better person after reading a book, or I want to see something done that I've never seen. Cormac McCarthy's lack of standard writing techniques amazed me. When I read his books, I feel as if I've just sat in the room with some brilliant scientist.

I think that relaying my literacy journey to my students could be very beneficial to them. If I can show them how someone who started reading books about sports transformed into a creative writing major who reads books on the reg, then they might see how important it can be. The important thing to stress is that students have to start somewhere. Whether it's reading Sports Illustrated For Kids or even the menu at Shoney's, it's reading and it is important. I think a good way to show kids my literacy lineage might be to compose a list of things I've read that I feel like have made an impact on my life. From there I could make a notebook that I keep in my classroom that includes the picture of each text and some highlights about what the story is about. Then, I could list what I learned from them without giving away the story. A cool way to show how my literacy evolved would be to make a short movie chronicling my reading experiences. It could show the evolution of the types of things I read. If students see where reading can take them, they might be more likely to actually enjoy it.