Post #1—Literacy & Adolescent Literature Defined

It seems that the word "literacy" is applied to so many more areas than the traditional association with reading. There is information literacy, media literacy, financial literacy, digital literacy, critical literacy, etc. I found some education websites that claimed that there are seven literacies, but they did not name all of the ones that I know about so more must have been named after publication. The word literacy is used to describe the ability to do something—whether it is finding information or balancing a checkbook. The term “reading literacy” is not typically used so it is a little confusing. Traditionally speaking, I would describe literacy as the ability to read and to understand what is being read. 

My experience with reading has always been positive as I did not struggle with learning to read and I have always loved to read. It is amazing to me that I never considered a career as a librarian until I was older as it has been a natural fit for me. I love being surrounded by books all day and the only negative is that I don’t have time to read them. Reading “Legendborne” this week has been wonderful because I purchased the book for the library this past spring and I figured I would not get a chance to read it. I cannot wait to suggest it to my readers! One of the best parts of my job is collection development and I have learned that adolescent literature covers so many age groups. There really is no cut-off. What I purchase for a library is based more on the school community and what I feel their needs are and this would vary from school to school. Many books that are in my high school library were also in my middle school library and even the elementary school libraries. There are also books that I have read as an adult and would consider them as mature reading.

    I do find that booksellers promote adolescent literature as books that are most often dystopian, fantasy, and coming-of-age stories. These are typically the most popular at the high school where I work too. Adolescent students at my school also gravitate towards biographies of popular celebrities or historical books. I feel that “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You” is a book students would want to read, but it would benefit from having teachers promote the book. 

” 

Me...a nut in a shell.

I recently worked on my year-end review for my AP to evaluate my performance for the year. I keep track of what I do throughout the year because I like to see for myself what I am actually accomplishing. As I looked over my accomplishments, it easy to see why I love my job. Quite simply, it is because it allows me to do what I love to do best, and that is to help others. I'm not feeding the poor or clothing the naked, but I do get to help people with their jobs and that is rewarding.

The one thing that stands out to me the most from this year is the read aloud time that I started with our special needs classes. I'm not sure who enjoys it the most: the students, their teachers, or me. I usually choose silly books that are fun to read and I put a lot of my personality into the reading of the books. I know that if I read aloud to the regular ed classes that they would enjoy it too. So much of our entertainment comes from a computer or TV screen and not from live performance. Really, that's what reading aloud is--a live performance. One student in my special class is non-verbal and she recently started imitating me, saying the words as I read them. It was a welcome shock to her teachers and to me to hear her speak the words--using my intonation, as well. I was quite touched by the experience. Often times I have students from other classes working on computers while I'm doing my read alouds and I catch them watching intently as I read to my students. One time after I finished, a young boy said, "That was amazing. They were listening and laughing to everything you said." He understood the power to connect that reading gives to us all. Reading is "amazing, " and being able to share it with others is a gift to me.

A review of my work tells me that I am a very lucky person.

Anecdotes

My cat Aiden plays with this toy every day. He never tires of it nor does he realize that there is no end to the struggle. The ball will never come out.

Every time my husband puts on his shoes, Aiden arrives to play with the laces. No matter where the cat is in the house, he will come running whenever the shoelace tying begins. My husband thinks he's a pest. I think he has great powers.

To Infinity and...meh

The one thing that has surprised me since I have started reading teen fiction is the number of series books that keep coming out. It seems like I cannot read a book and be done with the story; I have to buy the next book and then the next. This would not bother me except for the fact that many times I think there is a lot of editing that could have be done to condense the book to one or two books. I end up feeling like I am being strung along and trapped into buying another book.

Last year I was on a committee to choose books for a county "reader's rally." One of the books that I was assigned to read was "Infinity Ring." As I started to read the book, I was quite unimpressed by what seemed like a contrived plot and silly dialogue. I felt it was almost insulting to my students to read such a condescending book. So I started researching the book and I learned that the author, James Dashner, also authored the book "The Maze Runner," which I absolutely loved. I wondered how he went from writing that book to this new one? Then I read that the following books in the "Infinity Ring" series would have different authors. I found this peculiar. It wasn't until the committee meeting was held that I understood the big picture. Another media specialist was also assigned to read "Infinity Ring." She looked upon it more kindly, however she noted that the series would indeed be written by different authors and she shared her suspicions that the series was simply a money-making venture. Her remarks about what seems to be a common practice in the literature world certainly left me troubled.

