A (Real) Teacher

I wasn't sure what I was going to write about today because, if I'm being honest, I haven't been writing true "slices." But today, I think I have a slice for you. 

I said something that I shouldn't have said. 

The big buzz around the English Department this week is the upcoming NCTE convention in Washington DC. I spied the program on a teacher's desk and as I was flipping through it, I offhandedly remarked "Oh, I used to go every year when I was a real teacher." 

As the words left my mouth, I knew I wasn't being fair--to myself or to other instructional paraprofessionals. I mean, what is a "real" teacher? It's more than just degrees and certifications. Instructional paraprofessionals know their subject matter. They are skilled at helping kids turn the lightbulb on. They are tasked with the difficult challenge of working with kids who "don't get it." 

So, this is my lesson for today: own my professionalism. I am absolutely a "real" teacher. I have always been and always will be one. 

{See more Slices in the comments over at Two Writing Teachers.}

On Both Sides Now

 It is parent-teacher conference season and I had my middle child's pre-K conference yesterday morning. It is incredibly inspiring and awesome to witness emerging literacy through the lens of both parent and teacher. Seeing my four year old's emerging print skills is delightful and a great source of pride. When I see her S with the extra curve on top, her E drawn as a small circle, her upside-down Ls and the capital A way over on the other side of the paper, I see the wheels turning in her brain, her understanding of print concepts right on target developmentally, her pride in being able to spell her name. It thrills me to no end and makes me excited for the whole new world that will open up to her when she starts Kindergarten next fall.
My eldest is in first grade, and I've already seen how her writing has evolved from the end of last school year to now. She has mastered fine motor control over her handwriting, moving from large, awkwardly-printed letters to small, neatly-spaced letters in her words. She has mastered her sight words and take risks with more sophisticated vocabulary. I went to a publishing party in her class, and got to hear her read aloud a book she wrote about her summer vacation on the Cape, the story infused with humor and keen details.
For any parent, especially a parent that is also a teacher, witnessing this evolving and emerging literacy is incredible. It all seems to happen so naturally, when you're not watching, and belies the incredibly hard work of learning kids do, and the amazing job their teachers do.

From a book my daughter wrote in Kindergarten

{To read more SOLs, see the comments on this post}

Back in the Saddle Again.

Yup, back in the saddle again. When I left teaching in 2008, I was ready for a break from the classroom and to concentrate on my growing family. I still felt a pull to education and teaching, so I started my little tutoring business, and wondered what my teaching career would look like down the line.
I envisioned myself working closely with students and teachers in some capacity, maybe as a coach. Last year, I decided it was time to get my Connecticut teaching license, in order to be able to take advantage of any opportunities that might come my way.
One of those opportunities was a position in a neighboring town as a writing paraprofessional. I wasn't 100% sure what such a role would entail but I had a good idea, plus it was only 20 hours a week. I knew I had to try, so I just went for it.
Getting the call to come in for an interview was a thrill, and getting hired the same day was even more of a thrill. I gave myself a week to get my affairs in order, figure out childcare and get my head in the game.
And here I am, about a month into my new job, and really loving it. I'm experiencing a level of autonomy and independence I never had as a classroom teacher, and I spend a good chunk of my day doing what I love best-- developing materials, coming up with lesson ideas, working with individual and small groups of students, and talking to teachers about how to help kids become confident writers.
It feels good to be here.

See the comments in this post for other SOL posts! 

National Day on Writing #WriteMyCommunity

Today is NCTE's 6th Annual National Day on Writing, and this year's theme is Community. I will return here throughout the day to update the page with links and ideas for writing about community. NCTE invites you to tweet links to your writing using #WriteMyCommunity. You can find me on Twitter at @nbcavillones.  (This post contains affiliate links.)

Need a place to start? Check out 10 Ways to Explore and Express What Makes Your Community Unique from The Learning Network at The New York Times: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/10-ways-to-explore-and-express-what-makes-your-community-unique/

From The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project: Creating a Sense of Community in the 6-8 Writing Workshop

• Storytelling: Share vignettes from your own life, and encourage students to do the same. Do a collaborative re-telling of a shared experience
• Read Aloud: Using texts that foster a sense of community, read aloud to your students to show them that their stories are literature, too. Some recommendations: Popularity by Adam Bagdasarian and Ezekiel Johnson by Walter Dean Myers. 
• Share Artifacts: Invite students to bring in artifacts of their reading and writing lives and share the histories. 
• Establish Values: Foster a sense of mutual respect and support by stressing its importance verbally and modeling positive behaviors. 

Some ideas for getting technical with the National Day on Writing, curated by +Kevin Hodgson: Curated Collection of CLMOOC Tools

An idea from my own vault, that can be used with any grade! Unfurl a long sheet of art paper, either white or kraft and tape to the floor in the hallway (if you are allowed). Hand out crayons and colored pencils, and invite students to draw their neighborhood, depicting the local shops, parks, homes and other buildings they walk past everyday. Students that live on the same block may want to team up. Encourage students to add sidewalks, cars and people. Alternatively, if you are short on space, you can hang smaller sections on the walls around your room and group students by neighborhood/block. 

