Go For It!

 

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Making Mistakes

Do you have courage enough to make mistakes?

A Little Extra

At the end of each day we stack the chairs. This makes it easier to clean the room. Yesterday three students worked a little harder than everyone else to make sure all the chairs were stacked and stacked neatly. I didn't ask them, they just took it on themselves to make sure it was done before they left. 

As Colton, Clayton and Alexis walked out, I started thinking about this. Why did they take on this responsibility? Why did they make the extra effort?

Several times through the evening, this kept popping into my thoughts. When everyone else was standing in line waiting to leave, these three students were working a little harder and a little longer than anyone else. The more I thought about it, the more I started to relate it to their performance in class. Eventually I came to the conclusion that this type of behavior is why they are so successful in school.

I don't have to tell them to work harder, they just do. I don't have to tell them to be more responsible, they are. I don't have to tell them to help others, they do it on their own. I don't have to tell them to be a role model, they live it.  It's funny how such a little thing like stacking chairs can be such a big sign of someone who knows all about success.

How Motivated are You?

With the OAA quickly approaching, are you motivated for success?  Do you have what it takes to give your best?

Zero Tolerance for Writing Errors

Starting today there is zero tolerance for mistakes in writing. The school year is half over.  Students in Reading Workshop have been writing every day.  The expectations for writing are for students to use the skills that have been taught.  

Students are expected to write without errors in spelling and mechanics. Each student has tools available, including a computer with word processing and spell check, a dictionary, online sites like Answers.com and Dictionary.com, peer assistance, and spelling buddies. There really is no reason for writing with mistakes, other than a lack of effort.

Students are expected to use correct punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar. When an assignment is turned in with errors, students' grades will be drastically cut.  Students must edit with attention to detail or they will not pass.

If students don't know the difference between your and you're, it's time to learn.  The first letter in words in a title, proper noun or to start a sentence must be capitalized.  Tiny mistakes mean huge differences in grades.

Step it up Reading Workshop students.  The responsibility for writing cleanly and clearly is on you.  

Hey Students, Don't Hide

Even though you think you are hidden, I see you.  Don't be like this gecko, feeling like he can't be seen.  When we have class discussions, you may not raise your hand.  You may not look up.  You may stare at the floor, hoping not to be noticed.  But everyone knows you are here.

Maybe you are afraid your answer will be wrong.  Maybe you are afraid someone will laugh at your opinion or think you are dumb.  Maybe you are just quiet by nature. 

Please do me a favor.  Take a chance.  Speak out.  Raise your hand.  Share your thoughts and opinions.  Everyone will benefit by your participation.    Classmates will learn from hearing your ideas. And you will learn more, too.

 Image from Lorenzo Menendez/Nature/National Geographic Photo Contest

I Hate Grades!

The end of the nine weeks is here.  Work has been turned in and graded.  But what if a student's average doesn't fit what they have accomplished?  Should a teacher adjust it to reflect what the student has earned?  Or should it be the result of vocabulary quizzes on Quia, Study Island, and objective scores on writing assignments?

Student #1

He has given everything he can possibly give to be successful.  He started the year hating to read.  Now, he reads almost every night at home.  He pays attention in class and does his best on every assignment.  He asks for help if he doesn't understand.  He has turned in every assignment.  Low Study Island scores have been a big detriment to his grade.  Although his grades reflect his ability, his growth should earn him an A+.

Student #2

She is the model for all students.  Her attitude and work ethic is unbelievable.  She has always struggled finishing books.  This nine weeks she has finished three of the last four she started.  The book she quit was a bad selection, she recognized that, and found a better book.  Her writing has consistently improved all year.  Her blog posts have become more detailed and cleaner.  Poor vocabulary quiz grades have lowered her score.

Student #3

The work he turns in is not close to his best.  He completes assignments quickly, with the main idea being just to get them done.  He is a pretty good student so his grades are good.  He has not shown much growth, but does OK because school comes fairly easy to him.

Student #4

His attitude stinks.  He has turned in most assignments, but not all.  His grade is poor and does not reflect his ability at all.  He should be on the honor roll but isn't due to lack of effort.  As a reader, he is able to do high quality work.  Even though he has a low grade, his ability is in the B range.