Perhaps it is my background in art that makes me view the act of writing in more artistic terms. I consider books to be the expression of an author's thoughts and ideas. I naively had the notion that an idea or story would come to a writer and they would then put words on paper as an artist paints on a canvas. I guess the act of writing is now more about business than the art of storytelling. Although I would never throw a book series out the window--there are MANY WONDERFUL ones out there--I am now mindful of this trend in writing. An inspired, well-written and thought provoking story that is told in one book may not provide great wealth to an author, but I certainly admire the talent of a great storyteller and I believe that talent and creativity are worth much more than money.

Quirkiness is moving on...

I will be starting a new job this fall as the media specialist at a middle school. I am excited to get back to my middle school roots. I know it is where I belong simply because I get middle school kids. In fact, I'm a lot like those nutso kids...full of insecurities and weird ideas. The media center that I will be moving too is pretty brown and blah at the moment. I have spent most of my time taking down some script letters that have been hot glued all over the walls above the bookshelves. The letters spell out names of authors and although I'm sure at one time it was cool, the faded construction paper letters just aren't doing it for me. I bought some canvases and I am in the process of making some "fiction" and "nonfiction" signs to put in their place. I need a lot more color though. The county that I am working for plans to have a new school built in two years, but that means two more years of brown and blah. Surely, I will be able to counter it with something. I better get to scouring Pinterest for some ideas!

Engagement Over

Or not...

Last week was Dr. Seuss' birthday. What an imaginative dude he was! But WHY did he make his books so long?!  Gee--you have a group of little ones and you are trying desperately to keep hold of their attention and you are doing it with a novel of complete wackiness! So my strategy going into my read alouds using Dr. Seuss' books was to read them with as much drama and enthusiasm as I could muster. And let me tell you it was quite a show. I had to start taking my hernia medication again just to get through the week. Seriously. Well one day I was kicked out of my own media center because testing was going on, so I took a group of first graders upstairs to a classroom to do a lesson centered around Seuss. Since we had our own room with the doors shut, I put on my best performance to date. I got to the part where this kid was singing in the shower with a Ying and I belted out the words like it was a song.. a crazy, nails-on-the-chalkboard type song. Suddenly, an AP opened the door and asked if I could be a quieter since mid-term testing was going on in another hall (I had to laugh because it was a funny moment to be caught singing like a Ying...perhaps I should call it Yinging). So I obliged and I finished with a much quieter performance.

Later, I began to ponder the situation and I started thinking about it in a more symbolic way. Education has turned into TESTING, TESTING, TESTING. The act of learning has strangely taken a backseat to testing. In my situation, I had a group of kids who were totally engaged in the read aloud. And all week the students have been checking out Dr. Seuss books after my read alouds, hoping to experience again all of that silliness that I had brought to the books. So we have an engaging lesson with students eager to learn more and it had to be squelched because it was interrupting the test taking. So many times I have seen meaningful learning opportunities be nixed because students have to be prepared for some upcoming test. As a media specialist I have been turned down time and time again when I have offered project based lessons, that fully support the curriculum, because there simply isn't time to do lessons such as these when tests are looming. It seems we must make our students be the best test takers possible so they will be prepared for the future...a future filled with test taking, I assume?

So I sing with my Ying
not over-thinking this education thing
Why stop to learn?
just test non-stop
Don't understand? Go ask your pop!

The Second Layer for the Other Half

When I was in grad school I did some research on the digital divide and the consequences students face when they have not been given equal access to technology. It was then that I first heard to the term "second layer." It refers to instances where schools have adequate technology resources, yet the resources are used for repetitive drills and point and click tasks rather then for instructional support. At the time, I bought into the argument that the second layer exists partially because there are teachers who have little or no experience with technology. Now that I am working in education, I have a front row seat to observe the second layer, and I have learned that I was wrong in my assumption. From my post-grad viewpoint, the second layer exists not because of technologically inexperienced teachers, but because of an environment that wants a quick fix to "cure" the ails of our underachieving students. Rather than addressing the needs of our learners and working with teachers to address those needs, money is thrown at the latest educational software and hardware with the belief that with money, comes success--let the computer do the instructing, assessing, and reporting and our students will learn like the little robots that we know they are!

It is quite painful to watch and it makes me glad that I grew up during a time that computers were not a part of education. I cannot believe that I am saying this considering how much I love technology! The truth is, I love meaningful teaching and learning experiences more. I am a believer in project-based learning. I love creative thinking and group discussions. And I love it when students use technology to conduct research, to learn new information and skills, and to complete classroom assignments. It makes me giddy.

As one might suspect, the second layer is found predominantly in areas where the "other half" live, with the majority of students being minorities from low-income homes. These students need personal attention and sound instruction, not gimmicks. Technology provides much needed instructional tools, yet it must be used correctly for students to benefit.

Turkeys in the Media Center

An innocent turkey call by me led to a symphony of turkeys...

Parents: Do you have a reluctant reader?