Colleges Want YOU: Advice Round-Up for College Admissions

Source: http://glbtintherooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/OwnSelf.jpg

This advice from MIT Admissions applies to every student, not just those that have their sights set on MIT:

"Choose your activities because they really delight, intrigue and challenge you, not because you think they'll look impressive on your application. Go out of your way to find projects, activities and experiences that stimulate your creativity and leadership, that connect you with peers and adults who bring out your best, that please you so much you don't mind the work involved. Some students find room for many activities; others prefer to concentrate on just a few. Either way, the test for any extracurricular should be whether it makes you happy - whether it feels right for you."

Things admissions officers wish students knew before beginning the application process, including this nugget from an officer at Antioch:

"I wish more students applying to college understood just how important “right-fit” is. Do we want to see people who were successful in high school and had a bunch of extracurricular activates? Yes, absolutely. But you can make an even better case for admission by showing us that you are going to be able to be highly successful and benefit most from the uniqueness of our institution.
Do your research. Don’t only make the case that you’re great, make the case that you’re a great match great for us."

More advice from admissions officers. I like this one from Smith College:

“Admission officers talk about the importance of rigor in a student's high-school program. When students ask, should I take an AP course and get a lower grade or take a lower level course and get an A, the cliché answer is: Students should take the AP course and get an A. Not very helpful! What we should be talking about is appropriate rigor. That is, if the student can take the AP course and get an A or B, then that's appropriate. If the student will get a C or lower, then she should reconsider. Grades of Cs ‘pop’ on a transcript to selective colleges since we don't see them often. That doesn't mean that one C on a transcript will mean a student won't get into college. What is does mean is that students shouldn't over-challenge themselves.”

As someone who went from a 70 average in her freshman and sophomore years of high school to graduating with high honors, I wholeheartedly agree with this advice, found on the Forbes website: 

“If you believe your current GPA is not a good representation of how well you can really do, start improving now. It’s almost certainly not too late. Colleges will look closely at your junior year performance, and many will even take the first semester of your senior year into account. They’ll particularly pay attention to a trend of improvement. Don’t give up. Show them that you are a late bloomer and getting better with age. Even if you’ve only got one semester left to show colleges what you’re capable of doing, show them! Start now.”

Book Review: The Perfect Score Project

Though I used to teach SAT prep for Kaplan, it was many, many moons ago. And of course, it was even longer ago that I actually TOOK the SAT. Have I ever told you that I took the test twice and got the same score both times? The second time, I went up in verbal and down in math! (This was back before the verbal was renamed Critical Reading.)   My memory is spotty but I am PRETTY SURE I did next to no test prep. I think I got some flash cards from someone I knew--maybe one of my sisters or a friend. The internet back then was not what it is now, so it is unlikely that I did any test prep on the College Board website. In any case, I went in there, took the test and passed muster. NYU took the best of my scores--the best math and the best verbal, and combined into one score. Thanks to Debbie's book, The Perfect Score Project: One Mother's Journey to Uncover the Secrets of the SAT I now know this is called superscoring.  Thanks to Debbie's book, I now know a lot of things that I didn't know before! The poor woman sat down for seven SAT exams, on a personal mission to help her son do his best on his own SAT exam. Actually, she had fun doing this so maybe I shouldn't feel so sorry for her! I actually kind of, sort of, wish I could take the SAT again, using the wisdom Debbie gleaned over the course of her project.
The book may be about the SAT but the story that unfolds is about one mother's struggle and triumph to hold her family together.  While stress is not an inherent part of SAT prep (at least, I don't think it is for everyone), in cases where there is a lot riding on SAT performance, relationships will be impacted.  Debbie was particularly obsessed with the test because she saw it as her son's best opportunity to pay for college. She felt sure that a high score would improve his chances of earning merit scholarships.  We, the reader, reap the benefits of her intensive experiment on locking down SAT success. Whether you are a tutor or a parent, this book is well worth reading--it is a font of information and knowledge that can be found across the internet and in every test prep center brought together into one humorous, uplifting volume.

Find Debbie at The Perfect Score Project. She is also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/debbiestier 


I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. This post contains affiliate links. 

Book Review: Give Yourself a Brain Boost!

The idea that there are multiple forms of intelligence is not a new one, but students are not often encouraged to tap into these other forms, especially in environments where art and music are being shunted aside in favor of rote drills and testing. This book helps to fill that void. I recommend this to anyone who suffers from a lack of confidence in their own skills and abilities, or someone like me, who "cruised" through school. Sundem's tone is friendly and approachable, which keeps the book from feeling dry, an important factor in recommending this book to students. I do think this book would work better if it came in a workbook format with a spiral binding. 




{I received this book from Blogging For Books, in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links.}