All kinds of people

at Two Writing Teachers!

She doesn't even ask anymore if I'll be around after school. Now, she just shows up with an armful of books, grinning.

Almost every afternoon, we sit in my classroom: her dark hair hidden beneath an intricately decorated hijab, my blond hair partially tucked back with a barrette. Her Bengali accent gently lifts her words up and down; my steady American speech sounding flat by comparison. We furrow our brows over biology and chemistry, wade through pages of history, and dive eagerly into writing. Chats about books and classes morph into discussions of families, culture, government, and values. Gritted teeth and stress give way to giggles and smiles.

"I like to be around all kinds of people," she often tells me, as we discuss America or school.  

Lately, she's been teaching me about Eid Al-Adha and how her family prepares. I can't imagine having to do so much cleaning, cooking, shopping, and visiting in the midst of homework, and studying -- let alone actually having to miss school for the big day!  What would it be like if Christmas was just a normal day in a normal week of school?  I know the stress I see on her face would bubble up inside me as well.  However, that doesn't stop her eyes from lighting up with animated anticipation as she chatters away.

"You should come to my house for Eid!" she exclaimed one day last week.

"Really? I'd be honored... Check with your family, though!"

The next day, she walked into my class beaming. "My mom says you can come!"

So I asked what clothes I should wear ("just your normal clothes") and I started to read about the holiday. I'm captivated by the spirit of generosity that permeates the celebration, and I'm fascinated that it has its roots in that story about Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. I learned that story in Sunday school. How can so many wars have been fought between people who share the same stories?

When it comes right down to it, all kinds of people have a lot more to bring us together than to separate us. H. knows that, because she sees people's hearts.  With students like her building the future, I hope a lot more holiday celebrations will look like the one I'm attending tonight: all kinds of people being human together.

Magic

at Two Writing Teachers!

This fall, something has been different in my classroom.  Yes, the room is completely mine this year, and I gave it a massive makeover.  Sure, I have some new students mixed in with some of my students from last year.  Certainly, I'm more confident in my teaching and more comfortable in the building this year.  But there's something else...

Something buzzing.  Something humming.  Sparks.  Magic.  DELIGHT.

It started with the postcards.  (By the way, today I got a letter in my school mailbox from a would-have-been incoming freshman who ended up withdrawing before school ever started. I never even met her, but she loved the postcard so much that she wrote me at school to say that she's sorry she can't be in my class!)

Then I carefully cultivated our writing community, and the StoryBox helped it blossom.

In the midst of pre-assessments, meetings, and plans, myriad little moments with students sparkled with joy and reminded me that, while I'm exhausted, it's worth it.

Last week, the sparks came together into a bright shower of fireworks as we began the Global Read-Aloud.  This is the first time I've read a novel aloud, and I just love the experience of talking and thinking through a story together, day after day.  I love the incredible discussions that Sharon Draper's Out of My Mind is generating.

I love wondering and predicting and finding more information together.  I love noticing great words and phrases as we read.  I love composing tweets as a class as we connect to the larger shared experience of the GRA.

Most of all, I love how students walk into my classroom already chattering about the story.

 "Could you believe how mean Dr. Hugely was? What a jerk!"

"There's a girl kind of like Melody in my math class!"

"I can't believe how people treat Melody just because her body doesn't work right!"

I love that before the bell rings at the beginning of class, they grab their notebooks & vocabulary sheets and scurry to the open area on the floor... whether or not the whiteboard actually says read-aloud is first!  (And I love that they whine if it's not!)

I love that when someone has been absent, I don't have to ask students to fill her in... because they're already re-capping what happened!  "D, you missed the funniest part yesterday!  Melody's mom went crazy!"

Last Thursday, I hadn't planned to read aloud because students buddy-read an article about cerebral palsy that another class had tweeted out.  I wanted to reserve the rest of class for writing our StoryBox pieces.  However, after reading and discussing the article with their partners, my 6th period students started begging to still read aloud!  

"I was so excited to come to class today to read this book," one student whined. 

"Me too!  I couldn't wait to come to this class!" another interjected.

"Don't you want to keep working on your writing for the StoryBox?"  Ever since we started the StoryBox Project, they've been begging to write every day, so I couldn't believe they wanted to skip writing to read together, especially when they just spent the first part of class reading an article!  However, the begging and whining was pretty priceless, so I put it up for a vote.  Every single hand went up in favor of reading more of the story together!  Their eyes twinkled as they looked around the room and looked at me.  How could I deny such DELIGHT for learning?