I have learned through my own experience as a mom of a reluctant reader that it takes extra work and perseverance to get a reluctant reader to enjoy books. When my child was in elementary school she didn't enjoy reading, yet she did enjoy being read to. So every night at bedtime, I read to her. Nightly read alouds became our special time. When I started reading chapter books to her, we both looked forward to reading the next chapters each night to find out what would happen next. I also took her to the local library and to bookstores to select books. I let her choose what to read and if she didn't want to continue with a book, I allowed her to choose another book. I did everything that I could to make her experience with books enjoyable. Now that she is in middle school she has been reading more on her own and she even refers to herself a "bookworm." I still read to her though, and since I work at an elementary school, I often share a picture book that is silly or one that has great illustrations. I feel that reading together throughout her childhood has been a wonderful experience for us both!

Where have I been?

I have not posted since I started my job as a media specialist. I've thought about posting, but for one thing, I have had time. And it also seems like I have too much to write. How can I condense these days and weeks into a post or two? I will start by saying this: I love the kids at my school. They are wonderful. I also admire and respect the teachers that I work with. Our school is filled with talent. It gives me a lot to live up to as an educator. I am also fortunate to have a county with a Media Services department that is made up of amazing, supportive individuals. "Wow," is all I can say in describing them.

It hasn't been an easy road though. I was thrown off guard by a situation that took place in the first couple of weeks that completely took the wind out of my sails...at least for a month or so. I'm now in recovery mode, but I still wonder what I may have stepped into.
When I'm with my students though, I feel like I'm in the right place.

I am a media specialist.

It's official. I got a job as a school media specialist! I'm still in shock that things actually worked out for me. Of course being the quirky/annoying person that I am, I find myself thinking about all the stupid things I said during the interview. I got the job. Shouldn't I be happy and let it go? Yes, but not me. No, I must worry and go over every stupid thing that came out of my mouth. Perhaps it's my twisted way of mentally, and somewhat physically, uncurling after being in the fetal position for months wondering if I would ever get to be a media specialist. Why not beat myself up now that it's over? That's a theory anyway.

I am excited, yet I keep thinking someone is going to call and say that the committee made a mistake. They dialed the wrong number and did not mean to hire the crazy woman. I am going to visit the media center tomorrow and I am bringing the pink flamingo that I bought for my office. I don't know why I felt that a pink flamingo was a must-have for a school library, but it seemed right at the time. I will use her—I named her Flora—to mark my territory and then I will look forward to my exciting and long awaited future. Can't wait to meet my kiddos!

While I Wait

I am spending my summer waiting for the perfect media center position to be mine. I'll admit that it is not fun. I hate being in limbo and I am chomping at the bits to get started. I have been keeping myself somewhat busy doing the following: refinishing a porch swing, painting the wood floor in our screen room, painting the stairway and upstairs hall, reading "Maximum Ride," starting a gluten free diet (it's official...I have Celiac), getting ready for a vacation to Santa Fe, New Mexico, AND adopting the cutest kitten EVER. He's a straight ear Scottish Fold. I am in love!

Aiden and I

In Summation...

I am done with school. I got my degree, my media specialist certification, and my reading endorsement. It has been a wild ride. I met so many wonderful people and I made some great friends. I laughed a lot, I studied a lot, and I stressed a lot. At one point I had a tough decision to make and I am happy to report that I chose to do the right thing, rather than the easy thing. Later I was given the opportunity to take the easy road, but I chose the to take the hard road because I wanted to make a bad situation better. I spent many hours talking to kids, reading to kids, and helping kids read. I told kids that they were smart and I told them that could do it. I spent nights reading childrens books and YA books. I wrote down tons of ideas and created countless lesson plans. I sketched floor plans and thought about color choices. I took 16 courses and by some miracle I got an "A" in every course. I made plans and I dreamed big dreams.

As I close this chapter of my life, I do not have a job. I do not even have an interview. However my heart is full because I know that along the way I made a difference.
The end.

I am attached.

Today I got a note from my reading professor. It read: "I am so happy with all the progress "A" and you have made. Obviously, "A" has improved a lot in her attitudes toward reading while you have gradually become more experienced with your tutoring sessions. I want to particularly mention your objective part and reflection part. Your personal narrative makes me know you better and understand the reason why "A" feels so attached to you in the tutoring session." It is a nice note and the part that stuck with me the most is the word "attached." I admit I get as attached to my students as they get to me. I worry about their academic progress, their home lives, their future, their happiness...the list goes on and on. If anyone were to ask what my strength as an educator would be I would say that it is the connection that I have with kids. It seems silly because it is something that I did not learn in college or even through my experience working with students. I just understand and like kids. I have worked with teachers who do not like kids and I wonder why they decided to be a teacher. Sometimes students in school library media will say getting out of the classroom is the reason they want to be a media specialist. I have always been baffled by that reasoning. My life experience told me that you have to love what you do to be happy, which is why I chose this profession. Perhaps, this simple lesson should be taught in the Freshman 101 classes.