What grades did these students earn?  What grades do they deserve?  Are they the same?

Should grades be solely based on achievement?  Or should a student's effort and attitude be part of the grade?  Should improvement matter?   Should missing assignments count even if a students has mastered the objective?  Or should all grades be based on results of classwork and quizzes? Should students receive a class participation grade that reflects their in class involvement and work ethic?

What if the teacher knows with absolute certainty that a grade does not reflect a student's output for the grading period?  Should the teacher adjust the grade accordingly?

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You Can Do It!

You have been reading and writing all year.  You have practiced every imaginable type of test passage.  Your vocabulary has improved tremendously.  You have proven your ability on Study Island.  Every sign points to success.  And, as I told you two months ago, YOU WILL PASS!

Now it is on you.  Do you believe?  Will you work your absolute hardest for 2 1/2 hours to show yourself, your parents, and your school that you have grown and learned this year in Reading Workshop?

Thank you for the effort.  You make me proud!

Fake Reading, Will Smith, and Being Successful

Her homework paper said she read exactly 30 minutes a day.  She read exactly 10 pages each time.  As I looked at the paper, I thought, "another fake reader.  Why?"

The Read at Home assignment is meant to be low stress.  All students have to do to get a good grade is read.  And the more they read, the better the grade.  And they can read any book they want.  But still she chose to fake read.

I know grades do not matter that much to her.  So why did she lie about her reading?  I had already been watching her in class and could see that she does not like reading and has no interest in her book.

I wonder if she is a Will Smith fan?  I wonder if she will believe him when he says she can succeed?  I wonder if she has the guts to want  to be something and the strength to chase it?

The student's task for the day was to pick one area that Will Smith discusses in the video and write a post in their blog.  They could rewatch that piece of the video.  The times are listed in parenthesis after the area.

It Can Be That Easy (1:00)
There's No Shortcut to Success (1:38)
Lay One Brick at a Time (3:00)
Focus on Making a Difference (3:48)
Represent an Idea/Possibilities/You Can Make What You Want (4:35)
You Have to Believe (5:00)
Nothing is Unrealistic (5:45)
Our Thoughts are Physical/Make a Choice (6:47)
You Really Have to Focus (8:08)
Attack Your Fears/"I Hate Being Afraid of Anything" (8:30)
Protect Your Dream (9:17)

You can check out their thoughts, ideas, and opinions by following the links to Student Blogs in the sidebar.

Read at Home for Good Grades

Each week students have an assignment to read at home. Students choose a book that they want to read from home, the library, or the book room. The only requirement is that they log the date, title, time read, and pages. Students are responsible for filling out this chart each week as they read, logging both at school and at home. Only minutes read outside of class count towards their grade. Occasionally, students will have longer than a week when the school schedule is affected by holidays.

Students can choose to earn the grade they want. The more they read, the higher the score. This is the grade scale:

A = 180 + Minutes
B = 120 - 179 Minutes
C = 60 - 119 Minutes
F = 0-59 Minutes

Although students have no direct assignments associated with Read at Home and the Reading Log, many of the activities and projects in class are based on the book they are reading. The recent project of a Dear Mr. McGuire letter is an example. When students write about their book, it is easy to monitor comprehension and see if students are "getting it." The fact that students can pick their book to read helps because they can find a book that interests them.


The emphasis on reading is largely based on the research from Richard Allington. Allington cites four "background factors" associated with why students have difficulty with reading. According to the author:

1. the amount of reading that students do in and out of school was related to reading achievement;
2. children who spend more time on workbook activities versus reading text are more likely to have difficulty reading;
3. children who come from homes where reading is not modeled have difficulty reading; and,
4. students who have difficulty providing details and arguments to support interpretations of what they read have difficulty with reading.

According to the author, time on task is the best predictor for reading success in students. Put simply, more reading is equal to greater academic achievement.

The best part of this system for monitoring reading, and increasing reading time is how students can control their grades. If they are willing to work hard, their grades will show it.

