Homestead - Ready to Rise to Rigor! =0)
I knew I would have a great day in Homestead (a community right outside metropolitan Miami) when the student who escorted me to the media center shared how he felt about his school, Homestead High. "It's a good school. I don't know why they say it's bad," he told me. "We're a "zone" school, and I guess we don't do real well on tests."
Well, he was right. Florida's DOE reports only 12% of Homestead's 10th graders passed the reading section of the FCAT last year. The term "zone" refers to schools that have been targeted by Dade County as failing - the school day is longer for students who did not pass the test.
HOWEVER, despite what you might think about the "stats", my observation of Homestead (during a school day, no less) was that of an orderly, clean, happy place (great murals and no trash). My FAVORITE Homestead High memory has to be when we were in the middle of a heavy vocabulary strategy and over the intercom we hear, "Ernesto Gonzalez, you are skipping. Please report to the front office immediately. Ernesto Gonzalez." (Yes, the names have been changed.) You've got to love those surveillance systems!
The students were happy to see their former middle and elementary teachers in the workshop, and as I watched a student rush into the library to steal a hug from his former teacher, I sensed these educators (like educators in their same position all over the country) want very much to turn it around for these kids. There's no lack of dedication in Homestead, and they are already working to meet the needs of their diverse population. A large challenge, it seemed, was the overall communication: district to school, administration to teacher, etc. I think that's been a typical finding for me, and I am continually frustrated by its implications.
Two middle level administrators attended this workshop, and I was so glad they came. We throw around the "rigor and relevance" jargon, but what does it look like? What does it SOUND like? It is administrators who drive the climate of expectation in a school, so their participation was an added bonus.
The highlight of the day was when one of the high school teachers allowed me to use her class to model a literature analysis lesson for the teachers. Thirty-plus ninth graders (levels 1 through 3) filed into the library, unaware of why they were there or what I would ask of them. I took them through the finer points of SIFT - Symbolism, Imagery, Figurative Language, and Theme, using a piece from "The Plum Plum Pickers", a third-person short story about a one-man-rebellion against oppression. The piece could not have been more perfect (enough cursing in Spanish that I couldn't pronounce to keep the kids' COMPLETE attention =0)).
Seriously, those kids stepped up completely. They were right with me - using the high-level terms, competing to have the right answer, asking for clarification of the more difficult conclusions: "So THIS is the theme?" one young man asked. I invaded personal space, called them to the carpet when they cheated, warned them I would call on them to speak next, "Be ready.", and gave them NO CHOICE regarding participation. I'll never forget the look on one young man's face when he shared his answer. I had asked for a one sentence example of imagery. While he had the right answer, I cut him off after repeating the need for a "one sentence response" (he had answered with two). I could sense he was getting my unspoken message as everyone at his table tried to help him correct his mistake, "This is the ninth grade kid, and you should already know what a complete sentence looks and sounds like."
I could not have asked for a better group, yet their teacher reported later that one of the most involved students was a level one, ninth grade repeater. I'll never forget my favorite male teacher participant, Dave (okay, he was the ONLY male participant), comment after, "We were just talking about how you hammered that kid, and yet he kept raising his hand, wanting to participate." You want to know something else about that same student? His answers were always RIGHT!
EXACTLY! Those kids possess what we all do: a desire to succeed. They want to feel smart, and they will step up to the plate if you will show them where the bases are! In our country, we are so guilty of watering the lesson DOWN when we should be going in the exact opposite direction. I could teach sentence structure till I'm blue in the face, but unless those kids FEEL that they should pay attention to their own sentences, they'll continue to write run ons and fragments without even knowing it.
I hope those students know how much I appreciate what they did for our group. I had the chance to teach an English class in Japan in 2004, but the fulfillment of that experience was not even in the same universe as this. Those students showed all of us what I cannot teach (only preach): RAISE THE BAR!
I'm going to do what I can to keep in contact with the teachers who participated, and one of the high school teachers is going to include her students in my class's blog on the novel 'Speak'. I hope to hear that changes are being made to help those students rise above circumstance, because I know they have the teachers and administration who can make it happen!
Thank you Homestead! I think we'll see each other again some day!
Well, he was right. Florida's DOE reports only 12% of Homestead's 10th graders passed the reading section of the FCAT last year. The term "zone" refers to schools that have been targeted by Dade County as failing - the school day is longer for students who did not pass the test.
