Grendel & Beowulf: As Told By Cats

Educators and cat lovers alike will appreciate this re-telling of the classic epic (despite the type-o's and other grammatical errors). Made by a student at Platt High School, who actually does show an understanding of the plot of Beowulf...

A Boy and a Book

What could be a better sight than a 6 year old immersed in a book?

To Infinity and Beyond...

The article "Why Generation Y is Going to Change the Web" explains how the Internet and technology have affected Generation Y, and in turn, how Generation Y affected that same technology. Although I am a part of Generation Y and my students will be part of Generation Z (or Generation Connected, or Multitasking) it is important to be aware of the consequences of how plugged in Generation Y has been--and is: Generation Y is the first to grow up with the Internet and other new technologies. The long-term consequences and effects of being so "plugged in" will only be magnified for Generation Z and, as a teacher and member of
Generation Y it is important for me to consider all
these implications in my classroom. (You're
following all these generations, right?...)


Much of Generation Y has learned the hard way about the importance of "blogging their every thought and posting those embarrassing pictures." Many have realized how easy it is for potential employers to simply search their name and find everything from their past. However, it seems Generation Y has learned from their mistakes and when it comes to social networks especially, they are very concerned with controlling their privacy settings. Websites like Facebook, Twitter, and even the iPhone app Instagram allow users to adjust their profiles to varying degrees of privacy. What this means for Generation Y teachers is that they will be (or at least they should be...) hyper-aware of what their students are posting on the Internet. I know that I will be teaching my students about creating and keeping up a respectable and professional online version of themselves. I will encourage them to keep anything personal as private as they can and to be wary of who they accept as friends on whatever social network is in vogue at the time.


One of the most interesting points this article about Generation Y made was what is expected in the workplace: "Gen Y in the workplace will not just want, but expect their company to provide them with tools that mirror those they use in their personal lives." If Generation Y needs the new technology they use on a day to day basis, in their jobs as well as social lives, then it is only logical that Generation Z will need those same tools in the classroom. Students I work with in high school now, and even (or especially) my 7 year old nephew, have learned the alphabet, spelling, math, etc., through technology. Whether they used an iPad or books from the LeapFrog series, Generation Z is even more "plugged in" than Generation Y; it would be ridiculous to expect these students to stop using all these technologies when they enter the classroom. It is imperative that teachers of these students recognize how fluidly technology works with their lives and learning styles. It has impacted how they learn, their attention span (which is shorter than previous generations'), and how they interact with one another.


The long-term impacts new technologies have had on Generation Y must be taken into consideration in understanding how Generation X will progress in the classroom. The technology will only continue to advance and both education and the classroom should advance with it. Teachers must embrace these changes and be willing to adapt to the future. Like Buzz Lightyear says...

An exciting shipment in the English office!!

Blogging About Blogging

Using blogs in any classroom is something that needs to be planned out carefully. Students must have clear expectations for both content and quality. It's not enough to simply tell them to respond to something or to reflect on a topic. Lisa Zawilinski describes something she calls "HOT blogging." What she means is that blogs promote higher order thinking.

Blogs play an important role in the definition of today's new literacies. Students are reading online -- a lot! Text they read on a blog can include lots and lots of different materials -- images, outside sources, videos, etc. -- which means they are developing new reading strategies. (Which, in turn, means teachers really need to be adapting to these new strategies and methods.) In her article "HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking" from The Reading Teacher, Zawilinksi writes, "these essential new literacies of online reading comprehension emphasize higher order thinking skills like analysis, synthesis and evaluation ... and can be practiced through blogging." Students are compiling so much information from one place, they don't even realize how much their higher order thinking skills are enhancing.

One of the most redeeming qualities of students using blogs that I can see, is their increased awareness of audience and self-image. They are no longer writing in a journal that only the teacher will read. They are contributing to something greater and opening the door for others to respond to their thoughts. Even if a student's blog is only open for the class to read, they are no longer confined to the 45 minute time frame for class discussion. Zawilinski also takes note of this when she writes that blogs are, "broadening the audience for student writing and thinking, providing a space for collaborating outside of the typical classroom discussion..." Students must think about what they write and how they are presenting themselves -- they are adding their own voice to the greater text of the Internet.

"I Go to Seek a Great Perhaps"

When I read John Green's Looking for Alaska as an undergrad at Rhode Island College, it was for an adolescent literature class. The class wasn't geared towards teaching students YA literature, but simply exposing us to what YA lit is and what students are interested in. In fact, I don't even remember getting the chance to discuss Green's novel in class. I recall spending more time on The Charlie Bone series and asking, "What is Twilight?!" (it was still new then) -- we weren't very productive, I must admit.

But now, reading Looking for Alaska with high school students and teaching in mind I see it in a very different way. I can't imagine any student that I know now picking up this book for class and rejecting it. There are innumerable connections that a young (or old!) reader can make to the text. Especially after reading some of what John Green has said about the novel -- it essentially exists for readers to ask questions and to wonder, not provide any answers or come to solid conclusions. This novel will show young readers that they needn't know exactly where there life is going, in fact, it supports not knowing at all, because that is the amazing part about life -- seeking a mysterious and uncertain "Great Perhaps."

During Reading Strategies

This week I've been working on a lesson plan focusing on one during reading strategy associated with a young adult novel. I chose The Book Thief to work with and the strategy of using post-its and logographic cues. Since my assignment was not only to teach a reading strategy, but to also focus on the text as a multicultural title, I have found it to be very challenging -- especially keeping it all within a single lesson.

As I read through Kylene Beers' chapter on during reading strategies, I immediately felt a connection with both the post-it strategy and the logographic cues. I feel that they are very compatible, so I decided to mesh them together into one strategy. This seemed especially logical since The Book Thief is rather a long text. Students will have a number of themes or topics to look for as they read and will use the post-its to take note of what they find. As I started to take notes on this strategy, I remembered that I am supposed to be thinking of the book in terms of multiculturalism. This revealed a challenge.

I found myself wondering how to tie these two ideas together -- especially in one, single lesson. As this strategy is used throughout the book and gets discussed over a number of classes, the multicultural aspects of the novel will organically reveal themselves. However, in teaching my students how to use this strategy as they read, I need to be sure that they are looking for the right things. Therefore, the logical tie-in would be to create a list of themes that they should be creating post-its for.

Since the novel is set in Nazi Germany I decided that two of my themes for students to look for would be "World War II" and "A Different Life:" students will be looking for details about the war (which, in the novel is generally presented from the Jewish point-of-view) and examples of how the lives of the characters differ from themselves. This should get them thinking of the novel as an example of how different life can be -- in a different country and at a different time.

Not only is meshing a during reading strategy with multicultural themes challenging, but being sure I do so all within one lesson. The time constraint of presenting all the right information seems unrealistic. I feel that were I to teach this lesson to a real class I would spend one, full class period focusing on the ins and outs of the strategy itself and another day on discussing the various themes they will be focusing on. However, for this particular assignment I will have to do both in one lesson. It can be done, but it is not the way that I would do it with a real class.

I feel that choosing a novel that depicts a different culture or lifestyle set in present time, rather than historical fiction, would have been easier for this assignment -- more obviously an example of multiculturalism. However, I love history and am particularly interested in World War II. I feel that The Book Thief is a fantastic way to show students what young people went through during the war in Germany -- it feels alive. I would love an opportunity to use this novel in my own classroom some day.