Grading Students' Blogs

Want an A on your blog? Climb the stairs to writing success. Climb the stairs to earning a good grade.

Did you spell everything correctly? I would hope so. After all, who would want to write something that is available to the whole world, and misspell words? Can the reader understand the topic because you stick to it? Following these minimal standards will earn you at least a D.

Did you use correct grammar? Can the reader follow your post in an organized manner? This is still a most basic expectations for writers that want to publish their work. The skills learned in the primary grades are not too much to expect for work posted on the WWW. A C means satisfactory and not meeting this criteria would surely not be sufficient for earning any higher grade.

To build loyal readers, first you must have interesting content presented in a well-written way. Supporting details draw in the readers and give them understanding. If posts are written cleanly, the words illustrate the meaning, and the reader can visualize your ideas, you will earn a B.

Occasionally someone will write something that makes the reader pause, and think, or causes the reader to agree or disagree. Sometimes hours after reading an essay, the reader is still thinking about it. When a blog post has that something special, then the writer deserves an A.

What step are you on? Have you climbed the stairs to writing success?

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Where Does Hard Work Come From?

Some students work sooooooo hard. No matter what the task is in Reading Workshop, they give it their best. Where does the motivation come from?

At eleven years old, a sixth grade student doesn't consciously decide to be motivated and work hard. There must be some inner drive that pushes them to succeed. Even when the task is daunting, some students persevere.

In some cases I am sure students see it modeled at home. Parents that work hard are bound to influence their children. Many parents push their child to succeed in school. However, not all hard working students have this type of support at home.

Some sixth graders may be beginning to think about their future. Ideas of a college education and a successful career may start at this age. Also, watching someone else who is successful, might cause students to emulate behaviors.

Really though, it seems like in most hard working students, the effort they put forth is just part of their being. Something in their make-up pushes them when others would quit. In fact, I wonder if the hard workers even recognize how they are different.

What do you think? Can you explain the motivation to succeed? Is it something a person is born with? Can someone learn to work hard?

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A Don't Care T-shirt

I didn't notice the shirt when he walked in the room. In fact, I probably wouldn't have ever noticed it if it hadn't been pointed out to me. When I first looked at it, I didn't even know what to say. It was probably bought as a joke, by a parent or family member just trying to be funny. Or maybe they thought it was cute.

Students wear shirts all of the time with sayings on them. Sometimes almost every shirt in the room has something on it--at the least a company logo. Shirts with sayings are so common that no one really pays that much attention to them any more. But what if the saying is a badge that a student wears bragging about failure? What if the motto is one that the student lives?

I don't think I like this T-shirt. I don't like it when a student slacks, and bragging about it irks me. Hard work and a positive attitude mean a lot in this life. Living with passion means even more. You might say I am being irritable and grouchy. You might say I need to lighten up and have a sense of humor.

Well, I say, you should have cared yesterday. You should care today. And I sure hope you care tomorrow. Live life to the fullest. Work hard and play hard. Live with life with a gusto. No matter what you do, go for it.

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The More You Do, the Better the Grade

Grades in Reading Workshop are earned based on students' work. Most assignments are graded using a rubric scoring work with 1 - 4. This tanslates into 4=A, 3=B, 2=C, and 1=D. As long as students make an effort to complete their work, they do not recieve an F.

However, doing extra work can significantly raise students' grades. This rewards those students that take the time, and make the effort to earn higher grades. There are several ways students can improve both by doing extra reading and extra writing.

As a teacher, I reward the students that make the most effort. Although grades are not entirely tied to how hard a student works, poor grades are reflective of a lack of work ethic.

Students weekly Read at Home assignment rewards extra effort. Students choose a book that they want to read from home, the library, or the book room. The only requirement is that they log the title, time read, and pages.

The grade is based solely on time read.

A = 180 + Minutes
B = 120 - 179 Minutes
C = 60 - 119 Minutes
F = 0-59 Minutes

Students online journal is scored using a rubric, but by writing more, they can drastically improve their score. The more detail in each entry, the more likely journals are to earn an A. Time in the classroom to write in journals is limited to about ten minutes. Students that are willing to spend additional time can obviously have more detailed entries. By having the journals online, students can work on journals anywhere they have Internet access, including during library and study hall classes.