HOWEVER, despite what you might think about the "stats", my observation of Homestead (during a school day, no less) was that of an orderly, clean, happy place (great murals and no trash). My FAVORITE Homestead High memory has to be when we were in the middle of a heavy vocabulary strategy and over the intercom we hear, "Ernesto Gonzalez, you are skipping. Please report to the front office immediately. Ernesto Gonzalez." (Yes, the names have been changed.) You've got to love those surveillance systems!
The students were happy to see their former middle and elementary teachers in the workshop, and as I watched a student rush into the library to steal a hug from his former teacher, I sensed these educators (like educators in their same position all over the country) want very much to turn it around for these kids. There's no lack of dedication in Homestead, and they are already working to meet the needs of their diverse population. A large challenge, it seemed, was the overall communication: district to school, administration to teacher, etc. I think that's been a typical finding for me, and I am continually frustrated by its implications.
Two middle level administrators attended this workshop, and I was so glad they came. We throw around the "rigor and relevance" jargon, but what does it look like? What does it SOUND like? It is administrators who drive the climate of expectation in a school, so their participation was an added bonus.
The highlight of the day was when one of the high school teachers allowed me to use her class to model a literature analysis lesson for the teachers. Thirty-plus ninth graders (levels 1 through 3) filed into the library, unaware of why they were there or what I would ask of them. I took them through the finer points of SIFT - Symbolism, Imagery, Figurative Language, and Theme, using a piece from "The Plum Plum Pickers", a third-person short story about a one-man-rebellion against oppression. The piece could not have been more perfect (enough cursing in Spanish that I couldn't pronounce to keep the kids' COMPLETE attention =0)).
Seriously, those kids stepped up completely. They were right with me - using the high-level terms, competing to have the right answer, asking for clarification of the more difficult conclusions: "So THIS is the theme?" one young man asked. I invaded personal space, called them to the carpet when they cheated, warned them I would call on them to speak next, "Be ready.", and gave them NO CHOICE regarding participation. I'll never forget the look on one young man's face when he shared his answer. I had asked for a one sentence example of imagery. While he had the right answer, I cut him off after repeating the need for a "one sentence response" (he had answered with two). I could sense he was getting my unspoken message as everyone at his table tried to help him correct his mistake, "This is the ninth grade kid, and you should already know what a complete sentence looks and sounds like."
I could not have asked for a better group, yet their teacher reported later that one of the most involved students was a level one, ninth grade repeater. I'll never forget my favorite male teacher participant, Dave (okay, he was the ONLY male participant), comment after, "We were just talking about how you hammered that kid, and yet he kept raising his hand, wanting to participate." You want to know something else about that same student? His answers were always RIGHT!
EXACTLY! Those kids possess what we all do: a desire to succeed. They want to feel smart, and they will step up to the plate if you will show them where the bases are! In our country, we are so guilty of watering the lesson DOWN when we should be going in the exact opposite direction. I could teach sentence structure till I'm blue in the face, but unless those kids FEEL that they should pay attention to their own sentences, they'll continue to write run ons and fragments without even knowing it.
I hope those students know how much I appreciate what they did for our group. I had the chance to teach an English class in Japan in 2004, but the fulfillment of that experience was not even in the same universe as this. Those students showed all of us what I cannot teach (only preach): RAISE THE BAR!
I'm going to do what I can to keep in contact with the teachers who participated, and one of the high school teachers is going to include her students in my class's blog on the novel 'Speak'. I hope to hear that changes are being made to help those students rise above circumstance, because I know they have the teachers and administration who can make it happen!
Thank you Homestead! I think we'll see each other again some day!
posted by Lynnie at 7:39 AM
5 Comments:
I also
wanted to let you know I linked to the article you had on your website, Can Average Students do AP, and the day after the workshop I used this as a motivating tool for my class. We read it together and had a socratic discussion about it... it went really well. We've now decided to make Thursday and Friday AP Day in my Read 180 class, this is where we'll sneak
in all the rich literature they need before leaving high school! I found your workshop very useful, and look forward to implementing more of your strategies in my classroom.
Lynn,
I have to tell you my students responded so positively to the workshop. They really wanted to know more , Plan on using the SIFTT with them on a regular. I have also introduced the class discussion tech. that you shared with us. I am so glad and honored that I was able to attend this workshop.
Thanks for two great days!
Dear Lynn,
I want to thank you again for a wonderfully invigorating workshop! We would love to be able to get a list of the Socratic stems to use with our students, as well as the literary vocabulary, etc. I hope to get to see you on your next visit.
Dear Lynn,
I want to thank you again for a wonderfully invigorating workshop! We would love to be able to get a list of the Socratic stems to use with our students, as well as the literary vocabulary, etc. I hope to get to see you on your next visit.
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