I love reading about different instructional approaches...

Article from the New York Times about a curriculum that includes neurology.

Ethics

This weekend I participated in a webinar about the Georgia Professional Standards Commission and the Code of Ethics for teachers. I did not know what to expect from a webinar and I was pleased to find it extremely well done and informative...and all from my bedroom "office." Most of the discussion was about matters that do not concern me because I am a very boring person. I do not cuss, drink, smoke, or do anything else that might raise eyebrows. At one point the speaker said that it is best to drink coffee before coming to school and I thought that I might actually be a rebel because I do drink caffeinated beverages, but he elaborated on his statement by telling us about a teacher who went ballistic and claimed it was because she did not drink coffee that morning. Alas, I will never be a rebel. I was very interested in learning about professional behavior around students because it is something every educator must think about. Following the set guidelines when using a school computer was also a subject of interest since I will be spending a lot of my time on a computer. I did not realize that the school system can access every site that I visit which means my personal email account may be viewed. Even though I am not a rebel, I still need to be careful with my email. I have read about professionals emailing jokes to friends and later getting fired. Though I don't normally forward jokes to others, I have had friends email them to me and I certainly don't want to be accountable for every email someone sends me! I used to joke with a friend of mine about spam emails that I would get with the subject: "Wanna See My Pics?" I haven't gotten one of those in a while so I should be OK. I am just glad that I was able to participate in the webinar before getting employed so I that am prepared for the open book that my life will become!

From the files of my mind...

I have had an idea for a children's picture book floating around in my head for 10 years now. For some reason I suddenly started working on it a few weeks ago. I illustrated my main character along with the first page of the book and I wrote all of the text. It went fairly quickly since everything has been stored neatly in my mind for so long. I have already sent it out to an agent. Now the waiting begins...along with the anticipation of rejection. I know that the odds are stacked against me. I suppose that is why it has taken me so long to actually start writing and drawing. I'm not the most confident person so it's actually amazing that I sent it out. I believe in my character and the idea though, so I have to try. The entire time that I have spent working on the book I have been completely focused on the creative process and what I am trying to convey with the text and illustrations. It came from a good place. I hope the finished product projects that good place :)

Maybe I'm OK

So I am in the midst of my last semester and I have been very busy completing the assignments for my reading courses. I am also tutoring a middle school student in reading and I have really enjoyed it. This week it was my turn to post a clip of our tutoring session to the online class board for my group members to listen to and comment on. I was a little nervous about it. I know that I am a little crazy and I was afraid that some may not think I am serious enough to be a teacher. One person in my group is very smart, serious, and from what I can tell, he is a great teacher. I really wondered how he would respond to my clip. Today he posted this:

"Obviously we can't see what is happening, but as I was listening to it, in my mind your student seemed to be really engaged, smiling, and enjoying herself. It seemed like she was grasping the "silent e" concept and the vowel sounds, but it was really her joy and enthusiasm that stood out to me. Keep up the good work!"

I was thrilled with his comment. It meant a lot to me that he appreciated how humor can make learning fun. I started thinking that I may be OK. My student and I do have fun, but what really excites me is how much she has improved with her reading. Her attitude about reading has also improved greatly. I did a book selection activity last week and at the end of it she literally ran into the media center to select a book. I gave her the tools that she needed to understand what kind of book she wanted and she ran with it. I love teaching. I am quirky. And it's OK.

It ended before it began

I graduated from UGA and applied to readmission over the course of one week. It was nice to not be a student for a few days... The new semester has started and I am already feeling overwhelmed. Not only do I have new classes to prepare for but I've also been busy this week getting all the needed documents ready to obtain my media specialist certification. I always describe myself as "overwhelmed," yet I confess I am also excited about what I will be learning this semester. I sound a little nerdy to actually admit that I am excited to learn. How can I get students to feel this way? Excited, not nerdy.

The part that excites me the most about this semester is the fact that I will be serving as a reading tutor for a student who is disadvantaged and attends a school in a rougher part of the city. I have a soft spot for kids who do not have the advantages that I was given. I love working with them and letting them know that I care about them and their education. Obviously, my main objective it to help improve the reading skills of my student, but I know how important it is to connect with a child too. I have had so many great connections over the years that I've spent working with children. Sometimes I think that I've learned more from my students than they have learned from me. As much as I want to do well in my reading courses, I really want to make a difference this semester. So watch out kiddo because we are going to do great things!

Equality—Now that's what I'm talking about!

Read article: "What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success" from The Atlantic