Commenting on the blog earns extra credit. Several students raise their grade by at least one letter every nine weeks, by commenting frequently. This is an excellent trade-off for me, because students read posts, think about them, and then write responses. Consistenly reading the blog also gives students a better understanding of Reading Workshop goals and expectations.

There is no excuse for poor grades in Reading Workshop. If students don't like their grades, all they need to do is read more and write more.

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Why Student Success in Reading Workshop is So Important

Students that have characteristics that help them succeed in Reading Workshop, will most likely achieve throughout their life. The more relaxed and student-driven workshop environment forces students to make choices. This decision making can serve as a learning model that will have life-long affects. Knowing this places a significant responsibility on teachers, if we choose to run our class in the workshop style.

If a student works hard in reading and writing workshop, they will have a work ethic that will most likely lead to success in other places. Conversely, if student needs constant supervision and prodding to work, they will most likely struggle in other classes, and later in life. Similarly, the attitude they approach tasks at hand, can provide the impetus for overall academic success.

Last week after the Awards Assembly, I heard a boy say, "I haven't got an award for the last 3 years. It's been since 2nd grade."

I thought to myself, "what a terrible thing. This boy has been to at least 9 awards assemblies in a row, and hasn't been recognized."

So I asked him:

Me: What did you do in 2nd grade to get an award?

Student: I don't know.

Me: You must have done something.

Student: It was at my old school.

Me: So what did you do at your old school to get an award?

Student: I don't know.

Me: You must have done something right.

Student: Yeah

Me: Do you work hard in class?

Student: Wellllllllll

I wondered:

1. Do his parents ever talk to him about success? Or lack of?

2. Will he think about our conversation and decide how he succeeded before?

3. Will it have any affect on his work ethic?

4. Next year, when he is in my class, will he get an award?

5. When I see him in 8 - 10 years, will he have found the means for success?

Hopefully next year he will learn the work part of reading workshop.

I Wanna Quit School

I had a conversation with a student this week about why she wasn't getting her work done. I started out with my usual conversation about getting smarter. I asked her if she wanted to learn and get smarter.

She replied, you just don't get it Mr. McGuire. I wanna quit school. Everyone in my family has quit school. They all dropped out. None of us ever graduate. I just wanna quit and get a job. Besides, I'm not smart anyway. And I'll never be smart. All I ever want to do is get out of school. I couldn't graduate anyway. I'm not smart enough. No one in my family cares either. I am just going to quit school as soon as I can.

Somehow, this made me think (maybe too much time reading about the election) about our country. Here was my speech.

Our country was founded on the belief of everyone's rights for freedom, and opportunity. We have compulsory education so that every kid in America can go to school. No matter where you come from, no matter what your family is like, no matter where you live, you have the right to an education. Our country is set up so you can become anything you want to become. And the first step to a great life is to use this education to better yourself.

Her reply, I don't want to get better. I just want to quit school.

My speech continued:

You must want to learn and to grow and to get smarter. You must want success for yourself. That is what living in the United States is all about. No matter what your life has been so far, you must get smarter and work harder. Use your rights for a free education. Use your rights for freedom of speech. Be the best you can be for yourself.

I can only hope that some how, some way, she will decide to become the first high school graduate in her family, and take advantage of the opportunity we have as citizens of the United States of America.

Talking to Teachers

Student: I have all A's & B's with just one C. I sure wish I could get on the Honor Roll.
Me: What is your C in?
Student: Social Studies
Me: Have you talked to Mrs. Griffey?
Student: No, why?
Me: How do you know what to do to bring up your grade?
Student: I don't. Do you think I should talk to her?
Me: Yes
Student: What do I say?

This conversation today with a student caused me to think about what students don't know about school. Some students know what to say to their teacher, but most will never ask to talk about their grades, or the class. They don't even realize that most teachers welcome a question or concern, if it is done in the right way at the right time. So when? And where?