"Ok, let's go back to Melody's world... we'll write tomorrow!"  As I grinned and mentally began re-arranging the next few days of lesson plans, they scampered across the room to fight over the pillows, claim the rolly chairs, and situate themselves on the floor.  

The icing on the cake?  Three Korean doctoral students were observing my class for the first time that day.  For several of them, it was their very first time seeing an American high school class.  They thought I was magic!  I think the magic was mostly Sharon Draper... but I also know something special is brewing in my classroom!  

A good kind of tired

at Two Writing Teachers!

Lately, I'm barely able to drag myself from the table to the couch after dinner.  Keeping my eyes open until bedtime is a chore.  As soon as I lie down in bed (and get myself to stop thinking about school), I'm sound asleep.

However, it's a good kind of tired.  It's the kind of tired that leaves your heart happy, because you know the work is good.

How good?

1. Just in case my students weren't excited enough about writing for the StoryBox Project, our local newspaper did an article about our work with the project!  My students were absolutely beaming with pride when it was published!  Moreover, one of my former middle school colleagues shared the article on Facebook with a note about how proud she was, and our district ELL coordinator emailed it to all the other ELL teachers with a comment about how special it was.

2. As we're finishing up our StoryBox stories, we're beginning another exciting project: the Global Read Aloud!  Students are loving Out of My Mind so far, and we're excited to build relationships with other classes through our reading.  There's just nothing like the feeling of being part of something bigger than our classroom!

3. So many other little moments that sparkle like grains of crystal in the shifting sand of everyday work:

• The new student who was so proud of being quoted in the newspaper article that he kept pointing at it, saying "That's me!  Right there!" and reading his name.  ("I've only been here for two weeks!!!" he exclaimed.)
• The student who ran in and hugged me yesterday morning because she loved the Get Well card my classes made for her: "It made me feel special."
• The teacher from another building who emailed to say that my students "had good things to say" about me when they babysat for her parent meeting.
• The staff meeting where my principal told everyone about my summer postcards because he was so excited about how I'm working to build positive relationships with my students.
• The middle school colleague who emails every once in a while to say that he's enjoyed one of my blog posts or to compliment me on something I've done.
• The student who stays after school for help with homework nearly every day, and the giggles we usually collapse into at some point while working through a difficult question or attempting to find a creative way to remember a certain concept.
• Furrowed brows and slight smiles during writing time.
• Gasps and sighs and wide eyes during read aloud. (and whining when we stop!)
• Happy sparks in student eyes when they walk into my room, and exclamations of "This class always goes so fast!" when it's time to leave.

Yes, it's a good kind of tired.

Something bigger

at Two Writing Teachers!

"Are we going to work on our stories today?"

"Do we get to write today?"

"Mrs. M, will you look at my story?"

For the past week, my classroom has felt different.  As soon as my students walk into class, their eyes shine as they ask if we'll be writing today.  They search the "in class" section on the board to see if writing time is posted. Students who never do homework pull out folders and laptops, eager to show me paragraphs and pages they carefully crafted last night or over the weekend... voluntarily!

Ever since we became part of the StoryBox Project, my students have started to see themselves as real writers with stories to tell and information to share.  Some are writing about their countries or telling the story of how they came to America. Some are describing special friends and family members, sharing stories about their favorite activities, or even writing poetry.  Others are articulating their hopes, dreams, and struggles.  All of them are excited: excited to explore who they are, excited to share a piece of themselves with others, and excited to be a part of something bigger than our classroom.

Won't you join us?  Together, our words mean more.

The StoryBox Project: connecting the world through story

(This is part 2 of my description of my students' first day with Kevin Cordi's StoryBox Project!)

So after my students and I contemplated the power of words and shared our thoughts, and after I told them about experiencing the StoryBoxes at CAWP, I reached behind my desk and revealed the surprise: 

the CAWP StoryBox!

My students are now part of an international network of people who value stories and want to share them!  We are keepers of the StoryBox, charged with appreciating it, adding to it, and passing it on!

I began pulling out stories and reading where they were from: Tennessee, West Virginia, Australia, schools around Columbus... so many exciting stories!  But I also pointed out that despite the variety already in the box, it's mostly empty, because this box is just starting its journey... so we have the opportunity to get it off to a good start!

(This picture links to the electronic story submission form.  Join us by sharing your own story!)

As I stepped back from the box, my students immediately dove in.

Some grabbed CDs and ran to the computers to listen to audio-stories.  Others grabbed a story and sat down with a partner to read together.  Still others clutched a packet of stories and curled up to lose themselves in it.

At the end of class, I knew we had to do something special to cement the excitement and gravity of the StoryBox.  I displayed Kevin's StoryBox Pledge on the screen, and we all stood up and recited it in unison.  When I was planning this, I had been slightly nervous that high schoolers would think that was dumb, but the solemnity of their voices and the pride in their eyes showed me that I had nothing to fear. (One class did make me close the door though, presumably so no hallway wanderer would look in and, as an outsider to our community, think we were weird!)

To remind them of this special day and keep them excited about the project, all students got to choose from a selection of bookmarks I made:

On one side, each bookmark has the StoryBox Pledge and one of the 8 quotations about writing/stories that I had shared at the very beginning of class. On the other side, students are reminded that their words are a gift.

(Just the quotation at the top is different on each of the 8 styles.)

Please make this project even more meaningful by submitting your own story or requesting to have the StoryBox visit you!

"We all have stories that are meant to travel—to be read or experienced by someone else." 

-- StoryBox Founder Kevin Cordi

Follow the journey of the StoryBox on Twitter with #storyboxproject and check back here for more posts about our experience with this exciting project!

Recognizing the gift of words

A few days ago, when my students walked into class, they were greeted by a bouncing me chirping that I had a surprise for them.  On the screen, they found a selection of quotations about writing and stories to contemplate:

Next, I invited students to think even more about the power of words:

(This summer at CAWP, the wonderful Kevin Cordi always told us that words are a gift.)

I shared two examples:

• The daily emails and weekly letters that my husband and I sent each other when I lived in Spain.
• When I wrote an article for the TBDBITL game-day newsletter about how much band meant to me, and the editor put it on the front page!  For the whole next week, band members were talking about how special it was and how my words made them think and feel.

Next, students got a few minutes to sketch or brainstorm their own special memories, and then we came back together to share as a class.  Some highlights (and remember, I teach high schoolers!) were:

• The boy who drew a flower and explained that it represented his mom, who always ends an argument or admonishment by reminding him that she loves him no matter what he does.
• Several students who described how they cherish calls and video-calls to family members back in their countries.
• The shy girl who shared that when she left Japan, her best friend told her to look up at the sky while they're apart, because the same sky covers the whole world.
• The boy who didn't want to share, and then showed me his paper privately.  He'd written: "when my mom and dad say they love me."
• The girl who said that when she'd been going through a rough time last year, a friend had told her to not give up, because "strong bends but doesn't break."

Those brief, courageous moments of sharing certainly brought our community closer, and then it was time to reveal my surprise!  I reminded them that I went to a writing camp this summer, and then began to show pictures of a special day at the CAWP retreat: the day Kevin brought StoryBoxes to share!  

You can probably guess the surprise now, but there's more to share, and this post is already too long... Guess you'll have to read more tomorrow!

Following the words

at Two Writing Teachers!

I've been meaning to write about an exciting project happening in my classroom, and I was going to write about it today...

but then I drove home with the windows open, and the sky was so blue, and the air had that delightful fall feeling that's somehow warm and chilly at the same time,

and then lines of a poem were bouncing through my mind, begging to be wrestled with and laid out into something real.

So please check back later this week for a peek into the cool things that are happening in my classroom for the next few weeks!  Meanwhile, here's the poem, which started out as a nature poem, and then when I decided the first line was going to be "now", it turned into something that wanted to feel like "After Many Springs" by Langston Hughes.



Autumn Echoes

Now,
when the tired sun sinks low a little earlier,
stretching long shadows that twine together
reaching for something they can't quite grasp

and wispy clouds spread like freshly carded cotton
suspended in a sky so blue you might fall up
and soar away like diving into clear water,

the playful breeze carries whiffs of chill,
teasing ghosts of goosebumps across my arms
that vanish almost before they appear.

What are those faint echoes shimmering on the wind?

Fleeting shouts and giggles,
splashes of color on a silvery bell,
spindly shadows marching as one.