Guide to Talking to a Teacher

1. Always be respectful and ask for help.

2. Know the problem, and have your questions ready before you talk to the teacher. Write them down.

3. Write a note to the teacher and ask him/her for a meeting to discuss your grades or concerns.

4. Ask the teacher at a time that does not interfere with class, like when you first come in before class starts, or during quiet work time.

5. Take ownership. In other words, admit what you could do better, or what you need to do. Do not make excuses. If you screwed up, say so. Even if you think the teacher or the class is to blame, don't say it. If you take the blame for a problem, you will be much more likely to get help.

6. Be positive. Do not complain. Do not whine. Remember, you are looking for solutions.

7. Write down the teacher's suggestions. Even if you don't like what he says, it may make more sense later and it is the key to a better grade.

8. Thank him for his time. And, if he helps you, write a thank you note afterwards.

9. If you make a promise, follow through. Do what you say you will do. Especially make it a point to do anything he suggests and do it now. If you get an opportunity to do extra credit, or make up an assignment, have it done, and have it done right, when you walk into the class the next time.

The most important point is ASK QUESTIONS! If you don't know, or aren't sure about anything, always ASK QUESTIONS!

Zero Tolerance for Errors

This is a new type of zero tolerance set up specifically for Reading Workshop. Students are expected to write without mistakes. Each student has tools available, including a computer with word processing and spell check, a dictionary, online sites like Answers.com and Dictionary.com, peer assistance, and spelling buddies. There really is no reason for writing with mistakes, other than a lack of effort.

Students are expected to use correct punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar. When an assignment is turned in with errors, students will redo it until it is correct. Amazingly, in only three days, the writing has improved dramatically. Students have begun to edit with attention to detail. What seemed to be a totally unfair demand, has shown astounding results.
Surely students would not have been trying to slide by with a minimal amount of effort! Once again, students show how they can rise to the level of expectation. With the drastic improvement already, I cannot imagine the quality of writing I can expect in a few weeks. I anxiously await some of the phenomenal pieces of work that will be produced this year in Reading Workshop.

Editing Until it's Right

I was reading the NYC Educator's Blog when I came upon this post. He told this story about one of his students.

I looked at the kid's paper, and there wasn't a capital letter on it. This freaked me out a little, since I know for a fact they use them in his native language.

"Didn't your first-grade teacher tell you to use big letters when you start sentences?" I asked, pointing to the first letter of the first paragraph, a plainly lower-case "t."

"Yes, but I forget."

"Well, remember," I said.

15 minutes later I went back, and the kid had corrected only that first letter.

"You want me to do all of them?" he asked.

"Of course," I told him.

He resigned himself to the miserable task. When I came back, he had capitalized the first letter of every line, without regard to where the sentences had begun.

He probably didn't anticipate my being cruel enough to make him rewrite the whole thing. But goshdarn it, it's all part of the learning process.

As students finish up letters today, I wonder how many will turn in papers with simple mistakes, that they know how to correct?

Based on the grades that students have been earning on their weekly WTC (Words that Count) assignment, I imagine there will be some low grades due to lack of effort editing.

Maybe we should take a page from the NCY Educator, and just keep doing it until they are done correctly.

Courage, Do You Have It?

When you are facing something impossible and unknown, do you have the courage to stare it down and succeed? Can you overcome the challenges to be a winner?

The biggest problem facing students that regularly get bad grades is the fear of failure. Bad grades are a habit that is usual and comfortable. No one really expects them to do well. When they do, they get a pat on the back from teachers, who hope it will last, but they don't truly expect it to. Let's face it, a reputation for bad grades is usually earned from lots of assignments either not done at all, or so poorly done that they might as well have not been done.

I think it is interesting how these students that often fail in the classroom, are some of the bravest in the school. They face down bullies with no problem. Teachers and principals constantly punish them, yet they come back every day. Sometimes they go home to situations that would scare any adult. But "doing school" is just too much.

In order to get ahead, students need to know what is holding them back, and leave it behind. What does it take? How do they make this happen? What will give students the courage, judgment and the power to face down their fears until success is a habit.